Chapter 162 - 159: No Room for Betrayal
Jenny couldn’t hear her Mentor’s lecture at this point. She had, for all intents and purposes, been moved by Blaise’s "sincerity."
She stepped away from the iron gate and slowly pulled it open.
SCREEEAAAK—
The iron gate’s rusty hinges let out a rather piercing, grating sound.
A strange smile suddenly appeared on Jenny’s face.
"Don’t blame me for not warning you. As outsiders, you can only walk along the stone path. Stepping even a few paces to the side could be life-threatening!"
"CAW—"
The caw of a crow came from overhead again, as if echoing Jenny’s words, but when the group looked up, they still couldn’t see the ominous bird.
With the gate opened as wide as it would go, Jenny gestured that they couldn’t drive their car inside, then led the seven big guys into the grounds.
Maki, who was bringing up the rear, glanced back after entering the grounds and discovered that the iron gate had, at some point, closed by itself.
To the surprise of Blaise and the others, the girl leading the way wasn’t heading toward the main building or any other structure, but toward the lake on the grounds.
Although she’d been swayed by Blaise’s words, Jenny was still utterly disgusted with this group. She had no intention of taking them directly to the indoor Secret Realm entrance, instead leading them to one of the three outdoor ones.
She could have had the Shadow of the Secret Realm bring them in directly, but that would require using Magic Power, and Jenny treasured her Magic Power; it was a non-renewable resource, after all.
"When we go through the ’Door,’ stick close to me. Otherwise, even if you’re rescued, you’ll only have half a life left, hehehe."
After the girl’s strange pronouncement, she walked one and a half times around a rock by the lake, then came back and circled it twice more, before simply vanishing.
"Where did she go? She vanished?"
"Boss? What do we do?"
"Do what she did?"
"Did any of you see how she circled it? I couldn’t see clearly!"
"Damn it, I didn’t see either!"
The men were both shocked and at a loss. Luckily, Blaise had been paying full attention the entire time and quickly relayed the method he had observed to the others.
Tentatively following the instructions, filled with a mix of shock and apprehension, the seven men did indeed enter the Secret Realm one after another.
What greeted their eyes was not only the impatient girl but also a completely different environment.
It was still a sea of green, but the surroundings were no longer gentle lawns with the scent of flowers and the sound of birdsong. Instead, strange, menacing plants grew everywhere.
Some flowers bloomed larger than half a man’s body and bore human faces. Even more bizarrely, while the men had first assumed it was just a strange species, when they started moving, these flowers with their little faces all turned to follow them, as if watching their every step.
Vines snaked across the surroundings. Terrifyingly, they sometimes moved like venomous snakes, slithering slowly along the ground.
Fluffs of dandelions drifted through the air, yet they conspicuously avoided the area above the stone path. The men’s instincts screamed that they were not harmless.
The cawing of the crow overhead was incessant, but now no one dared to look up to find it. A single moment of inattention could mean stepping off the stone path or falling behind.
The girl walked at a surprisingly fast pace, and the seven men had to jog just to keep up.
At this moment, they were trembling, both in mind and body.
They finally understood what the girl had meant back outside when she said falling behind was dangerous.
After several nerve-racking minutes of winding along the stone path, they finally approached the entrance of the main building.
"Tch, and here I thought someone would get into trouble!"
Jenny muttered in dissatisfaction, sending the hearts of the men behind her into a frenzy.
Those words were probably not a joke; she genuinely wanted to see them suffer.
"So slow. Where’s my meat?"
Doudou ran to the door to greet his barbecue ingredients.
"I had to bring them in, didn’t I? Otherwise I’d have been back ages ago. This case is killing me!"
From behind, Maki watched, dumbfounded, as Jenny casually hefted the case—which had to weigh at least 40 pounds—as if it were a toy. ’She doesn’t look like she thinks it’s heavy at all.’
They followed her into the main building. The floor of the grand hall was etched with a profound, mystical pattern. Upon the foyer wall hung what looked like a ball of fire, a giant sun whose carved rays seemed to shimmer and float.
And where a reception desk should have been, several large chairs were arranged. The only one occupied held a figure in a long robe, their face obscured.
Blaise knew instinctively that this was the mysterious person from the church the previous night.
"Boss... there really are monsters..."
Mark and Joey were still holding it together. Although Jenny had been "confirmed" as a Witch, she at least had a human form.
The Red Demoness was an indistinct, humanoid cloud of red mist, while Mumu was a giant mass of Thorns that took up nearly half the hall. To the outsiders, these two were undeniably monsters.
Blaise was at a loss. He was the one who had demanded to be let in, but now he didn’t know what to say. Just as he was about to start with a word of thanks, Qin Xiaoxia spoke.
His voice was deep and raspy, its mockery and ridicule completely undisguised.
"Since when could a person like you so nobly claim to be anything more than a beast? A truly wonderful performance, Mr. Blaise!"
Blaise was exceptionally embarrassed, his heart having been pounding ever since he entered the Secret Realm.
"I... uh... thank you for saving my life!"
In the end, all he could manage were words of gratitude.
Doudou was off to the side, clucking his tongue. It was hard to tell if it was in reaction to Blaise’s words or to the ingredients he was inspecting in the cooler.
"Hehehehe..."
Qin Xiaoxia laughed and rose from his chair. As he stood, the shadow behind him grew, seeming to stretch ever taller, creating a layered visual effect of infinite growth that oppressed the breathing of all who watched him.
His luminous gaze seemed to pierce through a man’s heart, exposing all its inner filth to the light of day.
"Are you afraid? Afraid of those things and the Ghost Souls? Afraid of unknown Demons? Afraid of the end of the world? Is that why you came?!"
"I can tell you this: the Dark Tide is not far off. We have been quietly preparing for this war for centuries, for millennia. Powers from across the globe are beginning to converge."
In the eyes of Blaise and his men, the mysterious figure seemed to grow infinitely tall, his voice resonating in the depths of their souls, dredging up their darkest memories and unshakeable fears.
"A man must always pay the price for his mistakes, Mr. Blaise. When the Otherworldly Shock begins, we might not even have the capacity to look after ordinary people. We certainly won’t be distracted trying to save someone like you!"
The words seemed to possess a tremendous tearing force, sucking the hearts of Blaise and his six subordinates into a bottomless Abyss. They took deep breaths but felt no air.
Their surroundings plunged into endless darkness filled with roars and screams as a sense of desperate terror seeped into their very souls.
A second passed, or perhaps an eternity.
"HAAAA..." The hoarse gasps for air felt like they would tear their own windpipes apart.
As they recovered, gasping from deep in their throats, the seven men found themselves already kneeling on the ground, panting ceaselessly.
"Did you feel your souls tremble? The human soul is so very tempting... Death? What is death in the face of that!"
Qin Xiaoxia’s voice sounded again, light and unconcerned. But not one of the seven men dared to look up at him, let alone stand.
"What... what must we do to..."
"To save yourselves?"
Qin Xiaoxia finished the sentence for Blaise, who nodded strenuously, not daring to beat around the bush any longer.
Shaking his head, he let out a joyless laugh.
"Go home, Mr. Blaise. It is not yet the end of the world. You might still have a few years of peace. You are unable to give up your sinful wealth and glory. I will have the Red Demoness erase your fear and seal this memory away in a corner of your mind."
"No!! I don’t want to forget!!"
What Blaise feared most was this very moment—the moment before being forced to forget. It was the terror of knowing he would be abandoned to his fate, left to die without even being aware of the danger. He couldn’t go back to being blissfully ignorant like an ordinary person, because he knew that both the government and behind-the-scenes Hermits like these would protect the common folk.
Although they had just heard a definitive answer, Blaise refused to believe he was truly worthless!
"You knew we were coming! You could have easily made it so we’d never find you, but you let us in! This little girl was hardly an obstacle!"
Hearing this, Jenny’s eyes went wide with anger. Su Su quickly restrained her. If that girl were to march over and slap Blaise, she could probably break his neck.
"We must have some use!"
Blaise’s eyes were bloodshot. He didn’t dare gamble, not just for his own sake, but for his parents, his wife, and his sixteen-year-old son who despised what his father was.
If Blaise had been hesitant when he first arrived, he was now resolved to fight with everything he had for a single chance, even if it meant being used as cannon fodder!
These people possessed power beyond the reach of ordinary men. If even they had been preparing for this great war for centuries, he didn’t believe he could possibly survive it. He had a keen sense that even death might not be an escape!
He poured out everything—all his assets, all his secrets—laying his entire life bare on the scales.
’A smart man!’
’To have carved out a place for himself in the Los Angeles underworld, he certainly has extraordinary guts.’
’Blaise is a big fish in the criminal underworld. Controlling him would provide a foundation to extend our reach into another world, one outside the view of ordinary people.’
’Besides, between Su Su’s earlier divination and Blaise’s own complete confession now, I’ve learned that Blaise has quite a few capable people under his command.’
’Among these people, aside from Blaise’s own men, some worked with him on a "part-time" basis, while others were in it purely for the thrill.’
’Through these collaborations, Blaise had also managed to gain some leverage over them.’
And in Qin Xiaoxia’s view? ’Looking for a thrill? Fine by me. Just don’t get scared to death when it happens!’
Having heard Huang Jiutian mention the experts in the Special Security Team on more than one occasion, and having witnessed the responsiveness and organizational capacity of the United States’ Department 19, Qin Xiaoxia’s desire for talented individuals had already grown to a considerable degree.
Blaise’s current display was somewhat beyond his expectations, but it also saved him a lot of trouble.
"Yes, Mr. Blaise, you do have some use. But are you willing to give up everything you have now? I can only offer a minimal guarantee."
He glanced at Blaise, who had raised his head again to meet his gaze.
’If Blaise can meet the requirements of the plan, I don’t mind giving him a sliver of Hope.’
"It seems you’ve already made your decision!"
Qin Xiaoxia’s voice started low and soothing, then suddenly rose to a deafening volume!
"But I must remind you: Dawn does not tolerate betrayal!"
RUMBLE—
As his words fell, a sudden crash of thunder and flash of lightning shook the hall, startling not only Blaise and his men, but Jenny and her companions as well.
...
The thunderstorm raged, rain pouring down.
Blaise and his men drove back in two separate cars, their hearts still not having returned to a normal rhythm.
Although it felt as if they had signed away all their interests, both Blaise and his underlings felt a strange sense of reassurance.
The Magic Power infused into their bodies was supposedly for protection, but it was more for surveillance. They no longer cared.
"A sudden storm out of a perfectly clear sky... The weather bureau is probably going to be scratching their heads over that for a while, huh?"
"Hahahahaha..."
The atmosphere inside the car lightened.