Chapter 557: Unexpected Reunion

The moment the walkie-talkie clicked on, Chen Ling let out a soft "hmm," instinctively turning his head towards the sound.

Through the misty drizzle, his gaze immediately found the inconspicuous Bureau Chief in the venue. He could feel a ripple of electronic communication signals emanating from that spot, extending to a location outside the venue.

As if sensing Chen Ling's gaze, the Bureau Chief also turned to look his way, seeing a performer in red, holding an oil-paper umbrella, standing in the rain and looking back at him from a distance.

A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes.

Chen Ling smiled slightly, then shifted his gaze and continued walking deeper into the venue with Kong Baosheng.

Although he didn't sense any divine power fluctuations from the man, the fact that he instantly noticed Chen Ling's gaze confirmed he was no ordinary person, very likely the wielder of a divine path. Combined with his apparent deliberate attention to Li Ruohong and the concealed communication device, Chen Ling had largely guessed his identity.

It seemed his single cast had reeled in two big fish this time.

As Chen Ling moved deeper into the venue, passing by figure after figure, people were quickly drawn to his striking red attire. Famous actresses from the entertainment industry, in particular, were secretly astonished when they saw the face beneath the umbrella's brim.

"Who is he?"

"Never seen him before... But judging by his attire, he must be a performer?"

"Do performers look this good these days? With his looks, he could easily become a top male star just by relying on his appearance..."

"I agree, he's much better looking than those top male idols!"

"I always thought performers were middle-aged or old men... It's been a long time since we've seen such a young performer in the Mortal Realm, hasn't it?"

"Indeed, young people don't perform opera anymore; only a few highly respected elders still do..."

"Oh my, will he perform today? I'm quite looking forward to it!"

"Don't get your hopes up. Do you think performing opera is easy? That takes years of arduous training. Young people nowadays don't have the patience for that kind of hardship. He's so young, he probably won't be very good... Just enjoy him as eye candy."

At that moment, Chen Ling finally understood the power of a perfect face; it was the most natural competitive advantage in any era.

Normally, the beauty or ugliness of a face was meaningless to Chen Ling; in fact, the more ordinary, the better. But today, as part of his plan, he needed to be conspicuous, which was why he wore such a striking, bright red performance robe.

"Sir, everyone's looking at you!" Kong Baosheng said, a little excitedly. "Are we going to be famous?"

"What are you thinking?" Chen Ling chuckled. "I have something to take care of with someone. You stay here in the venue, eat and drink, and don't wander off, okay?"

"Yes, Sir."

Chen Ling walked alone, umbrella in hand, towards a certain part of the venue.

Li Ruohong had already entered the estate with two agents from the Boundless Realm and was likely heading directly to Mu Chunsheng's office. Chen Ling naturally needed to find a way to get there: firstly, to prepare for his next moves, and secondly, to see what they were truly up to.

The Big Dipper Conglomerate's estate was not open to just anyone; an outsider would surely get lost. But Chen Ling was different. He had been to the Big Dipper Estate once before, and Mu Chunsheng himself had personally explained every layout detail to him, even clarifying where security would be placed. With 'No-Form,' infiltrating the office was no difficult task for Chen Ling.

As Chen Ling moved further away, the gazes focused on him gradually lessened. Just then, a different kind of gaze pierced through the crowd and locked onto him.

While many had looked at Chen Ling earlier, most had merely glanced and then looked away. This time, however, Chen Ling felt a gaze firmly fixed on him, lingering for a long time, as if in surveillance.

Chen Ling did not immediately look for the source of the gaze, lest he be perceived as unusual, like the Bureau Chief. Instead, he walked to a dead end, feigning being lost, and then vaguely looked around.

Soon, he found the source of the gaze.

It was an ordinary-looking man. Judging by his uniform, he was security for the Big Dipper Conglomerate. He stood in a corner of the venue, staring at Chen Ling with surprise... No, more accurately, he was staring at the small blue flower on the hem of Chen Ling's performance robe.

This small blue flower had been sewn on by Chen Yan long ago. It was tiny and hard to notice without looking carefully, yet he was staring at it, as if deep in thought. When he saw Chen Ling look back at him, he quietly shifted his gaze.

Was he a wielder of a divine path employed by the Big Dipper Conglomerate? Had he perhaps noticed something unusual about Chen Ling?

No, that's not right...

Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly.

Without any hesitation, Chen Ling feigned having taken a wrong turn, scratched his head, and walked directly towards the security guard.

"Excuse me, where's the restroom?"

"The restroom?"

The security guard paused, thought for a moment, then pointed in a direction, saying, "That way."

"Thank you."

Chen Ling smiled politely and walked directly in the direction the guard pointed. After turning a corner, he vanished from the guard's sight.

The security guard stood frozen for a long time, seemingly debating something. Finally, with a resolute clench of his jaw, he followed Chen Ling from a distance.

However, as soon as he turned the corner, Chen Ling was gone from his sight. Just as he looked around in confusion, an iron-grip hand instantly clamped over his mouth from behind, and a gun barrel simultaneously pressed against his temple.

"Don't move if you don't want to die!" Chen Ling's low voice resounded. He suddenly exerted force with his arm, pulling the security guard directly into an empty room and locking the door behind them.

It appeared to be a storage room, dusty and long undisturbed. The only light came from a hand-width window high up on the wall, casting a grayish glow into the dim room, and the air settled into a deep silence.

Restrained by Chen Ling, the security guard's eyes were filled with shock; he seemed to not have expected such decisive action. He mumbled something unintelligible.

With one hand, Chen Ling held the gun pressed against the guard's forehead and spoke unhurriedly, "The security personnel right now are mostly concentrated near the banquet hall; they wouldn't be in such a remote area. And you don't even know where the restroom is... You're not security here at all, are you? You're not from the Boundless Realm, nor could you be from the Police Bureau. If you were from either of those factions, there would be no need for such elaborate disguise..."

The security guard froze for a moment, but Chen Ling still held his hand firmly over the man's mouth, his eyes locking with the guard's. A pair of apricot-red eyes slowly emerged at the corners of Chen Ling's own eyes.

"So... who are you? And what's your objective?"

Chen Ling believed he had the entire banquet under control, but the sudden appearance of a mysterious individual, seemingly from a third faction, forced him to be fully on guard. He had been the "mantis stalking the cicada" so many times; he didn't want to be outsmarted in return.

The good news was that this person's strength didn't seem particularly impressive; otherwise, Chen Ling wouldn't have been able to control him so easily. Even if he refused to speak, Chen Ling could try to glimpse some truth using 'Painting Zhu Yan.'

The security guard looked at Chen Ling, his gaze shifting from shock to complexity, and finally to resignation... He gave a wry smile, and after freeing himself from Chen Ling's hand over his mouth, he slowly reached for his chin...

Then, with a forceful rip!

As a face mask fluttered and dissipated into the air, a familiar face was revealed before Chen Ling's eyes...

Theater God's Path, First-tier Skill: Thousand Faces.

Li Qingshan let out a long sigh, "Brother Lin, long time no see."