"Yes, yes, of course," the young man replied nervously. "How much money do you want?" he asked, testing the waters. A person of status and might like a true martial artist would either ask for nothing or for too much.
After seeing the mountain lord fight, his first instinct was to kneel in front of him, yet an idea came into his mind. What if I can hire him? The thugs seemed to mock him before due to past events, which couldn't be right. How would a known martial artist with status be mocked by mere thugs?
This question and the casual appearance of this master left him unsure how to evaluate this person. He had some experience in evaluating characters in this world of status and wealth, but his recent failures in business and now the blunder of losing his lucky charm gifted by his father brought him a lot of trouble.
Maybe this would be his chance; hiring a true martial artist could elevate his and his family's status and finally wouldn't make him the laughingstock of the family anymore.
"Well, I guess 10,000 Yuan," the mountain lord said, unsure about how much to ask for. This person looked quite pitiful, so asking for too much wouldn't be fair, and with 10,000 Yuan, he would be above his starting capital.
Meanwhile, the eyes of the young man lit up instantly. Only 10,000; there might be a chance. "Yes, 10,000, of course. That wouldn't be a problem. How about another offer? What if you worked as my full-time bodyguard? Don't worry; I would pay good money. How does 1,000,000 Yuan per year sound?"
1,000,000 per year? This sounded quite good to the mountain lord, as pure strength seemed to be undervalued due to technology and corresponding weapons. "Sure, I only have one condition. I need to be able to quit whenever I want. I am only interested in becoming a bodyguard to experience some of this city and world, so I need to be able to quit whenever I want."
The mountain lord was quite proud of himself. This was a thing Yan Yuiling repeated multiple times. When getting a job, the contract had to be right, and you needed to make sure that you could quit without committing a crime. Otherwise the "police," the people responsible for capturing people that didn't follow the rules, would be after him.
"Yes!! I mean yes, that would be no problem. Here is my card; come to this address tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM. My name is Ling Qidong, and my Ling family is very happy to welcome you as an employee."
The mountain lord quickly looked at the card, hoping for his luck to be good enough to find the place by the morning, ignoring the overly happy Ling Qidong. "See you tomorrow," he finally said as they parted ways.
The night was an adventure for the mountain lord, as in search of the address and the meaning of 9:00 AM, at night mostly drunk people would be his helpers. He started at 10:00 PM in the evening, and by 4:00 AM he was finally able to read a clock and arrived at the entrance of a building, reading Ling Enterprises.
All of his research was, of course, done without actually asking people. He only observed and listened. He still wasn't very fond of actually interacting with people, so his research took longer than it had to take.
Now he stood around and waited until 8:00 AM, when Ling Qidong arrived and saw him waiting.
"Hello, good that you are already here," he slightly waved his hand, signaling the mountain lord to follow. "Come with me and let me introduce you to my father."
The mountain lord followed Ling Qidong into the building where the young man was greeted respectfully by the staff passing by. The two of them headed towards the elevator at the end of the floor and took it all the way to the highest floor of this medium-sized building.
Once they arrived, they passed by the secretary, heading straight to the room of the company head. The young man's father. The company had been managed and owned by his family for many generations, and now his father earned his way into the CEO position by strategy and cunning.
Meanwhile, his only son didn't seem to have any of the same skills, being unreliable at work and business and even going drinking and clubbing. All of that made him a skeptic regarding his call last night.
He had found a martial arts master as a bodyguard? How would that be possible? If true, of course, it would be a great step for the family to have the backing of such a powerful entity and, more importantly, their background and connections.
He was a realist; pure physical strength was still trumped by technology, but these old martial arts families always had supreme wealth and connections due to their dominance in the past.
His son and the mountain lord stepped into his office, and he scrutinized the man his son brought. Old attire, and about 30 years old, there seemed to be nothing special about this individual.
"Hello, my son told me that he hired you as his personal bodyguard. After yesterday's events, a good idea. My son already vouched for your qualifications, but I will need to see them for myself. In front of you is one of my bodyguards. You will exchange some unarmed moves with him, and he will be the judge of your ability. Is there a problem?"
The Ling Qidong was about to chime in and warn his father to not provoke this martial artist, but the mountain lord spoke first. "No problem, I will show my qualifications." He walked up to the bodyguard and said. "Ready?"
The bodyguard nodded slightly and then attacked. The mountain lord, not quite sure what would be best, decided that to prove his qualification to act as a bodyguard, his best bet was to make the opponent unfit to fight. Therefore, he hit the bodyguard flat-handed and let him fall to the floor without the ability to get up.
The father, namely Ling Chuse, stood up in surprise. One hit for a trained bodyguard? Was this really a martial arts master?