Chapter 237: Black Spade Arrives

Audience expectation: 3Current expectation: 25

“This…”

The defense lawyer rubbed his eyes, looking up at Fang Lichang in bewilderment, wondering if the prosecutor was playing a trick on them.But when he looked up, he saw that Fang Lichang's expression was even grimmer than his own.

“These are the top-tier dishes??” Old Man Ding’s eyes widened. He picked up a few playing cards, examined them closely, and even put one in his mouth… then spat it out forcefully several times.“You can’t even eat this stuff!”

On the stage,Fang Lichang looked at the Spades 6 cards. His pupils slightly contracted as if he had just realized something.He then loudly demanded, “What’s going on here? Where are the dishes??”

“We… we don’t know either,” the servers replied, their faces filled with confusion. “When we were preparing the food in the kitchen, they were normal dishes… how did they turn into playing cards here?”“Our sincerest apologies! We’ll go prepare new ones for you right away!” The head server reacted the quickest, apologizing immediately, then hurriedly pushed the carts out of the banquet hall.

Everyone watched the departing Spades 6 carts, their expressions varied, and began to whisper:“What happened? Was it an accident?”“An accident? Who would mix up a whole bowl of playing cards with food? And so many dishes?”“The most important thing is the cards themselves…”“Spades 6… How could this be?”

“Alright! It seems to be a hotel oversight, please don’t dwell on it.” Fang Lichang sensed the subtle shift in atmosphere and immediately raised his glass again, saying a few words to try and recapture everyone's attention.Chen Ling, meanwhile, leaned against an unnoticed drink table, expressionlessly following Fang Lichang’s words: raising his glass, drinking, putting it down…

A few minutes later, the servers returned, pushing several food carts, their foreheads beaded with sweat.“Excuse us, sirs, this time they are really here.”To ensure no mishaps this time, the servers had checked everything once in the kitchen and again before entering the hall. They were absolutely certain there would be no mistakes. They pushed the carts to the center of the stage and looked at Fang Lichang.Fang Lichang glanced at the carts, forcing a smile. “Alright, let us raise our glasses again, wishing for a successful verdict.”

Chen Ling smiled and raised his glass. At the same time, his right hand, tucked into his pocket, subtly flickered, and a metal piece silently replaced the light switch.CRACK—!The moment the servers lifted the metal covers, the bright electric lights instantly short-circuited and exploded. After a sharp bang, the entire hall plunged into darkness!

Pale candles surrounded everyone, their flickering flames reflecting off the slowly rising metal covers. Before anyone could recover from the shock of the lights failing, someone, using the dim candlelight, saw what was on the plates, their pupils suddenly contracting!“Spades 6… It’s still Spades 6!!!”

Everyone was aghast. The plates were still filled to the brim with the same playing cards as before, almost overflowing!If the first appearance of the playing cards had merely caused suspicion and alarm, the second reveal completely shattered any lingering hope. Combined with the sudden failure of the lights, an intensely terrifying atmosphere began to spread through the top floor.

“Are you deliberately messing with me?!” Fang Lichang’s face was livid. He glared at the servers, and a murderous aura rapidly spread from him.The servers were utterly stunned. They stumbled backward as if seeing a ghost, tripped over an inadvertently extended foot, and landed hard on the floor. “Impossible… This is impossible!! We checked them right before we opened the doors! How did they change again… Is it a ghost? It’s a ghost!!”

The dim candlelight flickered in the spacious hall, only illuminating a small area. Everything else was cloaked in darkness, as if man-eating specters lurked within… In such an atmosphere, everyone’s heart leaped into their throats, and a voice trembled:“It’s Spades 6… He must know we’re using his name, and he’s come to make trouble for us!!”“He’s here! He’s getting revenge on us!!”“Have we really attracted the Twilight Society’s madman??! They’re a group of deranged devils! Who knows what he’ll do?!”“Shouldn’t we quickly inform the Enforcers? Have them make an arrest?”“Are you crazy? We just identified Han Meng as Spades 6 in court, and he’s still locked up in the Black Prison! Wouldn’t notifying the Enforcers now be slapping ourselves in the face??”

“Everyone, shut up!!”Fang Lichang’s voice instantly overpowered everyone. He scanned the darkened banquet hall with a grim gaze. “Playing ghost tricks…”As a prosecutor, Fang Lichang naturally possessed some power. A Level 4 pressure surged from him, engulfing the entire hall… Yet, even with that, the darkness remained empty, save for the attendees themselves.“No one?” Fang Lichang frowned deeply. “Where is he hiding?”

“He… he’s an invisible specter!” A reporter, recalling Chen Ling’s earlier description, spoke in terror. “He’s right here, but we just can’t see him?”

Fang Lichang scoffed. Just as he was about to say something more, another reporter suddenly raised a hand!“Outside the window… there’s a shadow outside!”

At that exclamation, everyone simultaneously turned to look. Outside the enormous floor-to-ceiling window, high above the ground, a dark afterimage flashed past.“Trying to escape?” Seeing that he had finally found the person behind it all, a fierce glint appeared in Fang Lichang’s eyes. His figure blurred as he rapidly pursued, and as the window shattered with a bang, his form vanished into the night in the blink of an eye.

As Fang Lichang departed, a howling cold wind swept in through the broken window, extinguishing all the dim candlelight. The banquet hall once again fell into utter silence.Old Man Ding, along with the reporters and lawyers, stood in the dark, cold wind, exchanging glances.

After an unknown amount of time, a voice suddenly broke the silence.“The prosecutor has left. Now it’s just us.”

Flicker—Chen Ling lit a pale candle with a match. The flickering flame illuminated half of his face, and a subtle, almost imperceptible smile played on his lips.“I hope nothing unexpected happens to him… What do you think?”

The cold wind scattered numerous playing cards, and countless Spades 6 cards gently swirled through the hall, as if countless spirits were dancing, or as if an invisible hand was mockingly manipulating everything here…