"Of course I'm angry. I had a dream where you were wearing this same outfit. I had just ripped your clothes off and was about to have my way with you when your phone call ruined everything and interrupted my dream!"
Ye Huan shot right back without a shred of politeness, knowing full well what would set Lin Xi off.
Lin Xi rolled her eyes at Ye Huan. "Idiot!"
With that, she opened the door and got into the car.
Ye Huan didn't rush to get in. Today, Lin Xi was wearing a silver professional pantsuit that made her look intellectual, sharp, full of professional drive, and radiating a powerful aura.
Yet what caught Ye Huan's attention were the generous breasts, slender waist, and rounded hips accentuated by the suit.
Especially when Lin Xi climbed into the car—that posture was simply breathtaking.
"What are you looking at?"
Once inside, Lin Xi turned her head to see Ye Huan staring lecherously at her thighs. She slammed the car door shut and snapped, "What are you staring at?"
"I had a dream last night. You were wearing this exact same outfit, and I ripped your clothes to shreds and had my way with you!" Ye Huan shrugged, fabricating the story on the spot.
"I'll beat you to death..."
Furious, Lin Xi opened the car door, stepped out, and lunged at Ye Huan.
This time, Ye Huan didn't take the hits passively. His hands shot out with pinpoint accuracy to grip Lin Xi's wrists, and with a slight tug, he reeled her into his embrace, planting a fierce kiss straight on her lips.
"Ugh..."
Breaking free from Ye Huan, Lin Xi stumbled to the side, squatted on the ground, and threw up her entire breakfast.
Seeing this, Ye Huan felt utterly delighted!
"You scumbag Ye... you just wait..."
After finishing vomiting, Lin Xi pointed a furious finger at Ye Huan in threat, then got back into her car and drove away.
Ye Huan: "..."
"Ha! Run all the way to the company yourself!"
Lin Xi's booming laughter echoed from the receding car.
Ye Huan curled his lip. This girl was quite a character—why on earth would he run? Couldn't he just hail a cab?
Just then, the Water and Fire Judges, who had been protecting Ye Huan from the shadows, pulled their car up beside him.
"Sect Master, please get in!"
Sitting in the front passenger seat, the red-haired Fire Judge quickly stepped out, opened the rear door, and said respectfully.
Ye Huan had originally intended to flag down a taxi, but remembering he had questions for the Water and Fire Judges, he climbed into the car instead.
Once inside, he asked:
"Has the hacker confessed?"
At these words, the Water and Fire Judges instantly tensed up.
The red-haired Fire Judge in the passenger seat spoke up. "Sect Master, I'm sorry. When Black and White Impermanence went to capture the hacker, they grew careless and underestimated the enemy, allowing the hacker to bite into a poison capsule hidden in his rear molar and commit suicide!"
"Oh?"
Ye Huan narrowed his eyes. "Just what kind of formidable figures are behind the hacker who targeted Lin Group, making death preferable to leaking secrets?"
The blue-haired Water Judge, who was driving, chimed in. "Sect Master, Black and White Impermanence asked us to relay a message: they are willing to accept any punishment for their foolishness."
Ye Huan shook his head. "This isn't your fault. I underestimated the enemy."
He had guessed long ago that Lin Group had run into serious trouble, prompting Lin Canglan to cash in an old promise and force him into marrying Lin Xi and moving into the Lin Family as a son-in-law.
He simply hadn't expected the enemies facing Lin Group to be this formidable.
The Water and Fire Judges secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
They had half-expected Ye Huan to severely punish Black and White Impermanence. After all, this new Sect Master was none other than the Underworld King, a man who had once split the previous Sect Master of Hell Gate in two with a single blade—a figure whose terrifying brutality had shaken the entire world.
To their surprise, not only did Ye Huan refuse to punish Black and White Impermanence, but he even took the blame upon himself.
Based on this alone, the Water and Fire Judges felt that Ye Huan was far more humane than the previous Sect Master of Hell Gate.
"Did you bring the hacker's phone?" Ye Huan asked.
"We did!"
The Fire Judge hurriedly handed a smartphone and a laptop over to Ye Huan.
Taking them, Ye Huan spent a mere twenty minutes easily cracking the phone's security.
However, the phone contained not a single piece of useful information; the contact list was entirely blank.
Instead, he found a stash of adult movies—some domestic, some from Fusang, some from Kimchi Country, and some from Europe and America.
Without missing a beat, Ye Huan forwarded the entire collection of adult videos straight to Lin Xi.
"Bitch, sooner or later I'll destroy you with my own hands..."
Driving along, Lin Xi used a wet wipe to frantically scrub her lips, rubbing them until they felt raw.
Suddenly, her phone chimed.
Picking it up, she saw that Ye Huan had sent a barrage of video files. Puzzled, she tapped on one, only for a wildly explicit, moving image to flash across her screen, accompanied by sounds entirely unsuitable for children echoing inside the car.
"You scumbag Ye, you bastard!"
Lin Xi roared in fury, then instinctively saved the short clips anyway!
...
When Ye Huan arrived at Lin Group and moved to enter the Lin Building, a security guard blocked his path.
"Hold it right there, you—"
The guard stopped Ye Huan, about to demand who he was, but the moment he caught sight of Ye Huan's face, a reflex made him instinctively shield his crotch. "Y-y-you... what are you doing here?"
This particular guard happened to be one of the fifteen bodyguards Lin Xi had taken to the airport the day before—the very one Ye Huan had kicked squarely in the crotch.
"I'm here to report for duty. Starting today, I'm an honorable and proud security guard at Lin Group, just like you!" Ye Huan smiled pleasantly.
The guard was utterly dumbfounded. Just yesterday, the CEO had been threatening to beat this guy to a pulp; how on earth did he end up working inside the company today?
"What? Not happy to see me?" Ye Huan asked.
*Like I'd ever dare have a problem with that...* The guard forced a flattering smile. "Welcome, welcome!"
Ye Huan nodded with satisfaction. "Take me to fill out my onboarding paperwork."
*We're both just guards, why are you acting like my boss? Why should I listen to you?* The guard muttered inwardly, though he forced a smile. "Alright, alright! Please, follow me!"
Ye Huan immediately followed the guard to the elevator lobby, only to find Lin Qingyun waiting for the elevators as well.
Lin Qingyun was in a truly miserable state at the moment; the claw marks left by Lin Canglan the night before were still clearly visible across his face and neck.
"What is your pig-slaughtering ass doing at Lin Group again?"
Catching sight of Ye Huan, Lin Qingyun instantly flew into a rage.
If there was one person in the world Lin Qingyun despised above all others, it was Ye Huan. In Lin Qingyun's eyes, if Ye Huan hadn't resolved the hacker crisis, he wouldn't have lost the wager, and he certainly wouldn't have been demoted to Captain of the Security Team.
"Starting today, I'm an employee of Lin Group as well!" Ye Huan said expressionlessly, though inwardly he debated whether or not to expose Lin Qingyun's infertility.
"That bitch Lin Xi actually arranged for you to get a job at the company!"
Gritting his teeth in hatred, Lin Qingyun demanded, "Which department did she put you in? What's your job?"
Ye Huan didn't hide it. "The Security Department. I'm a guard!"
"A guard?"
Lin Qingyun blinked, then burst into roaring laughter. "I was just racking my brains over how to get back at you, and Lin Xi went and dropped you right into my lap. You pig-slaughtering bastard, just you wait! I'll make sure you learn the hard way what happens when you cross me!"
With that, he turned to the guard standing beside Ye Huan. "Pass the word down: in half an hour, all security personnel are to report to the training room for a full assembly."
"Got it, right away!" The guard bolted off at a sprint.
Lin Qingyun patted Ye Huan's shoulder with a mocking smirk. "Once you finish your paperwork, get yourself down to the training room too. That's where I'll teach you a crystal-clear lesson about the consequences of offending me."
Looking at Lin Qingyun as if he were an absolute moron, Ye Huan couldn't help wondering how someone as formidable as Elder Lin could have sired such an utter idiot.
At that moment, the elevator doors slid open. Ye Huan and Lin Qingyun stepped inside together, exchanging no further words as they headed to different floors to complete their onboarding procedures.
...
When Ye Huan finished his paperwork and arrived at the training room, Lin Qingyun and the entire security force were already waiting.
"Well, well, you actually had the guts to show up! I thought you'd be so scared you fell down a toilet and couldn't climb back out!"
Seeing Ye Huan walk in, Lin Qingyun sneered sarcastically.
"Captain Lin gave the order for every guard to assemble in the training room. How could I dare not come?" Ye Huan shot right back without missing a beat.
The title "Captain Lin" drove Lin Qingyun into a frenzy. He strode right up to Ye Huan, grabbed him by the collar, and hissed in a low voice, "You pig-slaughtering piece of trash, do you have any idea that you're courting death?"
*Courting death!*
A flash of cold light crossed Ye Huan's eyes, and with a single sweep of his hand, he slapped Lin Qingyun flat onto the floor.
The sight left the assembled security guards utterly dumbstruck!
A brand-new recruit, and on his very first day on the job, he beat up the captain?
And not just any captain—this captain was the Chairman's eldest son, the CEO's uncle, a former vice president, and a member of the board of directors!
Was this new guy trying to get fired on his very first day?
The fifteen guards who had taken a boot to the crotch at the airport yesterday exchanged glances. This guy had offended the CEO, yet miraculously passed the interview to become a Lin Group guard—and now, on his first day on the job, he dared to assault the CEO's uncle.
"Y-y-you... you actually hit me?"
It took Lin Qingyun a moment on the floor to process what had happened. Flying into a rage, he scrambled up and lashed out with a slap toward Ye Huan's face. "I'll beat you to death, you bastard!"
*Bang!*
Ye Huan drove a kick straight into Lin Qingyun's chest, sending him flying backward.
"Cough, cough..."
Lin Qingyun soared seven or eight meters before crashing down flat on his back, clutching his chest and coughing violently from the pain.
Recovering his wits, he propped himself up and roared at the guards, "Are you all blind?! Didn't you see him hit me?! Get him! All of you, pile on and beat him to death..."
The guards hastily snapped out of their stupor and rushed toward Ye Huan in a chaotic mob.
Charging right at the front were the fifteen guards who had been kicked in the groin yesterday. At this moment, they felt a thrilling rush of impending sweet revenge.
The fifteen of them hadn't been able to take Ye Huan down yesterday, but with sixty men today, victory was guaranteed.
"Well, I've got time to kill. I might as well test the quality of Lin Group's security force on Lin Xi's behalf!"
Ye Huan limbered up his limbs and stepped forward to meet the charging guards.
This time, he didn't opt for instant one-move takedowns; that wouldn't give him a proper measure of the guards' actual strength.
Instead, he chose to counter each attack as it came.
To his disappointment, after exchanging blows for a short while, he realized that this bunch of thugs relied entirely on wild, uncoordinated haymakers, possessing zero actual combat training.
"For a company as massive as Lin Group, how did they end up recruiting such absolute trash for security?"
Frowning internally, Ye Huan stopped holding back and let loose with heavy, punishing strikes against the guards.
Every single one he hit collapsed to the floor, wailing miserably and unable to even crawl back up.
"Th-this pig-slaughtering bastard is *that* strong?!"
Watching Ye Huan effortlessly lay waste to sixty bodyguards without breaking a sweat, Lin Qingyun gasped sharply, a chill running down his spine.
"Captain Lin, it's your turn now."
Ye Huan walked toward Lin Qingyun step by step, a cold smile playing on his lips.
"Y-y-y-you, stay away from me..."
Scrambling backward on the floor, Lin Qingyun leaped to his feet and turned to run.
Ye Huan sprinted after him, leaped into the air, and planted a boot squarely on Lin Qingyun's backside, sending him face-first into the floor in a classic face-plant.
"You pig-slaughtering..."
Pinned to the floor, Lin Qingyun roared in indignation, "I am the eldest young master of the Lin Family! I am the Chairman's eldest son, the CEO's uncle, a member of the Lin Group Board of Directors, and the Captain of the Security Team! I am your direct superior, your boss! How dare you hit me? This is blatant insubordination!"
Seizing Lin Qingyun by the collar with his left hand, Ye Huan hoisted him up and delivered a resounding slap straight across his face.
"Lin Canglan and Li Meiya yell at me and pull every trick in the book to oppose me, yet I let it slide because, on paper at least, they're my parents-in-law," Ye Huan said coldly. "What kind of stray dog do you think you are to make an enemy of me?"
With that, he landed yet another slap on Lin Qingyun's face!
Having been thoroughly terrified by the beatings, Lin Qingyun didn't dare utter another word; he realized his status meant nothing to Ye Huan.
"Why aren't you talking anymore? Weren't you acting all high and mighty just a second ago? Go on, say something! Curse at me!" Ye Huan's voice chilled.
Lin Qingyun kept his mouth shut, too terrified to speak.
*Slap!*
Ye Huan gave him another smack. "Speak!"
Still, Lin Qingyun remained silent!
*Slap!*
Ye Huan delivered yet another blow. "If you don't speak up, I'll keep right on slapping you until you do!"
Ready to burst from sheer rage, Lin Qingyun wore a ferocious, gritting expression as he glared daggers at Ye Huan. After holding out for a long moment, he finally squeezed out:
"I—I'm going to report you to the Chairman..."
The sixty guards groaning on the floor were stunned. The dignified young master of the Lin Family was actually going to run to the Chairman to snitch on a newly hired low-level guard?
"Go on then. I'll be right here waiting for you to come back with the Chairman's imperial decree," Ye Huan said, releasing his grip on Lin Qingyun's collar.
"You just wait!" Lin Qingyun stormed off in a huff.
Left alone with the wailing guards on the floor, Ye Huan had nothing better to do, so he simply went around and gave every single one of them another thorough thrashing.
Just as he finished, Lin Canglan arrived accompanied by Lin Tai.
"Dad! That's him, that pig-slaughtering bastard is the one who beat me up and assaulted all the security guards! If you don't fire him today, you're going to break the hearts of every single guard in this company!" Lin Qingyun pointed directly at Ye Huan, lodging his complaint with Lin Tai.
Lin Tai walked right up to Ye Huan and asked, "Got anything to say for yourself?"
"I beat all these guards up so badly they won't be getting out of bed for a couple of weeks. Hand them some severance pay and send them home; I'll source a brand-new batch of security personnel for Lin Group," Ye Huan replied casually.
"Deal!"
Lin Tai agreed without a moment's hesitation, turned around, and walked away!
Lin Qingyun: "???"
The sixty guards: "???"
What on earth was going on here?
Lin Qingyun and the sixty guards felt their minds buzzing into absolute static!
Especially Lin Qingyun—he had brought Lin Tai here specifically to deal with Ye Huan, only for Lin Tai to agree to fire the entire security force based on a single sentence from Ye Huan!
Even Ye Huan was momentarily taken aback; he had merely tossed the suggestion out casually, never expecting Lin Tai to agree with such crisp efficiency!
What Ye Huan didn't know, however, was the reality behind the scenes.
Lin Group was a family enterprise, and internal relationships among employees were exceptionally complex.
Take those sixty guards, for instance: every single one of them was a relative, a friend, or a relative of a friend of the Lin Family. None of them possessed any actual qualifications for security work; they were simply parasites drawn in by Lin Group's generous salaries.
Lin Tai had long wanted to clean out this nest of internal rot, but had never found a suitable pretext.
He was simply seizing the opportunity of Ye Huan beating them all half to death to thoroughly excise these tumors once and for all.
"Immediately select sixty men from Hell Gate and dispatch them to apply for security positions at Lin Group."
Pulling out his phone, Ye Huan typed out a quick text message to the Water and Fire Judges, then turned his gaze toward Lin Qingyun. "Captain, what would you like me to do next?"
"Go eat shit!" Lin Qingyun roared.
*Slap!*
Ye Huan landed one more solid blow on Lin Qingyun's face, then changed into his security uniform, headed down to the first-floor lobby, grabbed a chair, ordered two pounds of melon seeds via food delivery, and settled down.
Placing himself right outside the entrance of the Lin Building, he propped his feet up, cracked melon seeds, and basked in the sunlight.
This security gig wasn't half bad after all!
...
The efficiency of Hell Gate was astonishingly high. In a mere two hours, the sixty operatives requested by Ye Huan were fully prepared and, with Lin Tai's direct assistance, successfully enrolled as employees of Lin Group.
As Captain of the Security Team, Lin Qingyun promptly summoned all sixty guards to the training room.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Lin Qingyun, and I am your Captain. Furthermore, I happen to be the Chairman's eldest son, the CEO's uncle, the former Vice President, a member of the Board of Directors, and a shareholder of Lin Group."
At this point, he deliberately paused, expecting to see looks of utter shock on the faces of the sixty guards.
To his disappointment, nothing of the sort happened.
The sixty guards stood in neat formations, perfectly upright, eyes locked straight ahead, completely expressionless—as if they hadn't heard a single word he uttered.
"Ahem..."
Coughing awkwardly to break the silence, Lin Qingyun pressed on. "I've made all my credentials public to let you know one thing: as long as you follow my orders and do whatever I tell you to do, I guarantee your benefits and compensation will be the absolute best in the entire company."
With that, he stood quietly, waiting for excitement to wash over the faces of the guards.
Once again, he was met with disappointment.
The sixty guards looked every bit like they were suffering from facial paralysis; not a single micro-expression crossed their faces, nor was there the slightest ripple of emotion in their eyes.
"Alright, I'll assign your duties now..."
Concealing his disappointment, Lin Qingyun rapidly doled out assignments to each guard and announced, "Assignments are complete. Everyone head to your respective posts and get to work!"
Not a single one of the sixty guards budged an inch.
Lin Qingyun blinked in confusion. "I told you to head to your posts and start work. Did none of you hear me?"
The sixty guards offered no reply, nor did they move.
Lin Qingyun: "???"
"A security team meeting, and nobody bothered to call me?"
At that moment, Ye Huan strolled in, leisurely cracking melon seeds as he walked.
*Swish!*
The sixty guards turned their heads in absolute unison, their movements so perfectly synchronized they resembled a regular military regiment. Wherever Ye Huan walked, their gaze followed him step by step.
To his absolute shock, Lin Qingyun noticed something deeply unsettling: the looks the sixty guards were directing at Ye Huan were bizarrely intense—a mixture of burning fervor and deep reverence.
"Aren't you supposed to be guarding the front doors? What are you wandering in here for?" Lin Qingyun barked.
He desperately wanted to throw his weight around in front of the sixty guards, to show them that within the security team, he was second to none.
"Go on and get to your posts, all of you!"
Ignoring Lin Qingyun entirely, Ye Huan spat out a melon seed shell and spoke casually.
"Yes, sir!"
The sixty guards shouted in thunderous unison, then briskly filed out of the training room.
Lin Qingyun stood frozen in total bewilderment!
He had talked himself hoarse for ages without drawing a single reaction from the sixty guards, yet the moment Ye Huan uttered a single sentence, they obeyed instantly and cleared out!
Had he just been completely sidelined and stripped of his power by Ye Huan?
"You pig-slaughtering bastard! Who gave you the authority to command the security force?" Lin Qingyun glared at Ye Huan with murder in his eyes.
"Captain Lin, starting today, just treat this as an honorary title where you drop by once a month to collect your paycheck. You don't need to worry about anything else—of course, even if you wanted to, you couldn't manage a damn thing anyway, because nobody here is going to listen to you."
Tossing out those casual words, Ye Huan cracked another melon seed and strolled away with a leisurely, lordly swagger.