Lu Ji removed his reading glasses, stretched, and his aging body creaked like old, neglected stairs.
"Tsk, I really am getting old," he said mockingly to himself. "I can't even do this little bit of work properly anymore."
"But this is the last of it."
After saying so, he put his glasses back on and flipped through his ragged notebook with the diligence of a workaholic.
"The amount of relief food this time is about the same as twenty years ago... Tsk, despite the situation being more severe now, those above just don't care about the public sentiment anymore. It seems I still need to submit another request."
"Two hundred thousand silver coins... These food traders are really dreaming if they think they can take this grain at triple the price. Do they take me for an idiot like Ulu? This is disaster relief food; it's been selling for ten times the amount twenty years ago, and now they think three times will suffice... Tsk, forget it, I can't be bothered to argue with them that much. Let's settle for eight times the price, and offload it quickly."
"Ulu is such an idiot, selling all these refugees to one place as if he's begging to be investigated by the Judgement Court. Shouldn't he split them into five groups? And how could the elderly and weak do hard labor? Would it not be better to just hand them over to those Esoteric Buddhism fanatics for their living sacrifices? He really has no brain."
Lu Ji grumbled as he worked, like a teacher grading papers deep into the night for failing students.
Only after finishing everything did he take off his glasses again and close his notebook.
"It all comes down to me in the end, really..." Lu Ji looked at the closed notebook with a tinge of regret. "I wish I could work another few decades; I really don't want to retire... Fortunately, this time is not like before, with no annoying folks to share my money. After collecting this last paycheck, I can finally settle down."
Having said that, Lu Ji looked up at the window.
When he began his work, it was still evening, but now it was completely dark.
Only then did Lu Ji remember, there was an even more important task to attend to tonight.
"That guy Ulu should be arriving soon."
Muttering to himself, Lu Ji walked over to the mirror and began to straighten out his Priest Robe.
Then, he returned to his office desk and took out the "Rhein Covenant" from the drawer.
He gently brushed the dust from the book then held it close to his chest, looking once again in the mirror.
The Lu Ji in the mirror seemed to be walking the path of a pilgrimage.
But he was not on a pilgrimage; it was all for the sense of ritual.
Lu Ji was a man with a strong sense of ritual; what he loved most was to wear the Priest Robe and hold the "Rhein Covenant" in his hand, committing acts of desecration while solemnly saying, "In the name of my Lord, I purify your body and soul; you cannot refuse."
But after all, he was getting on in years, and such exciting activities had become infrequent. With retirement approaching and the identity of a Priest soon to be left behind, it would be even harder to experience such moments in the future.
So he decided this would be the last time.
Wasn't this too a matter of ritual?
Lu Ji felt he truly deserved the title of holy Clergy.
Just at that moment, there was a knock at the door.
It seemed the child had arrived.
Lu Ji adjusted his expression, temporarily suppressing the anticipation, and walked to the door, opening it with a smile, "My dear child, I've been waiting for you..."
He hadn't finished speaking when he sensed danger, immediately stepping backwards, but it was a touch too late. The person outside charged in and plunged a knife into his abdomen, blood gushing out instantly.
"Ulu!!!" Lu Ji recognized the assailant and was both shocked and angry, retreating while shouting, "What are you doing?!"
"What am I doing?" Ulu sneered, "Of course, I am butchering you, you old Undying thing!"
After Ulu stabbed once, he quickly moved to stab a second time.
Lu Ji continued retreating into the room, shouting, "Have you lost your mind?!"
"Lost my mind? I am not mad," Ulu pointed his knife at Lu Ji. "Don't you know what you've done to me?!"
As he spoke, he pursued again, while Lu Ji dodged, frantically considering his options and incessantly talking to Ulu trying to buy time: "Is it because of that batch of food? Weren't we supposed to share it?"
"Why should we share it? Did you ever share with me twenty years ago? Now I am a Priest; all of that should be mine!"
It really is about that!
Lu Ji cursed inside while pretending to be repentant: "If you wanted it all, why didn't you just tell me? All that money, was it worth going to these lengths? What's our relationship, that we should fall out ?"
"Our relationship? Dare you mention it?" Ulu kept on howling angrily, "Think about what you've done to me!"
"You made me strip naked and stand on the table reading the 'Rhein Covenant'! And... damn it, you've ruined my life!"
Damn it, wasn't that your choice? You did it willingly for a mouthful of food, for this identity as a Priest!
Lu Ji roared inside, but he dared not provoke Ulu further and continued to soften his tone: "It was my fault; I can apologize to you."
"Apologize? After what you've done, do apologies matter?!" Ulu glared furiously, "Also, do you think I would believe your apologies? Today you were still saying that little boy tasted even better!"
"I also regret... Eh?" Lu Ji's instinct was to keep apologizing, but before he could finish, he froze, "Which little boy did I mention? When the hell did that happen?!"
"Still trying to argue? This is what you were about to do later!"
Bai Wei couldn't listen anymore at this point.
These two old fools bickering was hardly child-friendly, so he coldly reminded them: "Quit the nonsense, that old guy is preparing a Spell."
Upon hearing the reminder, Ulu realized that as he dodged, Lu Ji had concealed one hand.
This bastard, he really was preparing a Spell!
He immediately threw his knife at Lu Ji; the blade grazed along Lu Ji's arm, leaving a bloody gash.
Lu Ji's expression turned from panic to a wicked smile: "You... useless thing!"
He lifted his hand, and several Magic Power sigils suddenly appeared in mid-air, then several Magic Chains shot out from the sigils, tightly binding Ulu's body on the spot.
The situation had reversed in an instant!
"You wanted to kill me?!" Lu Ji roared at Ulu, "You think you, a worthless thing, can kill me?!"