I Went Crazy Killing in the World of Gods and Demons - Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Ling Fang had the final say.

Lu Ying was utterly defeated.

Xie Qingling kindly reminded, “I have plenty of pen refills. If your pen runs out of ink, just come to me.”

Her tone was as gentle as a spring breeze melting into rain, making Lu Ying almost want to cry.

In the following days, whenever they weren’t out on assignments, Lu Ying and Yao Qiang sat at the conference table, miserably copying the department’s Work Guidelines.

They had initially thought that copying the guidelines would be much easier than writing a 20,000-word self-criticism. However, they soon realized that copying the guidelines ten times was no small task either.

Each copy was 4,000 words, adding up to a total of 40,000 words.

Lu Ying and Yao Qiang could no longer tell whether all departments had Work Guidelines this lengthy or if it was unique to Future City.

Among the thousands of words in the Work Guidelines, some rules were so bizarre they defied belief.

For instance, the very last rule stated:

While carrying out missions, members must not develop any inappropriate emotional attachments to demons, ghosts, or Spirits.

When copying this rule, Yao Qiang hesitated, opening and closing his mouth several times. He kept glancing at Lu Ying as if he had something to say, which only added to the frustration Lu Ying already felt from being punished with writing the self-criticism. She put down her pen and glared at him fiercely. “Spit it out.”

Her tone was far from pleasant.

Startled, Yao Qiang handed the Work Guidelines to Lu Ying. “Take a look at this rule.”

“While carrying out missions, members must not develop any inappropriate emotional attachments to demons, ghosts, or Spirits,” he read aloud, word by word. Then he said, “Don’t you think this rule is absurd? It makes it seem like I’m not here to work but to ascend to the heavenly court and become an immortal. It sounds just like divine commandments.”

Lu Ying fell silent for a moment, glanced at Yao Qiang, and nodded quietly in agreement.

She hadn’t expected him, despite his usual reticence, to know so much about the otherworldly realm he even knew about the heavenly court.

The analogy was quite fitting.

Forbidding relationships between humans and demons, humans and ghosts, or humans and Spirits what outdated notions about love!

Lu Ying’s expression softened considerably mostly because her curiosity had overshadowed her frustration about writing the self-criticism. She speculated, “Generally speaking, an extremely absurd rule must have an extremely absurd story behind it.”

Yao Qiang nodded emphatically, fully agreeing. “Exactly, there’s a story there must be a story.”

“I bet it’s Brother Shen. He definitely seems like someone with a past. Sister Qingling is so cautious; it can’t be about her,” Yao Qiang began deducing.

Lu Ying neither agreed nor disagreed but maintained a fair attitude. “It could be someone else. Alright, stop chatting and hurry up with the copying.”

Yao Qiang let out an “oh” and bent over the table to resume copying the self-criticism. But his curiosity got the better of him. Sneakily, he leaned toward Lu Ying again and whispered, “Why don’t you go ask around?”

“If you want to know, go ask yourself,” Lu Ying shot him a glare. “Writing this self-criticism is exhausting enough. If we get punished again because of curiosity and gossip, that would be truly unjust.”

“Aren’t you even a little curious?” Yao Qiang urged. “Maybe it’s not just one person with a story, but several.”

Lu Ying remained silent.

“I’m really not curious!” Lu Ying gritted her teeth, keeping her head down as she furiously wrote her self-criticism.

After two or three miserable days of writing, she finally completed the task assigned by Ling Fang, submitted her self-criticism, and stood waiting to be lectured.

Ling Fang carefully reviewed their self-criticisms and affirmed, “Your reflections are quite good. You understand the importance of finding problems within yourselves.”

Did this mean someone had previously dared not to find faults in themselves when writing self-criticisms?

How bold!

Ling Fang continued, “It’s normal to make mistakes when you’re new to the department, but remember this: don’t repeat the same mistake twice, and never act recklessly out of brute courage. Caution ensures long-term safety never risk your own or your teammates’ lives.”

He went on lecturing until even he felt his mouth going dry, then waved his hand to dismiss them. But Lu Ying stayed behind, looking as if she had something to say.

Ling Fang asked, “Is there something else?”

Ultimately, curiosity overpowered fear. Summoning her courage, Lu Ying asked, “Minister, I wanted to ask about the last clause in the department’s Work Guidelines…”

“Has our department ever experienced any… cross-species relationships? Is that why this rule was established?”

Yao Qiang, who had been about to leave, immediately stopped in his tracks. He lowered his head, pretending to still be listening attentively, but his eyes were already sparkling with gossip.

Ling Fang glanced at Lu Ying and shook his head. “No.”

“We simply foresaw that possibility and nipped it in the bud preemptively.”

“…”

“…”

The minister was terrifyingly meticulous.

Remembering the dense Work Guidelines, Lu Ying felt her scalp tingling again.

She never wanted to copy the Work Guidelines or write another self-criticism again in her life.

Her initial fearless, newborn-calf-not-afraid-of-tigers spirit had been completely worn away by days and nights of copying and writing.

“Goodbye, Minister.” With no gossip to be had, the leader’s office was no place to linger. Lu Ying and Yao Qiang fled as if escaping.

Watching their retreating backs, Ling Fang felt somewhat relieved.

Although these new members were still a bit reckless, they were clearly easier to discipline. After writing self-criticisms, they actually learned their lesson unlike those troublemakers who would say “I’m sorry, but I’ll dare to do it again next time.” At least they wouldn’t give him as much headache.

For the next month, no new members needed to write self-criticisms.

They adapted quickly to the work environment and procedures. Within a month, they could already perform their duties independently without senior members guiding their patrols.

This batch had been specially selected from headquarters to counter The Eleventh Citadel, so they were naturally excellent learners. Their assessments showed no flaws they were all promising, well-rooted youngsters.

Barring any surprises, after the three-month probation period, they would become regular members, formally joining the department.

Xie Qingling felt the burden on her shoulders lighten and began reconsidering moving out of the office.

Previously, she had stayed here because the department only had her as the sole member living in the break room was no different from living alone. Now that there were more people, she felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Yet Li Tiantian’s cooking skills made Xie Qingling deeply reluctant to leave.

Li Tiantian’s arrival had dethroned Shen Huaizhou from the top spot in the department’s cooking rankings. Not only was she steady and reliable, but she also possessed exceptional culinary skills that commanded admiration. Thanks to her, Xie Qingling who had previously survived on steamed buns daily finally began living a proper life.

Today’s menu consisted of sweet and sour pork ribs, stir-fried choy sum, and tomato egg soup. Apart from the pork ribs, the other two dishes were relatively simple, and Li Tiantian finished preparing them quickly.

At the call of “Dinner’s ready!”, Xie Qingling eagerly rushed into the kitchen to help bring out the dishes.

Though there were only three dishes, the portions were generous enough for six people making the meal quite substantial.

Between mouthfuls of fragrant rice, Xie Qingling asked, “Sister Tiantian, how did you develop such incredible cooking skills? It’s delicious! Before you came, the kitchen stove was practically unused.”

Li Tiantian replied, “I practiced in the dormitory kitchen at headquarters.”

“You had time to cook at headquarters? I feel like our usual workload is already heavy enough hardly any time for cooking.”

“Well, Future City is busier than headquarters.” Li Tiantian’s remark puzzled Xie Qingling.

Xie Qingling set down her chopsticks and asked curiously, “What exactly is headquarters like? It sounds like Special Events should be just as frequent there, right?”

Li Tiantian’s smile faded.

She served Xie Qingling a bowl of soup and said, “Later, I’ll spar with you.”

“Alright.”

Xie Qingling lifted her bowl and quickly finished dinner.

After cleaning up, the two of them went to the courtyard.

Sparring was just a pretext changing locations to talk privately was the real purpose. Some matters weren’t suitable for the four interns to know, and Xie Qingling understood Li Tiantian’s discretion.

Standing face-to-face in the training room converted from a small garden, they began their conversation.

“Are you very curious about headquarters?” Li Tiantian asked.

“Not extremely curious, but… well, I am quite curious,” Xie Qingling admitted honestly.

“If you’re curious, you can apply to go to headquarters yourself.”

“Huh? We can apply on our own?”

Li Tiantian looked at her deeply and said, “It seems Director Ling hasn’t mentioned it to you.”

“But it’s understandable.”

“Director Ling probably doesn’t want you going to headquarters so soon. After all, that place…” Noticing Xie Qingling’s surprised expression and realizing she knew nothing about the Old Royal City, Li Tiantian paused before explaining, “…is the only city rated at danger level five in all urban risk assessments.”

Level five… that must be extremely dangerous, Xie Qingling thought.

Li Tiantian continued, “If you want to go, you can apply yourself.”

“Will the application be approved just like that?” If there were no barriers, wouldn’t headquarters be as common as cabbage sold on street stalls?

Li Tiantian laughed. “Others might not qualify, but if it’s you of course you can.”

“Within the headquarters, there is a ranking list. To be precise, there are actually two ranking lists. One is the New Talent Ranking, and the other is the Points Ranking.”

“The New Talent Ranking is for newcomers who have been employed for less than a year, while the Points Ranking is open to everyone. Both lists are sorted by points, which are converted from the evaluations you receive after each mission. In less than a year since joining, you’ve eliminated several Ghouls, resolved the Half-Immortal case, slain a deity, and even executed Tang Tian, completing the headquarters’ elimination order.”

“You are ranked first on the New Talent Ranking in terms of points.” Li Tiantian did not hide the admiration and appreciation in her gaze. “In fact, I already knew about you when I received the headquarters’ order to transfer me to Future City.”

Xie Qingling was momentarily stunned.

She hadn’t known such a ranking existed.

“Those in the top ten of the New Talent Ranking can apply for a transfer to the headquarters after completing one year of service.”

“The gap between your points and the second place is overwhelming. With your capabilities, even if you submitted an application now, the headquarters would immediately approve it.”

“Whether to go to the headquarters or not is entirely up to you.” Li Tiantian looked at Xie Qingling. “So, do you want to go?”