"What brings you here?"
Du Yan took a drag from his cigarette, glancing briefly at everyone nearby.
"I'm friends with Huihui—she brought us here for registration," Xu Mu explained with a smile.
"That's a good thing. Go on, then."
Du Yan nodded and walked off with his cigarette still dangling from his lips.
"Xu Mu, let's go!"
Jiang Huihui gave Xu Mu a look, then headed toward the Sanitation Bureau's main office building.
Lü Pinlong stood silently to the side, not saying a word.
Only after Du Yan's figure disappeared at the gate did Lü Pinlong's expression turn dark.
"Who the hell is that guy? He actually knows Du Yan."
"No idea," said the middle-aged man beside him. "But they're here to register—we'll check their files later."
Lü Pinlong nodded slowly.
"Xu Mu, you know Du Yan?"
Hands stuffed in her jacket pockets, Jiang Huihui looked at him incredulously.
"Why? Is that so strange?"
Xu Mu asked casually, though he could tell something from her tone.
Both Jiang Huihui and Lü Pinlong were Intermediate Cleaners, yet compared to Du Yan—who was also Intermediate—her aura had clearly diminished in his presence.
"Yeah, strange."
Jiang Huihui cast a sideways glance at him.
This man was getting more and more mysterious.
Genius Lin Yan wanted to kill him, and now he was acquainted with someone like Du Yan.
Could Xu Mu really be the useless playboy described in the reports?
"By the way, that Lü Pinlong—why did he have a white armband on his left arm? What does that mean?" Xu Mu asked curiously.
In the original plot, not much was written about the cleaners. Only in the later chapters did it describe a few powerful Senior Cleaners in detail.
"The number on the armband is a sequence rank. Those who wear them are Sanitation Captains."
When she mentioned it, a flicker of envy passed through Jiang Huihui's eyes—she herself was working toward that goal.
"Sequence rank?" Xu Mu frowned slightly.
"Right. It's simple enough. Below the Senior Cleaners, all Intermediates are ranked. Lü Pinlong is ranked tenth overall," Jiang Huihui explained.
"Their status is just below the Seniors. Seniors rarely show themselves, so the public face of the Cleaners is these captains."
"How many captains are there?" Xu Mu asked.
"Exactly ten. The ranking is re-evaluated once every year, and the tenth spot changes most frequently," she said.
"The top three have been stable for more than ten years."
Meng Wanyue was secretly astonished—no wonder Lü Pinlong was so strong.
The Opening-the-Mountain Palm she'd used earlier had been shattered by him with one hand.
Xu Mu turned to Jiang Huihui. "Are you a Sanitation Captain too?"
"If I were, do you think he'd dare talk to me like that?"
She pouted. "Why do you think I begged you to come register? I don't have enough battle credit—my points are too low."
"That just means our society's stable," Xu Mu said with a grin.
"You're not wrong," Jiang Huihui admitted, "but sometimes, I still like running into bad guys from the martial world."
As she spoke, they reached the office building.
Under Jiang Huihui's supervision, Meng Wanyue went through the registration process—full-body photo, all ten fingerprints, a drop of blood, and a strand of hair.
Her cultivation level was recorded as early-stage Gang Qi peak.
After submitting the data, Jiang Huihui entered her own ID number, and when her several hundred reward points came through, she smiled faintly.
"Here, a reward for you."
She pulled a stick of bubble gum from her pocket and handed it to Xu Mu.
Xu Mu didn't refuse—he pocketed it and said, "All done then?"
"Mm. Thanks, Xu Mu."
Above her head, black text appeared:
[Favorability +5]
"We're all on the same side," Xu Mu said with a friendly wave.
Before they left, Jiang Huihui exchanged contact info with Meng Wanyue and reminded her:
"If you ever run into martial-world trouble, especially any villains—save them for me."
Xu Mu was left a bit speechless. He hadn't expected the cleaners' internal competition to be this fierce.
After saying goodbye, he and Meng Wanyue got back in the car.
"Manager Xu, where to next?" she asked from the driver's seat.
"Back to the branch," Xu Mu said after thinking for a moment.
The company's weight-loss drug production line had just been moved there—it was a good time to check on things.
After passing through the city center, Meng Wanyue checked the rearview mirror.
Her brows furrowed slightly. "Manager Xu, I think someone's tailing us."
"Really?"
Xu Mu, who'd been resting his eyes, immediately opened his senses—and his expression changed.
Damn it—it's Dai Xingluo.
He had no idea how she'd tracked him down. After a brief hesitation, he said, "Wanyue, don't go back to the company yet. There's a park up ahead—pull in there."
He didn't want Dai Xingluo to know his company's location, let alone follow him to Jiang City.
"Got it."
Meng Wanyue turned the wheel and parked outside a park in Yang City.
They got out and walked inside together.
Outside, several street vendors had their stalls set up.
And then, walking toward them in flowing hanfu, came Dai Xingluo.
Her elegant figure and classical beauty drew every pair of eyes around her.
"What a coincidence, Brother. What are you doing here?" she said, feigning surprise.
Seeing it was just a woman following Xu Mu, Meng Wanyue relaxed slightly.
As expected of her boss—he really did attract attention everywhere he went.
"I noticed someone tailing me, so I stopped here on purpose," Xu Mu said coolly.
He'd already decided not to use her for his plans—so there was no need for courtesy.
At first, he'd thought she was just a spiteful side character.
In the story, she hadn't immediately gone after Shen Wanning—she'd first fought over the Dragon King, only resorting to violence when she lost.
If that had been the case, Xu Mu might have tried to reform her.
He wasn't like the Dragon King; sometimes, a few well-placed words (or hands) were enough to win a woman over.
But that night in the forest outside the city, she hadn't hesitated—she'd killed without mercy.
That went far beyond his expectations.
If she ever saw him being affectionate with Ye Tong, who knew what she might do?
He had to guard against that.
Sensing the coldness in his tone, Dai Xingluo's eyes flickered with wounded resentment.
"So Brother's finally grown tired of me. After all, I'm not as pretty as the other sisters."
Her gaze slid toward Meng Wanyue.
Meng Wanyue had half a mind to explain that she'd misunderstood, but the killing intent in Dai Xingluo's eyes told her otherwise—this woman was dangerous.
They said even heroes fell before beauty—and to be fair, Dai Xingluo was stunning.
Meng Wanyue wasn't sure if Xu Mu could resist.
"It's not about looks," Xu Mu said evenly. "I don't judge people by their faces."
"Oh? Didn't think Brother was such a gentleman—you prefer inner beauty then?" Dai Xingluo covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"No," Xu Mu replied casually. "I prefer the figure."
Dai Xingluo froze mid-smile. Something about him was different—his attitude toward her had changed completely.
Could it be…
He already knew that the person who attacked him last time—was her?