# 104
Chapter 104 – A Generous Gift
There was no morning drill today, so time wasn’t tight. Lin Qiye soaked in the medicinal bath a little longer, changed clothes at leisure, and only then headed for the canteen.
Cao Yuan had been right: the canteen finally served something other than nauseating white steamed buns and raw meat. Today it was fragrant Chinese breakfast—soy milk, youtiao, baozi, flatbread, plain congee…
The hall was packed with new recruits. After that nightmare of an extreme training session they were starving, stuffing their mouths like famished ghosts.
Lin Qiye watched Baili Pangpang, who had already demolished two steamers of buns, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
“Qiye, these buns are amazing. Maybe that old Sun guy grew a conscience… want one?” Mouth full, Baili Pangpang held out a bun to Lin Qiye.
Lin Qiye didn’t refuse; he took it, sipped soy milk, and ate unhurriedly.
“By the way, Qiye, how’d you get off the mountain last night? Pass out or get shot?” Baili Pangpang suddenly remembered and asked.
Because Lin Qiye had taken so long, the other recruits had been shipped back to camp earlier. Nobody knew he’d crossed the entire Jin-Nan Mountain alone.
“Walked out,” Lin Qiye answered flatly.
Baili Pangpang froze, then exclaimed, “You mean… you actually hiked the whole Jin-Nan Mountain?”
“Mm.”
“…What kind of mutant are you?”
“…”
“You really did it.” Cao Yuan leaned over from the next table and dropped a huge meat bun into Lin Qiye’s bowl. “Good. You didn’t disgrace us heretics.”
Baili Pangpang scratched his head. “Wait—when you say ‘us heretics’, besides you two, who else?”
Lin Qiye and Cao Yuan both stared at him.
Baili Pangpang: “…”
“I’m just an ordinary—”
“Shut up.”
“Okay.”
Lin Qiye finished eating, set his bowl down, and glanced at the clock.
“You guys keep eating; I’ve got something to do.”
He turned and left the canteen.
Baili Pangpang nudged Cao Yuan. “What’s with the mystery act today? Where’s he off to?”
“Who knows,” Cao Yuan said deadpan. “Definitely not to meet a secret lover.”
“Why not?”
“With his personality? You think it’s possible?”
“…Fair.”
…
Lin Qiye left the canteen and went straight to the instructors’ office.
“Reporting!”
“Enter.”
Inside, Instructor Hong glanced up and immediately looked pained.
“Kid, must you be this eager? I said come today, and you show up at dawn?”
“I happened to be free.” Lin Qiye shrugged.
“Sit.”
Instructor Hong stood, took an envelope and a small black box from a cabinet, and placed them in front of Lin Qiye.
“Wang Mian spoke with us yesterday. The conditions were steep, but we can live with them. The envelope holds a bank card—five hundred thousand; the PIN’s inside—usable at any bank. The box contains your reward: a forbidden artifact.”
He sat back, sighing. “You’ve got guts—few people ever fleece Chief Yuan.”
Lin Qiye blinked. “Chief Yuan paid this himself?”
“Yep.” Instructor Hong leaned back. “Having Mask Squad fight you was his idea. He didn’t expect you’d actually win. He took responsibility and scraped together the reward; he wouldn’t let us chip in.”
Lin Qiye looked at the envelope and box, then pushed the envelope back.
“I’ll pass on the money.”
Instructor Hong raised an eyebrow. “That was part of the deal. Changed your mind?”
“Don’t want it.”
“No need to be like that. He’s our chief, deputy captain of the Shangjing City Night Watch team, holds a high post—think he can’t spare five hundred grand?”
“It’s not about whether he can spare it.” Lin Qiye’s voice was calm. “I don’t take money from soldiers.”
Instructor Hong studied him, then said, “Sure? Pass now, and it’s gone for good.”
“Don’t want it.”
“All right, you’ve got spine.” He nodded, pocketed the envelope, and reached for the box—
Smack!
Lin Qiye slapped a hand over it.
“That’s mine.” He stared into Instructor Hong’s eyes.
“…Didn’t you just refuse everything…?” Instructor Hong grinned.
“I refused the money. This is useful.”
“Heh, just teasing.” He let go. “You should’ve seen Chief’s face when he handed it over—pure heartache.”
“What is it?”
“Open and see.”
Lin Qiye lifted the lid. Inside lay a thumb-nail-sized azure rhombus crystal, faint spirit-energy rippling across its surface—obviously extraordinary.
“This is…”
“【Azure Heart】. Recovered from the East Sea twenty-plus years ago. Within one meter it constantly deploys Forbidden Ruins Sequence 278, 【Azure Guard】, blocking most mental attacks. There’s a limit, of course—if the attacker’s mental stage is higher, it’ll only weaken the blow.”
Lin Qiye’s eyes lit up.
He wielded two God’s Ruins, but neither specialized in mental defense. In open combat it was fine, but against a psychic assault his only option was to burn Seraphim’s divine might—costly and offensive, not protective. Azure Heart filled that gap perfectly.
“Good stuff,” he murmured.
“Anything from Chief’s stash would be.” Instructor Hong chuckled. “String it on a cord and wear it. Won’t help against Supreme Gods, but below River Realm it’s bulletproof.”
Lin Qiye stowed the crystal carefully. “Thank Chief Yuan for me.”
“Skip the courtesy. Training starts soon—scram.”
Lin Qiye saluted and hurried out.
The moment he left, Yuan Gang materialized like a ghost, eyeing the envelope on the desk with a faint smile.
“Chief, what do you think of him?” Instructor Hong wasn’t surprised.
“Impressive. Even without Wang Mian’s deal I’d have found a way to give him Azure Heart. The Seraphim’s proxy can’t die young.”
Yuan Gang gazed after Lin Qiye.
“And now?”
“Now I believe he truly deserves the gift.”