Pretending To Be A Boss

"No, humans can't survive in the mines for seven days. I'm just ordinary, how could I possibly court death in there?"

Tang Xian said with a calm face, and Dong Ran nodded as well.

At this time, the broth of the hot pot had come to a boil, and the spicy aroma instantly awakened a little one from her dreams.

Blinking her sleepy eyes open, Tang Xiaojiu excitedly said:

"Tang Xian, what are we eating today?"

"Hot pot."

Although she didn't know what hot pot was, Tang Xiaojiu believed that anything made by Tang Xian must be very delicious.

"What's your sister's name?" Dong Ran looked at Tang Xiaojiu and thought the little girl was very cute.

"I'm Tang Xiaojiu. It's a name given to me by Tang Xian," Tang Xiaojiu said, liking her name very much. According to the regulations of the fox clan, she was not entitled to have her own name.

So Tang Xian gave her a name, and the little girl was very happy about it.

"So cute. Wait a minute... Why was Tang's naming style so normal when you named Xiaojiu?"

"I originally wanted to call her Tang Chiyu. I thought it sounded better than Tang Xiaojiu, but due to some irresistible factors, it was changed to Tang Xiaojiu," Tang Xian explained.

In his heart, he still thought Tang Chiyu sounded better.

Dong Ran felt a bit more balanced now. Tang Chiyu was indeed Tang's style. So, this little girl's identity must be special, right?

Why did she need Tang to name her?

"Sister, what's your name?"

"They call her Tang Da."

"Oh, so Tang Da is also a member of the Tang Family."

"Pfft, Tang, don't lead the child astray. My name is Dong Ran, you can call me Dongran."

"Okay, Tang Da."

Tang Xiaojiu nodded obediently.

...

...

Tang Xian's house became much livelier.

Dong Ran asked Tang Xiaojiu many questions, and Tang Xian was quite satisfied with the answers. Although the child was naive, she was not dumb.

Dong Ran wouldn't associate a little girl with a calamity-level boss creature.

Tang Xian concentrated on making the hot pot. To create a delicious hot pot, he really put a lot of thought into it this time.

As everyone knows, there are four steps to making hot pot.

First, carry away Tang Xiaojiu.

Second, carry away the Tang Xiaojiu who ran over again after smelling the aroma.

Third, carry away the Tang Xiaojiu whose mouth corners were almost drooling.

Fourth, serve the hot pot.

As the three of them began eating hot pot, Tang Xian realized the room was really small. Three people in a ten-square-meter room obviously felt a bit cramped.

Moving to the second floor for living quarters would mean losing the chaos of the ground floor as cover, which would bring its own set of troubles.

Tang Xian ultimately shook his head, grateful that such problems didn't exist in the mines.

The hot pot was quickly devoured, and Tang Xiaojiu rubbed her small belly contentedly, her round cherubic face beaming with satisfaction.

Tang Xian said to Dong Ran, "Come with me to the second level."

"Okay. What for?" Dong Ran asked.

"To sell this," Tang Xian said, without revealing the prop bag. After all, the smell from the head of a hellhound was very unpleasant, especially right after eating, it could make one uncomfortable. Instead, he just took out the Soul Crystal Jade.

"What creature is this from?"

Dong Ran glanced and seemed to recognize it from a perfect-level creature, but it seemed to lack a bit in luster.

"It's from a nearly evolved hellhound."

"It's not that one, right...?"

"Yeah, the one with the high bounty."

"Did you do it all by yourself?"

"Well, indeed there was only me."

Tang Xian felt he was telling the truth, but to avoid overturning Dong Ran's worldview, he didn't mention that there was also a fox on his side.

Dong Ran suddenly found that Tang Xian was a bit incomprehensible.

Is this man truly without talent? Or could it be that everything was an act?

Without paying attention to it, Tang Xian urged Dong Ran to wash the dishes. After giving some instructions to Tang Xiaojiu, and getting everything sorted, he took Dong Ran to the second level.

...

...

The Task Department has many people coming to collect bounties every day.

Tang Xian noticed that when he was with Dong Ran, there were far fewer eyes on him.

It was mainly those who were monitoring him, probably distracted by Dong Ran's impressive figure. Thinking about it, Tang Xian suddenly realized Dong Ran was more valuable than he had thought, and decided to add an extra piece of fish fillet to her meal tonight.

The employees in the Task Department changed every two or three days, and the salary was not bad. It could be considered a very stable and high-value job.

Just by coincidence, the person in charge of receiving Tang Xian this time was the same middle-aged woman from last time.

The woman had a lasting impression of Tang Xian because their team's name was quite ordinary, but the members' codenames were memorably terrible.

"Here to hand in a task?" the middle-aged woman asked.

"Yes, there's a special task that the employer wants to confirm in person. Could you please contact that employer for me? He requested the capture of a hellhound with a missing eye and ear near the Forest Sea."

"You went to the Forest Sea?"

Tang Xian nodded and did not mind the skepticism in the middle-aged woman's tone.

"I'll contact Mr. Jiang Ming right now, but he might not be available."

"You just tell him about this, and he will definitely have time."

Tang Xian, holding his prop bag, felt it was a bit heavy, so he found a place to sit down.

Just as he expected, after the middle-aged woman called, Jiang Ming hurried down from the fourth floor as soon as he heard someone was claiming the bounty for the hellhound he wanted captured.

It took Jiang Ming about fifteen minutes to arrive in a rush.

He went straight to the counter, inquired about the related matters, and then, informed by the middle-aged woman, he turned his gaze toward Tang Xian.

Jiang Ming frowned; he took this matter very seriously.

His teammate's vendetta was something he could no longer pursue, especially since the Forest Sea had turned into a red zone. The task of hunting the hellhound had become completely bleak.

Hearing that someone from the Task Department was contacting him, he arrived as quickly as he could, eager to see which team from the leaderboard was bold and capable enough to take on the task.

And then he saw Tang Xian.

Tang Xian waved politely at Jiang Ming. Tang Xian believed that Jiang Ming had helped him in the past, after all, he had let him advance when he was a temp.

The small conflict that had happened then was something he considered not worth worrying about.

"What are you doing here? What are you here for?"

"Handing in a task, obviously."

"Wait, Wang, the one who's handing in the task is him?" Jiang Ming turned to look at the middle-aged woman called Wang.

Wang nodded and said, "Their team has come to hand in a task for the second time, and it's also a hellhound. They chose to deliver it to you again. What, do you know each other?"

Jiang Ming was stunned.

Last time?

He remembered now. There had indeed been such a payout on his bill, submitted by a team called Shengtang.

Jiang Ming remembered clearly, the codenames of that team's members were awful.

He looked at Tang Xian in disbelief, his gaze filled with doubt and suspicion.

"Given your reputation, I want to see that hellhound first. How are you going to prove to me that it's the one I'm looking for?"

Tang Xian nodded, although he wasn't aware of what his reputation was. As a young man raised under socialist core values, he assumed it was a good one.

"Even though some time has passed, you probably haven't forgotten what your enemy looks like so easily, have you?" Tang Xian opened his prop bag.

A foul smell immediately filled the Task Department.

The dog's head in the prop bag wouldn't rot, but the accumulated odors were still enough to make everyone frown once the bag was opened.

Jiang Ming took one look and sorrow and rage flashed in his eyes.

"Where did you hunt it? Did you really hunt it yourself?"

"According to the transaction rules, I'm not obligated to explain the task execution to you."

"Others may not know your identity, but I do. If you don't explain things to me, I'll charge you with the crime of impersonating the regular forces."

Tang Xian believed Jiang Ming would not do such a thing.

He was just very eager to know how a cheater like him, with no talent, could possibly hunt such a powerful creature.

After thinking it over, Tang Xian decided to tell a lie.

"I happened to encounter Akasi."

Jiang Ming was taken aback.

The legendary hunter with ten talents, Akasi?

Tang Xian actually had such an extraordinary encounter?

Indeed, rumors said Akasi could now single-handedly kill perfect-level creatures and that going to a red zone to hunt down a mutated hellhound was very much in Akasi's style.

Jiang Ming took a deep look at Tang Xian.

Tang Xian gave a frank smile, thinking it necessary to establish his honest and upright image, in order to dissipate Jiang Ming's prejudice against him as soon as possible.

As for the lie about encountering the top-tier powerhouse Akasi and the butterfly effect it might cause, Tang Xian was unconcerned.

Sometimes life needs a few surprises.