One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

The roar of the aircraft engines gradually subsided, and the fuselage trembled slightly as it slid onto the runway. Outside the window, the lights of Guiyang Longdongbao Airport formed a dim yellow band in the night, like a glowing centipede crawling across the mountains of central Guizhou.

Nie Lingfeng, carrying his seemingly ordinary but actually ingeniously designed travel bag, descended the gangway with the flow of people. It was nearly midnight, yet the airport terminal remained brightly lit, electronic screens displaying flight information, and a female voice on the loudspeaker repeating important notices in three languages. The air was filled with the faint smell of disinfectant, the hum of luggage wheels scraping the floor, and the warm, humid night breeze characteristic of the southwest region.

As he stepped out of the automatic glass door, the night breeze immediately carried an even richer scent towards him—the smell of distant mountains, forests, and vegetation breathing in the night, the warmth emanating from the soil baked by the daytime sun, and a faint floral fragrance, perhaps a gift from some nocturnal plant in the airport's greenbelt.

He took out his phone, the screen glowing a cold white light in the night. Nie Lingfeng dialed Xu Si's number.

"Beep—beep—"

After two rings, the call was answered.

"Feed?" Xu Si's voice came through the background noise, with the faint sounds of stir-frying vegetables being put into the pan, clinking glasses, and men shouting urging others to drink, like in a bustling night market food stall.

"Fourth Brother, I've arrived in Guiyang," Nie Lingfeng said, his voice clearly heard in the night breeze.

"That's fast." Xu Si seemed to have moved to a quieter place, and the background noise was lower. "Chu Lan and the others are in Liupanshui city now, which is still dozens of kilometers away from Biyou Village. I just sent you the coordinates on WeChat, so you can go and meet them there."

"it is good."

"By the way," Xu Si paused, lowering his voice slightly, "this mission... is a bit complicated. All the temporary workers are here, and you'll meet those 'monsters' from the company. Be careful, especially... don't take them too seriously. Completing the mission is the most important thing."

Nie Lingfeng understood the deeper meaning in Xu Si's words—among the temporary workers, some people's way of doing things was probably not so "conventional".

"I understand," he said.

"Good that you understand." Xu Si seemed to take a sip of something, and a swallowing sound could be heard. "Also, Xiao Feng... I know what you think about Chen Duo. But the company has its rules, and the mission has its bottom line. Don't act impulsively, and don't get yourself into trouble."

Nie Lingfeng was silent for two seconds: "Fourth Brother, I know what I'm doing."

"...Alright then." Xu Si sighed. "Go ahead, keep in touch."

The call ended. Almost simultaneously, a WeChat notification sounded, and a map location popped up, marked "XX Hotel, Zhongshan District, Liupanshui City," with a line of small print below: "Report Zhang Chulan's name when you arrive."

Nie Lingfeng put away his phone and stood at the airport exit. Night had fallen, and the number of people picking up passengers was sparse. A few taxi drivers leaned against the railing, smoking, their cigarettes flickering in the darkness. He chose the cleanest-looking older Santana. The driver was a man in his forties, with dark skin and a rough face bearing the marks of years of driving sports cars.

"Master, go to this place." Nie Lingfeng handed over the phone screen.

The driver squinted at him and said in a thick Guizhou accent, "Young man, going to Liupanshui? It's far, over 200 kilometers, it'll take two or three hours even on the highway. It's the middle of the night, so there will be extra charges."

"How many?"

"It's usually five hundred, but it'll be an extra hundred or six hundred at night." The driver gestured, his eyes sweeping over Nie Lingfeng, seemingly judging whether the young customer would try to bargain.

Nie Lingfeng didn't say much, opened the car door and got into the back seat: "Let's go."

The car drove out of the airport area and quickly merged into the highway. Outside the window, the night was so thick it seemed impenetrable, the distant mountain silhouettes undulating in the darkness like the spine of a giant beast. Occasionally, oncoming headlights flashed by, the blinding white light piercing the darkness before quickly disappearing behind. The halo of streetlights formed a flowing band of light on the windshield, like a time tunnel.

Nie Lingfeng leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes to rest. But his thoughts raced through his mind like the scenery rushing past the window.

Biyou Village, Ma Xianhong, Cultivation Furnace, Divine Refinement, Chen Duo...

And then there are the temporary workers we'll be meeting soon.

Black Pipe, the monster who supposedly can withstand heavy magical artifacts with sheer physical strength; Xiao Zizai, a seemingly gentle monk, but in reality… Nie Lingfeng recalled Xu Si's subtle mention that this man's hands were probably stained with as much blood as any Quanxing demon; Old Meng, who looks like a high school teacher, is actually the company's top "communicator" and intelligence expert; Wang Zhenqiu, the "cancer" of the Southwest, seemingly cynical, but actually unpredictable…

Also, there's Zhang Chulan and Feng Baobao.

"The temporary workers are taking collective action..." Nie Lingfeng opened his eyes, his pupils reflecting two faint points of light in the car window's reflection. "This time, the company is determined to uproot this 'abnormal manufacturing plant' of Biyou Village, and incidentally... clean house."

He subconsciously raised his hand and touched the pair of warm, smooth jade pendants beneath his robes. Black and white, yin and yang, a cool and peaceful aura emanated from the clothing, like a pair of gentle hands, smoothing the subtle ripples in his heart caused by the impending storm.

In any case, Chen Duo is safe.

This wasn't a momentary impulse, nor was it youthful impulsiveness. It was one of the few "destinies" he had come to this world that he wanted to change with his own hands. The girl's empty eyes, her figure turning to ashes in the sunlight, and that light, airy phrase, "This is my own choice"... These images had flashed through his mind countless times over the past few months.

This time, he wanted to give her a real, living choice.

---

At 2:40 a.m., the taxi exited the highway and entered Liupanshui city. The streets were deserted, with only a few cars returning home late at night passing by. The streetlights cast long shadows of the roadside trees onto the wet asphalt, like some kind of silent dance.

The car finally stopped beside an old street. Most of the buildings along the street were red brick buildings from the 1970s and 80s, with mottled walls and electrical wires weaving between them like spider webs. A three-story building called "Yingbin Hotel" stood on the street corner. Several neon signs on the sign were broken, leaving only the characters "宾" (bin, guesthouse) and "馆" (guan, hotel) stubbornly flashing red, appearing somewhat lonely yet defiant in the night.

On the concrete steps in front of the hotel, three or four young men, all dressed in cheap T-shirts and jeans, with their hair dyed in an exaggerated color, were squatting together smoking. The scarlet cigarette butts flickered in the darkness, and their eyes all turned to them the moment the taxi stopped.

Nie Lingfeng paid the fare and got out of the car. The night breeze ruffled his long, gray hair, and his travel bag was casually slung over his shoulder. His appearance was clearly out of place in the atmosphere of this old street—not in his clothing, but in the special aura that had settled after life-and-death battles and martial arts training, like a sword that was sheathed but still radiated heat.

The young men stared at him unabashedly, their eyes filled with curiosity, wariness, and a hint of the street thugs' eagerness to have some fun.

"What are you looking at?"

A lazy voice, clearly mocking, came from inside the hotel.

The glass door opened, and Wang Zhenqiu, shuffling out in cheap flip-flops, still sported his striking blond hair, which shimmered like waves of wheat under the dim streetlights. He wore a flamboyant Hawaiian shirt, red with large white hibiscus flowers, and faded ripped jeans. With a lollipop dangling from his mouth and his cheeks puffed out, he looked more like a backpacker on vacation in the southwest than a temporary worker on a dangerous mission.

"Ball Bro." Nie Lingfeng smiled, a smile that held both the warmth of a long-awaited reunion and the knowing recognition that it was indeed him.

"Hey! Xiao Feng!" Wang Zhenqiu's eyes lit up. He quickly walked down the steps, twirling a lollipop in his mouth. "Wow! It's only been a few months, and your hair has turned white? Tsk tsk, that hair color, that gradient, so fashionable! You'd be the coolest kid on the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo!"

He walked closer and scrutinized Nie Lingfeng from head to toe, his eyes like he was admiring a newly unearthed artifact: "I heard that your battle at Longhu Mountain shook the entire world of supernatural beings? You chopped down the Four Madmen of Quanxing like vegetables, you even woke up Old Master Lu Jin, and in the end, the Celestial Master had to personally intervene to subdue you—awesome, brother!"

Although Wang Zhenqiu's voice was deliberately lowered, it was still clear in the quiet street. The young men smoking at the door obviously heard it, and their gazes toward Nie Lingfeng instantly changed from curiosity to awe, and they even subconsciously shrank back—those who frequented this street, even if they weren't superhumans, had more or less heard of the name "The Four Madmen of Quanxing," who were truly ruthless killers.

Nie Lingfeng shook his head helplessly: "It's not that exaggerated, don't listen to rumors."

"Come on, I saw it all in the internal briefing of the Southwest Region." Wang Zhenqiu leaned closer, almost touching Nie Lingfeng's ear, his voice lower but filled with barely suppressed excitement. "Yuan Tao and Han Dan were cleaved forty meters by your sword, Shen Chong and Gao Ning died on the spot, Dou Mei and Xia He escaped with serious injuries... Even Grandpa Lu Jin, who had activated his Reverse Life Triple Technique, was driven to the brink of despair by you! The Old Celestial Master personally came down the mountain to clean up the mess! And you call this 'not that exaggerated'? What would be considered exaggerated? Would it mean demolishing the Celestial Master's Mansion?"

Nie Lingfeng sighed, knowing he couldn't explain it to this guy: "Let's go inside first, don't make a fuss at the door."

"Come on, come on!" Wang Zhenqiu grabbed Nie Lingfeng's shoulder with considerable force and led him into the hotel. "Everyone's been waiting for you for ages. Hei Guan's face is as black as the bottom of a pot."

The hotel lobby was even more shabby than it appeared from the outside. It was only twenty or thirty square meters in size, covered with a cheap, dark red carpet whose edges were worn and frayed. Against the wall stood three faux leather sofas, their surfaces cracked in several places, revealing the yellowed foam inside. Behind an old-fashioned reception desk sat a woman in her fifties, dozing off with her head nodding.

Wang Zhenqiu was clearly familiar with the place. Ignoring the receptionist, he pulled Nie Lingfeng directly up to the second floor. The wooden stairs creaked and groaned underfoot, sounding particularly jarring in the quiet night.

The second-floor corridor was long and dimly lit, with outdated floral wallpaper covering the walls, many parts of which were bubbling and peeling off. Wang Zhenqiu walked to the innermost door, didn't knock, and simply turned the handle and pushed it open.

The room was larger than I had imagined, resembling a guest room converted into a temporary meeting room. The space was about twenty square meters, with an old, long wooden table in the middle. Several large maps were spread out on the table, and several laptops had their screens lit up. Scattered around were leftover instant noodle containers, snack wrappers, mineral water bottles, and several ashtrays filled with cigarette butts.

The air was filled with a complex mixture of smells from instant noodle seasoning, cigarettes, sweat, and the heat from electronic devices.

Five people were sitting at the table.