Chapter 408: The High-Level Meeting of the Twilight Society

A few days later.

"Second Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, why are you all so quiet?" the young man asked with a smile, picking his teeth with a bamboo stick by the dining table.

It wasn't mealtime yet. Taking advantage of Chen Ling's absence, the disciples had arrived early. Except for Ning Ruyu, the others all had rather peculiar expressions.

Wen Renyou was silent for a moment before speaking, "Master, I have nothing to teach Junior Brother."

"...Me too," Mo Jiao sighed. "Junior Brother seems to have read every play script. No matter which one I mention, he can recite it word for word, almost flawlessly. These past few days haven't been like teaching him; it's just been me unilaterally listening to him sing... for an entire morning at a time."

"I have nothing to teach him either." A rare look of admiration appeared in Luan Mei's eyes. "He is a born *dan* (female role) actor. As soon as he starts performing, his movements are perfectly natural. And even though I've only taught him for a few days, he's already showing signs of mastering the Cloud Step."

"It's only been a few days, and he's already learning the secret techniques of performance?" Ning Ruyu exclaimed in shock.

"No, perhaps 'learning' isn't the right word..." In Luan Mei's mind, the image of the red-clad figure resurrected from the ruins after Aurora City was destroyed immediately surfaced. At that time, Chen Ling was still in a state of "mental confusion" after his promotion. She clearly remembered the scene in those ruins: the red figure seemed weightless, dancing gracefully, its form like a ghost, elusive and unfathomable...

"He might have already comprehended the Cloud Step on his own," Luan Mei paused. "Not just the Cloud Step, but even the Requiem of Serenity—he heard me sing it just once and could reproduce it almost perfectly..."

At her words, the disciples' expressions became incredibly astonished. They looked at Luan Mei in disbelief, and the room suddenly fell silent.

"If that's true... then Junior Brother's talent is simply monstrous," Mo Jiao couldn't help but exclaim.

"I told you, he is a born master of the Way of Theatrical Divinity," the young man said unhurriedly. "As long as he awakens his instincts, mastering the four basic secret techniques is just a matter of time for him. You don't need to deliberately teach him anything; just offer a little guidance when necessary."

The disciples nodded in agreement.

Not long after, Chen Ling knocked on the door and entered with his bowl and chopsticks, and the group ceased their discussion.

"Senior Brother, do we have braised pork today?" Chen Ling asked naturally as he sat down at the table. After a few days of interaction, Chen Ling had completely assimilated into the Ancient Treasury of Theatrical Arts, and his brazenness had grown. Although he hadn't yet switched to eating from a basin like his master, his bowl was already the same size as Senior Brother Ning Ruyu's.

Wen Renyou's mouth twitched slightly. "...No."

"What about stir-fried meat slices?"

"None of that either."

Hearing this, the master beside them put down his toothpick, somewhat displeased. "Third Brother, the food has been getting blander and blander lately... Are we not having any meat at all today?"

Wen Renyou glanced at Ning Ruyu but said nothing.

Ning Ruyu coughed twice, then awkwardly spoke, "Master... have you forgotten something?"

"What?"

"Two days ago, we just finished paying the society members' salaries."

The master's expression stiffened slightly. "...All paid out?" he asked tentatively.

"When we recruited the members, you were the one who said that even if we couldn't eat, the members' benefits couldn't be bad, so of course, they had to be paid on time," Ning Ruyu sighed. "Since the day before yesterday, our funds have been almost depleted..."

Chen Ling's expression immediately turned a little strange upon hearing this.

Perhaps he had spent too long with his senior brothers and sisters in the Ancient Treasury of Theatrical Arts, nearly forgetting that this was the headquarters of the Twilight Society. Whether it was Jian Changsheng, Chu Muyun, Bai Ye, or other Twilight Society members, their salaries all came from here. Furthermore, Chen Ling clearly remembered that when he first joined the Twilight Society, Chu Muyun had mentioned that their salary and benefits were excellent, several times that of an enforcer... Given the large number of Twilight Society members, the monthly expenses were astronomical. Chen Ling had once thought that the Twilight Society's leadership must be a very wealthy corporate organization, but now it seemed that was not the case. How much money could a "shadow opera troupe" that set up dilapidated stages outdoors every day and performed for free earn? How could it support such a large Twilight Society?

At this moment, Chen Ling suddenly realized that he seemed to have inadvertently stumbled into a "Twilight Society high-level meeting"... The world's most "vicious" organization, standing in opposition to all human domains, was holding a serious meeting right in front of him. If the leaders of those human domains knew, they would probably be scrambling to hear what astonishingly evil plans they were concocting.

"If all else fails, we can perform the 'stone-breaking on the chest' act," Ning Ruyu said seriously.

"That's street performing; it requires a fee."

"Stone-breaking on the chest? Even if a hundred people watched, how much money would that be?" Mo Jiao immediately shook his head. "The Twilight Society's monthly salary expenses are astronomical right now. Even if we broke a hundred stones on our chests every day, we wouldn't earn that much money."

"You can't say that. Look, Fifth Brother almost shattered a mountain with just his head the other day."

"That efficiency is too low. We still need to think of other methods..."

The atmosphere at the dinner table suddenly grew tense.

Chen Ling lowered his head, silently shoveling more rice into his mouth. At this moment, he wished he had Mo Jiao's ability to minimize his presence, fearing that his senior brothers and sisters, in a fit of impulsiveness, might decide to perform the stone-breaking act and drag him along.

"If it comes to that, we'll have no choice but to use *that* method..." Wen Renyou said in a deep voice.

"Indeed, at this rate, we won't even be able to pay next month's salaries... Only that method can secure a large amount of funds within a few days."

The disciples exchanged glances, finally looking at their master in the center, seemingly waiting for his decision.

The young man thought for a moment, then sighed helplessly. "It has to be this way."

"Whose turn is it this time?"

"Last time it was Fourth Brother, the year before last it was Third Brother, and the year before that was Second Brother... Going by that rotation, it should be Fifth Brother's turn this year."

"Uh... Fifth Brother..."

Everyone looked outside with strange expressions, seeing a small figure clinging to the window, secretly peeking at Chen Ling inside the room. The moment he saw them suddenly turn to look at him, he shivered and shot down to hide at the base of the wall.

"Fifth Brother won't do. Fifth Brother can't speak; he won't be able to complete that task at all."

"In that case, there's only..." Their gazes fell upon Chen Ling, who was silently shoveling rice in the corner. His movements paused. He was silent for a moment. "Just so you know, I won't be breaking stones on my chest."