Chapter 8 : Work Must Leave a Paper Trail, Junior Brother
Chapter 8: Work Must Leave a Paper Trail, Junior Brother
Early the next morning, the two of them set out down the mountain together.
With Nan Yuchen leading the way, they did not encounter any danger along the route and smoothly left the trial area.
“I wonder how that Wolf King did last night. It didn’t really go mad and run down the mountain, did it?”
Long Tao muttered as he walked, holding a booklet in his hands, his brush flying across the page.
“It wouldn’t. There are formations set up by the sect around the trial area. A mere Foundation Establishment Demon Beast can only act like a king inside it. It wouldn’t have the guts to run out. By the way… Senior Brother Long, what are you writing?”
Long Tao did not even lift his head.
His brush tip moved back and forth across the paper, making him look exactly like a long-suffering bookkeeper.
“A work report! No matter what, I came this time to carry out a cleanup task. I didn’t return all night, so of course I have to clearly explain the entire process.”
Nan Yuchen considered himself fairly experienced with sect tasks, but he had never heard of having to write a report for a cleanup task.
Curious, he stood on tiptoe to take a look—and was immediately startled.
A whole page was already packed with dense writing, and it was clearly not finished yet.
“It’s just a cleanup task… d-does it really need to be this much?”
“This time was a special situation, after all, so it needs to be more detailed. The condition of every stretch of mountain path, the time I spent cleaning, the specific methods I used, and even the situation of the fruit pits in those Demon Beast droppings—all of it will be written clearly.”
Nan Yuchen took a curious glance and discovered that it was not limited to the cleanup task.
It even included their encounter on the mountain path yesterday, as well as that wolf howl in the night.
It even vaguely described how, out of a high sense of responsibility and fellow-sect camaraderie, he had brought Senior Brother Long into the safe house.
However, there was not a single word about the battle with the Wolf King or the Nine-Leaf Ganoderma.
“This… you even wrote my part into it? That’s not necessary, is it?”
“Of course it’s necessary. Leaving aside the fact that you saved me—out of personal motives alone, I would write it anyway—that wolf howl last night was so loud, plus the traces of the Beast Tide and the activation of the formation at that tree hollow safe house, all of that can be checked. Although most likely no one will be bored enough to actually investigate, if something ever gets dragged up in the future, these records will all be very important. This is called leaving a paper trail for your work.”
Nan Yuchen opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment, before finally forcing out a sentence.
“Leaving a paper trail for work? B-but even such a small thing has to be written down? It kind of feels like… like putting gold on your own face, showing off your achievements.”
He scratched his head, his baby-faced features filled with conflict.
“Someone once told me that I’m a seedling the sect focuses on nurturing—spirit pills, wondrous medicines, cultivation methods, manuals, I get a share of everything that’s better than others. If I even nitpick over such tiny merits and record them on paper, then… then it would make people dislike me even more. So he said it’s best not to record your own contributions, to keep a low profile…”
When Long Tao heard this, he could not help frowning.
His workplace experience from his previous life made him instantly sense that something was wrong.
He immediately stopped writing and looked up to ask,
“The one who said that to you definitely wasn’t your master or those senior sisters, right?”
“It really wasn’t… Senior Brother Long, how did you guess?”
“How could I not guess!” Long Tao snorted, a smile that carried three parts mockery and seven parts world-weariness.
“Anyone who would say something like that to you is either stupid or bad. Let me guess a bit more. That person usually treats you extremely well, asks after you warmly, always smiling. His age… is probably a bit older than both of us, but most likely of the same generation, or at most one generation older. He probably also often goes on tasks with you, right?”
Nan Yuchen was completely dumbfounded and could only nod foolishly.
In front of this Qi-Refining Fifth Layer senior brother, he felt as though he was standing before his master—seen through inside and out.
“And after finishing tasks, he definitely tells you that trivial things like task records don’t need your attention at all, that he’ll take full responsibility, and tells you to go back and cultivate in peace. And you really are too lazy to write, so you’ve never managed or looked at those records at all, right?”
“Senior Brother Long… y-you… how did you…”
Long Tao knew that saying this much was enough.
He closed the booklet, then put on a grave, earnest expression as he spoke to the youngster.
“Junior Brother Nan, I’ve only just met you, and you’ve probably known that person privately for a long time, so there are some things I’m not convenient to say. But if you trust me, this useless senior brother you just met, remember one sentence from me—stay far away from that person in the future.”
After saying this, he still felt it was not quite enough, so he patted the task report booklet in his hand and continued,
“Also, I advise you to take some time to check the records of the tasks you did together with him. What I just talked about—leaving a paper trail for work—is precisely to guard against this kind of so-called ‘kindhearted person.’”
…………
After that, the two of them tacitly did not probe further into the topic of that “good senior brother.” When they reached an open platform, Nan Yuchen formed a hand seal.
A moment later, a small, streamlined Cloud Vessel broke through the clouds and arrived.
On the side of the vessel was imprinted a cold, crescent-moon emblem—the symbol of Moon-Washing Peak.
“Senior Brother Long,” Nan Yuchen said as he stepped onto the Cloud Vessel and turned back, “tomorrow at noon, please come find me at the Yuhua Wine House in Qixia Town. The thank-you gift for the Nine-Leaf Ganoderma… will definitely not disappoint you.” He paused, the heaviness from their earlier conversation still lingering on his baby face.
He cupped his hands toward Long Tao, and the Cloud Vessel turned into a streak of light, disappearing in the vast sea of clouds in the blink of an eye.
Long Tao stared at that Cloud Vessel for a long time, unable to let it go.
He was so damn envious.
He had only just reached Foundation Establishment and already had his own Cloud Vessel.
Although it was definitely under his master’s name, it was still damn enviable! Even if he did cleanup tasks for another ten years, it probably still wouldn’t be enough to buy a single wheel of it… oh wait, Cloud Vessels don’t have wheels… it wouldn’t even be enough to buy a single plank of its deck.
After that, he stopped dawdling and headed down the mountain, arriving at the checkpoint halfway up the mountain.
It was still that same round-faced senior brother on guard.
When he saw Long Tao arrive, he even greeted him with concern.
“Junior Brother Long, that Wolf King up the mountain seemed a bit abnormal last night. It’s really great that you’re alright.”
Sure enough, the commotion from that howl had been quite large.
Long Tao quickly handed over his work report.
“Thanks to Senior Brother’s good fortune, it was frightening but without danger! This is the detailed record of this cleanup task. Please take a look.”
The round-faced senior brother initially flipped through it casually, but the more he read, the brighter his eyes became.
“This… this is far too detailed! Far too thoughtful! Far too… far too conscientious! Sigh… if everyone were as serious as you, Junior Brother, how could the sect’s atmosphere be this lax!”
He clicked his tongue in praise as he continued skimming rapidly.
“Mm… mm… so that’s how it was. You ran into Junior Brother Nan Yuchen halfway and he took you to that tree hollow safe house. And the spirit fruit pits in the Demon Beast droppings—tsk! It seems the environment at the top of Windless Cliff really has changed! This situation is very important! I’ll immediately report it to the sect and have them organize manpower to investigate in detail! Junior Brother Long, this report of yours… counts as a merit!”
“Senior Brother flatters me. It was simply my duty. By the way, Senior Brother, does that Junior Brother Nan Yuchen often come by here?”
“Quite often, indeed. He used to pass through this checkpoint. Later on, though… True Person Mingzhu dotes on his disciple. With a grand wave of his hand, he bestowed a Cloud Vessel… now he just whooshes straight to the peak. Why would he still need to greet gatekeepers like us…”
“Sigh…… so envious!” Long Tao let out a long, complicated sigh filled with endless longing and bitterness.
“I also want to have my own Cloud Vessel.”
The excitement on the round-faced senior brother’s face was immediately replaced by sympathetic resignation, and he also let out a long sigh.
“Who doesn’t! But disciples like us—even if someone gave us one for free, we couldn’t afford to maintain it. The spiritual fluids for daily upkeep, the spirit stones needed for the spirit-gathering array that drives the core—just thinking about it hurts.”
After hearing this, Long Tao’s gaze shifted from longing to despair, and he let out an even longer lament.
“Sigh…… Senior Brother, after you put it that way, I’m even more damn envious!”
“Who—isn’t—!!”