FIMA Ch67: Temporary Worker

Gu Siyuan raised his hand and rolled down the car window, preparing to let some air in and cool down, when he was suddenly hit squarely in the face by a full bottle of beverage.

For a brief second, he thought it was Han Mingye’s group deliberately getting revenge out of resentment.
He stuck his head out to take a closer look, only for more things to come flying at his face—all sorts of drinks, bread, biscuits, milk, apples, and the like.

“Thank you! Thank you, Mr. Police Officers!”
“Thank you, Masters!”
The group of rescued tourists was throwing almost everything they had in their bags over to them.

The young Special Police officer driving in the front hurriedly said with a grin: “Ahahahaha, it’s an old tradition of the people.”

He Pan and the others enthusiastically waved outside: “No need to be so polite, comrades!”
“You’re welcome, head back safely!”

Gu Siyuan originally thought he would only get beaten up once he reached the capital, but it seemed he was taking a beating ahead of schedule.
He raised a hand and rubbed his face, which had turned red from the impact. Looking at the enthusiastic, rescued masses outside, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Right at this moment, that familiar malicious gaze shot over again.

Gu Siyuan lifted his eyes and glanced over. On the grassy clearing not far away, a helicopter with its propellers spinning constantly was parked.
The protagonist gong, Han Mingye, was sitting at the cabin door of the helicopter, staring fixedly at him.

Gu Siyuan gave a cold sneer and directly shut the window with a smack.
Trying to treat me as an opponent? Are you even qualified?

On the helicopter.

Han Mingye instantly furrowed his brows in even deeper displeasure. He turned to the inside of the cabin and said: “Han Mu, did you find out?”

The clansman named Han Mu immediately nodded: “En. That guy’s name is Gu Siyuan, he is… the biological younger brother of the ‘Northern Heavenly Wolf’.”

The cold light in Han Mingye’s eyes grew even more intense: “Gu Beilin’s younger brother?”
Hmph, truly a case of new hatred piling onto old grudges.

Han Mu advised him in a low voice: “Young Master, we should consider this matter at length. The Northern Heavenly Wolf is an absolute madman, he doesn’t give face to anyone…”
As he spoke, his voice even began to tremble.

He still remembered the National Grand Daoist Tournament three years ago. Gu Beilin was so iron-blooded and ruthless. With almost just one man and one blade, he took on the entire younger generation of the Four Great Aristocratic Families. Han Mu himself couldn’t even survive a single move against him.
In the end, that guy only got more and more excited as he fought, even demanding to fight one-against-many and telling everyone else to come at him together. It was only stopped because it violated the tournament rules.
That guy’s final look of regret was even more lingeringly terrifying.

It was precisely because the Northern Heavenly Wolf’s reputation was so overwhelming that in recent years, more and more rogue cultivators had joined the Special Control Bureau, making the Bureau increasingly less reliant on their Four Great Aristocratic Families.

Han Mingye’s expression turned extremely icy, and he said disdainfully: “You think I would be afraid of Gu Beilin? Hmph, it was truly a pity that I hadn’t reached the age requirement during the last Grand Tournament. Otherwise, it’s highly uncertain whether the name of the Northern Heavenly Wolf would have even made it out!”

Hearing this, Xie Yuchen, who was sitting to the side, immediately chimed in softly: “Gu Beilin is two years older than you and has cultivated for two more years. If you were the same age, he definitely wouldn’t be a match for you.”

“En.” Han Mingye nodded lazily. He looked at Xie Yuchen with a gentle smile: “This year is another Grand Tournament. There are three months left. With your talisman arts, you will definitely be able to secure a high ranking.”

Xie Yuchen’s eyes curved into a smile.

Thinking of something, Han Mingye continued: “It’s true that the Special Control Bureau has recruited quite a few people these past few years, but they are almost all rogue cultivators with no proper inheritances. Their spell-fighting is barely passable, but when it comes to talismans, pills, and the like, they fall far short of our aristocratic families. This year, without Gu Beilin, I’m afraid they will end up getting completely wiped out.”

At this time, Xie Yuchen suddenly said softly: “Actually, the talisman-making talents of the grandfather and grandson, Xie Cang and Xie Xuanxing, are decent. Now that they’ve joined the Special Control Bureau, they will probably…”

Han Mingye narrowed his eyes: “Hmph, what kind of waves can two people make? However, since that’s the case, we can’t just watch idly. After we go back, I’ll discuss it with the other families. It’s time to let the Special Control Bureau realize the power of our aristocratic families once again.”

Hearing this, not only Xie Yuchen, but the others in the helicopter also couldn’t help but chuckle softly. It was as if they could already see the wretched state the people of the Special Control Bureau would be in.

…

H City was not far from the capital; it took four hours by train.

Gu Siyuan’s group was driven to the train station by the Special Police cars. They casually ate lunch nearby and then caught the nearest train.

When the group stood downstairs at the Special Control Bureau, the sky hadn’t yet gone dark.

However, the grandfather and grandson, Xie Cang and Xie Xuanxing, stared at the rusted iron gate in front of them, hesitating for a long time.
This is the headquarters of the National Special Events Control Bureau?
Are these three guys in front of them actually a gang of swindlers? Is there an organ trafficking or pyramid scheme den inside?

Gu Siyuan also swept a glance at He Pan and said faintly: “I remember it used to be in the suburbs.”

He Pan explained earnestly: “We recently moved here. Don’t look down on our entrance; this is a disguise to fool people, understand? It doesn’t look like this inside.”

The curly-haired guy also added, feeling quite indignant: “Do you think it was easy moving here? We all submitted a collective application… It’s so great being in the city center! We can order whatever takeout we want, and we can work overtime until however late we need to.”

Xie Cang grew even more hesitant. This workplace requires overtime?
With my old bones…

A moment later, the group finally took the elevator upstairs.

Indeed, unlike the dilapidated and old exterior, the office area had pristine white walls, bright lighting, and everything was brand new. The floors were even paved with marble.

On a long bench near the door, a long-haired young man was lazily sitting with his legs crossed, holding a phone and staring at it, looking completely engrossed.

As soon as the curly-haired guy saw him, he became quite excited.
“Luo Chuan, why are you here? Where’s your boss? Where’s my idol?”

“He went to the Director’s office. I’m waiting for him here.” A pleasant, clear male voice sounded, and the long-haired young man raised his head, revealing a breathtakingly gorgeous face.
His appearance was in no way inferior to Xie Xuanxing’s.

The curly-haired guy was extremely thrilled, rubbing his hands together: “Tsk, you guys must have handled another major case this time!”

“Pretty much.” The long-haired young man nodded faintly. He ignored the curly-haired guy and instead propped his chin on his fair hand, staring fixedly at Gu Siyuan. He said softly: “Long time no see.”

“Oh.” Gu Siyuan replied faintly. His expression remained unchanged, as stern and cold as ever.

Luo Chuan wasn’t angry either; he continued to observe him closely, his peach-blossom eyes rippling with charm.

Xie Xuanxing furrowed his brows, took a step forward, and stood right in front of Gu Siyuan.

Luo Chuan looked at his eyes full of possessiveness, narrowed his own eyes, and was struck dumb for a moment.
Then, he burst into laughter.

In the next second, Luo Chuan stood up from his chair. Stepping with long, straight legs, he walked over to Xie Xuanxing’s side in a few strides. He tilted his head slightly, almost pressing against his ear, and whispered in a lingering, ambiguous tone that only the two of them could hear: “Don’t worry, I won’t steal yours. I only like the idiot who swings a broadsword.”

Whether it was because of the hot breath spraying on his ear or because his inner thoughts had been laid bare, Xie Xuanxing’s fair cheeks instantly flushed crimson.
White jade stained with red—endlessly moving.

Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes, grabbed Xie Xuanxing, and pulled him behind his back. He said coldly: “Stay away from overly familiar people like him.”

Originally, he hadn’t planned on paying any attention to his older brother’s subordinate. But seeing him stick so closely to his little lackey, and even making him blush all over, an inexplicable trace of displeasure rose in his heart.

Xie Xuanxing glanced at the large hand on his wrist, and then at the tall figure blocking him from the front. The corners of his mouth curled into a smile.

Luo Chuan helplessly spread his hands. Ah, so their feelings are deep and mutual, leaving me as the only villain inside and out.
He rolled his eyes at Gu Siyuan unhappily: “Hehe, when your older brother beats you up later, don’t come begging me to plead for you.”

Gu Siyuan gave a cold, disdainful snort.
Did he think he was the idiot original owner? How could he possibly get beaten up?

Right at this moment, a faint clack-clack sound rang out. It was the sound of hard-soled riding boots stepping onto the marble floor. One step, one clack—rhythmic, orderly, and very pleasant to hear.

Consequently, the originally orderly and busy main hall suddenly stirred. Everyone simultaneously looked toward the Director’s office at the far end, looks of excitement rising on their faces.

Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes.

A tall figure wearing a black tank top, grayish-green camouflage pants, and brown riding boots was striding toward them at an extremely fast pace.
Then, he stopped right in front of Gu Siyuan.

Gu Siyuan felt as if a cold, heavy ancient blade that had been sharpened for a hundred years, radiating a sky-filling murderous intent, had been planted right before him.

Gu Beilin looked heavily at Gu Siyuan. Gu Siyuan immediately raised his eyes and looked back, not dodging or flinching.

Their locked gazes were like countless flashing blades and sword shadows crossing paths.

For a moment, the people standing nearby felt suffocated by their respective overbearing, utterly self-centered auras that seemed to treat everyone else as non-existent.

After a long while, Gu Beilin withdrew his gaze, nodded, and said coldly: “Not bad, an improvement from before. Go to my office and tell me the details of this incident.”

After speaking, he cast a glance at Luo Chuan and continued walking forward without hesitation.

Luo Chuan blinked, threw a pitying glance at Gu Siyuan—seemingly disappointed that he didn’t get beaten up—and then cheerfully trotted after Gu Beilin’s footsteps.

Gu Siyuan didn’t bother sparing a glance for Luo Chuan. After the figures of those two disappeared, he slightly turned his body, looked at Xie Xuanxing, and strode toward Gu Beilin’s office.

Xie Xuanxing smiled and followed him.
That look just now meant exactly this, right? These two brothers are actually quite similar.

As the most renowned member of the younger generation in the Special Control Bureau, Gu Beilin had a large, independent office.

The space was about thirty square meters. Right in the line of sight was a soft, beige sofa with three or four cute animal-shaped throw pillows on it. At the end of the sofa was a princess-style cubby desk piled high with snacks, drinks, various silly little ornaments, and romance novels with incredibly cheesy titles.

Gu Siyuan slightly lowered his head and looked at his feet. The floor was covered with a pink, kawaii carpet.

Tsk…

He hurriedly walked to the innermost part against the wall. There, a cold, black desk and a few chairs were placed. On the wall behind it hung an old, heavy broadsword.

Obviously, this was nominally Gu Beilin’s office, but in reality, only this one corner truly belonged to him. The vast majority of the area had been taken over by Luo Chuan’s aesthetics.

He couldn’t help but show a look of sympathy and disdain toward Gu Beilin. To actually let his own subordinate walk all over him… truly worthless.

Thinking of this, Gu Siyuan subconsciously looked over at Xie Xuanxing, secretly vowing that he would definitely make his little lackey stay obedient; there would be no overturning the heavens here.

As a result, he found his little lackey and Luo Chuan sitting side-by-side on the beige sofa. With a bottle of yogurt in his mouth and holding a silly animal pillow in his arms, Xie Xuanxing had a very comfortable and cozy look on his face.

“…” Gu Siyuan.
Is it really… is it really that comfortable?
When he entered Division 2 and got his own office, would he have to decorate it like this too?
That’s too stupid.

“Sit here.” Gu Beilin pointed at the black leather-backed chair beside him.

Gu Siyuan nodded.

Next, they entered the brothers’ simple and icy Q&A mode.
Gu Siyuan didn’t speak much, and Gu Beilin spoke even less. In just a few minutes, the two roughly covered everything that had happened.

Gu Beilin nodded and said indifferently: “Although your spiritual energy still hasn’t improved, the fact that you could forge a new path and find another way out means you’re not a complete piece of trash.”

Hearing this…
Before Gu Siyuan even had time to shoot back a sarcastic remark, Xie Xuanxing, sitting on the sofa nearby, unhappily puffed out his cheeks and glared at the man. His whole body exuded an unconcealable icy aura, instantly transforming from a sweet little cake into a cold popsicle.

Even if he’s his biological older brother, he can’t talk about Gu Siyuan like that!

Luo Chuan hastily patted his hand, smiling: “Calm down, calm down.”

In the next moment, Gu Siyuan narrowed his eagle-like eyes, looked at his older brother, and said faintly: “You can act arrogant for now. Once I enter Division 2, the Special Control Bureau will know who their true pillar of support is. When that time comes, I will definitely be the one lecturing you.”

Hearing these words, Luo Chuan almost jumped up.
Do you have any fucking idea how many injuries Gu Beilin has suffered and how much blood he has shed for the Bureau? Do you know how huge Gu Beilin’s influence is for the Bureau to reach its current situation?!

Xie Xuanxing immediately grabbed Luo Chuan and, with a beaming smile, shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.
Hehe, Gu Siyuan is so good at talking. His ability to infuriate people is as outstandingly otherworldly as ever.

Gu Beilin looked at Gu Siyuan with a cold sneer: “I’ll be waiting.”

Luo Chuan swallowed the ice cream in his mouth, first glaring angrily at Xie Xuanxing before saying slowly: “Don’t talk big too early. Do you think the Special Control Bureau is somewhere you can just join because you want to? Pass the annual national civil service exam first, then we’ll talk.”

“…” Both Gu Siyuan and Xie Xuanxing froze simultaneously.

Luo Chuan kindly (and gloatingly) added another explanation: “Everyone in our Special Control Bureau has an official state roster position (iron rice bowl). The current policy is that every official post requires an exam. Understand?”

“Aiya, you guys have already educated him in advance? That’s perfect, saves me the trouble of repeating it.” He Pan poked his large, bearded head in from the office door.
He looked at Gu Siyuan with a grin: “I was just coming over to tell you about this. It’s August right now. There are three months left until the exam starts. You two have just enough time to prepare.”

Alright then.
Xie Xuanxing nodded.
He wasn’t afraid of exams. Cultivators like them had clear minds and senses; their memory was slightly stronger than ordinary people. He also had some understanding of the civil service exam. As long as he reviewed, memorized more in advance, and understood the relevant current political knowledge, passing shouldn’t be hard for him.

Gu Siyuan cast a look at He Pan and said indifferently: “Did everyone really test their way in?”

He Pan nodded unapologetically: “Of course.”
Their Special Control Bureau wasn’t some place where you could go through the backdoor or get special treatment.

Gu Siyuan sneered. Glancing at Gu Beilin, he said: “Then how did a single-minded muscle-brained blade cultivator like my older brother get in? I refuse to believe he could pass a written exam.”

“…” He Pan.
Student Gu Siyuan, you’ve really ‘impressed’ me with your brotherly respect. Is there anyone who talks about their older brother like this?

He Pan looked at Gu Beilin and sighed helplessly: “Your brother also tested his way in. But he took the exam for three years and only passed last year. Before that, he was just a temp on the roster as a consultant.”

Gu Siyuan nodded. That makes more sense.
He raised an eyebrow and looked at He Pan: “I will take the exam in three months, and I will enter as the number one in the written test.”

The implication in those words was far too obvious.

Gu Beilin took two steps closer, raised a hand, and lightly patted him on the shoulder, saying seemingly casually: “Besides the written test, the Special Control Bureau also has physical training requirements. Looking at your average physical fitness, I’ll take you to practice first to let you adapt.”

After saying that, without caring about Gu Siyuan’s reaction, he forcefully grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him away.

“…” Gu Siyuan.
This is what they mean by a scholar meeting a soldier—reason is useless against brute force.

Half an hour later, around the sparring ring on the basement floor of the Special Control Bureau… At some unknown time, quite a few spectating employees had gathered, their faces full of excitement and joy.

Their mouths alternately cheered “Gu Beilin!” and then called out “Gu Siyuan!”.

Gu Beilin himself was the role model and idol of all the young cultivators in the Bureau. Seeing him standing in the ring, it was normal to have a bunch of people cheering him on. But it was extremely rare for someone to cheer for his opponent.

Even Gu Beilin, currently in the ring, couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.

When fighting Gu Siyuan, he naturally didn’t use spiritual energy. Otherwise, with a casual flick, his biological brother would have been sent flying instantly.

Actually, Gu Siyuan’s physical fitness was already far superior to an ordinary person’s.
But even so, when they first started fighting, it was basically a completely one-sided beating. He couldn’t even touch Gu Beilin.

However, Gu Siyuan was fundamentally a militant at heart.
No matter how many times he was knocked down, he would immediately stand back up, and then instantaneously improve. Each time, he made massive progress compared to the last.
In this short time in the ring, this naturally wasn’t an improvement in physical constitution, but an improvement in combat awareness and combat techniques.

Until seven or eight rounds had passed.

Now, Gu Siyuan could actually trade a few blows back and forth with Gu Beilin. Although the result was still a loss, the meaning behind it was incredibly profound.

Gu Beilin was an undeniable combat genius with peerless fighting abilities. Even if placed in the entire world, few people could match him.
Gu Siyuan had a supreme IQ, but his talent in the physical aspect of combat was slightly inferior to Gu Beilin’s.
Yet, in just a few rounds of sparring, he could discover some of Gu Beilin’s traits and habits, and then use his extraordinary analytical abilities and combat techniques to heavily target them.

This was completely inconceivable to watch.

Gu Beilin also simply took advantage of Siyuan’s extraordinary eyesight and targeting to correct and improve his own movements bit by bit.

Thus, the two fought more and more addictively, becoming completely immersed.
One felt the joy of rarely finding a worthy opponent, and the other possessed a completely domineering drive to win.
Even covered in bruises, they absolutely couldn’t stop.

The crowd of spectators grew increasingly excited. In the entire Special Control Bureau, there were truly very few people who could exchange blows back and forth with Gu Beilin. This scene was incredibly rare.

But standing to the side, Xie Xuanxing and Luo Chuan, tightly gripping the ring’s net ropes, felt completely upset in their hearts.

Xie Xuanxing puffed out his cheeks. Even fighting the Ghost King at Luojun Mountain didn’t cause him this many injuries!

Luo Chuan was even angrier. The injuries he got at Kunlun Mountain previously haven’t even healed yet, and here he is ruining himself again!

The two exchanged a glance, reaching a rare consensus. They turned around in unison and huffed angrily as they walked toward the training ground exit. Out of sight, out of mind!

Thus, when the Gu brothers finally jumped down from the ring, they only saw the backs of Xie Xuanxing and Luo Chuan leaving shoulder-to-shoulder.

“You brought that pretty boy?” Gu Beilin looked at Gu Siyuan, his gaze icy, his displeasure clearly written on his face.

Gu Siyuan shot him a glance, his gaze even colder: “Could he be more of a pretty boy than that subordinate of yours surnamed Luo?”

Just as his voice fell.
The other people in the training ground suddenly felt a dense, sharp aura of a blade, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
This Northern Heavenly Wolf is just relying on his high spiritual energy to blindly show off and waste it when there’s nothing going on.

Old Man Xie Cang had also come over to the training ground to watch the show along with He Pan and the curly-haired guy. He didn’t have a shred of goodwill toward either of these two brothers—one had abducted his grandson, and the other just called his grandson a pretty boy.

Seeing this, he immediately gave a hmph and said: “No matter how much of a ‘pretty boy’ those two are, they are better than you two giant idiots! Anyway, right now they both couldn’t stand you and left early! Neither of you brothers is any good; nobody could stand you!”

Gu Siyuan: “…”
He was purely being dragged down by this idiot older brother.

As for Gu Beilin, from the first day he officially debuted, he had already grown accustomed to being cursed as a madman by those aristocratic cultivators. This tiny bit of mockery could be completely ignored.

He only said displeasingly to Gu Siyuan: “In the future, keep your little lackey in check. Tell him to stay away from Luo Chuan.”

Gu Siyuan’s voice was faint: “Xie Xuanxing is perfectly fine. He is obedient and sensible. You’d better keep that subordinate of yours in check, who throws himself at people all day long! Northern Heavenly Wolf!“
As he spoke, he couldn’t help but add: “What kind of edgy, chuunibyou nickname is that! So childish!”

The blade-like aura around Gu Beilin surged even stronger, glaring at him coldly: “Get back up and let’s fight again!”

Feeling the pain all over his body, Gu Siyuan shook his head and walked straight out with a look of cold indifference.
It seemed that apart from researching scientific methods to kill ghosts, it was still necessary to continue his cultivation. Otherwise, purely relying on physical combat against a battle maniac like Gu Beilin was putting him at too much of a disadvantage.

After the initial chaos, Gu Siyuan and Xie Xuanxing successfully joined the Special Control Bureau. Gu Siyuan was in Division 2, and Xie Xuanxing was in Division 1.
However, because they hadn’t taken the exam to get official roster positions yet, they were still just temporary workers.

But the old man Xie Cang managed to land a position as a Senior Talisman Consultant, a title that sounded much higher-level than the two temps.

The Special Control Bureau was probably truly short on people, especially talents like Xie Xuanxing who came with their own talisman inheritances.
Therefore, even though they had explicitly agreed he would be Gu Siyuan’s lackey, for the majority of the day, Siyuan couldn’t even see him.

On this day, after finishing his research in Division 2, Gu Siyuan ‘accidentally’ wandered over to the Talisman Group of Division 1 where Xie Xuanxing was.

Seeing him, Xie Xuanxing immediately went pitter-patter running over to his side: “Why did you come over?”

Gu Siyuan spouted nonsense casually: “I had some business with my brother, just happened to pass by and thought I’d take a look.”

Xie Xuanxing held onto his sleeve, lowered his head, and smiled softly.
Gu Beilin’s office is all the way on the other side. How could he possibly ‘pass by’ here? He clearly came to see him, yet refuses to admit it.
Just as Luo Chuan said, both brothers probably possess the attribute of being outwardly cold but inwardly passionate.

It was summer right now, and Xie Xuanxing was only wearing a loose T-shirt. By lowering his head like this, he exposed the distinctly protruding vertebrae beneath the thin, jade-white skin at the back of his neck, resembling the spine of a young dragon.

Gu Siyuan couldn’t resist reaching out to touch it.

Burned by the sudden warmth of his palm, Xie Xuanxing subconsciously let out a soft, faint moan of “Ah.”
Lingering and alluring.

But Gu Siyuan had no mind to pay attention to that right now. He reached out to pinch the person’s chin, making Xie Xuanxing lift his head. After scrutinizing him closely for a few moments, his expression gradually turned cold: “What’s going on? It’s only been a few days, why have you lost so much weight?”

Xie Xuanxing puffed out his cheeks.

Gu Siyuan extended his thumb and rubbed against them. Sure enough, the soft cheek meat wasn’t as plump as before.

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