Death Progress Bar

date and they kept wrangling, that’s why it dragged on until now.” His expression was disapproving.

“It’s just training some rookie, what’s there to fight about?” Shi Jin was even more confused.

Gua One intended to mentor him, so he continued to explain: “Of course they don’t care about the training itself, what they want is to be allowed into ‘Nightlight.’ This place is the private residence of Jun-shao, do you think someone who works for the government can come in as he pleases? The permission to enter ‘Nightlight’ is not easy to get.”

His words enlightened Shi Jin.
He shook his head while clicking his tongue, automatically imagining the official trainer as a fat, middle-aged bureaucrat with shifty eyes and ulterior motives, and decided not to ask more questions.

Halfway through the afternoon fighting class, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Gua One stopped his sparring with Shi Jin and shouted to come in.

The door opened slightly and Gua Two peered inside.
He glanced at Gua One first, then his gaze moved to Shi Jin.
His expression was full of meaning.
“The man sent by the government is here,” he said.

Shi Jin looked at him doubtfully.
“Gua Two, what’s with your expression? Are you having face spasms now?”

Gua Two rolled his eyes with irritation and sent him a contemptuous look, not bothering winking anymore.
He pushed the door open completely and gave way to the man in a black training suit standing behind him.

Due to the angle of view, when Gua Two stepped aside, what Shi Jin saw first was a pair of long legs in black boots and sweatpants of the same color.
Because of his preconceptions, he was a little surprised and surreptitiously said to Xiao Si that the officials were more trustworthy than he thought and didn’t really send an unreliable fatso.
As a result, when the man stepped forward and revealed his face, Shi Jin was stunned.

“Four, Fourth Brother?!” Shi Jin stammered out, not daring to believe his eyes.

Xiang Aoting paused his steps and frowned, his eyes zeroing in on Shi Jin.
When he noticed his protective training gear, his face sank.
“Why are you here?”

Being asked this question, Shi Jin was slightly baffled.
“That is my line.
Aren’t you a pilot? How did you become a trainer? As for why I’m here—don’t play dumb, I told you earlier that I live here.”

“Of course I know you live here, that’s why I applied for this assignment.
What I’m asking is, why are you in this training room!” Xiang Aoting replied.
He seemed to realize something and looked at Gua Two, who led him here.
“Why is Xiao Jin here? You said you’re taking me to the man taking part in the mission.”

Gua Two pointed at Shi Jin and said, “It’s him.
He’s the person you need to train.”

Xiang Aoting’s face distorted and the expression in his eyes changed.
He said stiffly, “I want to see Lian Jun.”

The moment he saw Xiang Aoting appear, Gua Two knew things would go wrong, so he wasn’t surprised to hear that.
He raised his hand to greet Gua One, then turned and signaled for Xiang Aoting to follow him.

Shi Jin also realized something wasn’t right.
He hurriedly took off the protective gear and jumped down from the training platform, then trotted to catch up with them.
“I’ll go with you,” he said.

Gua Two nodded, not minding.
Xiang Aoting noticed Shi Jin was quite proficient in removing the protective gear, and his expression turned even more ugly.

As the three men walked to Lian Jun’s study, Shi Jin secretly talked with Xiao Si.
He suddenly recalled Rong Zhouzhong’s [You’re dead!] text message, and a certain thought flashed in his mind.
In an instant, he grabbed his phone and typed, [Third Brother, did you know Fourth Brother was coming to ‘Nightlight’?]

Rong Zhouzhong answered quickly, and his reply was once again terse: [You’re dead, you little bastard!]

This childish asshole really knew!

Shi Jin put away his phone and glanced at Xiang Aoting walking in front of him and wrinkled his eyebrows.
He took a few quick steps to catch up with him and started, “Fourth Brother, this time…”

“We’ll talk about it later,” interrupted Xiang Aoting without turning his head.
He saw the door to Lian Jun’s study and hurried his pace.
Without knocking, he opened it and entered, ignoring Gua Nine who stood up in alarm.
He noticed Lian Jun sitting behind the desk and walked towards him.
Xiang Aoting slammed his hands onto the desktop and leaned forward, glaring at Lian Jun.
“Lian Jun, why is my brother going to participate in this mission?” He asked, not concealing his hostility.

“Fourth Brother.” Shi Jin saw Xiang Aoting actions as soon as he came in, and his heart skipped a beat.
Afraid his brother would attack Lian Jun, he rushed to the desk and stood beside Lian Jun, shielding him.

Xiang Aoting’s expression became even more severe, and he looked at Lian Jun as if he was an amoral scoundrel who bewitched and deceived an innocent teenager to use him.

Shi Jin attempted to talk to Xiang Aoting: “Fourth Brother, you…”

“You shut up!” Xiang Aoting would not let him speak.
Not taking his eyes off Lian Jun, he asked, “What exactly are you scheming? Why would you make Shi Jin, a child, take part in this mission?”

Shi Jin took a breath and was going to protest against being called ‘child,’ but Lian Jun grabbed his arm.

“I’m not scheming anything,” answered Lian Jun, raising his hand to stop Gua Nine and Gua Two from approaching Xiang Aoting.
He calmly met Xiang Aoting’s hostile gaze and said, “Obviously, I chose Shi Jin because he is the most qualified candidate.
Besides, Shi Jin is not a child, he’s already an adult.”

Translator’s Notes:
“…ulterior motives” – while I translated it in such a boring way, the words said here are 醉翁之意不在酒, lit.
‘Wine-lover’s heart is not in the cup’.
It comes from the semi-biographical poem Zuiweng Tingji by Ouyang Xiu, and what the author meant by it is that the whole fun is not in drinking, but in enjoying the scenery in the mountains.
The poem was written almost a thousand years ago, yet this line is still used as an idiom describing someone with an ulterior motive, or whose intention is not what it seems on the surface.