Chapter 78: Chapter 78 – Solo Mission!
"Heh, that\'s not surprising. You are a sword maniac. Of course you will be the one who gets excited at learning those martial artists Qi."
Their lighthearted conversation didn\'t fit this kind of situation at all.
No surprise there. Over the years since they joined Hallowed Insects, they had done plenty of dangerous missions that faced unknown enemies and terrains. One time, a poison cloud suddenly filled the camp and they were forced to survive for three days in a swamp filled with venomous snakes and insects.
And it was just one of many experiences.
As they talked, Leo noticed that the ground suddenly changed.
The brown soil turned black and sticky. It was like tar and had a weird smell.
"Are we getting close?"
"Yes, we are near the place. The Qi is very dense. Be prepared, everyone." Zhen warned.
"I can detect many people in the vicinity." Jack, whose bodysuit covered his whole head like a helmet, reported.
His equipment was a specialized tool for surveillance.
"There are three hundred people, no, three hundred and seventy-eight. It\'s not a small group. In the North, another group is approaching. There are around a hundred people. Just a kilometer on our right, and there are a few individuals scattered around. It seems the group from the North detected us, Leader."
"They must\'ve detected me." Zhen said, narrowing his eyes. "I can\'t hide my Qi signature completely in this situation while your group has no Qi at all, so these martial artists won\'t be able to detect you unless they seek for a life essence. I think it\'s better if I split up for now. I trust you to recover the epigraph for me. Let\'s meet again after a few days."
"Let\'s do that. Wait for us in the camp from before. One of our tents is still there."
"Good. I will leave the rest to you, Mr. Leo."
"Go, Mr. Zhen. And remember, don\'t do anything stupid and get yourself killed. We will need your help to transport the epigraph."
"I will do my best to hide."
The middle-aged man smiled wryly and ran back to the tent. It was the best choice in this situation.
Martial artists relied on their Qi signature, so once he was separated from the group, he would be easier to track. It would put Zhen in danger of getting pursued. But that would also make the mercenary invisible from other martial artists.
Not only did they not have any Qi signature, but their weapons and equipment were designed to be low profile. They didn\'t want to attract any attention, so they only brought their main weapons and necessary equipment.
"Activate the stealth. They are blind to us, but the same could also be said for us. We have no one to detect their Qi, so we will completely rely on our bodysuit and senses now. I trust you to look out for me."
Leo nodded to Jack, who was their eyes and ears. He nodded back and their bodysuit morphed.
On top of the mask they wore, the bodysuit now covered their whole head and put on an optical illusion. With a slight distortion, they disappeared from each other\'s eyes.
Now, they could move freely without being detected.
***
Back in Chengdu, Anya hid on the ceiling of a certain room like a ninja. Her optical illusion and her specialty at controlling her presence allowed her to move undetected.
"Ahhh! So good, Master! Your technique is amazing. No one can resist you."
"Get on your knees, pig! You\'re not a martial artist but an animal!"
"Yes! I am just an animal!"
A man moaned in pleasure, his face buried in the pillow. Behind him was a beautiful woman with long black hair, thrusting her hips. There was a rod attached to her hip and it entered the man\'s backdoor.
Upon seeing it, Anya plugged her ear and moved on. Something like this unexpectedly happened a lot in this place. After all, she was in one of the red-district establishments where masochistic men sought a dom-sub relationship.
The woman was a professional dominatrix and her skill was the best. She could satisfy anyone and bring them the most extreme pleasure.
Anya wasn\'t here to watch the scene, though. She was here to finish her job, finding the last traitor of the Tang Clan.
In the last few days, she managed to gather information and evidence of the traitors and informed Tang Jiaofu, Tang Clan\'s patriarch. When investigating them, she found out that there was a place where they gathered every month, a week before the full month, to discuss their plan.
She was here to uncover the truth.
After checking a few rooms, Anya finally found the one she was looking for. It was a meeting room with a bunch of old men wearing masks and a young man. That young man strangely sat on the revered seat and the others looked at him with reverence.
"Tang Jiaofu is suspicious of us since the revered disciple of Supreme Evil got defeated by those riff raff mercenaries. He hired a few private investigators and they\'re on our tail. We have to move the plan faster."
"Fortunately, they haven\'t found us yet. We managed to steer them away."
"That\'s good. We have to prepare for the next stage. Supreme Evil has been dormant for a while, but his return is imminent. We have to be ready when he returns. We have to find the secret technique to summon him, no matter what. Our master will bring back the glory of Murim."
The young man spoke with eloquent words, but his gaze was filled with greed. He couldn\'t hide his true nature as the follower of Supreme Evil, someone who had learned the dark and cruel martial art methods. The darkness in his heart couldn\'t be hidden from Anya\'s eyes.
\'So it\'s him. The one who has been pulling the strings behind the Tang Clan.\'
She immediately activated the recording function in her smart lens and captured the meeting. She also scanned their bodies, getting the data to send to her Leader later.
Once she finished, Anya quickly left the building. She couldn\'t stay long or her presence would be detected. She knew that those martial artists had a strange way to detect her. And their methods were different to each other, so one method might not work for the others.
Still, when she escaped from the building, she found something interesting. She stopped by one of the rooms and looked at the shelves filled with toys. Adult toys.
Her eyes widened and her cheeks turned red. She quickly looked away and left the building with a mischievous grin.
When she disappeared, one of the items displayed on the shelf was gone.
The staff would try to find it, but the item would never be found.