First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!

And all of these things were intricately tied to him—many times, it wasn’t Lu Ding looking for trouble.

Trouble came looking for Lu Ding.

The two followed Wang Qingge’s shared location.

Leaving Bai Hemen, Wu Yishuang, and Yu Qingli to guard the place.

Through the dense forest,

The two made their way forward.

Cao Ying glanced at the blinking red dot on his phone and complained, “We may be in the tech age, but this piece of junk loses signal way too easily.”

Lu Ding asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Wang Qingge’s location keeps flickering—probably because she’s reached Red Cliff Rock. That area’s magnetic field is unstable, high mineral content, messes with the signal.”“But the phones you guys have at the Bureau don’t have that issue.”

Military-grade is a whole different league from civilian tech, and the 749 Bureau’s equipment is beyond military grade.

Lu Ding replied, “It’s fine. As long as we know she’s there, we’ll go find her.”

Hearing that, Cao Ying watched as the red dot vanished.

He quickly zoomed in on the map.

Seeing Wang Qingge’s last pinged location was near a cliff marked on the map,

Cao Ying’s expression turned helpless.

What had he just said?

It’s never Lu Ding looking for trouble—something always finds him.

He said, exasperated, “Brother Lu, you’ll need to keep cool. Whatever happens, do not act rashly.”

Lu Ding looked puzzled.

What are you even talking about?

How did this become a warning about fighting?

He didn’t reply—just frowned and shot a questioning look.

Lu Ding: So...?

Cao Ying explained.

“Out here, there are two types of natural disasters you absolutely have to avoid. One is black sandstorms—they mostly happen in summer.”

“The other is white hair wind, which only comes in winter.”

“Neither can be handled by humans.”

“I’ve heard they planted trees across the northwest mostly to stop the black sandstorms. Regular wind and sand was secondary. But how ordinary trees can block sandstorms that even cultivators of Qi have to avoid, I have no clue.”

“Just something I heard.”

Lu Ding had heard of black sandstorms and white hair wind too—but not much.

Just knew they were terrifying natural disasters.

He hadn’t seen them himself, so he didn’t comment.

He gestured for Cao Ying to continue.

“But there are some places—whether due to natural geography or something else—where neither of those storms hit. When disaster strikes, people can shelter in those spots.”

Cao Ying raised his phone and zoomed in on the map.

“Wang Qingge’s last pinged location is one of those places.”

He pointed at the map: “Right here, there’s a ‘Black Inn’. It used to be a shelter for travelers caught in disasters.”

“Later, after the Han Dynasty reforested the area, there were fewer sandstorms.”

“So the inn lost its original purpose.”

“Over time, they used their old network to start a unique business—serving cultivators of Qi passing through, offering food and lodging.”

“But a Black Inn... normally no decent cultivator would go there. Only the shady types do.”

“You’ve just pissed off the Bai Family. If you go into the inn and lose control, you’ll be in trouble with both sides—black and white won’t accept you.”

“These people are all tangled up—one string pulls another, yank one weed and the mud comes with it. One wrong move and you’re a target for everyone.”

“And besides, you’re a government agent. In that inn—maybe not all—but ninety-nine out of a hundred are tied to bandits.”

“Or to put it plainly—they are bandits. Their identities are sensitive. They can’t be seen by 749.”

“So I’m saying—you stay outside. I’ll go in and bring her out.”

“What do you think, Brother Lu?”

Lu Ding didn’t really care, but since Cao Ying insisted—

And avoiding trouble was always better than causing it.

He knew full well: if he went in, there was a good chance someone would run their mouth.

So—

“Fine. I’ll wait outside.”

The two picked up the pace.

Soon, they arrived at the spot Cao Ying mentioned.

At the base of Red Cliff Rock,

There stood an old-style building built against the cliff.

The signboard had just two plain words, no frills, no flair.

Black Inn.

Simple and direct.

Lu Ding had thought “Black Inn” was just a nickname—maybe it charged outrageous prices, or robbed customers.

But no.

That was literally its name.

Lu Ding didn’t even know what to say.

Whoever named this place was a genius.

Just slap those two words on a board, and no decent person would dare step in.

A perfect filter—keeps all the good people out.

Cao Ying warned again, “Brother Lu, just wait here. I’ll be right out. Don’t go in, no matter what.”

“Relax, I won’t. Message me if anything happens.”

Cao Ying nodded and hurried up.

The view followed him—he climbed the steps and pushed the door open.

The outer building was just a small part of the Black Inn.

Inside—

Half the mountain’s base had been hollowed out.

The space was wide, the view expansive.

Just a little run-down.

Voices echoed. Heat rolled through the air. The smells of meat, vegetables, and alcohol hit like a wave.

There were two levels total.

First floor—dining hall. Packed with tables and stools.

Second floor—lodging. Densely packed doors lining narrow halls.

The moment Cao Ying entered, a cheerful staffer came up.

“Yo, if it isn’t Boss Cao! What wind brought you here today?”

At those words, quite a few people looked over.

And called out “Boss Cao” or “Cao Lord” with clasped hands.

In Yunhai, Cao Ying had clout. But here? Even more.

He’d made his name running mountains and robbing graves—cutthroat and respected.

Cao Ying returned the greetings one by one.

He glanced around but didn’t see Wang Qingge, so he asked,

“Did a Taoist nun come in earlier?”

“Sure did!”

“She’s over in that corner.”

The staffer pointed to a blind spot not visible from the entrance.

Hearing that, Cao Ying relaxed a little.

He lowered his voice, “What tea and food did she get?”

The server still smiled brightly.

A clever one, reading the mood.

He lowered his head and whispered, “Don’t worry—it was the red menu, plain tea. Things aren’t like before. Boss told us to clean up our act.”

Cao Ying nodded with satisfaction, pulled out a roll of cash and slipped it into the guy’s hand.

“You’d better keep it clean.”

The server just smiled, didn’t reply—but took the money.

Cao Ying patted his shoulder and clasped hands to the crowd as he made his way in.