Chapter 285: Follow Back

Chapter 285: Chapter 285: Follow Back

Feng Ling didn’t reply.

After posting the photo, she closed the app, not wanting to look at it for a second longer. Naturally, she had no idea her DMs were blowing up.

After Pei Xianjue followed her, other Inspectors began to follow Feng Ling one by one—Zhou Diao from Qingjiang City, and Han Xu and Duan Fei from Guangshan City. They were rarely active online and didn’t have as many followers as Pei Xianjue, but their accounts were all officially verified.

Following the Inspectors, the Hunters also started following her one after another: Xu Yiming, Liang Jiaqin, Wen Xiuyan, Wu Wei...

A newly registered throwaway account couldn’t possibly attract the attention of so many big shots unless it belonged to someone important.

The voices of doubt quickly vanished without a trace.

The comment section began to shift in another, more bizarre direction—

[RationalCalm: Bowing to the master. Praying for blessings and protection.]

[BigWhiteGooseHonk: Bowing to the master +1. May good fortune protect me! Alien Species, begone!]

[WantToEatAHamBurger: Just trying to absorb some of Boss Feng’s awesome power. Rub rub rub~]

...

Feng Ling returned to Qingjiang, receiving a call from Zhou Diao the moment she got off the train.

Zhou Diao was insufferable on the phone, practically mocking her. "What kind of stupid name did you pick! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Feng Ling froze for a moment. ’The internet spreads news way too fast,’ she thought. ’It hasn’t even been two hours, and Zhou Diao already knows my username.’

"Laugh that loud and you’ll dislocate your jaw," Feng Ling said, exasperated. "Don’t you run into taken usernames when you make an account?"

Zhou Diao replied smugly, "Nope. My username is ’Deputy Zhou of the Qingjiang Inspection Branch’! Heh heh~"

Feng Ling: "..."

Usernames containing the names of special organizations were protected by the platform, so they couldn’t be copied.

"How boring." Annoyed, Feng Ling prepared to hang up.

Zhou Diao shouted, "Hey! Follow back! I just followed you, so follow me back!"

Feng Ling said impatiently, "Follow back? I don’t even use this app."

"Damn it, do you have any internet etiquette? If I follow you, you have to follow me back!" Zhou Diao yelled into the phone. "Follow back, follow back, follow back, follow back, follow back!"

Annoyed to death by him, Feng Ling hung up and ignored him.

But while she could hang up the phone, she couldn’t just kill the person. The moment Feng Ling returned to the Central Building, she was harassed by Zhou Diao again.

Zhou Diao circled her, testing her patience with a barrage of repetitive words.

"I already followed you! It’s not like it’ll kill you to lift a finger and follow me back! Why won’t you? You can follow Pei Xianjue, so why can’t you follow me? What’s the big deal about following one more person? Follow back, follow back, follow back..."

Feng Ling said impatiently, "If you’re so good at chanting, why don’t you become a monk?"

Sticking to her like glue, Zhou Diao said, "I’ll stop chanting if you follow me back!"

"Will you die if I don’t follow back?!" Feng Ling cursed at him.

"Hell, it’s worse than death!" Zhou Diao declared firmly. "If you don’t follow me back, I’ll lose face! A man’s dignity is everything!"

Feng Ling retorted, "Get lost! If you unfollow me right now, there’s no face to lose!"

Zhou Diao’s eyes widened. "The whole country knows I followed you now. If I unfollow you, the clickbait accounts will start spreading rumors tomorrow that we’re fighting. You don’t want me to end up like Miss Pei, do you? She’s been getting flamed online for two days."

"So annoying!" Suppressing her anger, Feng Ling took out her phone, unlocked the screen, and tossed it to Zhou Diao. "Follow yourself, then!"

Zhou Diao caught the phone and didn’t stand on ceremony. He immediately opened the social media app Feng Ling despised, searched for his own name, and tapped his profile picture to initiate a mutual follow.

He also took a quick look at Feng Ling’s follower list and let out a surprised whistle.

"Whoa, Feng Ling, even the Supervision Bureau’s official account followed you!"

Zhou Diao chuckled, tapping on the phone. "Let me follow them back for you. This is the Supervision Bureau. Not following back would seem too arrogant and rude. We Inspectors and Hunters should work together, after all..."

Feng Ling watched him with a cold smirk. "You’re so enthusiastic, why don’t you just manage the account for me?"

"Can I?" Zhou Diao looked up, his eyes filled with genuine anticipation.

"I think you have way too much time on your hands lately." Feng Ling snatched her phone back and turned to leave.

Zhou Diao called out behind her, "Isn’t being free a good thing? The more free time I have, the more it proves that the citizens are safe and sound!"

Feng Ling ignored him, walking out the glass doors and heading into the main building to find Ye Zheng.

She needed to tell Ye Zheng about her travel plans for tomorrow. While she was away from Qingjiang, she needed Ye Zheng to hold down the fort and handle any emergencies.

It was dusk now, and the light inside the building was dim.

Feng Ling walked in and scanned her surroundings. Not seeing Ye Zheng, she was about to head further inside when she suddenly felt something tickling the top of her head.

She looked up and found Ye Zheng hanging upside down from a concrete slab, his long claws dangling just inches from her hair!

Feng Ling leaped back instantly. "You scared me! What are you doing?!"

Ye Zheng jumped down and replied grimly, "It’s not about what I’m doing. It’s that your awareness is too poor, your reactions aren’t sharp enough, and your speed is lacking."

Having just been harassed by Zhou Diao and now getting criticized by Ye Zheng, Feng Ling was even more annoyed. "That’s easy for you to say! My Card isn’t a speed type!"

"Blaming everything on your Card is pointless," Ye Zheng said coldly. "You need a great deal of training and specialized exercises to improve this."

"You just feel sick if you don’t grind for a day, don’t you!" Feng Ling was utterly speechless. "We’ll talk about training later. I’m taking the Daoist out tomorrow. I might be back in the evening, or maybe the day after. Keep an eye on things for me while I’m gone."

Ye Zheng frowned. "Where are you going?"

"To find Xing Guang," Feng Ling said. "I’m having the Daoist use his Divination Technique to pinpoint its location. Once we confirm the city, I plan to send Old Three to investigate."

She couldn’t help but sigh. "The Daoist said Xing Guang’s Investigation Ability is extremely strong. It might flee ahead of time. I’m worried we’ll alert the enemy, but there’s no stealthier method right now."

Ye Zheng taunted her, "How do you know Xing Guang will run instead of coming to find you? Or do you think you’re already strong enough to scare the members of the Star Association witless?"

Ye Zheng took a few steps closer, standing face-to-face with Feng Ling. "They set me up back then, and they’ll set you up in the future. You’ve killed so many of those Alien Species with eyes on them. If Xing Guang knew the hidden boss was nearby, would it really resist making a move?"

Feng Ling’s lips twitched. ’I wish it couldn’t resist,’ she thought.

A thought flickered in her mind, and Feng Ling’s expression suddenly turned serious. "That’s right... All I have to do is make them unable to resist attacking me, right?"

Ye Zheng frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Suppose I’m severely injured right now, so weak that I’m on the verge of death..." Feng Ling’s lips curled into a smile. "Do you think they could resist kicking me while I’m down?"