A Good-for-Nothing

209. The Ability to Talk Things into Existence Through Sheer Force of Will (I)

Translator: Dragon Rider

The last special training session over, the only thing that He Zheng and his fellow trainees needed to do was wait for the final test, which would last twenty days, and they would be allowed to go on missions with full-time employees during the process.

He Zheng had told Li Zong about what happened the day before, and then, unexpectedly, on this day he and Chen Qianlin were performing a task with Zu Zhichong. Their job was to ascertain what had happened between Feng Ma and Wang Jian.

Before they set out, Jin Qianlai, who had almost been reduced to taking his own life by the harsh training Xiang Hailou had been giving him, availed himself of a short breather and slunk out of the training ground to have a chat with He Zheng. He could barely conceal his envy of He Zheng and the others after learning that they were going on a mission. “You guys are so lucky. I really wish I could go with you.”

The greatest temptation to Jin Qianlai was mountains of gold and silver. As a Pixiu (a beast existing in Chinese mythology) cub, he had been requested to overcome his instincts and develop the ability to remain unaffected by money in any circumstance. Jin Qianlai had wailed and protested but still couldn’t sway Xiang Hailou who was “callous and unreasonable”, so he had no choice but to resign himself to his fate, enduring the torturous training every day.

Everybody else was now capable of retaining their composure when faced with their greatest temptation and thus finished their training session aimed at improving their resistance, but Jin Qianlai’s instincts were so strong that he still couldn’t do it, which was why he was receiving one-on-one guidance.

“Oh, by the way, Cutie, I heard that Wu Fangshuo has quit.”

“Um?” He Zheng was stunned for a few moments and then turned to look at Jin Qianlai, his eyes slightly dilated with amazement. He was somewhat speechless and it was quite a while before he asked, “What do you mean he quit?”

Jin Qianlai shook his head, his lips lightly pressed together. “He said that too many points had been taken away from him during the session, that he might not be able to get a pass, so he wanted to go back to Hang City and see if he could land a job as an off-staff employee in the sub-bureau in Hang City.”

“His performance wasn’t really that bad.” He Zheng frowned, unable to understand why Wu Fangshuo had quit.

Jin Qianlai let out a sigh and massaged his eyes somewhat wearily. “Maybe everybody has their own way of seeing things.”

He Zheng lapsed into silence.

Jin Qianlai had just meant to inform him of this matter. It had never occurred to him that He Zheng would be so upset about it. Feeling somewhat awkward, Jin Qianlai affected an air of relaxedness, clapped He Zheng on the shoulder and said, “But thinking about it from another perspective, it might not necessarily be a bad thing for Wu Fangshuo to return to Hang City. I mean, he lives there. It’d be more convenient for him to commute.”

“Um.” He Zheng dully nodded. Although Jin Qianlai had got a point, he still felt somewhat depressed at the thought that a fellow trainee with whom he’d been improving skills had just left, that it wouldn’t be easy for them to get a chance to see each other again.

Previously, He Zheng had never thought that he would value his friendship with anybody so much. It was only when a friend of his had really left that he strongly felt it.

“You’re going on a mission?” inquired Jin Qianlai, eyes on the Shadow Sword on his back.

“Yeah.”

No sooner had He Zheng’s voice died away than Chen Qianlin impatiently poked his head around the door frame. “How much longer do you need exactly, good-for-nothing?”

“Don’t rush me, you self-obsessed freak!”

He Zheng’s face turned green. Not having expected that these two people would some day be performing the same task, Jin Qianlai exploded into laughter. “Haha, you guys should be careful not to end up fighting each other.”

Expressionless, He Zheng balled his hand into a fist and said, “If I secretly waste this bastard during the mission, chances are that nobody would find out, right?”

Then he mumbled to himself, “Even if they do find out, they definitely wouldn’t say anything about it, given how loathsome this guy is.”

Jin Qianlai almost lost his mind from laughing. For an instant, Chen Qianlin felt a chill run down his spine. He turned his head back to menacingly glare at He Zheng, and this time the two of them were really within an inch of getting into a fight.

Zu Zhichong had thought that it was very lucky of him not to have to go to the south-west and slave around in remote mountains. It hadn’t occurred to him that there were a lot of things to attend to in Coastal City as well.

“It’s time to go, Xiao Chen, Cutie. Lao Luo would tell us off if we don’t hurry!”

When He Zheng and Chen Qianlin were on the verge of drawing their weapons to duel, Zu Zhichong shoved them into the car the way a farmer shooed ducks onto a perch.

In the police station.

What with Wang Jian’s relations with Feng Ma and his suspicious conduct after Feng Ma’s death, he had been temporarily named as a suspect after an interview in the police station the day before. As a result, when He Zheng and the others arrived at the police station, Wang Jian was already there.

In the car, He Zheng had mentioned that Wang Jian was a jinx, and Zu Zhichong had merely stroked his chin, making no comment on it.

Wang Jian was surprised to see He Zheng and Chen Qianlin. Instead, he appeared very happy, as though he had won the lottery. Striking up conversations with complete strangers was what Zu Zhichong did best. After Luo Zhou routinely asked them some questions, while the others were chatting in the room, Zu Zhichong walked out and handed a cigarette to Wang Jian who was smoking crouched outside.

Beside a parterre.

Wang Jian was smoking the Zhonghua cigarette given to him by Zu Zhichong. He shook his fingers holding the cigarette and said, “Mm, this is so good.”

“You seem pretty happy, bro. This is my first time seeing someone look so happy in a police station.”

Wang Jian twisted his head aside and gave a couple of glances at Zu Zhichong. After quite a while, he said, “You know what? I’m going to tell you a secret in return for this cigarette you gave me.”

Zu Zhichong lit a cigarette, drew on it and replied casually, “Go ahead.”

Wang Jian began, “As far as I could tell, your fortune is going to take a turn later this month, and you’ll have a brief stroke of bad luck. To be specific, you’re bound to suffer a loss of money this month.”

Zu Zhichong, “…”

Zu Zhichong was amused. He was a member of a famous geomantic family as well as a disciple of the prestigious Qingwei Sect, but on this day, he was actually reduced to a fortune-tellee.

Without showing any signs of his true thoughts on his face, Zu Zhichong beamed, “Really? How do you know that? You see a visible bad omen at the top of my nose bridge?”

Wang Jian answered in an innocent tone, “No. It’s just that I always say what I see.”

Then he gave a smile. “In the ordinary course of events, what I say will come true. You’d better take my words seriously.”

Zu Zhichong asked, “Are you saying that you’re what people call ‘a jinx’?”

“I’m not a jinx.” Wang Jian paused for a moment and then gingerly moved closer to Zu Zhichong. “I know that the cause of Feng Ma’s death was unusual, that I might have played a part in it.”