The VIP Box
"What exactly is going on?!!"
Watching all the guests rush out of the Cabaret in terror, Li Ruohong still didn't know what had happened. He turned his head and looked around, and by the lightning occasionally flashing outside the window, he walked step by step towards the center of the messy dance floor.
He looked down in confusion at the pool of blood stains and minced meat on the ground, carefully recalling the scene from just now in his mind... He vaguely remembered that for a moment just now, that bodyguard's corpse appeared here, but he hadn't touched the other party at all, and in the blink of an eye, the corpse was gone.
"Was it an illusion? Shouldn't be..." Li Ruohong looked around and found a few timid waiters still hiding in the corner. Even his other bodyguard who had been following him, as well as the Cabaret's manager, were looking at him with faces full of terror at this moment, as if seeing a ghost.
"Hey! What are you hiding for? Come out!!"
Li Ruohong roared angrily. The few of them were instantly startled and shuddered, but seeing the blood-stained blade in his hand and the scene of him sending someone flying over ten meters with one slash just now, everyone still carefully walked forward a few steps.
Seeing their gazes, Li Ruohong finally realized he was still holding that Short Blade. He immediately threw it onto the ground next to him with a clatter and walked towards the crowd.
As he walked, the few of them retreated, provoking Li Ruohong to curse loudly:
Just as Li Ruohong finished speaking, his peripheral vision caught his reflection in the Glass beside him. As a pale lightning bolt flashed past, his blood-covered appearance was clearly reflected before his eyes, instantly giving him a huge fright!
Li Ruohong subconsciously backed away from the Glass a few steps, finally recovering his wits. He wiped his face hard a couple of times with his hands, getting foul-smelling fresh blood all over them.
"This... What's going on here?"
"B-boss, why did you kill Fu Sheng?" That sole remaining bodyguard asked with a pale face.
"I killed him? I didn't kill him! I just wanted to push him a bit... He flew out on his own!" Li Ruohong replied subconsciously. "Who told him to actually find me annoying? I merely lectured him a few words, and he actually dared to talk back to me..."
The bodyguard's face grew even paler!
"Right, where is Fu Sheng?" Li Ruohong looked around.
"You killed him!"
"I fucking said it! I didn't kill him!! I just pushed him, how could he die?! Is he hiding?"
"He's dead, we all saw it! His corpse disappeared in the blink of an eye... It was like, like it was eaten by the floorboards." As everyone spoke, their gazes fell on the pool of minced meat and blood, and their voices grew quieter and quieter.
"Floorboards can eat people? Bullshit!"
Li Ruohong didn't believe these things at all. In his view, that bodyguard named Fu Sheng definitely harbored a grudge against him and used this method to retaliate against him... But he didn't understand, why would these perfectly fine floorboards seep blood downwards?
Under the washing of the heavy rain, the blood stains on the floorboards gradually faded, starting to turn back into normal rainwater. But Li Ruohong seemed to have thought of something, and his expression grew somewhat solemn.
Could it be...
"I'm going upstairs to take a look, don't follow me." Li Ruohong turned his head and said to the waiters. "Also, hurry up and clean this place up... Don't go spouting that nonsense about murders and ghosts. Everything that happened today must rot in your stomachs, understand?"
The few of them exchanged glances and lowered their heads without speaking.
Li Ruohong had no time to waste on them. The unease in his heart grew stronger at this moment. He took out a long-unused Kerosene Lamp from a cabinet, lit it, and walked step by step toward the second floor by the firelight.
At this moment, no one remained in the second-floor VIP boxes either. This place wasn't very open to the public to begin with; without status or position, one simply couldn't enter here... And among the several VIP boxes on this floor, the existence of one was even more special. Its location was in the deepest part, with no outward-facing windows or connecting corridors. Other than Li Ruohong, no one had ever entered it.
Li Ruohong stopped at the entrance of VIP Box 001. The dim lamplight illuminated his uneasy face. After taking a deep breath, he still pushed the box door open.
Inside the box was a spacious VIP room. Luxurious sofas surrounded an imported carpet. A Kerosene Lamp was also faintly flickering on the coffee table. The halo of light silently illuminated a corner of the box, but within the line of sight, not a single figure could be seen.
Li Ruohong froze. Before he could react, a glint of cold light instantly thrust out from the corner, precisely pressed against his throat!
It was a knife wrapped in grayish-white bandages. The bandages were intertwined with crooked, blood-colored characters. It didn't look like a combat weapon, but rather some sort of tool used for Sacrifice. But the sharp blade was enough to easily slit Li Ruohong's throat. Right now, even though it was merely pressed against his skin, dripping fresh blood flowed slowly down the blade.
Li Ruohong's body instantly stiffened, and he spoke trembling,
"T-two Envoys... It's me, I'm Li Ruohong!"
Seeing his face clearly, the figure holding the knife in the shadows of the corner finally slowly lowered the blade, the killing intent in their eyes relaxing slightly.
"Li Ruohong, what's going on outside?"
"Not to mention the sudden power outage, it's also noisy... I thought that group of people from [Floating Life Painting] had tracked us here." In another corner, yet another figure slowly walked out. It was a man entirely hidden in a black robe. The edge of the robe's hood was embroidered with various strange symbols, looking incredibly mysterious.
"I don't know either, I wanted to ask you guys." Li Ruohong frowned at the two. "That blood seeping down from the floorboards... Wasn't that you guys' doing?"
The two Men in Black exchanged a glance and simultaneously shook their heads.
"Our main task right now is infiltration and liaison, how could we possibly do something so eye-catching..."
"...How strange, then what was going on?"
Li Ruohong had thought the seeping blood just now was the handiwork of these two. After all, their Divine Pathways were far too similar to this sort of thing. Otherwise, he wouldn't have instructed the people below to let this matter rot in their stomachs. Fundamentally, he still wanted to conceal the existence of these two.
Li Ruohong paced back and forth in the box, as if seriously pondering something, his eyes full of anxiety:
"Damn it... Although I don't know what's going on, the commotion just now was not small. I'm worried the Police Officers will come knocking... By then, this place won't be safe anymore."
The gazes of the two in black turned cold, and they exchanged a glance. "Our transfer array technique is already prepared. If the situation is not right, we can evacuate at any time. You don't need to worry about this point... Right now, the most important thing is the situation on your Maternal Uncle's side. Have you talked with him?"
"I've already communicated with him. He is also very interested in you... It just so happens that my Maternal Uncle's birthday banquet is coming up soon. I can take this opportunity to sneak you into the manor to meet him privately."
"That is for the best." One of the Men in Black nodded. "The Beidou Consortium is currently the most influential civilian organization in the Red Dust Main City, and also the first target on our liaison list...
Our Wuji Domain very much looks forward to cooperating with Old Master Mu."