I Am Your Natural Enemy

"Hurry up and go, and don't hang around the old office building at night these days. Things haven't been very stable here lately, and I'm afraid you'll accidentally wander in."

"Uncle Wang, can you be a bit more specific?" Wen Yan couldn't help his curiosity.

"Things inside the mirror aren't stable. Some bold lunatic got too close, and then, well, died."

"Uh..." Wen Yan thought to himself, Old man, that's real detailed of you.

"It's been decades, and never has anyone so gutsy as to go near the funeral home inside the mirror. Something must've changed. I can't look inside, can only hear and sense a little. Honestly, I'm not too clear about it either. Anyway, just don't go to the funeral home at night for now."

"Alright, thanks for the heads-up, Uncle Wang." Wen Yan obediently replied; he usually listened to people when it came to matters like this.

"Work's almost over, so hurry on home. And don't come into the old office building in the daytime these days either." Old Wang hurried Wen Yan away.

"Okay, see you Uncle Wang."

Leaving the old office building and with nothing else to do, Wen Yan practiced his martial arts moves a few times out in the back courtyard, feeling refreshed as he got off work.

It was only when he pulled out his phone to order a ride that he noticed some unread texts.

Wen Yan glanced at them—and his heart started racing. It was a message from the bank.

"Your debit card account 0457 received (large interbank online transfer) RMB101,967.00 on September 5th. Balance after transaction: 106,309.07 RMB."

An indescribable joy welled up in his chest—this was the biggest windfall he'd ever received.

He counted the digits carefully—six figures!

No doubt, it had to be from the Scorching Sun Department.

He quickly gave Feng Yao a call to confirm.

"Hey, Feng Yao? Did the Scorching Sun Department pay us today?"

"No, the Scorching Sun Department pays on the 12th every month, or earlier if there's a holiday. What's up, did you need some cash for something?

Oh wait, I remember now—the bonus is paid on the fifth. I got mine too.

Your fixed allowance, five insurances and two funds, maybe that's on the 12th or sometimes it's paid together with what you earn at the funeral home.

The stuff on the fifth is just bonuses and some per-diem allowances, reimbursements and the like.

What, it's not more than eighty grand?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's enough." Wen Yan couldn't hide his delight. Honestly, anyone would be this happy getting that much money for the first time.

"I checked for you. The payout on the fifth this month was for August, just the hospital domain job. The rest will be settled next month—should be a decent amount too. But in terms of contribution, your share might not be as high as for the hospital domain event. Still, judging by the bonuses, it probably won't be less than this time."

"Alright, thanks. Are you busy? Let me treat you guys to dinner."

"Next time, I haven't had a day off in over ten days, still working overtime now..."

"Okay, next time, dinner on me."

After hanging up, Wen Yan even booked a luxury car for his ride, and ordered dishes from a restaurant while he was at it.

The Scorching Sun Department's jobs might be a bit risky, but the pay is truly generous. According to how dangerous the job is, its area of impact, your own contribution and all that, you get a new bonus for each event.

High risk, but definitely high reward. And all totally aboveboard, after-tax income in your own hands.

If it's a top-rated domain—one big job and you might just retire rich.

No wonder, despite all the danger, there are still so many eager to work for the Scorching Sun Department.

At this point, Wen Yan was even tempted to go hunt some more domains and make bank.

Still, he needed to train harder, improve himself. If he were as strong as Tuoba Martial God from Yu State, he'd never have to worry about money again.

Carrying his takeout home, he called Zhang Laoxi and told him to hurry over for dinner.

He'd even packed two giant orders of white cut chicken—brought one straight over to Old Zhao's building, knocked on the door, and left it at the doorstep.

"Old Zhao, brought you guys some white cut chicken to try."

At the mention of "white cut chicken," the black curtain over the nearby window was immediately pulled back a bit. The five melon-head brothers stacked their heads together, crowding at the window to peek outside.

Wen Yan looked at the five grinning brothers—couldn't help but grin himself.

"Bonus day today, so I'm treating you guys. Consider it a little extra."

Inside, the five brothers were running around in circles in excitement. But since the sun hadn't fully set yet and the day's heat hadn't faded, they didn't dare open the door.

"Old Zhao, what a good neighbor we've got, huh!"

"Yeah, Old Zhao, and you were saying he was blocking your feng shui before!"

"You're really something else, man."

"You should be punished and not get any white cut chicken!"

"Yeah, yeah, you really shouldn't get any!"

The five brothers carried on, squatting by the door waiting. As soon as it turned pitch dark, they snatched the white cut chicken inside right away.

Back at Wen Yan's place, Zhang Laoxi had already arrived and the dishes were set out on the table.

Sparrow Cat was sprawled on a booster seat, staring longingly at the food.

There was another booster seat too, and the Little Zombie was sitting obediently on it, big eyes also fixed hungrily on Wen Yan.

There was even an empty bowl with talismans all over it; Zhang Laoxi was adding rice into it, along with some dishes.

"Let me do it, bro."

Wen Yan carried a bowl of rice down to the basement, put it on the little table in front of Uncle, and stuck three sticks of incense into the rice.

"Uncle, it's bonus day, we're eating well tonight. If you like it, have some; if it's not your thing, I'll bring something else next time."

After paying his respects to Uncle, Wen Yan went back up to the first-floor living room.

As soon as he stretched out his finger, the Little Zombie grinned, eyes crinkling, neck stretching long and head raised, waiting to be fed.