Chapter 428: Little Brother

A slap—Slap, slap, slap!

Small slaps landed on two old faces, making crisp sounds.

“Eeyah yah?” The Clown tilted his head, gazing at the two unconscious figures before him, his blinking, beady eyes showing boredom.

He released his hands, and the two bodies dropped heavily to the floor. Both had smudges of white ash on their noses, making them look at first glance like two “clowns” about to perform… but at the moment, both were unconscious with eyes rolled back, and their bruised and swollen faces made them resemble two comical pig heads.

The Clown rested a small hand on his chin, as if pondering how to deal with these two “intruders.” His peripheral vision suddenly caught something on the chest of one of the pig heads.

His fingers delved into a pocket, fumbled for a moment, and pulled out a playing card: the Six of Spades.

“Eeyah?” The Clown looked at the card, his brow furrowing unconsciously, as if struggling to recall where he had seen it before… After a moment, his eyes lit up, and he slapped one hand with the palm of the other, an expression of sudden realization appearing on his small face.

He quickly ran into the bathroom, then, a moment later, ran out again, covering his mouth. He then forcefully spat a mouthful of cool water, which he had been holding in his cheeks, onto their faces! Pfft—!

Jian Changsheng and Heart of Nine abruptly woke up!

They opened their eyes in a daze, startled, and saw the Clown's face smeared with white ash. Jian Changsheng immediately swore and frantically tried to retreat, everything that had just happened still vivid in his mind…

After he and Heart of Nine entered the room, they saw this strange-looking child playing on a chair. Before they could even react, the child darted towards them.

Heart of Nine reacted the quickest, raising a hand preemptively before the child could get close. But the next moment, their surroundings twisted like a funhouse mirror. Both felt a dizzying sensation, and somehow, they found themselves automatically flying into the child's hands.

Once in his grip, Jian Changsheng tried to use his 'Blood Dripping Compass' skill to create distance, but found that none of his abilities worked. Immediately after, he saw a small fist strike his face like a cannonball… And then, he lost consciousness.

From the moment they saw the child until they were knocked down, the entire process lasted no more than three seconds. They were like helpless chicks, unable to offer any resistance.

Therefore, when Jian Changsheng saw that comical face again, he instinctively felt fear. But to his surprise, the child seemed to have no intention of harming them. Instead, he immediately raised a hand to his lips, making a shushing gesture.

“Damn it… what’s going on?” Heart of Nine tried to activate his skills to retaliate, but found his spiritual power sealed, his expression turning extremely grim.

The Clown raised his hand, pointed at the playing card in his hand, and gave a thumbs-up.

“Eeyah!”

“…Huh?”

Jian Changsheng and Heart of Nine looked utterly bewildered.

The Clown scratched his head, put the playing card back into Jian Changsheng’s pocket, patted it gently, and then gave him another firm thumbs-up!

Jian Changsheng: …

“Does this kid mean that our Twilight Society… uh… is very, very good?” Jian Changsheng tentatively asked Heart of Nine.

“…How would I know?” Heart of Nine still hadn’t recovered from the shock of being knocked down by a child's punch, speaking with great resentment. “But he doesn’t seem to have any ill will towards us… Damn it, then why did he hit so hard? I feel like the back of my head was split open!”

Immediately after, the Clown covered his face with both hands, as if wearing a mask, and began to walk back and forth seriously in the room, seemingly imitating someone.

Jian Changsheng blinked: “…The Emissary?”

The Clown nodded repeatedly!

He pointed at Jian Changsheng and Heart of Nine.

“Us?”

The Clown hugged his arms in front of him, as if protecting something.

“Hug? Protect? Guard…?”

Jian Changsheng slapped his thigh, guessing the Clown's meaning. “Are you saying you want us to protect the Emissary?”

The Clown nodded frantically, his head almost shaking off his neck. He giggled and gave Jian Changsheng another thumbs-up.

Then, without waiting for Jian Changsheng to ask anything else, the Clown simply opened the window. Like picking up chicks, he grabbed Jian Changsheng and Heart of Nine, one in each hand, took a deep breath, and powerfully flung them out the window!

“Eeyah!!!”

Whoosh, whoosh—!

Under the immense force, the two figures shot out like rockets, leaving streaks behind them, flying straight towards a certain direction in the night sky…

Red Dust Restaurant.

Through his golden mask, Chen Ling gazed at the five major financial groups frantically trying to clear their names, his eyes perfectly calm.

Chen Ling knew very well that the massive amount of gold and treasures he had brought from the Ancient Theater Vault was more than most entities in the Red Dust Realm could absorb. Although the treasures were highly valuable, they were not in high demand in the current era. Overall, there was an “oversupply.” This was also why his previous fellow disciples could only continuously lower prices, leading to a significant reduction in profits.

These five major financial groups, as the wealthiest and largest forces in the main city, were his most crucial buyers. However, in a market already extremely unfavorable to Chen Ling, if these five powerful groups colluded to drive down prices, his room for survival would only shrink… Therefore, Chen Ling's first step upon entering the market was to break their alliance, transforming their “cooperation” back into “competition.”

The method Chen Ling used to break the alliance was the fear and oppression brought by the title “Golden Guild Emissary.”

Swapping Beidou Financial Group’s Zitan Peace Buddha through a trick could be described as directly planting a “bomb” on them. If they couldn’t explain this to him, Beidou Financial Group would be annihilated by the Emissary’s wrath… And to clear their names, they would inevitably frantically search for the mastermind behind the swapped gift.

Chen Ling then employed a minor stratagem to ignite the conflict between Huadu and Beidou… Of course, these two groups were not chosen arbitrarily by Chen Ling. He had spent an entire night analyzing the interconnected interests of the five major financial groups and discovered that Huadu and Beidou had the fewest conflicts of interest, even being partners to some extent. Since Chen Ling wanted the five groups to fight among themselves, he naturally couldn’t allow these two to form an alliance, so he immediately pinned the blame on Zong Wen.

The rift between Huadu and Beidou also affected the other three financial groups, and their interwoven interests were completely ignited under the Emissary’s pressure.

This was like a game of 'Pass the Parcel': whoever couldn’t prove their innocence would be destroyed by the Emissary. Thus, they were forced to expose others’ flaws and sling mud… Yet, ironically, all five of them were actually innocent!

The true mastermind, ignored by everyone, stood on the stage, coldly observing their internal strife and struggle.

Chen Ling looked at the five directors below, whose eyes were red from arguing, and knew the time was almost ripe. His voice, accompanied by thunder, deepened as he spoke:

“…“Enough!””