Chapter 125: Beginning and End

"Fuck your mother, everyone earns the money, why should this little brat take it all?"

Xu Jun grabbed Chen Yubo’s head and roared: "Old Lin, Chen Xingzhou is about to die, what are you supporting? Can you support it! Take the money, split it, and go your separate ways, isn't that good?!"

"Not good."

Old Lin pulled the tablecloth, wiping the blood on his hands, expressionless: "The money that should be yours, you must take, and you must take it with peace of mind. Things that shouldn't be yours, you can't touch. If you touch them, you will burn yourself and die without a burial place."

"Die your mother! I’ll send this little bastard to see his brother right now!"

Seeing no hope of survival, Xu Jun’s face was ferocious, and he decisively pulled the trigger, "You eat shit!"

Unfortunately, there was no loud noise, no blood spraying.

Only the clicking sound of a jam.

One sound, then another.

He pulled the trigger frantically, but under Ji Jue’s gaze, it was useless.

In the end, amidst the changes in his ferocious and terrified expression, only dullness remained. He stared blankly at Old Lin, who walked in front of him, and finally realized.

He dropped the gun and gave a contemptuous smile, wanting to say something, but his throat was pinched by a hand.

Then, thick smoke and sparks sprayed out from his mouth and nose!

In an instant, a person struggling in terror was burned to ashes in his hand. A few flames like fine streams merged into Old Lin’s mouth and nose. His eyes were pitch black, as if they were caves leading to a cavern of earth fire, and scarlet flames flashed and disappeared.

Immediately, he returned to normal.

Finally, he looked at Ji Jue.

"Capable people work hard. If you’re not satisfied, there’s another one lying on the mountain behind, holding a camera and taking pictures this way." Ji Jue pointed in the direction, sighing: "The clarity is quite good."

Old Lin nodded, and his figure flashed and disappeared.

Inside the room, there was dead silence.

Everyone looked at each other, and finally looked at Ji Jue. Ji Jue was silent, and no one dared to speak. Only Chen Yubo, who had survived a disaster, lay on the chair, breathing frantically.

Wiping the black ash that fell on him in a mess.

After a few minutes, Old Lin returned, holding a camera with a huge lens he didn't know, and in his other hand was a phone whose shell had been burned and melted.

In front of everyone, he put it on the table.

The collision sound was crisp.

"Everyone rest assured, those with ghosts in their hearts will die, but those who can stay are still brothers, sharing life and death and wealth. When the boss comes back, he will never treat his own people badly!"

Since the beginning, this was the first time Old Lin showed a smile, so gentle.

But as the saying goes, a distant cake cannot quench a near thirst, even if it is fermented into kvass. After using the big stick to show the cruel consequences of being a traitor, the next step was the carrot and sweet date session.

Uncle Lin clapped his hands, and assistants pushed up small carts, piled full of black boxes one after another.

Everyone who chose to stay got one, even Ji Jue got a share, heavy in his hand.

This density made Ji Jue click his tongue.

Are they all gold bars?

This handwriting is indeed exaggerated.

With real gold and silver encouragement and a distant cake, it seemed that life suddenly had hope. What’s more, there was Old Lin’s promise that when the boss came out of the hospital, even if everyone didn't do business in Yacheng, they could make a comeback in the Thousand Islands.

The morale that had been low was also boosted.

After the meeting came to an end, the first to jump up was that Brother Goldie, who didn't know life or death. Unlike other guys with a belly full of schemes, he was stupid, uncultured, and had clear eyes. Until now, his mouth was full of loyalty, simple to the extreme.

"Hey, awesome, brother."

He was the first to lean over, smiling enthusiastically, full of curiosity: "How did you see it? Is it a hacker?"

"Just a trick to fool people, it’s worthless once explained." Ji Jue waved his hand and smiled: "When it comes to real action, we still have to rely on everyone."

"Oh, easy to say, easy to say, whoever dares to move the boss’s brother, the first one will have to ask me!"

Brother Goldie grinned, patting his chest and laughing heartlessly.

It was truly enviable.

After Uncle Lin sent away the subordinates who were in business, he sat next to him: "How does Mr. Ji feel?"

Ji Jue just shook his head, "I still can't accept your style."

Either taking people’s heads, or leaving no corpses.

Scary.

Old Lin sighed: "The society is like this. Bai Lu and Tianyuan are different. If you make a mistake, you can't just fire them. If you do something wrong, you have to bear the consequences."

"If you don't do things, you won't be wrong."

Ji Jue didn't care.

When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Chen Xingzhou’s boat is about to sink, can you expect everyone to die for loyalty? At this time, those who say they are not loyal must be disloyal, but those who show loyalty may not be loyal.

Everyone is an old fox who crawled out of the sewer. Who cries when watching Liaozhai?

Most of the ten people who say they believe in the boss are dragging their feet, waiting for Chen Xingzhou to breathe his last before seamlessly connecting to the next job.

Maybe they have already found the next home.

More importantly...

"So many people left, is it enough?" Ji Jue raised his eyes to look at the restaurant. Except for him and Xiao An, the remaining Chosen Ones were only Ah Yi and Goldie.

Ah Yi looks like the kind of person who is scared to death and can't be used. Goldie is the opposite, innocent to the point of not knowing life or death.

If Lei Yaoxing really wants to turn his face, rely on them to protect Chen Yubo?

Are you serious?

Uncle Lin, even if you are made of iron, how many can you fight?

Besides, what about Chen Xingzhou, don't you care?

"Rest assured, Yubo’s matter has nothing to do with the Wild Market, as long as we survive this period. Besides, bodyguard work is about quality, not quantity."

"I have already invited foreign aid."

Old Lin looked at his watch: "Calculate the time, it should be here soon."

As soon as the words fell, dust rolled on the road up the mountain, and an off-road vehicle full of mud had already driven toward the manor in a crooked way.

Ji Jue just took one look and couldn't help shaking his head: If you drink less than half a catty, you won't drive like this ghost.

Finally, it dangerously scraped the iron gate and entered, drifting and stopping in front of the villa.

An empty wine bottle was thrown out of the window.

Then, a burly, swaying figure walked down from the car.

Although tanned, one could see the original skin color was quite white, the eyes were emerald green, with obvious imperial characteristics, but the eyebrows had a bit of the appearance of a Federal person. But the black curly hair and the accessories on his body and the scimitar at his waist were full of Central Plains characteristics.

Looking up, he grinned at the people upstairs.

The teeth revealed totems of various Thousand Island styles.

Ji Jue was dumbfounded, what kind of peerless mix-and-match is this?

Trendy, too trendy, so trendy that he was a little scared.

"Long time no see."

Old Lin, who was waiting at the door, took a deep breath and called out helplessly: "Mr. Muhammad Wanyan Tombalovsky."

"Hey, we’re all familiar, just call me Old Tang."

The swaying middle-aged man was full of stubble, patting Old Lin’s shoulder, "Didn't you say to guard the ward? Why are you here again? This is different from the contract."

Old Lin smiled: "This side needs an expert like you to sit in town."

"Forget it, it’s all guarding the yard and watching the door, even if the wages aren't paid, they should be calculated! Meal expenses subsidy... cough cough, that oil fee subsidy, high-temperature work and what injury subsidy, must be calculated!"

He said, patting his head: "Night shift hourly fee is calculated separately!"

"Rest assured, easy to say, everything is easy to say."

Old Lin smiled and sent him in, introducing him to Chen Yubo.

And the moment Ji Jue looked at him, both of them were stunned, their expressions stiffening.

The reason for Ji Jue’s astonishment was that in his perception, in just a few minutes, the spiritual essence fluctuation in the other party’s body was like a stock K-line chart, high and low, without any regularity. When it was high, it was terrifyingly abundant, almost full at the sixth level, with half a foot stepping into the rebirth rank, simply a strong person. When it was low, it was not even as good as Ji Jue, a second-level novice, almost nothing.

And the reason for the other party’s stiffness was because he saw Ji Jue... beside Xiao An!

It was as if he felt something from the young man, and in an instant, his hair stood on end!

Damn, it’s evil!

Old Tang rubbed his eyes, dumbfounded: How come when he was guarding the house, he saw a cub of the An family as soon as he entered? What the hell?!

What kind of good family has a cub of a Bai Lu hunter squatting in it!

First bewildered, then shocked, confused, and even... Ji Jue’s familiar regret.

Almost beating his chest and stomping his feet, full of pain.

——Oh no, the money is too little!!!

The moment he reacted, he instinctively looked back: "Can you add more money?"

"Rest assured."

Old Lin still smiled, "When the boss comes back, everything is easy to say."

I believe your ghost!

But things had come to this, the contract was signed, and the account used to receive the commission was the big one. Old Tang, who had accidentally fallen into a pit, had nothing to say.

After all, he had broken too many contracts before, and his credit score was already precarious. If he messed up this order, he wouldn't be able to live in the future, let alone next month, he wouldn't be able to open the pot tomorrow.

The helpless worker could only accept his fate.

And add money.

It seemed that he wanted to turn grief into appetite. From the moment he sat down, his mouth didn't stop, as if he were a starving ghost reincarnated. He alone emptied two refrigerators. If it weren't for the inventory in the cold storage being enough, everyone would only be able to order takeout in the future.

However, he was quite generous, and after a while, he became familiar with everyone.

When he was holding a wine bottle and talking about his past experiences, he was dancing with joy.

Battles in the Central Plains, deep into the Empire, prison breaks in the Federation... all seemed to have a look, and the details were quite detailed. Although the names sounded fake, at least he was experienced.

He had done dirty work and tiring work. In his words, this kind of security operation was a vacation.

After all, there is no way to make money in this day and age, especially for large groups of mercenaries, money is even harder to earn. If you don't want your life, you can naturally earn funeral money, but sometimes wanting to live and get the money is a technical job.

After all, such a fat job as watching an oil field is fought over by the regular army internally, where does it get to the outside help? You can't even get a cool place to stand in the corner.

Most of the time, large groups of mercenaries take the most poisonous beatings, eat the most ruthless losses, and earn the least rice. After all, in this day and age, an eleven or twelve-year-old child in the Central Plains can pick up a submachine gun and come out to take orders. Killing and arson in the usual sense have no professional barriers and thresholds. If you don't do it, there are plenty of Palus who will.

It’s no wonder that Si Lan and the others treasured Young Master Lou so much—this kind of job with a lot of money and little trouble is really too hard to find. Being able to get a reliable long-term customer with a fixed relationship is enough for the entire Knights Templar to eat for decades. Si Lan’s own head could fall, but Young Master Lou’s head couldn't fall. Otherwise, if the boss died, the other knights would tear him apart?

However, unlike Si Lan’s regular Central Plains legion coming out to earn extra money, Old Tang was a lone ranger.

Generally, such people call themselves 'Knight-Errant'.

Simply put, they are street wanderers in the large group, fleeing criminals in the eyes of the Empire and the Federation, belonging to the bottom of the discrimination chain of the large group.

Everyone hangs out, whether they have unique skills or not, the main thing is to have dirty hands, thick faces, black hearts, and run fast.

And Old Tang claimed that his family had been followers of the large group for generations, and his ancestors were also once prosperous, and had their own Knights Templar, but it was his turn, the family was in decline, and the past was unbearable to look back on.

"When my ancestors were soldiers for the Eternal Dynasty, my great-great-great-grandfather was the Grand Marshal, which can be considered a high-ranking official, right?!"

When bragging about his family background, Old Tang said it was falling from the sky, causing the simple Brother Goldie to make a sound of oh oh, full of worship. Only Ji Jue didn't have the heart to correct him—the Eternal Empire is a cabinet system, and they didn't have the position of Grand Marshal from beginning to end...

Seeing that they had finished communicating and were familiar, Old Lin brought the assistant and the small cart over again.

"This is what you want, do you think it’s enough?"

The first thing placed in front of Old Tang were several heavy leather boxes. After opening them, they were actually knives and swords, one after another, cold and sharp, with spiritual essence flowing.

Although they were not exaggerated to the point of giving blessings, the materials were solid and the workmanship was exquisite. They were proper alchemical works, and the completion was not low.

Except for Old Tang, everyone else had them.

What was given to Goldie was a necklace, with a ruby as big as a pigeon egg inlaid on it, and the spiritual essence fluctuation was manic and enthusiastic, which seemed to be used for ability amplification. What was given to Ah Yi were two crystal prisms. When the light refracted on them, it splashed thousands of beautiful broken lights.

What was given to Xiao An was a whole box of alchemically processed daggers, which were clearly custom-made for throwing, and the material was much better than the iron sheets he bought casually.

Only when it reached Ji Jue, there was nothing.

Old Lin just took him to the underground garage, pushed open a door that had been locked for a long time, and revealed the space behind the door.

"As far as I know, the Ember series usually needs some assistance. Do you think these are enough?"

"Ah this..."

Ji Jue was dumbfounded.

Behind the door, it was already full of various equipment, from furnaces to liquefied reactors, probes, engraving tables, and the most common various processing tools, all available.

All of them were 99% new, well-maintained, and carefully maintained. After debugging, they were even better to use than new products.

Except for not having exaggerated equipment outside the specifications such as workshop cores and spiritual essence furnaces, it was almost equivalent to a simple workshop.

If Professor Ye or Qiu Ge were here, they might sneer twice, what kind of garbage is this to dirty my eyes.

But the one here is Ji Jue.

For a poor dog who has nothing, this is perfectly matched with his level. Anyway, even if high-end tools were given to him, it would be a waste. These are already completely enough.

Not to mention the material storage that is all matched according to standards.

"After it’s over, these won't be used." Old Lin lowered his voice and said in his ear: "If it’s convenient, please help deal with them."

"Ah this..."

Ji Jue hadn't reacted yet, and was dumbfounded again.

Then, what was put into his pocket was a business card: "Besides that, during this period, if you have any other needs, just order by calling this phone. As long as it is common in the market, it should be no problem."

"Ah this... that would be..."

Ji Jue was half-pushed and half-pulled. He reluctantly stuffed it into his pocket.

"Do you have any other instructions?" Old Lin said with a smile: "I will try my best to help you get it done."

"Is it too generous?"

Ji Jue looked back at him: "I’m not a professional, I’m just here to be the boss’s mascot. If I can't beat them, I will run. Please don't count on me too much."

Old Lin shook his head decisively: "They are Boss Chen’s employees, you are Yubo’s friend, naturally different."

Ji Jue sighed.

He pushed the door and closed it. In the silence behind the door, after pondering for a while, he finally couldn't help but ask: "But such a comprehensive arrangement, shouldn't it be given to Boss Chen first?"

Old Lin answered without hesitation: "The boss has other arrangements there. Besides, his life and death are unknown, so it’s hard to say about the future. According to his previous orders, priority is given to Yubo’s safety."

Ji Jue shook his head: "What for?"

"Yubo is the boss’s only family, his own brother, what is there to plot?"

"What about you?"

Since he had already said it, Ji Jue wouldn't be embarrassed. Especially everything he saw today was too strange. It seemed natural, but it always revealed a trace of bizarre violation of common sense.

Whether it was the meeting that seemed to be appeasing but was actually breaking up, or this overly rich preparation, it made him start to doubt Old Lin’s intentions.

"Chen Xingzhou is lying in the hospital, his life and death are uncontrollable, Chen Yubo is indecisive and has no ambition, his mind is full of how to raise cats when there is no money in the future. What about you, Old Lin?"

Ji Jue asked straightforwardly: "As a follower of Bai Lu, do you have any other thoughts at this time?"

"..."

Old Lin finally stopped smiling, or rather, when the gentle disguise dissipated, he revealed his true face, indifferent and calm, without any wavering. His pitch-black eyes looked at him, and for a long time, the corners of his mouth seemed to hook.

"Rest assured, Mr. Ji, Yubo is someone I watched grow up. I have never been married, and I have no children. He is like my own nephew, and I will definitely not harm him."

"As for you, I know you don't want to get involved with the Wild Market, and I can guarantee that as long as this period passes and Yubo is safe, you will definitely not have any trouble."

"Even if this old bone of mine can't hold on, I won't leave unrelated people in the fire pit."

It sounded like a thing, perhaps sincere, perhaps hypocritical, but Ji Jue didn't care. Since he got involved in Chen Yubo’s life and death, he was already prepared to face the consequences.

At worst, I’ll just walk away and hide in the workshop and not come out. Lei Yaoxing, no matter how awesome and powerful you are, come to the North Mountain District and bite me?

This is the confidence brought to me by two golden thighs, understand?

"What about you?"

Finally, he asked again, but it was not the same question.

"Me..."

In the brief silence, Old Lin gave a self-deprecating smile: "I’ve been working hard for half my life. I’m old, and I have no ambition or ideals to speak of. The bosses I’ve followed, adding them up, there are no eleven or twelve, but there are eight or nine. None of them had a good ending."

"The Bai Lu Path is like this. You become famous overnight, and you die on the street overnight."

"If I have to say it, I just want to have a beginning and an end."

Ji Jue didn't say anything else, watching Old Lin leave.

After a long time, he suddenly patted his head and finally reacted: Oh no, it seems the case is solved!

Was Chen Xingzhou sent in by you?

"How come I find that people who get involved with you usually don't have a good ending."

In the afternoon, outside Yacheng, at another remote wharf. Old Lin, who had been waiting for a long time, leaned on the car and smoked, finally waiting for the car that stopped not far away, and the withered old man who walked out of the car.

As soon as they met, he complained to Old Lin.

He had white hair, yawning, as if he hadn't slept for a long time, and his eyes were full of bloodshot veins. His unwashed hair was still stained with blood.

"It’s really troublesome to earn a little bit of your money. I’m so old, and I’ve worked for so long. Chen Xingzhou still has a breath, but I was almost sent away by him."

The old man’s steps were a bit staggering, as if he were dizzy, and he leaned against the wall after walking two steps: "I’ve done everything I can do. Don't blame me if anything happens. I’m not the King of Hell, I don't manage the Book of Life and Death."

"Doctor, you’ve worked hard. This is the agreed remuneration, double."

Www.Ttkдn.C〇

Old Lin signaled his subordinates behind him to send the remuneration, and pointed to the plain boat behind him: "It’s already arranged, it will arrive in Chaocheng tonight."

"Although a doctor shouldn't say this, I don't have any medical ethics, so please forgive me."

The old man counted the money in the box and said casually: "That panacea was wasted on him."

"That’s a good thing that a high-level Chosen One can hang his life with one shot. Giving it to an ordinary person is simply a waste of heaven’s things."

"With his resilience, even if he uses the technology in the 'hospital', it’s hard to survive the sequelae. Even if he survives, he will be a vegetable, and no one knows when he will wake up."

"I really don't know what you’re plotting."

"Just being alive is enough."

Old Lin smiled, full of relaxation: "As long as you are alive, there is a future."

The old man was stunned for a moment, unable to understand: "No, you have such confidence in him?"

"It’s not me who has confidence in him, it’s him who has confidence in himself."

Old Lin lit a cigarette and exhaled a wisp of blue smoke: "He told me before that a person’s life must be held in his own hands. No one can take it away."

"Now the opportunity to prove it has come..."

He paused, gazing at the huge city on the blue sea in the distance, "It depends on whether he can do it."