Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Promotion and salary increase
As Xue Jing emerged from the bathroom, an hour had already slipped by. Stepping into the living room, he noticed the small black cat curled up on the sofa, exuding a sense of melancholy.
"Huh? You changed back?" Xue Jing asked, his surprise evident in his tone.
The figure on the sofa wasn't Ning Fengwan, the enigmatic black-haired girl with cat ears, but rather a small black cat with four white paws.
"Yeah," Ning Fengwan mumbled, her voice muffled as she buried her face in the sofa cushions, avoiding Xue Jing's gaze.
She was overwhelmed, unsure how to face Xue Jing after the intimate and startling closeness of their encounter, especially since she had inadvertently brushed against his unsheathed "holy sword." For Ning Fengwan, who had never been so close to a man, the experience was too much, stirring a deep urge to hide her flushed face from view.
"Xiao Wan, how did you change back? Can you do it again?" Xue Jing inquired, settling next to her on the sofa, his presence cautious yet comforting.
"You should call me Master..." Ning Fengwan responded softly, then sighed, her emotions mixed. "I don't know. I calmed down, and then I just turned back into a cat."
"Now I can't change back into a human. It's really strange."
Her feelings were tangled, disappointment at losing her human form again was countered by a sense of relief. If she could permanently revert to human, she'd have to resume her responsibilities as the leader of the Huilong Sect and leave Xue Jing's side, something she wasn't ready to face yet.
"Well, I recently met someone knowledgeable about divine relics. I'll ask her for details tomorrow," Xue Jing said, his tone thoughtful, hinting at a plan.
Ning Fengwan nodded, her emerald-green eyes flickering with complex emotions as she observed him, the room sinking into an uneasy silence. Xue Jing tried to act as if the bathroom incident hadn't shaken him, but the tension was palpable.
Clearing his throat, he announced, "I'm going out for a walk."
With that, he stood, grabbed his keys, and exited the apartment, leaving a cloud of awkwardness behind.
Ning Fengwan remained on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling as her mind replayed the bathroom scene, her body squirming with discomfort.
---
The next morning brought a new day, and with it, a semblance of normalcy. Xue Jing woke up to find the cat still nestled beside him, a small smile playing on his lips. Whatever awkwardness had clouded the previous day seemed to have dissipated by the time he returned home last night.
After breakfast, a notification on his panel announced that his [Cooking Skills] had achieved Lv4. Following a morning run and a shower, Xue Jing headed for Qingda University, making his way directly to the seventh floor of the Library.
There, in the dim, old library, he found her, the girl he was looking for, seated quietly in a wooden chair, engrossed in a book. Today, her attire was different from her usual casual look. She wore a black shirt over an off-white and gray plaid top, tied at the waist to accentuate her slender figure, paired with slim black trousers and simple white canvas shoes. The outfit caught Xue Jing's eye, compelling him to take a second glance before he approached.
Placing the [Crown of the Evil Woman] and the [Ordinary Glasses] on the table, he greeted her, "BOSS, the mission has been accomplished," his voice carrying a light, triumphant tone.
Wu Youqing closed her book, her lavender eyes lifting to meet his. "Thank you for your hard work. You did a great job this time," her voice soft yet sincere.
"I didn't expect someone else to interfere, putting you in danger. I'm sorry," she added, her expression tinged with regret.
Xue Jing shook his head, dismissing her concerns. "You're not a god; you can't foresee everything. I knew the risks when I joined the company. This level of danger was expected, so don't worry about it."
Acknowledging his words, Wu Youqing nodded. "Even so, due to the special circumstances of this containment mission, I'll upgrade it to a C+ rating, and your subsidy will be increased as compensation."
She handed him a document as she spoke. "The man you killed was buried yesterday, and his identity has been discovered."
Xue Jing scanned the document, which included an ID photo and details of Zhu Yingkun, born in Yuancheng, one of the three inner-ring cities in the fifth metropolitan area.
"This man was a C-level containment worker for Xu's containment company," Wu Youqing explained, leaning slightly closer. "But I contacted Xu's containment yesterday, and they assured me they hadn't assigned him to this mission. It was a personal endeavor."
"This situation is complex and not easily resolved. However, I don't believe Xu's containment is trying to shirk responsibility."
"Leaving his jurisdiction to retrieve a C-rank divine relic doesn't seem like an officially sanctioned mission," she continued, her soft voice a whisper now, her hair subtly releasing a faint, alluring fragrance.
"But regardless of the reasons, I'll ensure Xu's containment compensates you appropriately."
Xue Jing nodded in agreement. "I'll leave it to you."
He hadn't suffered personally, and his adversary was defeated—no harm done on his part.
"Speaking of which, Zhu Yingkun's autopsy report is peculiar," Wu Youqing remarked, her gaze piercing. "Except for one destroyed eye, there were almost no external injuries. Yet, his internal organs appeared to have been consumed, vanishing without a trace."
"Such a wound... it's hard to even explain how it was inflicted..."
Xue Jing scratched his chin, feigning nonchalance. "Uh... can I keep that to myself? Good sister."
He was uncertain how the details of his Shadow Flame skill would be received, so discretion seemed the best approach for now.
Wu Youqing gave a small nod, her demeanor unfazed. "It's fine if you don't want to share. Everyone has secrets. Just knowing you can handle containment is enough for me."
She then brought out another item—a black card resembling an obsidian coloured ID card. It gleamed slightly in the dim light, with "Death of God" elegantly inscribed in white on the front.
The back listed a few lines:
[Wu's Divine Relics Collection and Research Co., Ltd.]
[Specially Appointed C-Rank Divine Relic Collector, Xue Jing]
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone