When the words "You need to pay more" were spoken, Wan Lei sighed.
Damn it, this familiar style, this familiar Qi Heng.
However, according to the plan, Qi Heng had sought him out. When he broke himself out of prison, the introducer would surely be implicated and might even lose his job. A little money would be compensation.
Wan Lei took out ten more storage bags and placed them on the table.
As long as the job could be done, money was not an issue.
Seeing this, Qi Heng sighed.
"Brother, I'm not someone who sells his dignity for money, but since you, my brother, have asked, I, as your elder brother, would risk my head to get this done for you.
Don't worry, this matter will surely be accomplished. Moreover, I will plead with the warden to transfer you to work under me, considering you were introduced by me."
As Qi Heng spoke, he discreetly pocketed the pile of storage bags without leaving any trace.
Seeing that he had accepted the money, Wan Lei was relieved. Although this fellow was greedy, he was also loyal. He would definitely do what he promised.
After chatting with Qi Heng for a while longer, the two parted ways and left the restaurant.
As Qi Heng left, he even packed all the wine and food, causing Wan Lei's eyes to twitch.
The next morning, Wan Lei searched for the page to apply for positions as a disciple of the Five Elements Hall on the spirit scroll. The dizzying array of job openings made his eyes blur.
At the very top, the largest section occupied almost half the screen, with eight characters written on it.
"Enlist in the Army, Defend the Nation!"
Below the eight characters was an image depicting beings from the positive dimension fighting fiercely with demons from the negative dimension above a boundless sea of suffering.
It seemed that joining the army was very popular; otherwise, it wouldn't occupy such a large section.
Scrolling down, he quickly found the position for prison employment, located in a very inconspicuous corner.
It seemed that the work there was truly undesirable.
Then, after exiting, Wan Lei browsed the forum for a while longer.
Most of the posts were discussing the battle that took place early yesterday morning, with titles like "The Strongest Hall Master of the Five Elements Hall Changes Hands" and "Wan Lei is the Undisputed Number One Warrior."
These topics occupied half of the forum.
The other half was entirely dedicated to gossip about Wan Lei and Xi Sha, which was so outrageous that even Wan Lei found it fascinating, even forgetting that he was the protagonist.
He even praised them as he read, "If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known I was so amazing."
Wan Lei also saw some book recommendation posts, written by people who were bored.
The titles were even more bizarre.
"Arriving at the Five Elements Hall at the Start, the Water Hall Master is My Wife"
"The Heavenly Prodigy Wan Lei and the Water Hall Master's Secret Affair"
"Empress Xi Sha is Secretly My Lover, Wan Lei"
"Wan Lei's Patience and Outburst"
"Defeat the Golden Fire Hall Master, Capture the Water Hall Master"
"The Mature Woman Xi Sha"
"How Could Wan Lei Be Content in a Small Pond"
...
What was all this nonsense? These people were truly bored.
Wan Lei rolled his eyes, and suddenly sat up in shock from his near-death dream!
"Holy crap! Xiao Yu absolutely cannot see these things!"
It had only been a day, and these things were already circulating within the Five Elements Hall. In another two days, wouldn't the entire Immortal Realm know about this gossip?
A strong sense of crisis ignited Wan Lei's talent, and he quickly found the report link on the forum.
Click, report.
Report content: Wan Lei and Xi Sha have nothing; it's all rumors. Please delete the posts and ban all rumors.
Reply: Your report has been received. We will process it as soon as possible. Please wait in line. There are still 37,293,651 reports ahead of you...
Wan Lei collapsed against the wall of his cave dwelling, utterly disheartened once more...
In the evening, as Wan Lei was meditating and cultivating, a world-shattering roar suddenly came from outside, startling him so much that he almost went into qi deviation.
"Is Brother Wan home? Your humble servant Qi Heng is here to pay his respects and congratulate you on becoming the strongest Hall Master of the Five Elements Hall!"
Wan Lei looked at the falling mud from the cave wall, rubbed his aching ears, and looked outside. He saw Qi Heng holding a mountain of gift boxes, smiling cheerfully in his direction.
"Damn it, I told you to be seen, but I didn't tell you to be so ostentatious! And what was with that roar? Were you afraid of not attracting the entire Five Elements Hall?"
Wan Lei quickly exited his cave dwelling and laughed heartily.
"Oh, isn't this Brother Qi? Why have you come? What a rare visitor, what a rare visitor! Why bring gifts? Come in, come in."
Thus, amidst the confused and shocked gazes of many passing disciples, Wan Lei led Qi Heng, carrying a mountain of gifts, into the cave.
"You're actually living in a cave?"
Looking at the sparsely furnished cave, Qi Heng was also quite shocked. Who would have thought that the distinguished Wan Lei would live in such a place?
Wan Lei also recalled Qi Heng asking him when he passed on the message if he really lived in a cave, and how he had repeatedly denied it.
How embarrassing, how shameful...
The gifts Qi Heng brought instantly filled Wan Lei's cave dwelling. Then, to Wan Lei's stunned gaze, Qi Heng shoved all these gifts...
Into his own storage bag.
"Damn it, where are the gifts you said you were bringing me?"
The cave dwelling, which had been full moments before, immediately became empty. Qi Heng sat on the small golden chair exclusive to Xiao Jin.
He told Wan Lei that he had already applied to the warden. At first, the warden didn't believe that a prodigy like Wan Lei would come to work in their prison. But Qi Heng patted his chest and claimed how good his relationship with Wan Lei was, and that with a few more gifts to persuade him, it would surely be successful.
Moreover, Qi Heng took the opportunity to request ten million spirit stones in activity funds, and he was now acting under orders to deliver gifts.
"You're profiting from both sides, aren't you?"
Wan Lei's forehead was covered in dark lines. Since getting to know him, Qi Heng had already benefited over thirty million spirit stones.
In the following days, every evening after work, Qi Heng would visit Wan Lei with bags of gifts. Many people saw this and assumed that Qi Heng valued Wan Lei's status and was trying to curry favor with him to build a good relationship.
This caused some people to have second thoughts and also bring gifts to visit Wan Lei.
To cover his tracks, Wan Lei accepted them all and enthusiastically chatted with them.
Until one morning, five or six days later, a piece of news shook the internal forum of the Five Elements Hall.
Wan Lei had suddenly submitted an application to work in the prison, and the prison system had approved it instantly, without any review.
People then remembered that Qi Heng was a team leader in the prison system.
It was then easy to guess that the fellow's visit to Wan Lei with gifts was surely to persuade Wan Lei to work in their prison system.
Upon hearing this news, various factions within the Five Elements Hall beat their chests and stamped their feet, cursing the prison system for being shameless and devising such methods as sending gifts, giving no opportunity for fair competition.
They also didn't know that Wan Lei would actually be willing to apply for the position...