Hidden Moth

This was a major project, one that my father acquired through personal connections. At the time, his construction team had fully taken over the site, starting first with renovating an office building in the southeast corner.

According to the developer's plan, to improve capital turnover, not all buildings were to be renovated simultaneously. Instead, one building would be completed and delivered before starting on another. After all, the entire project belonged to the Ye Family Company.

But just as the strong and weak electrical circuits of the first building were finished and work began on the second one, requiring settlement of the first building's account, the developer's staff they liaised with vanished, leaving the project funds in disarray.

The developer owed debts not only to Ye Liangcheng but the debt situation at this entrepreneurial hub was extremely complex, involving a vast number of unpaid bank loans and construction funds to many entities, numerous of which were significant state-owned enterprises.

The Ye Family Company was just a small fry among them.

Setting aside the complicated disputes, the abandoned construction site just happened to fall into Ye Liangcheng's hands. Since his company was right there on the site, and without receiving the owed payment, there was no way they could leave.

He ended up occupying it for five years, surprisingly without anyone coming to chase him off, nor to settle the debts.

If the entrepreneurial hub could be completed and sold or rented out, someone might be willing to take over the construction, but that seemed unlikely, given the complex debt and ownership disputes.

So while everyone thought of seeking payment from the developer, no one was willing to take over this under-construction site. It was heard that several banks had tried to organize an auction, but failed.

This construction site essentially became occupied by Ye Liangcheng, although having it was of no use; the ownership rights weren't his, nor was it clear to whom they belonged, leaving him as an unpaid gatekeeper.

The original skilled workers who handled the strong and weak electrical installations left long ago due to lack of work, with Ye Liangcheng hiring only a few security guards to patrol the site.

There was still a lot of material that could be dismantled and sold as scrap, mainly to prevent anyone from coming to "procure goods."

In the past few years, during the pandemic, Ye Liangcheng even reconstructed and fortified the fencing, adding barbed wire at the top, making it nearly impossible for outsiders to get in.

But he couldn't live off nothing, so he privately rented out two buildings in the southeast corner as warehouses, earning enough rent to hire a few guards, pay utility fees, and indulge in some drinks...

Yet life took a turn six months ago when he discovered that some of his hired guards were stealing and selling items as scrap, so he fired them all.

Two guys seemed unwilling, wielding rebar as if to show off their muscles, but Ye Liangcheng showed them what true martial prowess means!

So for the past six months, only five large wolf dogs have been by his side, guarding this abandoned building, with a local rumor that the place was haunted.

Ye Liangcheng knew the rumors were false, since he had spread them himself, this ghostly place—ghosts aren't even willing to come!

He chatted with Lao Er for a bit, who, albeit reluctantly, went out to patrol at his persuasion. Ye Liangcheng sat at his desk, drinking alone, unconsciously consuming about a half jin of liquor.

This was standard lonely drinking, with his eyes appearing quite dazed. He was only twenty-eight years old, yet inexplicably felt a hint of desolation, as if becoming an old night watchman.

Drunk and indulging in whimsical thoughts, he wondered if in the advent of a sudden apocalypse, like a zombie outbreak, would this area he watched over become a survival base?

The park housed numerous fruit trees, and over these years of leisure, he had also cultivated several vegetable patches within the landscaped green belts. Then he would rescue a few beauties, closing the gates for a shamelessly carefree life.

Life needs a touch of idealism, or at least some aspirations, can't be perpetually despondent or decadent...

Just then, he suddenly heard faint beeping sounds, the drunkenness in his eyes vanished immediately, replaced by a mix of confusion and excitement, and he swiftly opened the computer on his desk.

This abandoned business center had several surveillance spots installed outside, but none had infrared functionality, making visibility poor at night.

However, there were infrared alarm devices installed in two places, alerting Ye Liangcheng whenever anyone entered those areas.

Someone had snuck into the park, entering the most secretive underground base.

The accompanying infrared lens could only capture the entrance, but the person had already gone inside and was out of sight. He stayed seated in front of the computer screen, subconsciously taking a deep gulp from a bottle, feeling both tense and slightly expectant.

In half a year, someone finally returned to this secret base!

After a while, a silhouette emerged from the secret underground spot, disappearing from the surveillance's field of view, shortly showing up again at the Jinxiu Entrepreneurship Mansion.

The figure first went to the third floor, then entered the first-floor hall through a concealed fire escape, casually switching on the lights, moving as if very familiar with the place.

It must be one of their own; outsiders wouldn't use such a route to access the hall! Ye Liangcheng left his office, rushing over to the Jinxiu Entrepreneurship Mansion in the park's center, entering the first-floor hall the same way.

This area comprised a large, open dual-level hall, its vast space and high ceiling enclosed by hollow bricks, sound not penetrating the light, whilst soundproof materials lined the inner walls, making it hard for noise to escape.

Inside were rest chairs and tables scattered around, along with numerous equipment on racks, the floor covered by a thick layer of pounded terram mixture, resembling a Martial Arts Hall.

When Ye Liangcheng entered the hall, he saw the person pulling out a four-meter-long pole from the rack, seeing him enter without any surprise. Instead, he nodded and gestured for a bout.

With the lights on, the person's silhouette seemed male, but his face was masked... his Divine Sense seemed interfered, unable to discern the person's face, or even the form appeared somewhat blurry.

But Ye Liangcheng wasn't too surprised, even a bit thrilled, as he'd seen a kind of mask capable of blocking Divine Sense… Though these masks were new to him, he guessed they had similar effects.

Ye Liangcheng was not skilled with spears, so he took up his most practiced long-handled Miao Blade, positioned himself in the hall's center.

The person wielding the long pole shook a spearhead forward, Ye Liangcheng spinning the blade to parry, a series of rapid sounds reverberating through the hall... Ye Liangcheng continuously shifted positions, waving the Miao Blade around the person, effectively defending without attacking.

The person stood their ground, repeatedly swinging the spear, the sharp Miao Blade unable to chop through the wooden pole, the pole's tip touching Ye Liangcheng several times yet retreating immediately without causing harm, masterfully controlled.

This brief engagement persisted for just about two minutes; during one bout of knife and spear, a force traveled down the pole, numbing Ye Liangcheng's arm, sending the Miao Blade flying out of his grasp.

The person finally spoke: "Ye Wuniang, you've grown lax, your skills have noticeably declined."

Ye Liangcheng excitedly asked: "Master Kucha, is it you?"

The person paused, then shook his head and said: "It seems you're unaware of what's happened, Kucha is no longer around, you may call me Huo Qing."

**