"Who would have thought, he recognized me so easily. 'Damn it, it's you.'"
I almost forgot, my voice hadn't changed. I'd spent a lot of time with Lin Chi in Jiuxian Cave, so she'd surely remember my voice.
I directly called her on voice chat, ready to have a proper conversation. "Your sister's asleep. Director Lin, where are you?"
"Benxi."
"Benxi? Why?" I asked, confused.
"Your base. I'm with Mu Jige and the others."
"Oh, I thought you went back to Jingcheng."
"Not at all. There were some matters that needed to be coordinated with the Yin House, so I came over. When are you coming back?" Lin Chi asked.
"No definite plans yet, maybe tomorrow. Is Mu Jige with you?"
"In the room next door. Do you want to talk to her?"
I thought about it. "Forget it, it's too late. We'll talk tomorrow. Is Chen Lu still there?"
"She is, too. She came with Zheng Bingbing."
"Can you find Chen Lu for me?" I said.
"Huh?" Lin Chi sounded puzzled, wondering why I'd be looking for the "most useless" person in the team.
"Business matters."
"Oh."
Soon, Chen Lu's voice came through the phone, sounding very anxious. "Cheng Feng, are you okay!"
"I'm eating well, drinking well, and sleeping well. Don't worry about me. What about the Jiuxian Cave situation?"
"Old Wang and the others have completed the survey and are planning. What's up, are you in a hurry to make money? I have some, why don't you use mine first!"
I was already VIP number 9527 of Shabiya, able to freeload anywhere, so why would I be short on cash? I just wanted to give Chen Lu a good explanation, or rather, a stable future. As a mortal, she really couldn't keep following me on my adventures. It was too dangerous. Besides, Mo He no longer posed a threat to her family. Song Shanhe was dead, and Longyue didn't care at all. Her next focus would surely be on finding the reincarnated "Shanhai" and "Baize." Perhaps she'd already headed south to Jinling, to the Miao King's territory, to seize "Shanhai."
"Old classmate, from now on, don't follow Yao Yao and the others anymore. Focus on making money for me, okay?"
"What, you're done with me and now you're ditching me!" Chen Lu sounded unhappy.
"I'm worried about you getting hurt. What if something happens to the baby in your belly? You saw what happened at Jiuxian Cave. These dangers will only increase in the future." I said jokingly.
"Baby? How could it be so coincidental, already?" Chen Lu sounded incredulous.
"I said, 'what if'..."
"You scared me! Fine, I understand what you mean. As long as you don't ditch me, I'll be your head of logistics!"
"Alright, you head back to Shengjing first thing tomorrow. Don't run around with them anymore."
"Mmm, okay, I'll listen to you. But you have to come to Shengjing to see me!" Chen Lu giggled charmingly.
"Are you recovered?" I asked.
"Uh... Yes, yes, I'm ready."
"I'll plan to see you tomorrow," I said. To get to Benxi, I needed to pass through Shengjing, so it was a good opportunity to catch up with my old classmate.
"Hehe, okay, I'll be all clean and waiting for you!"
"Go take the phone back to Director Lin Chi's room," I said.
"She's right beside me."
"...And you still talked like that? I'm speechless. Aren't you ashamed? I'm even blushing a bit. Some keywords were blocked by the system. The real conversation was more explicit than what's written above."
Back with Lin Chi, she didn't react much to the playful banter between Chen Lu and me. She focused on the main point and confirmed with me again whether I was returning to Benxi tomorrow.
"I'll go back to Shengjing first. I have some matters in the Underworld that need handling."
Lin Chi agreed and said to keep in touch.
My two hundred "Underworld soldiers" and the ghost villagers from Black Mountain Fortress had all been tricked into reporting to the Underworld. I didn't know how the follow-up processing was going. After all, I still had the identity of an Underworld Officer. I was responsible for receiving and transferring souls, so I had to see it through. I should inquire about it...