Chapter 822 - 790: Infiltration
Xu Chunliang did intend to move against the Mingde Group, but he hadn’t planned on joining forces with Liu Haiyu; Liu Haiyu was a deeply scheming sort, and working with him would probably bring Xu no benefit.
The biggest takeaway from Xu Chunliang’s talk with him tonight was that he needed to probe the inside of the Jingfu Building as soon as possible.
At midnight, Xu Chunliang came alone to the Jingfu Building. He looked up at the tower looming in the moonlight like a giant, then circled around to the back of the building, where he changed into a black tracksuit in the trees and put on an old-man cap that covered his nose and mouth. Ever since the Taibai Ghost Market, Xu Chunliang had discovered how useful this cap was, so he’d bought two and carried them with him for convenience.
In the past he wouldn’t have needed such trouble; once you reached the second level of the Heaven-Penetrating Manual, you could freely control all the muscles and fascia of your body and alter your facial expressions, which meant you could change your features and even imitate someone else.
Tonight, Xu Chunliang chose to free-climb; a 66-story skyscraper was hardly a difficult challenge for him.
Previously, Liu Haiyu’s subordinate had died on the 59th floor, probably because that guy had tried to cut corners by taking the elevator into some room on the 59th floor and then sneaking into the Mingde Group from there.
With Xu Chunliang’s skills, there was no need for that. He climbed up along the building’s curtain wall; although the exterior of the Jingfu Building was covered in glass curtain walls, there were connecting frames between them, and those frames became Xu Chunliang’s footholds.
Halfway up, Xu Chunliang looked down; the whole of Capital City lay spread out beneath his eyes, brilliant with lights. Not far away, traffic shuttled back and forth, weaving long ribbons of light. Xu Chunliang suddenly realized that the present world was not essentially any different from the past: still the law of the jungle, still the winner as king, and at no time could one give up on force.
He drew in a deep breath and, like a spider, silently crawled along the outer curtain wall. He was already at the fifty‑third floor; Chen Jianxin had jumped from this level. According to the police reports, they had earnestly tried to persuade and talk him down at the time; it was clear Chen Jianxin had begun to waver, yet for some reason he suddenly became resolute again.
Liu Haiyu’s deputy had died in an even stranger way—not from an accidental fall, but by voluntarily jumping from the fifty‑ninth floor. Before that, Liu Haiyu had been in constant contact with him and he had shown no desire or signs of wanting to die; they had even agreed to go drinking together once the night’s mission was completed.
Xu Chunliang had already reached the sixtieth floor; this was already the Mingde Group’s office area. The lights were all off at night. Xu Chunliang had ascended from the north side, carefully observing his surroundings. He quickly spotted several cameras. Xu Chunliang raised his hand and used a raw egg he’d prepared in advance to accurately hit the cameras, smearing them with egg fluid.
After smashing the cameras, Xu Chunliang lay low for a while. Seeing that he hadn’t alerted the security guards, he continued forward. He had been here once before with Wang Jiancheng, sitting in the pavilion ahead drinking tea.
This garden, set off by the lighting, appeared even more exquisite.
Xu Chunliang saw that some rooms still had their lights on. He approached the security room, and as soon as he neared, two security guards came out. They had spotted an anomaly on the monitors and came out to check it.
Xu Chunliang flashed out from his hiding place like lightning, reached out, and struck their acupoints, then shoved the two back into the security room. He found a monitoring wall inside; had he known, he wouldn’t have bothered with the raw eggs—he could have just taken down the guards and shut off the monitors directly.
Xu Chunliang examined the surveillance console and realized he had probably overestimated his knowledge in this area. He dragged one guard over, released his acupoint, and forced him to shut down the monitors, then sealed his acupoint again and left both of them in the security room.
Now at ease, Xu Chunliang slipped boldly deeper inside. According to what Che Shixiong had said, Huang Youlong and Lu Taiyin were both away lately, which meant their lair was empty—making this the perfect time for a night raid into enemy territory.
Xu Chunliang crossed the Nine-Curve Bridge and entered the main building. He had barely taken a few steps when he saw, at the end of the corridor, an old woman with snow‑white hair standing there, her sinister gaze fixed on him. She rasped in a hoarse voice, "Who are you, to dare sneak into a private residence in the dead of night?"
Xu Chunliang hadn’t expected to be exposed right after stepping inside; he realized that guard just now might have played him.
Suddenly, a flapping sound reached his ears. Xu Chunliang frowned and looked past the old woman’s shoulder. Dozens of huge bats emerged from behind her. Even Xu Chunliang had never seen this species before. They looked somewhat like vampire bats, but several times larger.
The old woman’s lips kept writhing; it seemed she had something in her mouth and was using this method to control the bats.
Although Xu Chunliang didn’t recognize this type of bat, he had already mastered the Poison Canon and the Thousand Insects Canon; the methods for driving venomous insects and savage beasts all shared the same fundamental principles.
The dozens of bats that had already assumed attack stances did not immediately strike; instead, they chose to circle around above Xu Chunliang’s head.
The old woman’s withered cheeks puffed up like balloons. She felt a bit vexed—why had the bats suddenly become disobedient? This was clearly the moment they should have swarmed in, biting this intruder all over and sucking him dry.
At the thought of bloodsucking, the old woman grew excited; a faint green light seemed to gleam in her eyes. She suddenly let out a shrill scream, the sound so piercing it was like foam being dragged at high speed across clean glass.
The circling giant bats were jolted by the scream; one by one, their blood‑shot little eyes fixed on Xu Chunliang like tiny light bulbs.
Xu Chunliang muttered inwardly, What are you looking at? It’s not like you can see anyway. The Thousand Insects Canon recorded that bats usually had poor eyesight, yet they could still deftly avoid obstacles in the dark by relying on intent. Xu Chunliang now knew that this "intent" of bats was actually ultrasound.
There was something off about these bats from the moment they appeared. Xu Chunliang had never seen such large vampire bats before and suspected this might be a new species not recorded in the former Insects Canon.
The old woman’s scream made the bats open their mouths, revealing sharp, gleaming fangs and emitting a faint, hair‑raising screech.
Xu Chunliang now saw even more clearly: they were indeed vampire bats, nothing more than a little larger. But no matter how big a bat got, it was still a bat; even if its physique changed, its habits could not.
This old crone actually had the ability to control bats. He’d always thought this skill had been stolen by the West, which was why they came up with a Batman.
Those blood-sucking bats bared their fangs with vicious faces, but still didn’t launch an attack on Xu Chunliang.
The old crone was a bit dumbfounded. This had never happened before. She started adding in body movements—jumping up and down—looking just like some kind of spirit medium dance, eerily strange.
Xu Chunliang could tell that the old crone’s bat-controlling moves belonged to the Miaojiang school; back in the day, he’d had masters from Miaojiang under his command.
The old crone still hadn’t realized the real reason the blood-sucking bats weren’t obeying her.
The blood-sucking bats circled faster and faster around Xu Chunliang’s body; because they were moving so fast, they looked like a cloud of black smoke.
Xu Chunliang let out a thin, bat-like screech from his throat; coupled with the movements of his hands, dozens of bats switched targets and pounced at the old crone.
Terror flashed across the old crone’s face. Her arms and legs flailed even more frantically as she tried to wrest back control of the bats, but it was destined to be futile.
Dozens of blood-sucking bats rushed one after another onto the old crone. Each bat was about the size of a rat, vicious by nature; once the backlash began, it wouldn’t end easily—especially after they tasted the fresh blood on the old crone.
They clamped down on the old crone and refused to let go. The out-of-control scene scared her soul out of her. She grabbed one bat’s body, trying to tear it off herself.
But the bat’s fangs were extremely long, already buried deep into her flesh. The moment she tugged, the pain was unbearable.
The old crone let out a shrill, miserable scream. She grabbed a blood-sucking bat in each hand and squeezed hard; the two bats were crushed into a bloody mess, yet even so, they still refused to loosen their bite.
Xu Chunliang had no intention of letting this old crone off. She was clearly an accomplice raised by Huang Youlong; she’d tried to kill him the moment she showed up, which proved how vicious she was. He could use this chance to kill her and eliminate future trouble once and for all.
Just then, a low chanting sounded. The melody, almost like Mongolian throat singing, made Xu Chunliang’s heart jolt. As his inner state rippled, it was as if a voice sounded right beside his ear.
...
Jump down. Jump down and you’ll gain freedom, and from then on ascend forever to bliss.
The voice was incredibly bewitching, with a terrifyingly strong brainwashing effect.
Xu Chunliang began to understand why Liu Haiyu’s men had inexplicably jumped off buildings in the middle of a mission. Even his own will, so firm in its Dao, was being disturbed—let alone ordinary people.
The interference from the other side stirred waves in Xu Chunliang’s heart. Taking advantage of his shaken state of mind, the old crone seized back control of the blood-sucking bats.
In that brief moment, she was already covered in mangled flesh and blood; her originally ugly, grotesque face had become even more frightening.
Heavy footsteps sounded in the corridor at that moment. A tall figure stepped out from inside. He wore a monk’s robe, yet was a Lama, turning a string of prayer beads in one hand while the other was held before his chest. His low voice seemed to rise from a hollow mountain abyss, or perhaps from hell itself.
The old crone had been badly rattled by what had just happened and knew she’d run into a real expert. She didn’t dare try to command the bats again. Instead, she opened the bamboo basket at her side, grabbed a handful of snakes, and hurled them at Xu Chunliang.
Xu Chunliang steadied his mind and took a step back. This old crone really had a death wish, daring to show off this trick in front of him.
The one truly worth guarding against was that Lama, who could actually control other people’s minds.
Xu Chunliang retreated not out of fear, but to lull the two of them into complacency.
The Lama’s low voice continued to resonate...
There’s so much suffering in this world, what’s there to cling to? Jump down, end it all in one move. You’ll never have to struggle or be troubled again.
The old crone was still grabbing venomous snakes from the bamboo basket and flinging them at Xu Chunliang.
Xu Chunliang kept stepping back, looking utterly panicked. His behavior made the other side believe they had completely seized the initiative.