# 1676
Chapter 1676: Hu Jia
Hearing these words, Zhao Nanzi froze on the spot.
"I, I... why?"
"Crushing an ox with three punches doesn't qualify as a special ability. Come back when you can kill ten with one punch." Wu Quan said casually.
Before Zhao Nanzi could protest further, a mysterious force sealed his mouth shut. His entire body moved like a marionette, automatically turning and walking toward another street. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break free.
After driving away Zhao Nanzi, Wu Quan walked up to the young man with the surname Hu. "You. What ability do you have?"
The young man opened his mouth and murmured something quietly. Wu Quan narrowed his eyes and examined him carefully.
"Do you know that lying here is punishable by execution?"
"...I, I know."
Wu Quan nodded and walked past the young man to question the next person.
With Wu Quan's preliminary screening, the queue shrank dramatically. In less than half an incense stick's time, the young man successfully entered the courtyard.
Guided by a soldier, he passed through the immaculate front courtyard and finally stopped in front of a study. There was only one person ahead of him now, and the surroundings fell silent.
BOOM—!
A dull, thunderous sound echoed from within the study, and even the ground beneath his feet shuddered violently, startling him.
The courtyard then fell into deathly silence once more.
For some reason, standing before this study, the young man's heart suddenly grew tense.
"You." A soldier emerged from the study and beckoned to the young man. "Come in."
The young man clenched his sweating palm, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.
...
Inside the study.
Lin Qiye leaned against the back of his chair, rubbing his temples wearily while sighing.
He had originally thought that screening specialists for the Bureau of Evil Suppression would be simple, but he had overlooked one crucial point—the communication technology of this era was extremely underdeveloped. When the Bureau of Evil Suppression was first established, there were only a handful of people. It was impossible to locate specialists with precision like the Night Watch did, then secretly recruit them into the organization...
In this era, the only way to quickly gather a group of specialists was to indiscriminately spread the news that Huo Qubing was establishing the Bureau of Evil Suppression, letting everyone under heaven know. That way, those specialists would naturally follow the Marquis of Triumph's fame and rush to Chang'an.
But the problem with this approach was—how would these commoners know what constituted a specialist?
Lin Qiye had been screening here for three whole days, meeting over a thousand people who came seeking fame every day. Among them, some could break stones on their chests, others could swallow swords, and some could cleanly remove scales from a perch in ten seconds... The most absurd one was a man who claimed to serve ten women in one night. He actually brought all ten of his concubines to meet Lin Qiye, saying he wanted to put on a performance for him.
Over the course of three days, the actual number of specialists who could join the Bureau of Evil Suppression didn't even reach ten.
And Lin Qiye was already exhausted, both mentally and physically, from their acrobatics...
Just then, a young man dressed in deep indigo robes slowly walked into the study. Dust covered his entire body, and his eyes held a hint of restraint. He lowered his head, glanced secretly at Lin Qiye behind the desk, and suddenly froze in place.
"Benefactor?!" The young man exclaimed in shock.
"Oh? It's you." Lin Qiye propped his head on one hand and said leisurely, "You are... what was your name again?"
"My name is Hu Jia." The young man immediately replied respectfully, but confusion filled his heart.
The man behind the desk—he knew him. In his early years, when he had been expelled from his family and was wandering about, he had sheltered for a time in an abandoned hut in the wilderness. Because the hut was so decrepit and the door wasn't locked, he had assumed it was abandoned by someone.
But never in his wildest dreams did he expect that after he had lived there for two days, the owner of the hut returned. He was caught red-handed and treated as a thief.
The hut's owner was a hunter named Zhang San. He had gone up the mountain to hunt when a snowstorm trapped him for several days before he could return. Originally, Zhang San intended to drag him to the authorities, but after hearing his story, he showed mercy instead—letting him stay in the hut for a few more days and giving him some clothes and food.
It was precisely because of Zhang San's charity that he survived that harsh winter. Before he left, he had kowtowed to Zhang San multiple times, treating him as his savior and keeping him in his heart forever...
Time flew. All these years had passed, and when he returned to that decrepit hut, Zhang San was nowhere to be found. He had thought he would never have the chance to repay his kindness in this lifetime. He never expected to encounter his benefactor here!
"Benefactor, why are you here?!" Hu Jia said, both surprised and delighted.
"Why I'm here is something I'll explain later. Let's talk about you first." Lin Qiye picked up his brush and glanced at him. "You're a specialist? What's your special ability?"
Hu Jia replied honestly, "Benefactor, I won't hide it from you—I can enter other people's spirits."
"Enter other people's spirit? How does that work?" Hearing this description, Lin Qiye became interested. This seemed to be another genuine specialist.
Hu Jia hesitated for a moment, then undid a xun (a clay ocarina) from his waist. He spoke seriously:
"Benefactor, may I demonstrate for you?"
Lin Qiye extended his hand, making a gesture of invitation.
Hu Jia placed the xun to his lips and slowly closed his eyes. A melodious melody began to play, like a gentle breeze in spring, pleasing to the heart and mind.
As the music lingered and turned, Lin Qiye gazed at the Hu Jia before him. Suddenly, a faint tremor arose from the depths of his mind.
Lin Qiye let out a soft exclamation. At the same time, Hu Jia's brow furrowed tightly, and beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled down from his temples.
His spiritual power is too strong—Hu Jia couldn't get in...
When Lin Qiye saw this, he quickly lowered his mental defenses, allowing that fluctuation to drift into his mind.
The next moment, the environment around him transformed. He found himself standing in a world of endless white.
This world stretched in all directions like the void itself. Lin Qiye remained seated in that chair, and across from him, Hu Jia stopped playing and slowly lowered the xun in his hand.
"Benefactor, this is my ability," Hu Jia said.
"This is... my spiritual world?" Lin Qiye surveyed his surroundings and nodded slightly. "Good. What can you do here?"
Hu Jia waved his hand lightly, and the surrounding scenery transformed rapidly. Modern high-rise buildings rose from the ground beneath their feet. Car horns blared across the sky. Under countless flickering neon signs, Lin Qiye, still seated in that wooden chair, found himself standing in the middle of a crosswalk!
"This is... Cangnan?!" When Lin Qiye recognized this familiar street, shock appeared in his eyes.