"Boss, what do we do now?"
"What do we do? He's gone to claim the treasure chest. He'll be gone in a bit, what else can we do?"
"How about we intercept him?"
Fourth Brother made a throat-slitting gesture.
"What the hell are you thinking? The store's rules state that we can only use hidden rules to induce them to make mistakes. We can't do anything detrimental to guests outside of the rules."
"Boss, you're really good at reciting the store rules."
With a bang, the door was pushed open by the supervisor.
"The guests left ages ago, and it's been so long, why haven't you cleaned up yet!"
He glanced at Fourth Brother:
"Why are you here? Is the toilet clean?"
"Slacking off again, huh! No dinner for you tonight!"
Suddenly, a black light shot down from upstairs, piercing the supervisor's heart.
The supervisor looked down at his empty chest, and with a thud, fell backward.
"Holy crap, what's going on?"
Zhang Baobao looked up, grabbed Fourth Brother's hand, and ran out:
"Upstairs is the manager's office. The manager is furious!"
They scrambled down the stairs, and the employees were all gathered at the store entrance, looking panicked.
Zhang Baobao helped Second Brother, who had run out last, and asked:
"Are you okay?"
"No, no, I'm fine. Old, Old, Old Wang is gone."
Zhang Baobao patted his shoulder: "It's good that you're okay."
"Where's Third Brother?"
"Boss, I'm over here!"
Third Brother stood at the very edge, waving his hand.
This kid, when trouble hit, he ran faster than anyone.
"Boss, what's going on? Qi Xiao wasn't killed, was he?"
"What did that kid do? Wasn't he just going to claim the treasure chest? How did he cause such a big commotion?"
"Are you asking me?"
"Yeah."
"You're still 'yeah'! Can't you use your brain? Should I go up and ask the manager for you?"
Fourth Brother muttered in a low voice: "No, that's not necessary..."
Soon after, the elevator went up.
Everyone watched the ascending elevator, becoming nervous.
Ding.
The elevator door opened, and the manager walked out.
She was still dressed as she was when she arrived, her steps calm, graceful, and elegant.
Qi Xiao was nowhere in sight.
Suddenly, someone behind them shouted:
"Damn you, you unreasonable old hag!"
Zhang Baobao and the others were dumbfounded. They turned around and saw Qi Xiao standing inside the Train behind them.
What was going on? What exactly happened?
The manager walked out of the store, and the people at the entrance all made way.
Coming to Qi Xiao's Train, she reached out to touch the Train but touched nothing.
She couldn't touch the Train; she was bound here.
Although her hat obscured her face, Qi Xiao could tell from her movements that she was very disappointed.
She said that man went to the New World to find a way to get her out of here, so she herself didn't want to stay here.
Was it that she didn't want to be bound here, or that she wanted to be with that man more?
Which one weighed more heavily?
The manager silently withdrew her hand.
"Your method of escape is very interesting."
Are you kidding? Have you heard of module cards, Anchor Point Retrospection? It ignores all your rules, okay?
It was precisely because of this that Qi Xiao dared to stay with her for so long.
"If you trust me, tell me his name. I'll definitely help you look for him, though I can't guarantee I'll find him."
"If you don't trust me, I'll leave now. You can just keep waiting. Maybe one day he really will come back to pick you up."
"I want you to sign a contract."
"Goodbye."
Qi Xiao closed the car door, and the Train began to emit a white light.
The manager was stunned. She subconsciously raised her hand to stop him.
She didn't expect this guy to be so resolute.
Qi Xiao's mouth curved upward. The white light was simulated by dynamic concealment, not the actual white light when the Train departs.
Qi Xiao opened the car door again:
"How about it, can we talk properly this time?"
The manager, realizing she had been tricked, wasn't angry but happy. She laughed wildly:
"Hahahahaha, hahahahaha."
With a wave of her hand, a level three treasure chest appeared on the ground.
"Two people, carry it inside for him."
The employees looked at each other, and finally, Zhang Baobao and Fourth Brother were pushed forward.
Qi Xiao recognized the people who came and was surprised, Zhang Baobao!
It was him who snatched that strange plate of food earlier. No wonder it felt familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it.
Because he really hadn't seen it, he had only seen his profile picture.
Zhang Baobao saw that Qi Xiao recognized him and spoke first:
"Xiao Ge, a day without seeing you feels like three years! You see, I've been busy on the second floor and haven't seen you. Did you forget me so quickly? I'm Baobao, Zhang Baobao!"
The manager said, "Oh."
"You know him? Is he your friend?"
Zhang Baobao swallowed, pressed his lips together, and forced out a smile, winking at Qi Xiao to hint.
Qi Xiao smiled: "Don't know him, never seen him."
Zhang Baobao instantly had a deathly pale face.
After getting the treasure chest and confirming that the contents were correct, Qi Xiao said to the manager:
"If I help you, shouldn't you also help me?"
"Speak."
"Road expenses, collecting intelligence, I need some..."
He rubbed his thumb against his index and middle fingers, making a gesture for money.
The manager waved her hand, and train coins flew out of the employees' pockets, sleeves, and shoes.
Zhang Baobao watched helplessly as the train coins flew away from him, unable to do anything but pretend to be blind.
"These are not on the books, not recorded. I can't touch the ones in the store."
Qi Xiao narrowed his eyes, unable to tell if she was telling the truth or not.
Qi Xiao frowned, "reluctantly" accepting the fourteen train coins.
"A little less is fine."
"One more thing, I have no food on my Train."
"The store's ingredients need to be purchased with train coins, and they are all on the books."
Damn it...
Qi Xiao was unconvinced and continued to ask:
"What about the swill then? That's not on the books, is it?"
"Go and carry the swill for him."
At the manager's command, Zhang Baobao and the others went to carry swill again.
"Wait," Qi Xiao stopped them: "Bring another water pipe over."
...
Qi Xiao summoned the light screen and spent five train coins to remodel another bathroom.
He obtained a fifth external water storage tank, with a maximum storage capacity of fifteen tons.
Qi Xiao inserted the brought water pipe into the water inlet.
Seeing the numbers on the water meter increase normally, Qi Xiao breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed the eight tons of water from last time had temporarily quenched the pan tao sapling's thirst, and this time it didn't absorb the added water.
Qi Xiao opened the door of an empty carriage, letting them transport the swill inside.
He wondered how much magical multi-purpose fertilizer could be made from this.
...
With the water filled and all the swill transported, Qi Xiao closed the car door, ready to depart.
The manager took out a photo and personally handed it to Qi Xiao.
Qi Xiao took the photo and smiled:
"I can't guarantee I'll complete the task."
The manager said nothing and turned to leave.
"Hey, wait."
"What else?"
"Do you know what you get for collecting all twelve Chinese zodiac silver coins?"
"I don't know."
She paused for a few seconds.
"But I have one."
The manager turned around, a silver coin clipped between her fingertips.
She flicked her hand, and the silver coin flew into the photo.
"Find him, drip his blood on the photo, and the seal will be broken."
...
In the office.
Zhang Baobao stood at the door, head bowed.
"You did a good job entertaining the guests today."
"The supervisor is gone, I need a new supervisor."
"The original hidden rules are void. These are the new rules."
"Go and announce them to the other employees."
"Yes, manager!"
Zhang Baobao took the note and exited the room.
...
Qi Xiao sat on the sofa, looking through the photo the manager gave him.
She also didn't know what collecting the silver coins would yield?
Or did she simply not want to tell me?
In the upper left corner of the photo was a conspicuous hai pig silver coin, the one the manager sealed inside.
She was still afraid I wouldn't help her find him after I left.
If it weren't for this silver coin, Qi Xiao really might not have gone to find him.
He had enough on his plate; where would he find the time to look for someone else?
The photo showed a man and a woman. The man had sword-like brows and starry eyes, with an imposing demeanor.
The woman next to him was lively and spirited, with a tear mole under her left eye.
Her head rested slightly on the man's shoulder, and she playfully made a peace sign.
Her smile was incredibly bright.
This was the manager?
So the manager wasn't always a goat head.
Qi Xiao flipped the photo over and saw a sentence:
To be with Zhang Ziyuan forever, forever and ever.
Zhang Ziyuan.
Qi Xiao rubbed his chin, continuing to examine the photo, hoping to find more details.
The photo's background was a bedroom, with them sitting on the bed.
On the nightstand in the lower left corner, there was an object.
What was this?
Qi Xiao leaned in to look. The shape was somewhat familiar.
He pulled out the badge Xia Yuwan gave him; its shape was identical to the object in the photo.