120 Tenacity

Standing before him was a doctor in a white coat, flanked by several nurses wearing surgical masks. The doctor held a scalpel, gesturing and tracing lines across his face.

"What are you doing?" Lin Qi asked in shock.

But in the next second, he lost consciousness again.

One of the nurses pulled a syringe from his neck and said softly, "The anesthesia should be strong enough this time."

The doctor gave a slight hum and continued with the blade.

When Lin Qi woke up again, three days had passed. He opened his eyes, feeling groggy, and found himself lying on a hospital bed in a room with white walls and no windows. The Fat Emissary was sitting beside the bed.

Fragments of memory flooded his mind: the blinding incandescent lights, the razor-sharp scalpel, the pungent smell of disinfectant, and the eerie doctor and nurses.

Lin Qi sat up abruptly and quickly checked his body, even touching his stomach, relieved to find no changes.

"What did you do to me?!" Lin Qi roared at the Fat Emissary. He had seen those doctors and nurses; it was impossible that nothing had happened.

The Fat Emissary remained expressionless and handed him a mirror. Lin Qi took it and saw a completely unfamiliar face reflected back.

He had once been handsome, with sharp, well-defined features and fair, luminous skin that clearly signaled an upbringing in a wealthy, prestigious family. Now, while not ugly, he was entirely ordinary. His eyebrows, eyes, and nose were unremarkable—he was just an average person who would never draw attention in a crowd.

Staring at his reflection, Lin Qi fell into a deep silence.

The Fat Emissary asked curiously, "Why aren't you reacting?"

Lin Qi replied, "What kind of reaction do you want?"

"I expected you to be angry, agitated, or screaming," the Fat Emissary said.

"You already know my enemy is Lu Wanfang," Lin Qi said heavily. "It is only logical that you would change my appearance and voice to prevent him from finding me."

The Fat Emissary laughed. "Your answer is correct, and you are calmer than I imagined."

Lin Qi stood up, examined his reflection a few more times, and said, "Regardless of who your leader is, thank him for me. To be willing to take me in while knowing my enemy is Lu Wanfang—there are very few people in the entire Great Xia Empire with that kind of courage."

The Fat Emissary laughed even more heartily. "Our leader doesn't even hold Lu Wanfang in his eyes! We did this simply to avoid unnecessary trouble."

Truth be told, in the entire Great Xia Empire, no one would dare claim they didn't hold Lu Wanfang in their eyes. Even the current "Sovereign," Han Yu, had to show Lu Wanfang a measure of respect.

Lin Qi couldn't help but feel more curious about who the head of "Tianji" really was. Could he actually be in a position to challenge Han Yu? Whether such an organization existed as a blessing or a curse for the Great Xia Empire remained to be seen.

"You can still go by the name Lin Qi. There are so many people named Lin Qi in the world that one more won't matter. Here are your new identification documents and files." The Fat Emissary handed over an ID card and some papers.

Lin Qi took the ID; the photo was indeed of his new face, and his place of origin had been changed to Huaijiang City, near Haitong City. Tang Long had previously mentioned going to Huaijiang City, and Black Blind and Song Qingfeng were to accompany him. What a coincidence!

He looked through the files and gained a rough understanding of his new background: he had attended primary, middle, and high school in Huaijiang City, his parents had died in a car accident while he was in college, and he had later pursued a postgraduate degree abroad—a standard overachiever.

He had been living under a false identity since he fled the capital ten years ago. One more lie wouldn't make a difference.

Lin Qi smiled and said, "So, it seems my evaluation will take place in Huaijiang City?"

The Fat Emissary nodded. "That is the current plan, but you still need to undergo training for a period of time."

Song Qingzhu had only gone to Haitong City after completing her training, which covered business acumen and some combat skills. Lin Qi’s combat skills were decent, but there was room for improvement; as for business, he needed to learn from scratch, having never done business before.

"Understood," Lin Qi said. "Where and when will the training take place?"

"When the time comes, I will take you there," the Fat Emissary said.

"Fine," Lin Qi said. "I want to ask: will I ever be able to recover my original appearance?"

The Fat Emissary chuckled. "What, can't bear to lose your handsome face?"

"No," Lin Qi shook his head. "I want to be able to stand before Lu Wanfang as myself when the day comes to take my revenge!"

The Fat Emissary stopped laughing. He realized that Lin Qi was even calmer and more resilient than he had imagined.

He nodded. "Yes, you can recover your original appearance."

"That's good," Lin Qi sighed with relief. "What do I do now?"

"Lie down."

"I'm not lying down anymore. I've had enough of lying down."

"That is not for you to decide."

The Fat Emissary drew a blade and struck Lin Qi hard on the head with the hilt. Lin Qi lost consciousness once again.