# 216
**Chapter 216: You're Hired**
"After that, we tried everything to track him down, but he vanished into thin air—no trace left behind," Hongying sighed. "He's like a ghost in this city. We can feel his presence, but we can never get close."
Lin Qiye’s brows furrowed tightly.
"And it doesn’t end there. At first, he was just stealing the corpses of Mysteries. But last month, we picked up the trail of a Nighttime Murder Ghost. Just as we were about to move in and eliminate it… we found it already dead. Half its body was frozen solid, completely shattered. And again, half the corpse was taken."
"So he’s gone from stealing corpses to actively hunting Mysteries?"
"Exactly. At this rate, I feel like we’re all going to be out of a job." Hongying sighed in frustration.
Wen Qimo chuckled. "Look on the bright side—someone’s helping lighten our workload. Isn’t that a good thing?"
"But it just pisses me off! If I’m not fighting, am I supposed to spend my days mediating neighborhood drama between aunties and uncles?" Hongying groaned. "I haven’t fought in almost half a year. I’m going stir-crazy."
Chen Muye walked over carrying a dish and said calmly:
"No matter who he is or what his goals are, eliminating Mysteries is the Night Watch’s job. What he’s doing goes against protocol."
Leng Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly. "This time… I *will* catch him."
"I’d like to try too," Lin Qiye added.
Honestly, he was quite curious about the identity of this “Corpse Thief.” He’d long suspected that the mysterious person who had passed him information about the Scorpion mercenaries during New Year’s was this same individual.
If that was the case, then this person likely meant no harm… and might even hold some goodwill toward him. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have risked being caught to fire that iron arrow.
"Let’s not talk about that for now." Chen Muye raised his glass with a smile. "To welcome Qiye back to Team 136—cheers!"
"Cheers!!"
…
After the meal, Lin Qiye returned to his room and flopped onto his bed.
The moment he left the training camp, things started piling up—Master Chen entering the city, the “Mystery” with the severed finger, the elusive “Corpse Thief”…
Those simple, carefree days at the camp were clearly gone for good.
He slowly closed his eyes, but he wasn’t going to sleep. There was still one important thing he needed to do.
**Inside the psychiatric hospital.**
Wearing a white lab coat, Lin Qiye walked down a dim staircase and arrived at the damp, gloomy dungeon area.
He stopped in front of a cell.
Inside, a massive earth dragon lay sprawled. Compared to its size in the outside world, it had shrunk by four-fifths, yet it still nearly filled the entire cell.
Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow as he looked at the Flame-Vein Earth Dragon.
He hadn’t expected the cells here to have a slimming effect. The dragon that once blotted out the sky with its wings was now only the size of a room.
At first, he’d worried it might burst the cell upon arrival…
The Flame-Vein Earth Dragon seemed to sense Lin Qiye’s presence. Its eyes snapped open, filled with vigilance.
> **Criminal: Flame-Vein Earth Dragon**
> **Verdict: As a mythic creature slain by your hand, you hold the right to decide its soul’s fate:**
> **Option 1: Erase its soul entirely, obliterating it from existence.**
> **Option 2: If its fear of you reaches 60, you may hire it as an asylum orderly. It will care for patients and provide you with a degree of protection.**
> *(Detected: Soul contract present—forcefully severed.)*
> **Current Fear Value: 84**
Lin Qiye read the dragon’s stats and studied it carefully.
Honestly, its fear value exceeded his expectations. As a powerful Sea Realm creature, there should be very little that could scare it. The fact that it was so terrified could only mean one thing…
Lin Qiye, in his Night God form, had beaten it into psychological trauma.
The dragon noticed his gaze and shrank back, even more on guard—and conflicted.
From the moment it arrived in this cell, it knew what fate awaited it. Its life was in this man’s hands.
It wanted to live—but the pride of a dragon wouldn’t allow it to grovel.
It was torn. So was Lin Qiye.
What the hell could this dragon even *do*?
"Can you cook?" Lin Qiye asked tentatively.
The dragon shook its head.
"Clean?"
Shake.
"Fix things around the yard?"
Shake.
"Make grandma happy? Grandpa? Sing? Dance? Make beds…?"
Lin Qiye rattled off a list of questions. The dragon just blinked and shook its head each time.
Lin Qiye twitched. "Don’t tell me you can’t even *talk*?"
The dragon nodded.
Lin Qiye: …
Useless. Absolutely useless.
But as the first Sea Realm Mystery he’d captured for the asylum, killing it felt like a waste. Not only would he lose a potential summoning sacrifice, but if he couldn’t even make use of its soul, then what was the point of all this?
He’d hoped that once he reached River or Sea Realm himself, he could summon the dragon—it would be a powerful ally.
But… this big guy seemed good for nothing but standing guard.
Seeing the disappointment in Lin Qiye’s eyes, the Flame-Vein Earth Dragon tensed. It seemed to foresee its own erasure, and terror flashed in its gaze.
Was this… the end?
The dragon’s inner conflict deepened. Then, as if making a decision, its body began to glow with a faint red light. Its massive form shrank rapidly.
Scales receded into its skin. Its thick legs slimmed. Its fierce, majestic head reshaped into something humanoid…
When the red light faded, the once-terrifying Flame-Vein Earth Dragon was gone.
In its place stood a tall woman in her early twenties—fair-skinned, with fiery red hair cascading to her waist. Her vertical, amber pupils gazed coldly at the world.
The only remaining draconic features were a few faint scales near her lower abdomen—and a long, soft red tail trailing behind her.
And since the dragon hadn’t been wearing clothes to begin with… neither was she.
Lin Qiye’s jaw dropped. He stared in stunned silence… then swallowed hard.
"You're hired."