Chapter 30: debug (2)
30 – debug (2)
Lin Xun was already aware of the system’s favorability function.
The previous achievements—increasing favorability with senior members of the Immortal Sect to accelerate integration into the cultivation world—were understandable enough. But the purpose of raising favorability with the Armed Police Brigade truly piqued his curiosity.
After shaking hands, Officer Zhou began questioning them about how they discovered the group’s drug use. Lin Xun omitted the cultivation aspects, explaining only that he and Chang Ji had been writing their thesis late into the night, suffering from nervous exhaustion. Hearing the commotion, they grew irritable and went over to demand quiet, accidentally stumbling upon something suspicious.
Officer Zhou remarked, “The residents of Chaoyang District truly are the people’s police’s greatest assistants.”
Lin Xun replied, “Just doing our part.”
Officer Zhou and his team proceeded to photograph evidence, secure the scene, and take everyone in the room into custody. Finally, they brought Lin Xun and Chang Ji to the station for questioning in the dead of night.
By the time the commotion settled, it was already past one in the morning.
The two of them walked side by side along the deserted streets in the early hours.
Lin Xun asked, “Will you continue hunting demons, Senior Brother?”
Chang Ji replied, “You should head back. I’ll check other areas.”
Lin Xun pressed, “Is it dangerous?”
Chang Ji explained, “You discovered the first demon seed five days ago. In theory, no demon above the seed level should appear within the next three days. Foundation Establishment cultivators can handle them. That’s why the seniors aren’t in a hurry—they even had the leisure to drive the truck back.”
Lin Xun fell silent for a moment.
“Alright,” he said. “If you need help deleting surveillance footage, let me know.”
Chang Ji nodded. “The demonic Qi in Chaoyang Community is quite dense. Keep an eye on those who might have psychological issues. Demonic Qi is stronger at night, so be careful.”
Lin Xun assured him, “I will.”
They exchanged no further words, parting ways at the intersection. Chang Ji, carrying his staff, vanished into the darkness.
Tall and sturdy, with hair and dressed in white athletic wear, he looked entirely ordinary—yet he still carried the aura of a taciturn ascetic.
The Limitless Sect’s leader with fifty properties in the capital, the Qingcheng Taoist from the scenic area, the glamorous film queen with awards to spare, and now a doctoral student hunting demons in the dead of night—Lin Xun mused that their cultivation world truly had its share of eccentric characters.
With that thought, he glanced down at the keyboard in his hand—ah, I’m one of those eccentrics too. Senior Brother Chang Ji wields his staff to vanquish demons, physically purifying demon seeds in the name of the Gatling Bodhisattva. Compared to him, I’m no less peculiar—I’m a keyboard cultivator.
Walking under the streetlights, watching his shadow stretch and shrink, Lin Xun pondered the origins of the demon seed incident.
The first appearance was on Jiang Lian, the second on his neighbor.
Jiang Lian was a skilled programmer who had lost his dreams to the grind of 996. His inner emptiness might have given the demon seed an opening—that much made sense. His neighbor was an unemployed youth, addicted to fitness and dabbling in gray-area drugs, so his unstable mental state was hardly surprising.
But both shared one commonality: they were close to Lin Xun himself.
Even the seven or eight drug users earlier were in close proximity—their building stood directly opposite Lin Xun’s, on the eleventh floor. During the twenty minutes it took to subdue them and wait for the police, Lin Xun had deliberately checked: from their living room window, he could see straight into his own bedroom.
Once again, the image of the talisman paper dangling precariously on the door panel flashed before his eyes, making him feel that things might not be as simple as Chang Ji had described.
With this thought, he quickened his pace.
The Chaoyang residential complex was quiet at midnight, with only the security booth illuminated by light.
Lin Xun knocked on the door of the security booth.
The security guard on duty tonight was engrossed in scrolling through his phone. Hearing the knock, he lazily lifted his eyelids and asked, “What’s up?”
“Hello,” Lin Xun said. “I wanted to ask if there have been any… unusual people around the complex lately.”
The guard looked up at him. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, sir,” Lin Xun said, a sudden idea flashing in his mind. “I want to participate in this year’s ‘Top Ten Good Citizens’ selection and contribute to public safety. If you’re not too busy, could you give me some leads?”
…The guard stared at him for a few moments. “I’ll be honest with you.”
Lin Xun smiled innocently. “Go ahead.”
The guard said, “I’m also participating in this year’s ‘Top Ten Good Citizens’ selection. Looks like we’re competitors.”
Lin Xun was speechless.
The reputation of the Chaoyang community was well-deserved—even a random security guard was diligently working for public safety.
The guard swung his legs, half-closed his eyes, and continued, “But honestly, there are quite a few troublemakers in our complex.”
Lin Xun felt hopeful.
“Sir, I mainly just want to do some good deeds. It’s not like I have to win the ‘Top Ten Good Citizens’ award,” he said sincerely. “If there’s anything you need help with, just let me know. I can handle myself.”
The guard glanced at him sideways. “You don’t look like you’ve trained.”
Lin Xun produced his keyboard.
The guard weighed it in his hands, tapped it on the table to test its hardness, and exclaimed, “Wow.”
Lin Xun asked, “What do you think?”
“I’ve got my own gear too,” the guard said, pulling out a baton from under the table. “How about this?”
Lin Xun was filled with respect. “You’re the real expert.”
The guard smiled modestly, took out his phone, and opened a QR code. “Scan my WeChat. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
Lin Xun happily scanned the code.
The guard’s profile picture was unmistakably a national flag, and his WeChat name was “Green Flower in the Army.”
Lin Xun sent a friend request to “Green Flower in the Army” and was quickly accepted.
The guard frowned. “A Happy… Wild Pointer? That’s a terrible name. You seem like a good young man. You should change it to ‘Happy Sun.'”
Lin Xun said, “I—”
Then, he watched helplessly as the guard changed his contact name to “Happy Sun.”
Fine. Whatever you say.
He said, “Well, sir, I’ll head back now. Don’t forget to call me if you need anything.”
The guard nodded. “Go back and sleep. Don’t wander around.”
Lin Xun went straight back. He quietly opened the door, and once inside, he couldn’t stand the sight of the talisman paper anymore. He simply sealed it firmly to the door with clear tape—this way, it would never fall off again.
After washing up, he went to bed at two o’clock. By eight, it was a new day.
This day was a memorable one.
Because their Jiang Lian had returned to work.
After the “epilepsy incident” that day, Jiang Lian showed great distrust toward them and didn’t show up for the next three days, instead working remotely online to fix many bugs in their legacy code. Lin Xun guessed that after three days of work, Jiang Lian had finally regained faith that they were a legitimate company making real products, rather than some mysterious organization plotting murder and theft.
To show respect and joy, that morning, he, Wang Anquan, and Zhao Jiagou personally went downstairs to welcome Programmer Jiang—Jiang Lian’s outstanding programming skills had already elevated him to the status of a national treasure-level protected animal in the Luo Goddess project.
Wang Anquan: “He’s here, he’s here.”
—Jiang Lian still looked the same, wearing a black windbreaker and walking over with his head slightly lowered.
The next second, Zhao Jiagou suddenly spoke up: “What’s that?”
Lin Xun followed his gaze and saw two people walking behind Jiang Lian.
Two people, one in front and one behind, were carrying a massive jade coffin, also heading this way.
The one in front was the handsome and dashing Yufeng Zhenren, dressed in a white robe.
Behind him was Old Man Huo, the traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, wearing a black Tang suit.
They walked extremely fast, almost reaching the entrance of the building at the same time as Jiang Lian.
Lin Xun watched helplessly as Jiang Lian stiffly turned his head, looked at the massive jade coffin carved with blood-gold dragon-sparrow patterns, and a look of shock appeared on his face.
He coughed and stepped forward: “Brother Jiang, you’re here. Let’s go upstairs.”
Jiang Lian’s gaze was hesitant, but he nodded anyway.
Wang Anquan then eagerly led him upstairs.
Just then, Old Man Huo’s voice rang out: “Disciple, come give us a hand.”
Lin Xun had no choice but to step forward…—fortunately, Wang Anquan acted quickly and had already pulled Jiang Lian upstairs.
He whispered to Old Man Huo: “Weren’t you supposed to use a truck?”
“Bah, that damned Galaxy,” Old Man Huo said. “They’ve developed some new inspection system, and every vehicle passing through the toll station gets checked. Luckily, there was a truck ahead of us that got flagged and detained. I quickly used an Earth Evasion Talisman to escape into the mountains with the coffin—that old rascal Xiaoyao only gave me this one talisman.”
Lin Xun: “And then?”
Old Man Huo said: “Your Uncle Yufeng and I, under the cover of deep night, steeled our resolve and rode the wind for a thousand miles, finally arriving in the capital. Then we took back roads to secretly transport the coffin here.”
Lin Xun supported his master: “Master and Uncle, you’ve worked hard.”
They then carried the coffin up to the fourth floor and placed it in the living room. Old Man Huo took out his phone: “I’ll gather the fellow cultivators. They should be arriving soon.”
In the group chat.
Wuji – Azure Peak True Lord: @everyone, the Chixiao Dragon-Sparrow Sword is now in place. Starting today, fellow cultivators may come stay at Chaoyang Community, share knowledge and resources, slay demons and monsters together, and search for the Emperor.
The seniors all agreed one after another.
Then, Old Man Huo and Yufeng Zhenren began discussing how to renovate the apartment—finally concluding that they would connect the three units on the fourth floor to expand the area, turning it into the cultivation world’s headquarters in the capital.
Lin Xun, meanwhile, was given permission to return to his room.
The four of them then began their day’s work.
—Today’s task was to fix yesterday’s bug. How could a new module, fully functional and well-structured, suddenly become incompatible when imported into the original system?
Lin Xun and Jiang Lian worked together to troubleshoot the error, but after three hours, they were still at a loss.
Three hours later, Wang Anquan and Zhao Jiagou joined in, but it didn’t help much—it just turned the confusion of two people into the confusion of four.
Especially—loud noises came from upstairs, dragging sounds, the sound of heavy objects being moved.
Lin Xun knew it was his master and Senior Yufeng renovating the room. Wang Anquan and Zhao Jiagou knew Old Man Huo was no ordinary person and could accept it. But Jiang Lian’s expression grew increasingly uneasy.
Lin Xun, afraid that Programmer Jiang might leave the team again, eagerly poured him a glass of water: “Brother Jiang, have some water.”
Jiang Lian took it with half-belief and began sipping cautiously.
On the other side, Wang Anquan stared at the computer screen and nudged Lin Xun with his elbow: “This can’t go on. We don’t even have a clue.”
Lin Xun frowned: “You’re right.”
He thought for a moment and said, “Should we seek outside help?”
Wang Anquan: “I already thought of that. There’s no reliable help available—not many people are working in our field.”
Lin Xun pursed his lips: “Maybe… I could ask Dong Jun? He said he hasn’t been too busy lately.”
Suddenly, a sound came from beside them.
—Jiang Lian choked on his water.