Chapter 58: Attending the Village's High-Level Meeting for the First Time

Upon learning the news of Lin Yi's return, Gu Chenghu quickly sought him out and prepared to escort him to the temple.

"Look here, Captain, why the rush? My online time is running out, I have less than twenty minutes left. Can't this wait until tomorrow?"

To be honest, after a busy day, Lin Yi was indeed quite exhausted and wanted to head back to rest early.

"It won't take much of your time. It's just a meeting. The Village Chief personally appointed you as the Deputy Village Chief, and the Three Village Elders have specifically requested your attendance."

Led by Gu Chenghu, Lin Yi slowly walked into the temple, a place he had never entered before.

The layout inside the temple was different from what Lin Yi had imagined. It was very spacious, without any statues or totems enshrined within.

In the center of the temple stood a rectangular table surrounded by chairs.

At first glance, it didn't look like a temple at all, but rather resembled a conference room.

Seeing Lin Yi inspecting the interior structure, Gu He, seated in the second chair, smiled and said, "Stop looking. The real temple is underground. If there's time, I'll show it to you later. Come on, we've been waiting just for you."

Around the wooden conference table, the Three Village Elders—Gu He, Gu Yuan, and Gu Yun—along with the three militia captains—Gu Chenghu, Gu Man, and Gu Laosi—were already seated.

Lin Yi finally took the seat between Gu Yun and Gu Chenghu, a spot said to have previously belonged to Gu Liehai.

However, Gu Liehai was currently away from the village.

Gu He spoke first. "Everlasting Youth is a descendant from the outside, and his time is limited. I'll briefly explain what the Village Chief instructed before entering seclusion."

"First, with the help of the descendant Everlasting Youth, the Village Chief retrieved the legacy ring and the items within from the abandoned temple. Considering Everlasting Youth's outstanding character and exceptional talent, he has been appointed as the Deputy Village Chief of our Gutan Village, a rank equivalent to the three of us Elders. Elder Gu Yun, Elder Gu Yuan, and I have discussed this matter, and they have no objections."

When these words fell, there was no ceremonial applause.

Lin Yi glanced around. Opposite him, Elder Gu Yuan sat with his eyes closed, dozing off, while Gu Yun beside him was examining the intricate patterns on the ring in his hand. Not a single person was listening attentively.

On the other hand, Gu Chenghu and Gu Man both looked in his direction, their eyes filled with encouragement and praise.

As for Gu Laosi, needless to say, he was picking his nose with his pinky finger right in front of him, the meaning self-evident.

Gu He continued, "This time, the Village Chief's seclusion might take quite a while, but before entering seclusion, he allocated several heritage resources. One of the Seeker legacies belongs to Deputy Village Chief Qing..."

Lin Yi quickly interrupted, "Elder Gu He, my surname is Lin..."

"Right, one of the Seeker legacies belongs to Deputy Village Chief Lin. Furthermore, the complete Divine Officiant legacy is currently entrusted to me for safekeeping, along with a portion of spirit vessels, divine talismans, and other resources that will be displayed to you shortly. If you want them, you must exchange them using village contribution points or equivalent resources..."

"The second matter concerns the descendants in the village, and it also concerns Deputy Village Chief Lin."

"It concerns me?"

"Yes, this was my proposal. Currently, there is a considerable number of descendants within Gutan Village. I intend for you to manage these descendants. After all, you are a descendant yourself, making you more familiar with them and knowing how best to manage them."

Hearing this, Lin Yi fell into deep thought.

His first consideration was: if he managed the descendants of Gutan Village, what benefits would it bring him?

Yet power always goes hand in hand with interests. If he could manage the descendants in the village, he would likely be able to cultivate a faction of his own.

Thinking of Zhao Yilong in the real world, didn't that man leverage the opportunities of the Apocalypse World to establish a supernatural organization known as the Black Card Alliance?

Therefore, after pondering, Lin Yi replied, "No problem. However, cultivating and managing descendants might require the village to allocate a batch of resources..."

Elder Gu He nodded, agreeing to Lin Yi's request.

However, noticing Gu Laosi across the table still picking his nose, Lin Yi asked an extra question, "Elder Gu He, the Fifth Militia Squad logically consists of descendants as well. Do they fall under my jurisdiction?"

Gu Laosi, who had been quite leisurely just a moment ago, instantly leaped to his feet. He first glared at Lin Yi, then argued, "Elder, the Fifth Militia Squad was trained single-handedly by me, with just a little help from Gu Chenghu. This unit should rightfully be managed by me."

Lin Yi retorted, "Elder, I believe Captain Laosi is mistaken. As far as I know, the descendants in the Fifth Squad harbor a great deal of resentment toward Captain Laosi. Letting Captain Laosi continue to manage them will likely only produce counterproductive results."

Observing the unyielding stances of Lin Yi and Gu Laosi, Elder Gu He smiled and asked, "Chenghu, you are their mediator. What do you think?"

Gu Chenghu hesitated, pondered for a moment, and suggested, "Elder, since Qing... Deputy Village Chief Lin holds a rank equivalent to the Elders, how about we let Gu Laosi manage the Fifth Militia Squad, while Deputy Village Chief Lin oversees Gu Laosi? Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

Brilliant!

There was nothing wrong with that logic.

Lin Yi almost wanted to give his captain a thumbs-up.

Gu He nodded and said, "Very well, let it be decided thus. If Laosi persists in insulting the descendants..."

With that, Gu He stared directly at Gu Laosi. "Then you can just go back to being the captain of the Fourth Squad, and you won't need to worry about the Fifth Militia Squad anymore."

Elder Gu He's final ruling meant that all three Elders agreed. Even though Gu Laosi wore an unwilling expression, there was nothing he could do.

Catching Lin Yi's faint smile, Gu Laosi muttered inwardly, "Oh, you brat, the moment you become Deputy Village Chief you pull a fast one on me. Fine, fine, I'll remember this."

Subsequently, Gu He brought up the issue of militia patrol deployments.

Presently, anomalous activities had been detected among the stray spirits and monsters outside the village, necessitating an increase in defensive forces.

However, the militia had suffered heavy casualties, and with Gu Liehai and a number of high-level descendants away, not only Gu Chenghu and Gu Man, but even Lin Yi was assigned a four-hour daily patrol duty.

Nevertheless, considering that Lin Yi was a descendant with limited daily online time, patrol duties were not currently made mandatory for him.

For Lin Yi, patrolling was not necessarily a bad thing; after all, as a descendant, he needed to venture out near the village to hunt monsters and stray spirits anyway.

Patrolling in Gutan Village was, to a certain extent, an operation of farming monsters to level up.

The meeting did not last long, concluding in about ten minutes.

Afterward, Elder Gu He kept Lin Yi behind alone.

"Deputy Village Chief Lin..."

Lin Yi quickly said, "Just call me Everlasting Youth. I really can't accept such a title from you."

Gu He smiled. "Very well, Everlasting Youth. Although the Seeker legacy is formidable, it has been hidden in our Gutan Village since before the turmoil, boasting a history of several thousand years. Due to its stringent requirements, no one has ever successfully completed the class advancement during all this time."

"If you choose this path, don't regret it."

Lin Yi replied with a smile, "Rest assured, Elder, I guarantee I won't regret it."