Chapter 254: Has the Sky Not Fallen?

This place, Changancheng.

The only thing I remember is the countless beautiful hanfu girls on every street, and some law university that dug up its own ancestral founder's grave.

Before heading to the airport, An Sheng lay on Lin Ying's bed scrolling through his phone, searching for travel guides and related logistics for Changancheng.

In his past life, when An Sheng worked at a tea company, he often took green-skinned trains crisscrossing the country, but his business trips were always limited to tea-producing regions, and on his days off he refused to visit any tourist spots or cities.

Work was already stressful; why ruin a rare holiday by forcing himself into crowded tourist sites, getting squeezed like peanuts in hot oil?

Better to sleep in or head to a wellness center for a full-body treatment.

An Sheng's entire knowledge of Changancheng came from short videos and Luoyang people. Luoyang and Changancheng folks seemed to have sharp disagreements over certain geographical and historical legacies, but they hadn't come to blows yet.

Now that he was preparing to travel to Changancheng to wait for Yu Xueqing, An Sheng hastily did some last-minute research on travel logistics.

Then, as he scrolled through the music platform, for some reason, every video was of hanfu girls.

And construction crews weeping—on a single subway line, they'd unearthed two thousand ancient tombs. Archaeologists surrounded the construction teams; the moment a shovel struck the ground, the archaeologists pulled up crime scene tape.

Half an hour passed.

In the fox's tiny brain, all he could picture was the untoppling doll girl performing in Tang Dynasty's Never-Night City.

"I can't remember it anyway—it's not my fault. Taxis are easy to hail now. I'm here to study, not to tour." The little fox muttered under his breath, opened WeChat, and scrolled through Moments—99+ messages from Furries, with dozens of @s directed at him.

An Sheng glanced once and couldn't bear to look further—he saw Yu Xueqing's night cruise on the Pearl River last night, and some unknown spot where she'd eaten old-fashioned handmade pastries.

The fox's resentment rose—he'd bite her ass the moment he saw her.

"Fur Lord's meal is ready," Lin Bingyun brought a low table to the bed, considering possible discomfort from flying, she'd prepared light but refined dishes.

"Good!"

As Fur Lord ate, he noticed his phone ringing—it was Bai Tao.

Lin Bingyun picked up the call for him.

"Fur Lord, where did your fox go? The foxes in the neighborhood and tea estate don't match up!"

Bai Tao spoke in panic: "We haven't finished entering your information into the system yet—your ideological education hours are still 200 short…"

"Mmm."

Hearing Bai Tao's frantic questions, An Sheng happily replied with a soft mew: "I'm going to school."

"School? What school? Aren't you just scrolling short videos and playing Honor of Kings?" Bai Tao felt the sky had collapsed upon hearing Fur Lord's words.

From Fur Lord's tone, it wasn't hard to tell he was preparing to leave.

But they'd just begun entering his information into the system to register his identity.

And now Fur Lord had vanished.

Fur Lord, where's your territorial sense of chastity?

Aren't you afraid that after you leave, other spirit beasts will come to Jiule City and declare themselves kings?

Bai Tao wanted to say that—but then she remembered the white wolf who'd secretly hoarded over a dozen RPGs, two crates of ammunition, and two oversized off-road vehicles, and she fell silent.

After all,

Canines have a notoriously sneaky trait—they bury leftover food in hidden holes.

No one knows exactly how many weapons the white wolf stole from poachers and stashed away.

What he'd hidden before? Even less documented.

Generally speaking, normal spirit beasts couldn't consume the white wolf's live RPG rounds or sticky explosives.

Unless another beast as ferocious as Fur Lord emerged near Jiule City.

Otherwise, it's fox boss, wolf second—any spirit beast that shows up gets two full magazines.

Jiule City's spirit beasts have evolved too fast—they've leapt from the age of cold weapons straight into modern warfare.

…………

And feeling the sky had fallen wasn't just Bai Tao.

Far away in Changancheng, tour guide He Ying also felt the sky collapse when her boss called.

"Boss, are you kidding? It's peak summer travel season! You're dropping this notice last-minute and expecting me to finalize the itinerary today?"

"Do you eat liangpi with chili oil? Why does it feel like you're eating shit with your liangpi?"

As a native of Changancheng, who the hell doesn't know the roads are so jammed even bicycles can't squeeze through?

Every tourist spot is in line—even Huashan, famed as the most perilous mountain under heaven—tourists queue from base to summit, let alone booking VIP seats for the Song of Everlasting Sorrow.

To see the Terracotta Warriors? You'd have to dig your own tunnel just to get inside the site.

After being cursed by He Ying, the travel agency boss paused briefly, then said:

"Your group isn't ordinary. In simple terms—it's extremely business-oriented."

"Even simpler: your boss, my boss's boss's boss's company chairman."

The branch manager spoke casually: "If the chairman frowns, you're dead. If the chairman has an accident, you and I die together."

"Just tell me—is this group business enough? Isn't it your job as our top guide to handle it? The itinerary's already sent to you. If you need money to smooth things over, just call me."

"Business? You must be joking."

He Ying listened to the chain of bosses and tried to recall the character for 'boss'—and realized she didn't recognize it anymore.

After hanging up, she couldn't help but take the so-called chairman seriously.

Her travel agency controlled tourism routes across the four western provinces of Xia, and its branch offices were funded by the main agency and partnered with local resource brokers or influential figures.

The sole purpose of these branch offices was to resolve troubles for the agency—or to arrange premium services for their tour groups.

Even if a client got detained for fifteen days in your town, you had to get them out.

"What? Chairman lands at 1: 0 PM!" He Ying saw the pickup time was 1: 0 PM—it was already 9: 0 AM. She leapt out of bed, called another agency's guide, and begged for help to take over the group.

She rushed out of the hotel, reviewed the itinerary, notified staff, and cleared available time slots.

She compiled the schedule and sent it to her boss, requesting he use money to secure exclusive access.

By the time she finished arranging everything, she arrived at the airport at 12: 0 PM.

At the meeting point, besides herself, there was a group of sharp-dressed men and women, glancing at their watches, faces tense with impatience.

He Ying looked at them.

They smiled at her and immediately surrounded her, asking after her well-being.

"Holy shit… this is terrifying?"

For the first time, He Ying grasped the sheer influence and power of the chairman she'd never met.

Over thirty people had arrived hours early—just to wait for one person.

(End of Chapter)