Chapter 330: Dungeon Countdown

The members of the Four Masters Society were overwhelmed dealing with Chen Xiaojing's surrender.

Meanwhile, in a corner no one noticed.

A new sanatorium quietly opened its doors.

Li Zhiyuan hung up the phone, thinking he was dreaming.

Just yesterday, after he was rescued by the people from Seven Stars, the Law Enforcement Agency quickly found him and took detailed statements from him and the patients.

And then...

They were told to go back and wait for the investigation.

After that, there was no further news.

Only then did he realize that finding a place for all these patients was a massive problem.

He still had a home to return to, but the patients here were mostly the result of Chen Xiaojing's meticulous selection. They were either people abandoned by relatives who found them too bothersome, elderly individuals without any family left, or disabled orphans like Li Ya...

In the end, left with no other choice, he brought all twenty-something homeless patients back to his own house.

He had been working as a general practitioner for quite a few years. Plus, even though Chen Xiaojing had committed countless atrocities, she paid very generously, perfectly matching the standards of a wealthy heir launching a startup.

Combined with his earlier savings, he had purchased a house in Muke District, roughly a hundred square meters in size.

The house felt quite spacious when he lived there alone, but with over twenty people suddenly moving in, it became exceptionally cramped.

People were hanging from the chandeliers, sitting on the toilet, perching on the trash cans...

Wherever he turned, there were people.

And looking at their clear yet slightly vacuous expressions, they resembled a flock of baby birds waiting to be fed.

"Doctor Li, we've caused you so much trouble..."

"Yes, we're really sorry for bothering you..."

"Doctor Li, I'll go out tomorrow and see if I can find a job..."

"It's fine, no trouble at all." Li Zhiyuan took a deep breath. In this day and age, where could these patients possibly find work? Even he wouldn't have an easy time finding a new job right now.

They would just have to stay here for now. He would start sending out resumes tomorrow...

Just as he made this decision, his Information Component suddenly rang.

"Hello? Is this Doctor Li Zhiyuan?"

A gentle male voice came from the other end of the line.

"Uh... yes, speaking."

Li Zhiyuan hesitated slightly.

"It's like this. We are a welfare institution named Tianque Sanatorium. We heard you have a group of displaced victims who need to be settled, so we called to ask if you require any assistance."

The man then explained their institution's procedures and the legitimacy of their contracts. He emphasized that they accepted outside visits at any time, would not confiscate communication devices, and even had the backing of the Law Enforcement Agency.

Finally, the man added, "If you are willing, I can also hire you on the spot as our hospital's attending physician and brand ambassador."

"And what would I need to do?" Li Zhiyuan asked.

Having already stepped on a landmine once, he was highly vigilant. If his carelessness sent these patients back into the abyss, he would truly become a joke.

"As spokespersons for our sanatorium, you and the patients would occasionally need to endorse our affiliated brands and speak out when necessary. Additionally, you would take on certain responsibilities for promoting our corporate culture."

Hearing the man's explanation, Li Zhiyuan's internal vigilance lessened slightly.

He knew the other party was using them as a mouthpiece and a promotional tool.

But this way of putting their motives right on the table actually made him trust them more.

Pure goodwill was not to be trusted. Even someone like him, who considered himself fairly kind, held this belief. You could be kind yourself, but you couldn't gamble on the kindness of others.

This recent incident was the perfect example.

The other party obviously wanted to use this opportunity to promote their own company.

Looking at it this way, if everything was true, he had no reason to refuse.

"I need to discuss this with the others. If it's alright, I'll reply to you later."

He said.

"I look forward to your reply."

After hanging up the call, he quickly relayed the matter to the others, emphasizing that they might need to do some promotional work for the company later, which would likely involve some exaggeration.

"I have no problem with that."

Old Man Zhang was the first to state his position.

"Yeah, I'm fine with it too. It's just acting, right? I'm good at that."

"Mhm, I can do it too."

"And me..."

Soon, everyone reached an agreement.

First, they desperately needed a place to go; it was impossible to expect Li Zhiyuan to support so many people on his own. Second, at this point, they had absolute trust in Li Zhiyuan. After all, they had seen with their own eyes how he stood in front of them and was beaten until he coughed up blood.

And so, Li Zhiyuan messaged the man back, arranging to go take a look the next morning.

The other party stated that the director would receive them in his stead.

...

...

The next day.

The group arrived in front of the hospital the man had mentioned.

"Tianque Sanatorium"

Just as the man had said, it was a completely incomprehensible name.

However, it was clearly newly put up. The sheet metal of the original name hadn't been completely dismantled yet, so an LED sign had been temporarily hung in front to block it out.

It looked...

A bit sloppy.

"Welcome, everyone, to our sanatorium for a tour."

A raspy voice rang out. The group followed the sound but couldn't immediately locate the speaker. It wasn't until they looked down that they saw a black cat wearing a black suit.

Li Zhiyuan immediately widened his eyes:

"It's you!"

"What do you mean, 'you'? Please address me politely, sir."

Yan Jing smiled faintly:

"Allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Mao Si, the director of this Tianque Sanatorium. I will be taking you all on a proper tour of our facility today."

"Kitty!"

From behind Li Zhiyuan, Li Ya ran out with wide eyes. Smiling, she dashed up to Yan Jing:

"Kitty! Kitty!"

"It's a pleasure to see you again, my dear little lady."

A black Little Bird materialized in Yan Jing's palm, and he placed it in Li Ya's hands:

"This is a greeting gift for you."

"Birdie!"

Li Ya cried out happily.

Seeing this, the guard Li Zhiyuan had put up lowered a bit more. Ever since Li Ya woke up yesterday, she had been obsessing about going back to the sanatorium, saying there was a birdie there.

"Yes, it's the one that was buried under the flower. I resurrected it and brought it back for you."

Yan Jing smiled.

Li Zhiyuan was stunned.

Only then did he realize why Li Ya had been staring at that flower and calling it a bird. When Chen Xiaojing crushed that bird, it had fallen exactly where that flower later bloomed. Thinking back on it now, Li Ya must have buried the weird energy that stained her hands, which prompted a flower to grow there.

But how did this cat know that?

"Thank you! Good kitty! Thank... thank you!"

Li Ya said.

"You're welcome."

Yan Jing bowed like a gentleman:

"Follow me, everyone. I think you'll like it."

Soon, Yan Jing took the group on a complete tour of the sanatorium.

During this process, Li Zhiyuan noticed that the black cat in front of them knew absolutely nothing about this sanatorium.

He suspected it had been here for less than half a day. It even had to ask the cleaning ladies for directions.

When he voiced his suspicions, Yan Jing's response was:

"Not half a day, Doctor Li. I arrived exactly three minutes before you did."

"Otherwise, with my speed, I definitely would have finished touring this sanatorium before you arrived."

Just what was there to be proud of about that? Li Zhiyuan sighed helplessly.

Although he still had some misgivings, the other party had cited the backing of the Law Enforcement Agency—a condition almost impossible for ordinary businesses to secure. Moreover, seeing that everyone else seemed to think the place was nice, he could only nod in agreement.

"Excellent. Welcome to Tianque Sanatorium, everyone."

Yan Jing bowed and said, "Someone will have your rooms cleaned up shortly. A representative will handle the specific arrangements with you in about two hours. Of course, you can also call me at any time. So... I wish you all good luck."

With that, Yan Jing turned and left.

He handed the matter over to Dahan.

After dealing with this, he returned home, switched his identity, and then went downstairs from the hotel where his Luo Sheng persona was staying.

Zeng Qing's car was already waiting at the entrance.

"You're five minutes late."

Zeng Qing looked at her watch from the driver's seat.

"Sorry."

Yan Jing's expression was calm. "But passengers don't have to pay a waiting fee if they're up to five minutes late getting in the car. Those are the rules."

"It's the same for any ride-hailing app."

"..."

Zeng Qing's eyes widened slightly.

This guy actually... knew how to tell a dry joke?

It was her first time hearing him make a joke like that.

"Quite humorous."

She gave her evaluation.

"Let's go."

Yan Jing gave his instruction.

The two of them hardly spoke during the drive. For Zeng Qing, it was because if she started talking, she would inevitably bring up Chen Xiaojing's situation, and she still didn't know how to face it.

As for Yan Jing, it was simply because the roadside scenery was quite nice.

"That's Council Member Li, right?"

Yan Jing suddenly asked.

He looked out the window. A temporary stage had been set up by the highway, and a familiar face was giving an impassioned speech upon it. The crowd below was packed tightly together, with security personnel maintaining order.

Zeng Qing was somewhat surprised:

"You actually know about the council members?"

But soon, she realized it wasn't anything worth being surprised over, so she nodded:

"Yes, it's Li Chunliang. This time, someone from the Reform Faction has suddenly risen to prominence and practically secured one of the seats. That leaves only Li Chunliang and Liu Jie to fight over the remaining one."

"Look over there."

Lifting a finger from the steering wheel, Zeng Qing pointed to a spot not far from Li Chunliang. There was another stage set up there, standing in clear opposition to Li Chunliang's.

A thin man who looked to be in his fifties was standing on it.

"That's Liu Jie."

"Who do you support?" Yan Jing asked.

Zeng Qing glanced at the rearview mirror:

"The person I support belongs to the Peace Faction."

"Then who does Chen Xiaojing support?"

Yan Jing asked.

Hearing Chen Xiaojing's name, Zeng Qing fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly:

"Zhou Mo is with the Reconciliation Faction, and Song Haozhe is with the Reform Faction. Chen Xiaojing probably supports both; she usually just goes along with those two."

Yan Jing nodded.

"They're already giving speeches, so the general election can't be far off, right?"

"Ten days left."

Zeng Qing said.

"That's about right."

Yan Jing said.

"What's about right?"

Zeng Qing asked.

"Nothing."

Yan Jing closed his eyes and leaned back against the seat.

There were only eight days left until he entered the Dungeon.

He needed to thoroughly investigate Li Chengxi and Wen Tian, whom he had met last time, within these eight days.