Upon hearing Lin Qiye's reply, Wu Xiangnan's brows furrowed even more deeply.
Just as he was about to ask something else, Hong Ying suddenly sat up, her reddened eyes staring at Wu Xiangnan, and shouted angrily:
"Wu Xiangnan! What do you mean by this?!"
"Zhao Kongcheng is dead! Our teammate is dead! And yet you still insist on dwelling on his death!Don't you feel even a little sadness in your heart?!"
Wu Xiangnan opened his mouth, paused for a moment, and then calmly said, "I'm also very saddened by Lao Zhao's death, but the truth is equally important."
Hong Ying stared at him intently, her chest heaving violently. She sneered twice, slammed the black box in her hand heavily on the ground, and turned to walk towards the exit of the basement.
Wen Qimo, who was standing nearby, wanted to say a few words of advice, but felt his sleeve being tugged and turned his head in confusion.
Si Xiaonan was standing next to him, shaking her head.
"So, those things at the scene..."
"Shonan, that's enough!"
Just as Wu Xiangnan was about to press Lin Qiye for answers, team leader Chen Muye, who had been standing on the sidelines, suddenly spoke up, interrupting him.
"Lin Qiye has already made things very clear. As for the details... there's no need to ask any further. Let's leave it at that." Chen Muye put his hands in his pockets, walked behind Wu Xiangnan, and patted him on the shoulder.
Wu Xiangnan turned his head in surprise and saw Chen Muye's unquestionable gaze. After hesitating for a long time, he nodded helplessly.
Chen Muye walked to the sofa opposite Lin Qiye and slowly sat down.
"Now that Zhao Kongcheng's matter is settled, it's time for us to talk about you, Lin Qiye."
"What should we talk about?"
"As far as I know, Zhao Kongcheng once invited you to join Night Watcher, but you refused. Later, he even told us that he had lost track of you. If you don't come out with Zhao Kongcheng's body, we may never find you again in our lifetime..."
"Given that, why do you want to join Night Watcher now?"
Chen Muye gazed into Lin Qiye's eyes, his gaze deep and unfathomable.
"To repay a favor," Lin Qiye said calmly.
Chen Muye was taken aback. "A favor?"
"I made an agreement with him that I would join Night Watcher." Lin Qiye paused, "But I have one condition."
"What are the conditions?"
"I will only stay at Night Watcher for ten years. After ten years, I will leave."
Upon hearing Lin Qiye's words, everyone present was taken aback, and their expressions immediately turned strange. "Night Watchers aren't community volunteers. Once you join, you can't leave, so what you're talking about—ten years… I can't promise you that. No one in the entire Night Watcher organization can give you that commitment."
Just as Lin Qiye was about to say something, Chen Muye spoke again:
"However, if ten years from now you have the ability to leave Night Watcher on your own and leave Night Watcher's higher-ups helpless against you, then that's a different story."
"In short, trying to leave Night Watcher through the proper channels... no way!"
"Okay." Unexpectedly, Lin Qiye nodded readily. "If we can't leave ten years from now, that's our problem."
Upon hearing Lin Qiye's almost lawless reply, Si Xiaonan and Wen Qimo were both astonished and their mouths dropped open. Even the usually icy Cold Xuan's eyelids twitched, and he glanced at Lin Qiye a couple more times.
"In that case, I will submit your application to the higher-ups immediately. However, you guys will not be considered formal team members until after the intensive training."
"Training camp?"
"Night Watcher is a semi-military organization. All new recruits must undergo a year-long intensive training program before officially joining Night Watcher, learning skills such as hand-to-hand combat, firearms, combat deployment, and the use of the Forbidden Ruin."
"When does it begin?"
"Every September, which is a month from now. And before you complete the training, you'll only be considered a temporary member of our Team." Saying this, Chen Muye seemed to remember something and reminded him solemnly:
"For temporary members, we don't provide room and board."
Lin Qiye:...
Lin Xi Chen:...
No meals or accommodation included?
Wasn't Night Watcher supposed to have great benefits? How can they be so stingy?!
"Then, where will us stay for the next month?" Lin Qiye panicked.
Go back to Aunt's house? No, no, no, there's a 99% chance he won't come out again. He might even take his whole family and run away...
However, he definitely needed to inform Aunt, at least to let her know he was safe, so he planned to write a letter back saying that they had joined the army, which would put her mind at ease.
The problem now is that Night Watcher won't let him stay overnight, so is he forced to sleep on the streets?
"It's okay, you can come and stay at my place."
Just then, Hong Ying, who had been secretly hiding behind the door, peeked out and whispered to Dao, "My house is quite big; giving you a room is no problem."
"Hong Ying, didn't you leave in anger?" Wen Qimo's eyes widened.
"I, I... I remembered I didn't get my things, so I came back, alright?!" Hong Ying glared at him, stepped into the room, picked up the black box on the floor, turned, and glared at Wu Xiangnan again.
Wu Xiangnan:...
Under Wu Xiangnan's speechless gaze, Hong Ying walked up to Lin Qiye and said gently, " Little brother Lin Qiye, Xiaochen, don't worry, now that you're on our team, I'll definitely protect you!"
"They'ra temporary members, temporary team members," Chen Muye corrected seriously. "Besides, it's not even certain who's older between you two, you can't just call him 'little brother' so casually."
"Captain, you're too rigid!" Hong Ying stuck her tongue out at Chen Muye, tore a piece of paper off the table, wrote down an address, and stuffed it into Lin Qiye's hand.
"Little brother Lin Qiye, I need to go practice shooting. If you can't find me after I finish the paperwork, just go home by yourself."
Hong Ying's face was very close to Lin Qiye's, so close that Lin Qiye could clearly smell her faint fragrance and see her eyelashes tremble slightly...
Those clear eyes gazed at Lin Qiye with a smile, like a pool of autumn water in a golden maple forest, clear and moving, yet full of warmth.
It must be said that Hong Ying is very beautiful.
Fair skin, a delicate nose, bright red lips, exquisite features, full breasts...
Lin Qiye quickly shifted her gaze back to the present.
Hong Ying stroked Lin Xichen's cheek; his sister was so helpless that she simply let Hong Ying do it—whereas on any other day, had it been Yang Jin or Lin Qiye, she certainly would have bitten their hands.
Two blushes inexplicably appeared on her face.This was the first time in his life he had been so close to a girl (not count his sister, she's a gremlin), especially a girl as natural and clear as Hong Ying.
"Thank you... thank you, Sister Hong Ying."
"Thank you Sister Hong Ying!"
"Hahaha—!" Hong Ying suddenly stood up and laughed excitedly, startling Wu Xiangnan behind him.
"Why are you acting so strangely!" Wu Xiangnan said rudely.
"Mind your own business!" Hong Ying pouted. "Who told our new little brother to call me that so sweetly..."
Lin Qiye's lips twitched slightly, and he subconsciously turned his head to the side.Just then, Wen Qimo walked over with a smile. " Hong Ying, stop bullying the newbie. Lin Qiye, come on, I'll show you around and tell you about Night Watcher."
Lin Qiye felt like he had been granted a pardon and followed Wen Qimo out the door, down the stairs to the ground floor.
"Lin Qiye." In the stairwell, Wen Qimo suddenly spoke.
"What is it, Senior Wen Qimo?"
"Cough, cough, cough... Don't call me Senior. That's too formal, and I'm probably only two or three years older than you." Wen Qimo scratched his head a little awkwardly, "Just call me by my name, or like them, call me Qi Mo."
"All right."
"Actually, I have a favor to ask." Wen Qimo stopped and looked intently into Lin Qiye's eyes.
"What?"
"Tonight...can I stay at Hong Ying's house with you? I've wanted to go for a long time."
Lin Qiye:...
Lin Xi Chen:.....