Chapter 623: Everything Under Control

"Hmm?"

Liu Qingyan looked up in confusion at the lead-grey sky. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but she seemed to hear a voice, mixed with the sighing gale, drifting out from the convergence point of the Grey Realm...

The moment the voice sounded, the shadow centipedes around her reacted as if startled, letting out a sudden screech. Their massive bodies spun rapidly on the ground before diving into the earth and vanishing, as if they had encountered something incredibly terrifying.

"That was..."

Chen Ling had already been taken away by the members of Fusheng Society, and the other members of the Twilight Society had also disappeared. In this ravaged sea of blood, only Liu Qingyan stood alone... and only she had heard that voice.

Liu Qingyan frowned, gazing at the sky for a long time before walking away.

In her mind, Chen Ling's conversation with Yang Muquan from a few minutes earlier resurfaced:

"I can tell you what I know, and I can surrender myself... but I have one condition." Chen Ling pointed to Liu Qingyan in the crowd. "She's not a member of the Twilight Society; she's an entertainer I forcibly abducted. If you let her go, I'll go with you."

After speaking, Chen Ling glanced back at Liu Qingyan, his gaze as deep as an abyss.

At that moment, Liu Qingyan had even prepared herself to fight her way out behind Chen Ling, but upon hearing his words, she was suddenly stunned...

To an outsider, those words might have held many subtle meanings, sparking dramatic and exaggerated emotional narratives—like a Twilight Society member forcibly taking an entertainer for her beauty, only to develop feelings during their time together, leading to a passionate, unbridled love, a "gang boss falls for me" kind of plot.

But Liu Qingyan was far too intelligent. She clearly knew Chen Ling harbored no such feelings for her; his gaze clearly held a different, deeper meaning.

"Lord Chen Ling... what exactly do you need me to do?" Liu Qingyan murmured to herself.

Several figures walked along the ruined street.

Numerous members of Fusheng Society surrounded the figure in red, their expressions serious, their bodies tense, clearly on high alert.

The name "Heart Six" Chen Ling was infamous to them. After witnessing Chen Ling's frenzied slaughter and heart-eating display just moments ago, the sight of his red attire had left a deep psychological shadow on them... With such a monster being escorted right beside them, no one dared to relax even slightly.

"Wang Jincheng, your injuries are too severe. Go back and rest first," Yang Muquan said, glancing at Wang Jincheng, who lagged at the end of the group.

"...Alright." Wang Jincheng hesitated for a moment before nodding.

Top-tier wanted criminals like Heart Six would certainly not be held in ordinary police station cells. They would most likely be taken to Fusheng Society headquarters... And as a non-member of Fusheng Society, Wang Jincheng did not have the authorization to enter.

Fusheng Society differed from the enforcers of the Aurora Domain. While any divine path owner could become an enforcer, Fusheng Society only recruited those with "Azure Divine Paths." This was why Wang Jincheng, despite being a Rank Six expert, could only remain in the police station.

Just as Wang Jincheng turned to leave, Chen Ling, surrounded by the group, suddenly spoke:

"Chief Wang."

Wang Jincheng paused, turned around, and looked at Chen Ling with a wary expression.

"...Thank you for your assistance. As I said, you are a good person." Chen Ling smiled slightly. "I'll come find you again."

Hearing the latter part of the sentence, Wang Jincheng's face instantly twisted as if he had swallowed a fly. He glared fiercely at Chen Ling. "Who I am is not for you to define... And furthermore, I don't want to see you again."

Wang Jincheng left without looking back.

Chen Ling watched the scene with a faint smile, then heard a cold snort from beside him.

"Give up. You won't have a chance to come back here," Yang Muquan said. "Your end will be one of two things: death, or eternal imprisonment."

It was Yang Muquan who spoke. He pulled his hands from his pockets and casually drew in the air, outlining a perfectly square black frame around Chen Ling, enclosing his entire body within it.

Immediately, Chen Ling's figure visibly flattened, as if compressed into the black frame, resembling a life-sized colored comic panel.

A flicker of surprise crossed Chen Ling's eyes. He gripped the sides of the black frame with both hands, trying to pry it open, but couldn't budge it an inch... Chen Ling then tried to step out of the frame, but no matter which direction he moved—forward, backward, left, or right—he seemed to be treading water within the frame, as if it were a comic space completely cut off from the outside world.

Yang Muquan gently waved his hand, and Chen Ling, inside the comic frame, floated up like a balloon, following behind him.

Inside the frame, Chen Ling's mouth opened and closed in surprise, but no sound came out; only a text bubble appeared beside him:

—What an amazing ability.

Yang Muquan didn't spare Chen Ling another glance. Instead, he plunged his hands into the pockets of his black and white polka-dotted shirt, stamped his foot hard on the ground, and black comic lines, imbued with a sense of power and speed, materialized around him.

His figure leaped into the air, covering hundreds of meters in a single bound!

Meanwhile, the red-clad Chen Ling, still in his comic frame, automatically followed closely behind him, with no room for escape whatsoever.

Chen Ling tried several methods but couldn't get out of the frame. Yang Muquan was, after all, a Rank Seven expert, so trapping a Rank Three like him was effortless... Fortunately, Chen Ling hadn't planned to escape anyway. Dressed in red, he simply leaned against the edge of the frame and yawned lazily.

The next moment, a white shadow suddenly darted out from behind and silently collided with the frame containing Chen Ling.

"Oh?"

Chen Ling raised an eyebrow, recognizing it as a flying white dove. It flew from outside the frame and transformed instantly into a flat white piece of paper as it bumped into him, silently drifting before him.

In the upper left corner of the paper, there was a miniature "Jack of Clubs" emblem and an elegant magician's top hat.

Was it him?

The tall, mysterious figure of Jack of Clubs appeared in Chen Ling's mind, and he couldn't help but feel surprised... After all, Yang Muquan was Rank Seven, and for Jack of Clubs' white dove to silently pass through the frame and reach him meant Jack of Clubs himself was at least Rank Seven.

Moreover, this method of sending messages via white dove, along with the magician's top hat in the corner, led Chen Ling to deduce his path... Jack of Clubs had told him before that while his path was also the Theatrical Divine Path, it didn't focus on personal transformation or disguise. It seemed his skill points were entirely invested in object transformation.

How could magic not be considered a "performance"?

On the paper, there was a simple message:

"Need support?"

Seeing these four words, Chen Ling chuckled softly. He casually bit his finger and used his blood to write four large characters on the paper:

—Everything under control.