Chapter 114 (2): Yin Shengong's Astonishment

Yin Shengong and the three elders were amazed by everything they had seen thus far.

Night Demon had clearly set very high standards for everyone in the Unmatched Escort Agency, and they all displayed immaculate etiquette and customer service to ensure an extremely pleasant experience for all visitors.

They couldn't help but wonder how Night Demon had managed to whip everyone into shape so effectively.

"Here's our finance department," Zhou Mei'er introduced as she led Yin Shengong's group on a tour. "All of our agency's money goes through here, and if you decide to employ our services, this is where you'll submit your payment. These are all our reception rooms..."

"Why do you have so many reception rooms?" Mu Linyuan exclaimed.

"Even this is not enough sometimes. During our busy periods, it's not uncommon to be visited by more than ten clients at once."

By the time they visited all of the departments of the agency, two hours had already passed.

"This is a small garden, and this is our Dragon Evolution Pond. Apparently, the fish inside are spirit fish capable of evolving into dragons. We all wonder when a dragon will actually emerge from this pond..."

"The courtyard up ahead is generally used for examining the goods assigned to us, and outside of that, it's used as a small drill ground where our escorts spar and train."

"These eighteen willow trees here are known in our agency as the Eighteen Levels of Hell."

"Eighteen Levels of Hell? What kind of name is that? What're they used for?" Qian Sanjiang asked.

"All escorts who make mistakes, such as losing goods, breaking agency rules, displaying rudeness to clients, among other transgressions, are hung upside-down on the trees to be whipped," Zhou Mei'er explained.

Never had Yin Shengong and the three elders imagined that this would be the purpose of the eighteen willow trees.

"Those buildings over there are the living quarters for the escorts. Beyond this floral wall is where the female escorts live. If we keep going through here, we’ll reach the backyard, where you'll find our agency's training grounds."

Yin Shengong's group was flabbergasted by just how massive the training grounds were.

"Every month, our head escort holds examinations to check on our cultivation base progression. The eighteen people who made the least progress will be hung up on the Eighteen Levels of Hell and whipped."

"All of these weapons were purchased by everyone over time, and they're all of quite a high quality."

The tour continued, and Zhou Mei'er patiently introduced all of the escort agency's landmarks in detail, both to pass the time and to display the wealth and foundation of the escort agency.

At the moment, there were over a hundred people toiling away on the training grounds, and dozens of them were engaged in sparring matches that were no less intense than battles of life and death.

Some were even knocked out during the course of the sparring matches before being dragged away.

Yin Shengong saw one escort throw a vicious punch into his opponent's nose, instantly sending a geyser of blood erupting in all directions, but in exchange, he received a punch to the eye, landing him with a black eye.

Nearby, another escort had been kicked in the crotch by his opponent, and he instantly let loose a blood-curdling howl of agony.

Elsewhere, someone had been grabbed by the hair and was being kicked in the face over and over again.

Yin Shengong and the three elders were stunned by the scenes of brutality playing out before them.

"These are sparring matches?"

"That's right."

"You call this sparring?!"

"Of course! As long as no one dies, it counts as sparring," Zhou Mei'er replied with a smile. "Our head escort always tells us that the harder we go in our sparring matches, the better prepared we'll be for battle."

Yin Shengong began massaging his temples, feeling the onset of a headache.

He felt like he was about to throw up if he heard the words "our head escort always tells us" again!

"This place is huge!" Hou Fang praised.

"It's all thanks to the efforts of our head escort," Zhou Mei'er said. "He was able to secure approval from the Hall of Protectionists to purchase all of the dozens of surrounding houses for several times the market price, and that's how we've been able to expand our agency to this extent. Our head escort is a man of brilliant foresight, and he always tells us..."

"Let's go back and have some more tea," Yin Shengong hurriedly interjected before Zhou Mei'er could continue.

"Sure. Right this way."

After this tour of the escort agency, Yin Shengong and the three elders had no idea who to feel.

Even with their immense experience, they were completely unable to tell that this was a demonic church's branch helm!

They knew that the escort agency was full of demonic church members, but it didn't feel that way at all!

***

As usual, Fang Che was out patrolling the streets, but now that he was the chief administrator, the nature of his work had changed.

His job was to assess the work of others, then throw fits once he returned to the administration hall if he discovered anything amiss.

For some reason, on this day, he was unable to shake off this lingering sense of unease and agitation, and even Tang Zheng didn't dare to speak to him in light of the palpable tension emanating from his body.

After racking his brains for a potential reason for Fang Che's foul mood, Tang Zheng suddenly said, "Administrator Zhao is still not back yet, Chief Fang."

"Huh?"

Fang Che had no idea why Tang Zheng had suddenly brought this up out of the blue, but at the mention of the subject, he realized that Zhao Ying'er had already been absent for close to two months.

Why is she still not back yet? Surely she's already recovered from her injuries...

It had always felt suspicious to him that she had apparently been taken back to her clan.

At the moment, there were many administrators speculating about Zhao Ying'er's background. In the past, she had appeared very ordinary, but there was now an air of intrigue and mystery about her.

"Which clan is Administrator Zhao from? Have you still not managed to find out?"

"No, but the hall master should know. I don't know if anyone is privy to that information though."

"The hall master knows? Why do you say that?"

"Because the hall master has never asked about this. On top of that, no one knows when Administrator Zhao left, and she didn't even apply for any leave at the administration hall, which means that the higher-ups definitely know about this. I asked my brother-in-law, and he says he doesn't know anything, so the hall master has to know," Tang Zheng analyzed.

Fang Che gave a thoughtful nod, and it occurred to him that everyone really was useful in their own ways.

Tang Zheng was far from competent in battle, but he definitely had a gift when it came to uncovering gossip!

At the moment, Fang Che was wondering which side Zhao Ying'er was on.

Sure, he was very handsome, but it still felt suspicious to him that Zhao Ying'er had given him that letter after he was only on the job for such a short time.

Weren't girls supposed to be more shy and reserved in these matters?

Fang Che didn't think that Zhao Ying'er would be so shallow as to confess to him on a love at first sight basis just for his looks.

If this had happened elsewhere, even in White Cloud Warrior Academy, Fang Che wouldn't have been surprised, but it felt like too rash and flippant a decision from someone in the Hall of Protectionists, someone accustomed to witnessing life and death.

Forget it. She'll come back eventually.

***

As they were walking along, they arrived at the restaurant where they had once shared a meal with Zhao Wushang and Zheng Yunqi.

An enlightened look instantly appeared in Fang Che's eyes at the thought of those two.

This lingering sense of unease indicated that there had to be something amiss.

Ye Meng was fine at home, and there was nothing happening in White Cloud Warrior Academy or the Hall of Protectionists.

Thus, that left only the escort agency as a potential source for his unease.

Is something happening in the escort agency?

After some contemplation, Fang Che said, "Tang Zheng, go back to the Hall of Protectionists and relay my instructions to everyone. I have something to take care of, so I won't go back to the Hall of Protectionists this afternoon."

"Yes, Chief!"

With that, Fang Che departed, and all those who were familiar with him extended friendly greetings his way.

"Out on patrol again, Chief Fang?"

"Thanks for your hard work, Chief Fang."

Fang Che reciprocated the greetings with a warm smile.

Upon his return to the Virtue Manor, he was met with a surprised Ye Meng.

"Why're you back so early today?"

"I have something to take care of," Fang Che replied as he hurriedly entered his study.

Ye could only look on with a displeased pout.

She wanted to tell him that she had reached the fifth-rank Lord tier, but it was clear that he was in a hurry to assume his role as helmsmaster.

A curious look then appeared on her face.

Why was it that Fang Che hadn't waited until midnight before going to the branch helm? In fact, it wasn't even nighttime yet. Could it be that something had happened in the branch helm?

With that in mind, Ye Meng immediately returned to her room to write up a report.

Her guess was that something had to have happened in the branch helm, and it was definitely no laughing matter, given the urgency displayed by Fang Che.

***

Fang Che changed out of his administrator uniform, then transformed into Helmsmaster Starlight before departing through the window. After traversing through several streets in secret, he emerged out into the open.

At this point, Head Escort Yin Xiu was a renowned and beloved figure in the White Cloud Prefecture, so he didn't have to hide.

As he drew closer and closer to the escort agency, he was greeted by more and more people, and he regarded everyone with a warm smile on his face, which somehow only made him appear even more hideous.

However, everyone was already accustomed to his ungodly looks.

After entering the escort agency, Yin Xiu asked, "Has anything abnormal happened today?"

"Abnormal?"

The guards at the entrance were rather stumped by this question.

"Everything has been normal as far as we can tell."

"Really? Nothing happened?"

"Not that we know of..."

Fang Che was perplexed.

You're telling me that I came here for nothing?

He made his way into the escort agency with a puzzled expression, and sure enough, everything appeared normal.

He made his way into the main hall before sitting down on his throne, wondering what could be causing this stubborn sense of unease.