Free Web NovelChapter 71: Chapter 71: Secret Gathering
Finally.
Tea Room Number Eight.
Chu Bamboo stared at the room’s main door and suddenly spoke. "In a moment, we’ll go in. You’ll take down everyone inside... No problem, right?"
"Probably... No, wait a second!" Zhang Hai snapped to his senses, feeling a dull ache. "Are you serious? And, can we really discuss this out here? The Percep... I mean, for people like us, uh, people with Kung Fu... you know how sharp our Perception is!"
"Relax. The soundproofing on this thing... Heh, I’m not sure what the principle is, but it really does block out even a Transcendent’s hearing." Chu Bamboo rolled his eyes.
’The people holding a Secret meeting inside are way more worried about sound leaking out than we are!’
"But that won’t work!" Zhang Hai silently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "What if there are ordinary people attending the Mass? If I use my Extraordinary Power and someone sees it... I’ll be captured by the Captain’s Office!"
He added hastily, "Captain Li might have told you something that gave you the wrong impression... but in reality, exposing Extraordinary Power is a much, much bigger deal than you think!"
"For outsiders like us, if they really get some dirt on us, it’ll be a huge hassle." Zhang Hai was clearly starting to panic. "It doesn’t matter if I’m busting up a Secret meeting, the rules are the rules!"
After a brief pause, Zhang Hai added in a low voice, "Even the All-Powerful Association, when running this kind of Mass, wouldn’t dare to just brazenly unleash their Extraordinary Power on the attendees! The second they did, they’d be caught."
"It’s that much of a hassle?" Chu Bamboo’s brow furrowed, but he understood. ’After all, back when I was undercover in the All-Powerful Association, I never even realized they wielded Extraordinary Power. That alone speaks volumes.’
After a moment’s thought, Chu Bamboo understood. ’Li Kang said he could clean up my mess if I was exposed, but what’s our relationship, really? Li Kang would find it a hassle even when dealing with a proper insider who could pull strings, to say nothing of a case involving the God Worship Sect, a group the Officials have long wanted to drive out!’
At this thought, Chu Bamboo sighed. "Should’ve brought Li Kang along..."
Zhang Hai was speechless.
’What nonsense is he spouting? If Captain Li were really here, there’s no way I’d dare be seen with you!’
’If I actually had to make a move and Captain Li saw it... that’d be like a thief trying to pickpocket a cop. I’d just be asking to get locked up.’
"But then again," Chu Bamboo mused, "you said it yourself: the leader from the All-Powerful Association won’t dare reveal his powers either. Hmm, so just focus on taking out their leader. When the time comes, just overpower the one leading the Mass physically and capture him!"
"Don’t worry," Chu Bamboo said, trying to pump Zhang Hai up. "The Officials might be on high alert for anything related to the God Worship Sect, but the All-Powerful Association doesn’t know that. Plus, considering the All-Powerful Association’s Shoe Sect nature... they’re definitely more scared of the Officials than you are! They’ll only dare to use physical strength. Just go toe-to-toe with him and it’ll be over!"
"...That should be fine. No, wait!" Zhang Hai’s eye twitched. "I mean, I don’t think it’ll be a problem, but you must know who we’re dealing with inside, right? Can you tell me anything about his actual strength?"
’This is ridiculous,’ Zhang Hai thought. ’What if the guy’s stronger than me?’
"Relax!" Chu Bamboo waved his hand nonchalantly. He was already prepared to die.
The next moment.
With a serious expression, Chu Bamboo slammed a kick into the door.
BANG!
The door, surprisingly, didn’t fly off its hinges.
Chu Bamboo kicked it hard twice more, then just grabbed the handle and pushed the door open.
Inside the door.
It was pitch black.
Zhang Hai could vaguely make out dozens of masked figures, all turning their gazes toward them. They were silent, their stares chilling.
"...It seems," the man on the stage began, his voice a bit hoarse. He was wrapped head-to-toe in a black robe, his face hidden by a mask branded with four black wings. "Our visitor is not..."
"Xue the Third, who the fuck do you think you’re fooling!" Chu Bamboo’s voice boomed. "You animal! Abandoning your wife and daughter, you misogynistic piece of shit! Just because your wife didn’t give you a son, you spend all your time messing around out here! Do you have any idea what kind of life your wife and daughter are living back home, Lan Xun?! They’re still waiting for you! Waiting for you to make it big, and you’re here running a goddamn scam?"
"You son of a bitch! Your wife is at home taking care of your parents for you, and this is what you’re doing? It’s been three years! You haven’t sent a single penny home! You waste of life! You fucking parasite! Why didn’t your father just smash you against a wall at birth?!"
Xue the Third: ???
The once-composed leader was frozen solid, as if hit by a stun spell.
The crowd of believers attending the All-Powerful Association’s Mass: ...
Something was wrong!
The believers had assumed the intruders were here to cause trouble. They had tensed up, ready to either flee or fight. But now, their brains collectively short-circuited.
Many of them, snapping out of it, forgot about trying to sneak out the back. Their eyes darted about, and their ears were pricked, eager for more.
"...You! You! I... This..." Xue the Third’s brain finally started turning again. He took a deep breath and said coldly, "That is because I am enlightening the lost sheep!"
"When the light of the Lord shines upon the land, then... for the merits I have earned, they too will ascend with me..."
Chu Bamboo wasn’t listening to Xue the Third at all. He stomped on the back of Zhang Hai’s shoe.
Startled, Zhang Hai stomped the ground. His body shot forward like a cannonball, straight toward Xue the Third.
Xue the Third’s pupils contracted. "My Lord, please..."
In response, Zhang Hai simply swung a heavy, unadorned, Spiritual Energy-infused slap across his face.
SMACK!
Xue the Third’s head whipped to the left. A crack split across his mask as his body was sent flying, crashing into a nearby wall— freeweɓnøvel.com
The wall was covered in dense, bloody handprints, along with strange, faint patterns that were clearly drawn in human blood.
Zhang Hai rushed forward, stomped on Xue the Third’s mask, and delivered a Spiritual Energy-infused punch to his neck. Xue the Third’s legs kicked out once before he fell unconscious.
"Alright, everyone!" Chu Bamboo calmly walked up to the high platform where Xue the Third had stood. He traced an Inverted Cross over his chest with both hands. "I am deeply sorry for the farce that has occurred here today!"
"Now, I will preside over the remainder of the Mass!"
Zhang Hai: ?
Zhang Hai stared, completely baffled. The cultists, who had started to sense that something was wrong, grew quiet again as they watched Chu Bamboo’s movements. A fanatical gleam even appeared in their eyes. He was getting into the swing of things!
Finally, at Chu Bamboo’s command, the believers took out small knives and cut their own wrists! ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Blood trickled down.
It was sinister, natural, bizarre... and yet, it all felt so perfectly normal.
It was as if Chu Bamboo had been the master of ceremonies from the start, not an intruder who had just barged in.
As for Zhang Hai, who was watching from the side, his brain felt like it was shriveling up. ’Where am I? What am I doing? What the hell did I just witness?!’
