Chapter 64: Calculations
The woman gritted her teeth, wishing she could devour Yang Haoran, her body emanating a strong smell of gunpowder, as if it could explode at any moment.
This time, Yang Haoran didn't argue back with the woman. It wasn't that he was afraid of her, but there were too many people around. If he were to confront her in this situation, everything he had done would be in vain.
A bitter smile appeared on his face as he shook his head with a sigh.
The world is vast, to the extent that some people, once missed, will never be encountered again in a lifetime.
But sometimes, the world is small, so small that no matter where you go, you can run into the last person you want to see.
Fate is intangible, untouchable, yet undeniably real and incredibly mysterious.
Facing the black-haired woman, Yang Haoran didn't consider this fate a good thing. On the contrary, he felt it was fate playing a trick on him.
Yang Haoran ignored the black-haired woman, withdrew his gaze, lit a cigarette, wearing a look of melancholy. However, the black-haired woman seemed unwilling to let him off the hook. With her hands in her pockets, she walked towards where Yang Haoran was.
Her footsteps had a rhythm, but to Yang Haoran's ears, they sounded like a prelude to doom.
As her footsteps drew closer, Yang Haoran tried to maintain a smile on his face, though it seemed somewhat forced.
A fragrant breeze wafted over as the black-haired woman stopped in front of Yang Haoran. Looking at her long straight legs, he felt as if a mountain had appeared before him.
"Damn, is this woman going to confront me in this situation?" Yang Haoran couldn't help but think. If the black-haired woman really did so, it would be embarrassing for him.
Although he was worried, Yang Haoran still tried to make his smile appear natural and friendly. He stood up and extended his hand towards the black-haired woman in what seemed like a friendly gesture.
In any other circumstance, Yang Haoran would never have taken the initiative to be friendly to the black-haired woman. His reaction would have been just like last night, full of ridicule towards her. But now, he couldn't afford to do so.
"Hello, I've recently joined the organization. My name is..."
Yang Haoran tried to show goodwill towards the black-haired woman, but before he could finish speaking, she angrily interrupted him.
"I don't care what your name is. The only thing I'm interested in right now is tearing apart your foul mouth and gouging out those smiling eyes of yours!"
Her voice was fierce, catching not only Yang Haoran off guard but also the other Night Watch members, who sensed her intense anger.
They all wore expressions of curiosity. What kind of grudge did this new guy, Yang Haoran, have with the black-haired woman? Judging by her furious demeanor, it seemed like quite a big one.
Yang Haoran felt awkward. His worst fear had come true. The black-haired woman didn't care about the situation at all. Her words embarrassed him deeply.
His outstretched hand hung in the air, and he forced a smile, suppressing his displeasure, then withdrew his hand.
He really didn't want to argue with the black-haired woman in this situation, but she seemed unwilling to let him off. She snorted and was about to speak again when suddenly, everyone sensed something and turned their gaze towards a certain direction.
Soul Qi infusion!
Yang Haoran knew that this was what Master Jiang had talked about - Soul Qi infusion, the only way for Night Watch members to enhance their Yin spirit power!
However, he was puzzled. Why were they able to get the chance for Soul Qi infusion before handing over souls? And why did the amount of Soul Qi each of the fourteen people received differ? Some got more, some got less.
Most importantly, he and the black-haired woman didn't enjoy the Soul Qi infusion.
Master Jiang seemed to sense Yang Haoran's confusion and explained in a low voice, "Every month, temple priests receive a fixed amount of Soul Qi. The longer one has been a temple priest, the more fixed Soul Qi they receive. You and Mei Jing are not temple priests, so you don't have this benefit."
Master Jiang's explanation made Yang Haoran suddenly understand. He hadn't expected temple priests like Master Jiang to receive a monthly salary, and the longer they served, the more they received!
Yang Haoran couldn't deny feeling envious, but upon further thought, he could accept this arrangement. After all, temple priests needed to manage the Death God Temple, and they were busy all day. They didn't have many opportunities to go out and gather souls. Without a fixed salary, they probably wouldn't receive much Soul Qi each month.
"Now, let me see your performance for this month."
Deng Feng's voice rang out again. A Night Watch member immediately approached Deng Feng and respectfully handed over a soul gathering bead.
Inside the soul gathering bead, there were numerous soul threads, numbering at least twenty. Yang Haoran estimated that there were over twenty Soul Qi in the bead.
Deng Feng nodded indifferently at the Night Watch member's performance. It wasn't satisfactory, but he didn't show any dissatisfaction either. With a wave of his hand, the soul gathering bead disappeared as if it had never appeared.
Then, another burst of Soul Qi erupted from the wooden box in front of him, directly entering the body of the Night Watch member.
The person looked pleased and then respectfully saluted Deng Feng before leaving excitedly.
After this person left, another temple priest approached, just like the previous one, took out a soul gathering bead, and respectfully handed it to Deng Feng.
This Night Watch member's performance was better than the previous one, with over thirty soul threads in the soul gathering bead.
The process of handing over souls was swift. In a short time, half of the sixteen people had successfully handed over their souls and received the corresponding Soul Qi.
Xu Meijing had been sitting still the whole time. She occasionally glanced at Yang Haoran with a provocative look.
Xu Meijing, the black-haired woman who had a feud with Yang Haoran, was always the first to hand over souls in the past. But this time, she didn't. The reason naturally lay with Yang Haoran.
Yang Haoran couldn't miss Xu Meijing's provocative glances, but at this moment, he didn't have the mind to pay attention to her. Therefore, he didn't respond to Xu Meijing's provocations.
He watched as other Night Watch members took out their soul gathering beads, each containing at least twenty Soul Qi. In contrast, his soul gathering bead only contained two soul threads. This performance of his was simply appalling.
After a while, except for Xu Meijing and Yang Haoran, all other Night Watch members had successfully handed over their souls.
Xu Meijing had intended to wait for Yang Haoran to go first, but seeing that he had no intention of doing so, she snorted and stood up, walking towards Deng Feng.