The other person didn’t reach out, merely nodding slightly.
“Gu Xiao.”
Lin Ling shook hands with Zhao Yuyu.
After a moment of thought, she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket that read: “I am Lin Ling.”
Zhao Yuyu and Gu Xiao exchanged a glance before both looking at Bai Junjun.
Bai Junjun shrugged and said, “Ah, it’s just Big Sister Boss’s personal quirk; she isn’t actually mute.”
Lin Ling rolled her eyes immediately.
What on earth was with “Big Sister Boss”?
Was this a legitimate government office?
Why did it feel like she was still a bandit in a mountain stronghold?
The three of them surrounded Lin Ling and stared for a long while before Zhao Yuyu finally couldn’t help but ask, “Just how old are you to be a ninth-rank official?”
Lin Ling thought for a moment, recalling some of the information Lin Ke had told her, and opened her mouth slightly to say, “Fourteen.”
“Dammit, I joined the Xunzhu Bureau at seventeen, and I’m twenty-one now, but I’m still just an unranked talisman apprentice. This little girl starts as an eighth-rank official as soon as she walks in? There’s no justice in this world~”
Zhao Yuyu clenched his fists tightly and looked up at the ceiling in lament.
While complaining, he naturally reached out, pinched a pastry from the fruit plate on the table, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Lin Ling glanced at their work environment.
Seeing various pastries and fruits on the table and case files scattered everywhere, it was obvious they didn’t look like they were working seriously at all.
She couldn’t help but criticize inwardly, [If you could get a promotion, that would be the real injustice.]
Although she had been a bandit for a few years, she was born into a wealthy family in her original life.
Her father in this life had been a fourth-rank Prefect who was busy from dawn till dusk every day.
“Stop howling. What do you want for breakfast? I’ll go buy it in a bit.”
Bai Junjun let out a yawn, reached out to pinch Zhao Yuyu’s face, and then slumped into her own seat.
She sat with her legs wide open, completely indifferent to her image, making Lin Ling stare in disbelief.
“We aren’t too clear on the situation ourselves. Anyway, Big Sister Boss, go ahead and look around. We stayed up too late playing cards yesterday and we’re still very sleepy.” Bai Junjun tilted her head to look at her and then added, “If you feel bored, you can just find a spot to be your exclusive area and mark it with some stuff. You can do whatever you want.”
“…Fine.”
[Sounds like a stray dog marking territory with urine.]
Lin Ling rubbed her temples, feeling a bit of a headache.
Gu Xiao said with a smile, “Don’t mind her, that’s just her nature. Our Yueshan County Xunzhu Bureau didn’t really have anyone to begin with; it was only rebuilt after Scribe Xiu arrived. That’s why many things aren’t formal, plus no newcomers have arrived for several years. Please understand.”
“Aren’t there any enforcers or underlings to help out?”
Lin Ling was puzzled and quickly wrote on the paper.
Gu Xiao took a look and explained, “The things we do aren’t like what the county yamen deals with, so we don’t need enforcers. Besides, the basic requirement to enter the Xunzhu Bureau is to be a practitioner of the Dao. Ordinary people are useless here and would just be an extra expense.”
“I see.”
Lin Ling shook her head and answered softly.
Then, she saw Gu Xiao roll her eyes back and collapse into her chair as well.
Zhao Yuyu twitched the corner of his mouth and smiled.
“Cough, staying up late is bad for the body.”
Lin Ling: “…”
Ignoring the three slackers’ laziness, Lin Ling began to wander around the Xunzhu Bureau on her own.
The area wasn’t particularly large, and there was a sense of age everywhere.
There were even piles of rotten lanterns from who knows how many years ago in the corners, covered in layers of cobwebs.
Walking to the archives, she pushed the door open, and a cloud of stale dust puffed into her face.
Lin Ling pinched her nose in disgust.
While Lin Ling was pinching her nose and waving away the dust, Xiu Jiming’s voice—carrying the smell of alcohol and a hint of laziness—came from behind her:
“There’s nothing much to see in here.”
She jumped in startle and spun around, only to see that Xiu Jiming had silently leaned against the doorframe at some point.
He held a wine gourd in his hand.
Looking at his face, he was covered in stubble, and the dark circles under his eyes were terrifyingly heavy.
Lin Ling subconsciously moved further away from him.
Sensing Lin Ling’s attitude, the usually easygoing Xiu Jiming fell into a rare silence and touched his chin, following Lin Ling’s gaze.
Staring at the hint of disgust on Lin Ling’s delicate face, Xiu Jiming shifted his eyes, feeling a bit embarrassed to meet her gaze.
Lin Ling’s eyes darted around as she said, “So you all really do nothing on a daily basis?”
Hearing this, Xiu Jiming didn’t answer immediately.
The entire space became exceptionally silent.
Lin Ling frowned, getting a bit impatient as she prepared to enter the archives to take a look.
E
Only then did Xiu Jiming speak: “It’s a small place. There are no evil spirits here, so there are very few places that need us.”
“Evil spirits?”
Lin Ling tilted her head in confusion.
Xiu Jiming didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he reached for the wine flask at his waist and took a sip.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed the strong liquor before saying, “You will find out in the future.”
Lin Ling stared at him for a long time before saying, “Scribe… Scribe Xiu, your beard is too long. It’s ugly.”
Instantly, both of them froze on the spot.
Lin Ling was frozen because she had actually managed to speak smoothly, instead of having the words stuck in her throat like before.
Xiu Jiming was somewhat embarrassed and could only turn his face away again.
“It’s just a demon of the heart. If you don’t like it, I will go shave it off.”
Lin Ling didn’t hear what he said.
Instead, she continued to ponder how she had managed to speak her true thoughts.
After thinking for a long time, she could only conclude that she could speak if she was being sincere.
But what was the point of that?
It was completely useless.
Lin Ling held her head, feeling like her problems were doubling.
In the end, she could only chat with Xiu Jiming; otherwise, she really had nothing to do.
Holding her pen and paper, she walked into the archives while writing: “What are evil spirits?”
“It’s not convenient to explain. You will know when you see the real thing in the future.”
Xiu Jiming glanced at the paper and answered immediately.
He then seemed to remember something and added, “Your handwriting is a bit ugly.”
Lin Ling raised an eyebrow, instantly annoyed.
What kind of joke was this!
During those ten-plus years before she became a bandit, her father had forced her to study calligraphy for a long time.
Her handwriting could absolutely not be considered ugly!
Lin Ling glared at him without speaking, though in her heart she had already cursed Xiu Jiming’s entire family.
Seeing her expression, Xiu Jiming realized he had misspoken and quickly said, “What I mean is, handwriting reflects the person. Your handwriting doesn’t look like that of a fourteen-year-old little fox.”
Lin Ling’s lip twitched as she tilted her head and gave him a sidelong glance.
“Oh?”
[Did you use some kind of cheat code to see through that? I don’t believe it!]
The scene fell into silence once again.
Neither of them knew what to say.
Lin Ling simply started browsing through the records on her own, looking to see if there were any documents related to the Jade State Fox Clan extermination case.
“The things you are looking for won’t be here. Later, I can take you to the Xunzhu Bureau in Yongchuan Prefecture. That is the headquarters for our Yun Province Xunzhu Bureau; the information there will be more complete.”
Xiu Jiming followed behind Lin Ling, speaking slowly.
“You seem to know something?”
Lin Ling wrote on a blank page for Xiu Jiming to see.
“I only know that you are a survivor of the Jade State Fox Clan. Although I don’t know how you survived, if you want to investigate the case, I will help you,” Xiu Jiming said, then waved the recommendation letter in his hand.
Lin Ling only then remembered that she hadn’t even read the recommendation letter yet and didn’t know what was written inside.
She naturally stepped forward and snatched the recommendation letter back from Xiu Jiming’s hand, reading it carefully.
It mentioned something about having past ties with the Fox Clan, that Lin Ling was a genius, and asked for her to be looked after.
“Ugh.”
[How come I didn’t know I was a genius?]
Lin Ling rolled her eyes.