Chapter 84 - 83: You Can Consider Me Dead

Chapter 84: Chapter 83: You Can Consider Me Dead

Before they even reached the entrance, the dark red, solid wood double doors were pushed open a crack, and a black cat emerged gracefully from the gap.

Gu Qingyin glanced down and recognized it. "Little White?"

The black cat meowed and walked over, rubbing against Gu Qingyin’s ankle affectionately.

Liu Ergou was very surprised. "It’s actually being affectionate with you."

Gu Qingyin wanted to bend down and pet it, but Mao Mao was asleep on her shoulder, and she was afraid of waking it.

"Maybe this one is just friendlier."

Liu Ergou fell silent. ’A soul beast being friendly? That’s as ridiculous as a Fierce Ghost enjoying helping people.’

Huo Xingchen stared at the black cat. "Is that the paper figurine from just now?"

The black cat looked up at him and let out a soft meow, as if trying to be cute.

Huo Xingchen thought, ’It doesn’t seem any different from a normal cat, aside from the whole possession thing.’

Liu Ergou walked to the door and knocked.

A deep, magnetic voice came from inside. "Please, come in."

The black cat turned, leaped nimbly ahead of the group, and squeezed back through the crack in the door.

Liu Ergou then pushed the door open and entered, with Gu Qingyin and Huo Xingchen following behind him.

The moment she stepped inside, Gu Qingyin was blinded by the glare.

This was the first time in her life she had experienced the true meaning of "opulence." Her vision was filled with flashing gold, so bright she couldn’t open her eyes. It was just too much!

’Who could possibly live in an environment like this for any length of time? This has to be light pollution. Won’t you go blind if you stay here too long?’

Gu Qingyin squinted, searching the room for a person. Only then did she realize the room was huge, with sparse but expensive-looking furniture. A desk stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows opposite the door. It looked like marble, trimmed with gold...

She glanced at it once before turning away. Unable to bear it any longer, she raised her hand and tossed a coin into the air.

With a BANG, the overhead light shattered, and the room instantly grew much darker.

Liu Ergou’s face froze. ’This is bad,’ he thought.

Gu Qingyin let out a breath. Much better.

"What are you doing?" a voice hissed through gritted teeth from her left.

Gu Qingyin looked over and couldn’t help but shut her eyes again. ’Damn it, my eyes are tainted.’

’What kind of bizarre taste does Tuoba Yan have?! A kelly green suit, a yellow shirt, a purple tie, and he even paired it with a fucking gold chain thicker than my thumb!’

She turned her back on Tuoba Yan and tilted her head to speak to Liu Ergou. "Don’t tell me that parrot back there is the new president of the Mystic Association."

Huo Xingchen had just seen it too, and the shock he felt was no less than Gu Qingyin’s. He was now feeling incredibly conflicted. His idealized image of the world of Xuan Techniques had been utterly shattered in that moment.

’If even the president is a weirdo with bizarre taste, how can you expect any of his subordinates to be normal?’

Liu Ergou didn’t dare speak. President Tuoba was glaring at him, his eyes practically shooting fire.

"Liu Daoist, you’re a veteran of the association. How could you just bring random people into the president’s office?" Tuoba Yan was extremely displeased. He had forgotten to lower his voice, so his tone was completely different from before. It wasn’t unpleasant, just ordinary and utterly unremarkable.

Liu Ergou gave an apologetic smile. "We’re here on official business." He paused, glancing at the destroyed light fixture. "However much this light costs, Gu Qingyin can provide full compensation."

Gu Qingyin let out a questioning "Hmm?" ’She could pay for the light, but who was going to compensate her for the damage to her eyes?’

’Gu Qingyin?’ Tuoba Yan’s brow furrowed slightly. ’That name sounds so familiar. Where have I heard it before?’

Musing on this, he slowly walked up behind Gu Qingyin and said in a slightly commanding tone, "Turn around."

Gu Qingyin tensed up, stubbornly replying, "I won’t. Not unless you change your clothes."

Tuoba Yan looked down at his own outfit and frowned in confusion. "What’s wrong with my clothes?"

Gu Qingyin was shocked. ’How could he even ask that!’

Huo Xingchen adjusted his mindset. ’If I just think of Tuoba Yan as a clown, this outfit isn’t so hard to accept.’

Tuoba Yan was getting impatient. He took two steps forward, trying to get in front of Gu Qingyin to get a good look at her.

But as he moved, Gu Qingyin moved too. The two of them walked in a full circle, ending up right back where they started.

Tuoba Yan: ...

Gu Qingyin said, "If you have something to say, just say it."

A vein was about to pop on Tuoba Yan’s forehead. "Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?"

Gu Qingyin fell silent for a second. ’Right, she was the one who came here to report something. The series of shocks had been a bit much, and it completely slipped her mind.’

She pointed over her shoulder at Mao Mao. "Take a look at this little guy first. Can you tell what it is?"

Only then did Tuoba Yan realize that the thing on Gu Qingyin’s shoulder wasn’t an accessory, but...

"A soul beast?"

Gu Qingyin said, her face expressionless, "No. Take a closer look."

Tuoba Yan knit his brow and peered at it. After several seconds, he asked, "Can you take it down so I can have a look?"

"...How on earth did you become the president?"

Tuoba Yan couldn’t stand anyone questioning his abilities. His face instantly darkened, and he reached out to grab Mao Mao.

Sensing the danger, the sleeping Mao Mao instantly shot awake. Before its eyes were even open, the little monkey-like creature leaped away, pounced onto Liu Ergou, then turned its head and bared its teeth at Tuoba Yan.

Tuoba Yan’s hand didn’t miss, but it was caught by Gu Qingyin, who had grabbed him by the wrist.

He forgot about Mao Mao and tried to twist his hand free, but he underestimated Gu Qingyin’s strength. Not only did he fail to break loose, but a sharp pain shot through his wrist.

"Don’t move," Gu Qingyin warned coldly. "If word got out that the president was beaten up in his own office, it would damage the Xuan Technique Association’s reputation."

Tuoba Yan’s face flushed red. His composure cracking, he looked at Liu Ergou and demanded, "What exactly are you trying to do?"

Unexpectedly, Liu Ergou was also displeased. "President Tuoba, if you have something to say, why can’t you say it nicely? Why resort to violence?" ’You scared Mao Mao!’

Just as Tuoba Yan was about to explode with anger, Gu Qingyin took a deep breath, let go of his wrist, and turned to face him. She quickly explained the situation with the Candle Dragon, clarified Mao Mao’s identity, and finally got to the main point.

"I want to register Mao Mao’s identity. I’ll take whichever certification is fastest to process." After a pause, Gu Qingyin asked, "There haven’t been any new types of identification issued in the last few years, have there? It’s still just the two options for the Alien Race, right?"

A pet license or a residency permit.

A pet license meant the member of the Alien Race was being raised by a Heavenly Master, with the master taking full responsibility for all their words and actions.

A residency permit allowed a member of the Alien Race to temporarily reside in human society, hold human jobs, and interact socially with humans. It seemed freer at first glance, but it came with much stricter rules and regulations.

After asking her question and hearing no response, Gu Qingyin frowned and pressed, "Is there a problem?"

After turning to face him, to avoid searing her eyes, she had kept her gaze fixed on Tuoba Yan’s shoes, thus missing his shocked expression.

Tuoba Yan snapped back to his senses, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You... you’re that Gu Qingyin? The one who took that special mission twenty years ago?! You actually came back alive!"

Gu Qingyin’s brow furrowed. She mulled it over and said, "Hmm... You could also just consider me dead."