Chapter 582: Confidant

The person at the door was none other than Wang Jincheng, the Chief of the Police Bureau, who had personally “slain” Six of Hearts just two days prior.

“What? Didn’t your Boss Lin say I would always be a valued guest at Jinghong Tower?” Wang Jincheng wasn’t wearing his police uniform today, but casual, loose-fitting clothes. He looked at the young man before him with a half-smile, “I’m on vacation these past two days, and I heard your opera house opening was quite lively. So, I thought I’d come listen to a performance and support Boss Lin... You wouldn’t tell me there’s no seat for me, would you?”

“Uh... there is! Of course, there is! Please wait a moment...” Kong Baosheng scratched his head in a hurry, pulling out the seating chart to search carefully.

Wang Jincheng’s status and position were top-tier in the Mortal Realm. Furthermore, he had an intricate connection with Chen Ling and was indeed a valued guest of Jinghong Tower. It was impossible for Chen Ling to retract his words. Since Chief Wang had personally come to support the opening today, Kong Baosheng naturally had to make a seat available for him, no matter what. Otherwise, wouldn’t that be a slap in their boss’s face?

“Got it! The furniture store staff just said their boss had an urgent matter and couldn’t make it today...” Kong Baosheng immediately marked it with his pen. “The seat is in the front row. Please follow me.”

Kong Baosheng led Wang Jincheng into the opera house and approached a specific seat.

“Please have a seat first. Our boss is still preparing backstage and will likely only be able to see you after the performance,” Kong Baosheng said.

“No need for such trouble, I’m just here to join the excitement.” Wang Jincheng waved his hand dismissively. “You go on with your work; don’t mind me.”

“Alright, then please call me if you need anything.”

After saying that, Kong Baosheng hurried toward the entrance of the opera house.

Wang Jincheng brushed the dust off the chair with his sleeve and slowly sat down. He then exchanged a glance with the person in the adjacent seat and smiled politely.

“Hello.”

“Oh, hello there.” Jian Changsheng also nodded with a smile.

The two sat side by side in the front row, looking at the empty stage. The air suddenly fell silent.

Audience Expectation: 3

Backstage, Chen Ling, who was going over lines with Li Qingshan, suddenly froze when he saw a line of small text float across his vision. His expression abruptly turned wary. He quickly looked up, down, left, and right, seemingly searching for something...

“Brother Lin, what’s wrong?” Li Qingshan asked, puzzled.

“...No, nothing.” Chen Ling, having found nothing unusual, shook his head with a strange expression. “I don’t know why... but I suddenly have a bad feeling...”

Below the stage.

Jack of Clubs, Nine of Hearts, Six of Spades, and Wang Jincheng sat together, not saying a word. The former two were carefully listening to the conversations of the people behind them, trying to find some useful information. Jian Changsheng, meanwhile, hesitated whether to strike up a conversation with the person beside him, wondering if he could gain anything useful... But truthfully, Jian Changsheng wasn’t Chen Ling; making small talk and extracting information wasn’t easy for him. He didn’t even know how to start.

“Aren’t you three together? Why aren’t you talking?” Wang Jincheng suddenly spoke, breaking the awkward silence.

Jian Changsheng was taken aback. “Oh, we’re... not together. I don’t know them well.”

“No wonder... you seem quite introverted.”

“Uh, heh heh... yeah.”

“What do you do for work?”

“Nothing official, just wandering around... And you?”

“I don’t have a job right now either; I’m just on vacation, traveling around.”

“Wow, that sounds comfortable.”

“It really is. Work was too exhausting for a while, and now that all the troubles are finally resolved, I just want to relax properly.” Wang Jincheng let out a long sigh, his eyes filled with contentment.

“Then we’re quite similar,” Jian Changsheng smiled helplessly. “I also had a tough time recently, constantly on edge... Today, I also wanted to come out and relax.”

“Hahaha, then we’re quite fated.”

As Wang Jincheng spoke, he extended his hand to Jian Changsheng. The latter paused slightly before shaking his hand in return.

The two exchanged smiles.

As the two spoke, the audience seating was already full. Kong Baosheng brought out small fruits that had been prepared earlier, placing them on the tables between the chairs in the front few rows, and announced that the performance was about to begin.

Just then, outside the opera house, a car slowly pulled up. A young woman in a goose-yellow long dress opened the car door. Hearing that the performance was about to start inside, she lifted her skirt and jogged all the way into the opera house.

“Miss, Miss... Oh, please slow down, don’t fall,” Uncle Quan said helplessly, hurrying behind Huang Suyue.

“Uncle Quan, didn’t I say I’d be fine coming alone...”

“I wouldn’t be at ease if you came by yourself.”

“Bringing personnel for the Special Envoy, what is there to worry about? Is there anywhere safer in this world than here?”

Uncle Quan glanced at the elegantly dressed Huang Suyue and opened his mouth. “You can’t say that. I’m worried about you... Ah... never mind, it’s nothing.”

Seeing more people entering, Kong Baosheng stepped forward to intercept them. However, when Huang Suyue presented a “bond of indenture” linking “Lin Yan” to the Huang Corporation, he gaped in astonishment.

“You mean... you’re Mr. Lin’s boss?”

“That’s right.” Huang Suyue put her hands on her hips. “He’s an artist under my management. Can’t I come to watch him perform? Kid, quickly arrange a seat for me too.”

“Uh... okay, please wait. I’ll go get another chair for you...”

A minute later, Huang Suyue also took a seat in the front row.

Huang Suyue’s arrival drew a sideways glance from Wang Jincheng. He naturally recognized the young chairman of the Huang Corporation and remembered that she was Lin Yan’s boss. With this in mind, Huang Suyue’s presence here seemed perfectly reasonable. Huang Suyue, on the other hand, was quite surprised by Wang Jincheng’s appearance but still nodded politely with a smile.

Jian Changsheng decided it was time and casually asked, “Oh, by the way, did you read today’s newspaper? What’s the deal with that Twilight Society?”

“Nothing special, it should all be quite clear in the newspaper,” Wang Jincheng said with a slight upward curve of his lips. “Actually, it’s not so bad. The Twilight Society isn’t as terrifying as rumors suggest, though their methods are truly insane... Especially that one... Oh, I mean, the Six of Hearts mentioned in the newspaper, he’s particularly insidious and vicious.”

“Right?! You think so too!!” Wang Jincheng’s words directly resonated with Jian Changsheng’s deepest feelings. Every time he recalled the physical and psychological trauma Chen Ling had inflicted upon him, his heart ached... Jian Changsheng looked at Wang Jincheng beside him as if he had found a kindred spirit!

“Indeed.”

Wang Jincheng paused for a moment, then calmly smiled, “But it’s alright... From now on, he will never appear again.”

As Wang Jincheng finished speaking, the lights in the opera house extinguished one by one. Darkness enveloped the entire audience, and the previously noisy crowd instantly fell silent, all looking towards the center of the stage.

Faint moonlight filtered through the intricately carved roof, seemingly coating the stage in a silvery white, creating a dreamlike, ethereal scene. The next moment, a melodious operatic voice resonated from behind the stage, like a silver vase suddenly shattering, striking directly at the heart. Under the curious and expectant gazes of the audience, a figure in an opera robe, bathed in moonlight, slowly ascended the stage from the dimness...

The instant he saw the person’s face,

The apple Jian Changsheng had just popped into his mouth plopped to the floor...

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