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

Back to the boat.

Lu Ding was holding his phone.

According to the information on it, no one knew exactly how long the Water Corpse Cave had existed. But the first time it appeared, it was discovered by a few fishermen by accident.

Those fishermen went in and never came out.

Their families turned to a local spirit medium for help—this spirit medium was the founder of the Zeng Family, one of the three major forces in Heishuifang.

The spirit medium was able to sense the general location, but couldn’t get in.

Later, they brought in a local corpse salvager—this was the He Family, one of the other two forces.

The two joined forces and broke into the Water Corpse Cave.

What happened inside, no one knows. The two never spoke of it. All anyone knew was that not long after they came out—Their cultivation skyrocketed.

The following year, the two wanted to go in again, but this time, another ruthless figure from the area—a pig butcher with the surname Huang—secretly followed them.

That was when the founders of the three forces in Heishuifang officially emerged!

But unlike the other two, the old man from the Huang Family gained a great opportunity inside. After achieving powerful cultivation, he followed the larger movement of the time—

He helped 749 of the Great Han clear the world of threats and repel foreign enemies.

Only, every year when the Water Corpse Cave reopened, he would return.

After the situation in the Great Han stabilized, the Huang Family received resource support from 749, as they deserved. You can’t shortchange your heroes.

From then on, the Huang Family began to rise.

Information about the Water Corpse Cave was only officially recorded by 749 later, after the He and Zeng Families teamed up against the Huang Family due to unequal division of benefits, blowing the whole thing up.

Even then, 749 didn’t interfere with the Water Corpse Cave.

Although it was unclaimed and should belong to the strong, it was the locals who found it. The old man from the Huang Family had rendered great service.

No matter how you look at it, there was no justification for intervention.

749 just stationed a local post there to make sure the three families didn’t slaughter each other. That was it.

At first, when the cave’s existence was exposed due to the three families’ disputes, anyone could enter.

It’s not like you built it, right?

Even if someone owned it, it wasn’t one of you. The three families could only be called discoverers, not owners.

749 didn’t go in—not because they weren’t interested, but because they had bigger operations. So why couldn’t we lone cultivators go in?

Later, as the three families grew stronger, they formed a cooperation and took control of the Water Corpse Cave.

Each year, they limited how many people could enter.

That quota changed every year, but the majority was always held tightly by the three families.

Only a few spots were auctioned off or given out as favors.

Because of this, the three families often clashed with outsiders.

There were many large-scale incidents. The most serious one involved a fish demon strong enough to rival someone in the Zhaoxuan Realm.

It killed a lot of people in a chaotic battle that left even a downstream county half-flooded.

It’s still on the wanted list to this day.

These issues reached 749’s ears, and they did want to intervene—but couldn’t find a good angle.

And every time the issue was brought up, the Huang Family would pull out their trump card:

“My old man shed blood for 749!!”

749: F**k!!

They really had no way to deal with it.

Step in, and you’d be wrong. Stay out, and you’d still be wrong. Either way, you’d end up offending someone.

Because of that, the three families made a public agreement to present a united front against outsiders, and under the old man’s name, they pushed things further and further.

But they didn’t stir up trouble outside—just kept it within Heishuifang.

So you couldn’t say anything against them. They didn’t cross the line.

Over time, Heishuifang became a place for selling black-market goods. In a way, that helped compensate the lone cultivators.

Lone cultivators knew they couldn’t compete with the three families, so they just let it be.

Having a place to offload black-market goods was convenient enough.

Seeing all this—

Lu Ding could only say, “Isn’t this just blatant arrogance and entitlement?”

They were given special privileges, fine. But the Huang Family not only used them for themselves, they even brought others in?

Reading through everything—

Lu Ding could only see one truth: when your fists are big, you make the rules.

The three families had the biggest fists, so they claimed the land. Lone cultivators had smaller fists, so they got nothing.

If that’s how it is—

“I feel like my fists are pretty big too. What do you guys think?”

Yan Feifan clearly understood what Lu Ding was getting at.

He nodded and said with full agreement, “Fists the size of sandbags—those guys probably haven’t seen anything like that before.”

He also wanted to add his own thoughts.

“If you ask me, people around here are way too reasonable. Someone’s already climbed onto their heads, and they’re still going along with it.”

“And honestly, the way they treat other Qi Refiners isn’t fair. But I get why—it’s hard for them to be fair.”

At that, Yan Feifan leaned in close and used spiritual energy to speak in a voice only the three of them could hear.

“But our Great Han doesn’t have any concept of hereditary rule. There is something kind of like that for those who’ve stepped down a level, but the Huang Family didn’t step down. The management here is seriously messed up.”

“First come, first serve is fine—but you can’t just come first once and then claim everything forever. And monopolize it, too.”

Lu Ding thought that made sense.

Since it was all about fist size—

Then he wouldn’t bother using his 749 identity anymore.

Rip off the shoulder patch—much easier.

If the three families could rely on brute force to control the quota, then he could punch his way in too.

While they chatted—

The boat entered a cave, and the light faded away.

After sailing for another half hour—

They saw a dock up ahead.

Nestled in the mountains, buildings lined the shore. Some clung to the cliffs, others hugged the water’s edge—blending ancient elegance with modern design.

This was Heishuifang.

As people came and went—

Everyone disembarking had their passes checked again.

When their feet finally touched the ground, Lu Ding and Yan Feifan were still in awe at the scenery.

The buildings and surroundings made them feel as though they’d stepped through time.

If not for the clearly modern clothing on passersby—

Lu Ding might really have believed he’d found the fabled Peach Blossom Spring.

One day, he might just go write a Peach Blossom Spring Record himself.

Tang Miao followed behind them off the boat.

Someone came to meet her.

The elegant young man glanced behind her and said, “Eh? Sis, why are you alone? Where are Huang Jie and Huang Yuanqing? And Cui’er?”

Tang Miao looked at Lu Ding and the others walking into the distance. “I’ll explain when we get back.”

She was afraid that if she said something now, her brother would run off to confront the three and cause unnecessary trouble.

“Hahaha, fine. We’ll talk later. Here, Sis, let me introduce you—this is my sworn younger brother, Huang Family’s young master, Huang Xun.”

“And this is my little sister, Tang Miao.”

Tang Tian introduced them to each other.

Tang Miao nodded with a smile, which made Huang Xun momentarily dazed.

The girl before him radiated an air of quiet elegance, tinged with a touch of loneliness—like watching the rain fall from a bamboo hut in February.

But when she smiled, it was like the clouds cleared and the sun came out.

Tang Tian had often bragged about his sister to Huang Xun, so Huang Xun already had a favorable impression of her.

Now... even more so!

To the point where he temporarily forgot to ask about Huang Jie and Huang Yuanqing.

Noticing that his gaze lingered on her for too long—

Tang Miao felt uncomfortable and changed the subject.

“Brother, didn’t you say you had a third brother too? Someone named Di... something? Why isn’t he here today?”

“His name’s Di She,”

Huang Xun answered.