ACIFITFDB – Chapter 8

“Tangyuan, stay home and behave yourself.” Qin Xian stood outside the door, glancing at the dog wagging its tail at him from the living room.

It was only half an hour before 2 PM. He had opened the door intending to leave directly.

But he heard the sound of paws lightly scratching the floor from behind him. Turning back, he saw Tangyuan had squeezed back in from the balcony.

Qin Xian called out to it, but the dog still didn’t wag its tail.

“Tsk, are you a lone wolf?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Tangyuan took a few more steps forward, its body half-protruding from the doorway, looking at Qin Xian.

Without a word, Qin Xian braced his foot against the doorframe and unceremoniously pushed the dog back inside.

“Get back in.”

With that, he locked the door just as the black dog’s snout was about to be squeezed out.

Silence fell inside for a moment, then the sound of the dog walking away could be heard. Only then did Qin Xian head downstairs.

McDonald’s wasn’t far from here; it would take ten minutes to get there. It was 2 PM, and there weren’t many customers in the restaurant. As he pushed the door open, there was only one other patron inside.

Qin Xian froze for a moment, and the sole patron also looked surprised.

It was an acquaintance, the glasses-wearing male colleague who sat next to him at the company. The one who had worried about him having low blood sugar yesterday and advised him not to be impulsive.

Qin Xian pushed the door open and walked into the restaurant. The glasses-wearing male colleague immediately greeted him, “Hello, Qin Xian! Are you here for McDonald’s too?”

The glasses-wearing male colleague looked at Qin Xian with a strange mix of fear and nervousness.

Qin Xian grunted and pulled out the chair opposite him, sitting down directly.

The glasses-wearing male colleague blinked. “Ah, I, I’m waiting for someone. Sorry…”

Qin Xian cut to the chase, “I’m the ‘Q’ from the forum.”

The glasses-wearing male colleague stared for a moment, then exclaimed, “No way!?”

“No, you’re Q? When did you become a charlatan scamming people for money?”

Qin Xian had anticipated his reaction and said calmly, “I don’t want to waste words with you. Seeing your dark circles, you must have been forcibly entered into a dream by an eldritch entity.”

“Ah… what eldritch entity? A ghost? I did have a nightmare… You didn’t find out from my social media, did you?”

Qin Xian’s expression was cold, “Yesterday, you still tried to stop me when I was killing General Manager Zhao.”

What?! You killed General Manager Zhao??

The glasses-wearing male colleague was so startled he almost screamed, but his suppressed memories flooded out like a dam breaking.

He finally recalled the terrifying scene from yesterday afternoon. At the same time, he remembered Qin Xian’s expressionless face as he severed the general manager’s neck.

He shot up from his seat and stumbled back two steps, exclaiming in fear, “You, you, you really killed General Manager Zhao?? No, General Manager Zhao wasn’t human? You killed a monster? So… you’re a ghost-slaying master hiding in human society? A corporate slave by day and a ghost-slayer in a Taoist robe by night??”

Qin Xian: “…”

Qin Xian: “I’m not that chuunibyou, but I can indeed deal with those monsters… for a fee. The entity you encountered is the culprit that killed General Manager Zhao. If it’s not dealt with, your fate will be the same as his.”

The glasses-wearing male colleague thought of General Manager Zhao’s horrifying death. That real and bizarre experience sent shivers down his spine, and he immediately became anxious, “Brother Qin, no, Master! Save me!”

His outburst directly caused the two servers behind the counter to look up, their expressions filled with suspicion.

Qin Xian sighed and said, “Let’s talk outside. By the way, what’s your name again?”

The glasses-wearing male colleague was taken aback again. “No way! We’ve been sitting together for a year! Didn’t you go eat spicy hot pot with me just a few days ago?”

He suddenly stopped, looked Qin Xian up and down, and asked hesitantly, “Are, are you still Qin Xian? I feel like you now are completely different from a few days ago… You weren’t possessed, were you?”

Qin Xian sighed and said, “Read fewer novels. I’ve always been very reclusive. And you were the one who dragged me to eat spicy hot pot, right?”

Qin Xian had long forgotten the trivial matters of interacting with this colleague, but he knew what his own personality was like. Actively going to eat spicy hot pot with someone was something he would absolutely not do.

The glasses-wearing male colleague scratched his head. “…Alright, that’s true. But it does make me sad that you don’t remember me.”

Qin Xian got up directly. “I’m leaving. You find someone else.”

The glasses-wearing male colleague immediately pleaded, “I was wrong! Brother, I was wrong! My name is Lin Qizhi! Brother Qin, you’re my real brother, please help me!”

Qin Xian said coldly, “You, go to the supermarket and buy a tent. Bring a quilt. We’ll meet at Bianjiang Park tonight.”

“Huh?”

“This place is too chaotic, too many people around. I don’t want anyone else to get involved.”

“Oh, okay, brother!”

Lin Qizhi lived in an apartment building near the company, an area with high population density. It was estimated that those living close to Lin Qizhi hadn’t had a good night’s sleep recently.

That eldritch entity would try to expand its influence, first affecting General Manager Zhao, then the company employees, and then the people around the employees. As the number of affected individuals increased, its power would grow, potentially forming a domain and controlling a large area.

But fortunately, it was still a weak entity. Last time, his chaotic thoughts had allowed it to escape. This time, it was time to deal with it thoroughly.

That evening, Lin Qizhi arrived at the park early with his camping gear and chose a suitable spot to set up a barbecue grill.

Qin Xian arrived empty-handed and was speechless.

“Did you think we were actually here for a camping trip?”

Lin Qizhi scratched his head sheepishly. “Uh, I thought… before a battle, one must replenish their strength properly…”

Qin Xian sighed.

Lin Qizhi chuckled and started barbecuing.

Qin Xian checked his phone for the time and looked around.

He was surprised it was almost 9:30 PM, and there were still many people strolling in the park. Fortunately, there wasn’t anyone else setting up a tent in the park like them.

“Forget it, since you brought it, let’s eat something. We have to wait until there are no people around to start, to minimize involving others.”

“Involve them?” Lin Qizhi asked.

Qin Xian sat on a small stool and explained, “This entity is very weak. It only has the ability to drag people into dreams or illusions. Getting close to it will affect you, which is why I specifically chose a less crowded place. We’ll have to enter a sleep state to find it.”

Lin Qizhi suddenly became curious. “Is this entity a ghost? So ghosts really exist in this world…”

“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t. If you want to die, keep asking,” Qin Xian stared directly into Lin Qizhi’s eyes.

Lin Qizhi shivered. Fear ultimately outweighed his curiosity.

Afterward, he diligently grilled the food and respectfully handed it to Qin Xian, portion by portion. After eating his fill, Lin Qizhi crawled into the tent and lay down, while Qin Xian sat down right beside him.

Lin Qizhi, pulling his quilt up, peeked out and asked, “Brother Qin, aren’t you going to lie down?”

Qin Xian bent one leg, rested his arm on it casually, and replied, “No need, I can sleep like this.”

Lin Qizhi looked at him and gave him a thumbs-up. “Brother Qin, you’re truly a cool guy.”

Qin Xian gave a forced smile and twitched the corner of his mouth. “Sleep.”

Lin Qizhi immediately straightened up and lay down, pulling the quilt up to his nose, leaving only his eyes exposed as he looked at Qin Xian with admiration. Qin Xian’s previous impression of him was that he was handsome but somewhat gloomy and reclusive, not very social. But now, Qin Xian’s aura was one of mystery, aloofness, power, and of course, beauty.

Was this Qin Xian’s personality in private? So… cool!

His unease had largely disappeared. With someone this powerful helping him, there shouldn’t be any major problems…

Lin Qizhi cast one last quiet glance at Qin Xian. Qin Xian was already sitting there with his eyes closed.

He yawned too, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

————

When Qin Xian opened his eyes, he thought he had returned to yesterday.

The familiar office, the familiar computer, the familiar WeChat notifications, 99+.

Qin Xian kicked his chair, and the “screech” of the chair scraping against the floor drew the attention of those around him.

He stood up from his chair, ignored the scrutinizing gazes, pointed to the empty seat next to him, and asked, “Where is Lin Qizhi?”

The people around exchanged glances. One person weakly replied, “You mean General Manager Lin? He, he’s gone to do something.”

“General Manager Lin?” Qin Xian raised an eyebrow.

The other person replied, “That’s right. He just got promoted and is quite arrogant. You should be careful.”

Qin Xian sneered.

As expected, this was a dream. In his dream, he had even become a general manager.

He crossed his arms, looked around, and shouted, “Lin Qizhi, where are you? Come out!”

The other people in the office immediately looked at Qin Xian with terrified expressions.

A few seconds later, a “thump-thump” sound came from the doorway, and the entire office trembled as if a giant creature was stomping.

Then, from the small office door, a strong, muscular man emerged like a balloon, his rigid black-rimmed glasses indicating his identity.

It seemed that in his dream, he had projected all his usual fantasies onto himself.

Lin Qizhi roared, “Who is it! So rude! You have to call me General Manager Lin now, do you know that!?”

He looked at Qin Xian and angrily said, “It’s you, isn’t it? Making noise during work hours, kicking office property, and yelling disrespectfully. What, trying to reform the workplace!?”

Qin Xian rolled his eyes at him.

Lin Qizhi was furious. His current physique was three times larger than Qin Xian’s, and his courage had also inflated countless times.

“It seems like you won’t learn the rules of workplace conduct unless I teach you a lesson!!” he roared, raising his muscular right arm and clenching his fist, swinging it towards Qin Xian’s head.

But in the next second, Qin Xian nimbly ducked and dodged the attack. Then, he powerfully propelled his bent leg, raised his right fist, and delivered an “uppercut” directly to Lin Qizhi’s chin!

“Aow!” Lin Qizhi let out a pained howl and crashed to the ground with a thud.

Qin Xian rubbed his fist and looked down at him with a cold sneer, saying, “How was it? Was the righteous iron fist of workplace reform tasty? Want another serving?”

Author’s Note:

———————-

Forgot to mention, I opened the section for paragraph comments the day before yesterday. I just realized I hadn’t opened it! Welcome to leave comments! [Heart]

Also, a complaint, I commissioned a picture of the main character taking off his clothes, but I can’t post it on any platform. Annoying! I can only look at it myself… [Dog Face], it’s really well drawn [Red Heart][Red Heart][Red Heart]