studiobondurri Chapter 286 Is it about to be exposed?
Chapter 286 Is it about to be exposed?
"How's the matter I asked you to investigate going?"
In Amber Street, at one of the Light Organization's strongholds, a man dressed in a suit and tie, resembling an organization cadre, was respectfully reporting the information they had gathered to Bai Ji.
If Qiong were to witness this scene, he would surely be dumbfounded, because in his mind, Baiji and Deng were enemies—Baiji, who intended to completely tame Ying, was Deng's mortal enemy. But even now, Baiji was still Deng's biggest sponsor, and could be considered the young master of Deng's organization.
Faced with Bai Ji's question, the man looked troubled.
"Mr. Baiji, as you said, the security there is extremely tight. We tried every means possible, but we only managed to snatch a fragment..."
Bai Ji frowned slightly. Although he had considered this possibility, it was still somewhat unpleasant... Unfortunately, the only reliable off-the-ground tactic he could currently employ was the lamp.
"It's alright, as long as it's relevant information, don't miss a single word!"
The man quickly handed over the tattered page.
"Yes! The document is here, please take a look."
Bai Ji took the tattered page and carefully examined its contents...
Because the damage was so extensive, some of the contents were already blurred, but Bai Ji, who was concentrating intently, still managed to see what he cared about.
"The...ring of stars?"
Seeing Bai Ji's troubled expression, the man suddenly spoke.
“Mr. Baiji, we speculate that the undamaged part, the Star Ring, is inside the tower in Rimu.”
The tower of Ruimu? Wouldn't continuing the investigation offend the gods? But being a bold and reckless person, Baiji made his choice after only a moment's thought.
"No matter the cost, we must obtain the Ring of Stars. Doesn't your Lamp Organization have many connections? Please pass on this message to Bai; the reward will be substantial."
"Yes, I will definitely pass on the message! Your time is precious and you shouldn't stay any longer... Shall I see you out?"
After agreeing, the man prepared to see the guest out. After all, he was just a mouthpiece for the big spender; whether he actually did the job was up to the rest of the organization… they could always outsource it! There were so many "chivalrous" people on Langqiu Amber Street who would use a portion of the reward Bai Ji gave them as payment; plenty of people wanted to use Deng's connections to do business in Ruimu… The man knew of at least five, especially that infamous swindler on Amber Street—that guy who'd never seen money before would definitely be blinded by greed…
"what!"
Just as the man was about to see the guests off and pre-screen potential outsourced personnel, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the base. Immediately afterwards, a blonde woman burst through the door and "flew" in.
"Xia Sha? You're Xia Sha? Hey, what's wrong!"
The blonde woman fell heavily to the ground, struggling to get up. Looking at her panda eyes, which she didn't have this morning, her bruised and battered face, and her bloodied mouth, the man could already imagine what kind of inhuman torture or grueling struggle his colleague had endured.
"Didn't you go 'clean up'? Did you run into a shadow monster? How did you get beaten up like this?"
"Watch out, he's coming in!"
"Who?"
The colleague lying on the ground didn't explain directly but instead issued a strange warning to herself. The man and Bai Ji were both stunned. Before they could react, another burly man dressed in black "flew" in and landed precisely on her.
"Shasha! Shasha, are you alright?"
Seeing this, the man quickly pulled the burly man in black, who was foaming at the mouth, away from the blonde woman and slapped her twice to keep her conscious.
Seeing the man's anxiety, Bai Ji finally spoke words of comfort.
"No need to worry. As the saying goes, long illness makes one a doctor, and I also know a little about medicine. I can tell whether this person has—"
"You can't die! If you die, who am I supposed to ask for the 50,000 lang you owe me?"
Baiji: ...
"Why bother? I've already said I'm here as a guest and to look for someone on the side, why won't you believe me?"
Just as the man was calling out anxiously, a gray-haired young man with a baseball bat slung over his shoulder slowly walked in.
Bai Ji saw it; it was a tall, slender young man wearing a tracksuit and fingerless gloves, with a helpless smile on his lips... but what was even more eye-catching was the little white snake flying beside him.
Holding a baseball bat and surrounded by snakes, Bai Ji immediately realized that this was the Master Bai Shu, whom he had wanted to visit but had no way of knowing.
"Qiong, shall we do it?"
"You go ahead, after all, experts can't speak easily, we need a divine mouth to act as a mouthpiece... Rice Cake, this glorious task is entrusted to you!"
Bai Ji's gaze passed over the starry-eyed snake and the mocking Qiong and landed outside the courtyard gate. He couldn't help but sigh that he was indeed a favorite to win the Ten Arts War. The invincible Master Bai, who could kill six shadow specialists in a second with a single strike, had actually easily knocked down the people the organization had arranged to guard the gate.
It also attracted many passersby to stop and watch—after all, this stronghold was located in the bustling Amber Street, and during the Ten Arts War, many participants did engage in private fights to steal jade tokens and snatch other participants' tokens, but to fight so fiercely at the entrance of the Lamp Organization...
Qiong is the first one.
"Listen up, you guys in the Lights organization! If you don't want us to smash this place to pieces, call your boss out and release that Song Que! Otherwise, that woman and her men will suffer the same fate! Qiong, am I right?"
"That's not enough. At least offer some compensation for your losses?"
But the loud-voiced "Nian Gao" ignored what Qiong said and rubbed its snake head against Qiong's face... Doesn't that mean it's begging for praise?
Qiong suddenly realized that what he was raising (in fact, he had never fed it) was not the so-called divine beast snake, but a husky that looked like a snake...
Should I just give a little perfunctory treatment to a husky?
"Great, great, you're amazing!"
Qiong reached out and stroked "Nian Gao's" head, and the little snake narrowed its starry eyes—it really was a husky.
"Let me think... Rice cake is really the second smartest snake!"
"So who is the smartest?"
"I heard it's... Möbius? Oh no, don't be silly! That's what I heard from other people, it doesn't represent my own opinion!"
"I presume you are—"
"Mr. Baiji, be careful!"
Bai Ji had been wanting to visit Qiong, and he was particularly curious about Qiong's highly efficient Shadow-Breaking Technique. He naturally wouldn't let this chance encounter with Lantern's territory go unnoticed, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, the man blocked his way.
"Who are you? This is the territory of the Lamp Organization. If you dare to cause trouble, we at Lamp will not let you get away with it!"
Qiong no longer had a playful, teasing attitude towards the members of the Light Organization; he held up his baseball bat with a cold expression.
"Can't you come up with something original? How come you're spouting threats just like that woman after something goes wrong? Ha, me causing trouble? If it weren't for your Deng Xian picking a fight and threatening to shoot me over a mere disagreement, would I have come here to demand an explanation?"
"Yes, the fault lies with you!"
The man told the others to take Baiji out the back door, while he led another group of people, pointing at a man and a snake.
"You, you, you, you're spouting nonsense! Our Deng family acts with integrity and has a reputation for doing the right things. How could we possibly kill innocent people over a mere disagreement?"
Qiong laughed in exasperation, and the baseball bat in her hand began to gleam.
"Acting with integrity and uprightness? Then what do you mean by attacking Song Que? Is this what you call integrity and uprightness?"
"Pine Sparrow? That Pine Sparrow Master?"
Bai Ji knew who the pine sparrow Qiong was talking about was. That person had quite a bit of interaction with him, and she had even been fooled by that person before. Recently, it seemed that she had reached some kind of cooperative relationship with Qiong.
Thinking of this, Bai Ji bypassed the members of the Lamp Organization and bowed to Qiong.
"Master Bai Shu, I have long admired your name. I am Bai Ji, and I have some connections with the Lamp Organization. May I ask who this Song Que is, that he has caused you to go to such lengths?"
"No, Mr. Bai—how could you..."
"Oh yeah, what's Teacher Bai doing here?"
"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"
Qiong and "Nian Gao" stared at each other in surprise. Qiong repeatedly checked that there was indeed a "Lantern" sign hanging at the entrance. He really couldn't understand how Bai Ji could be in Lantern's territory.
"I don't understand... No, that's not right!"
Qiong's expression changed, and she grabbed "Nian Gao's" snake head.
"Nian Gao, why do you call him Teacher Baiji? Did he teach you?!"
The "rice cake" was slightly flustered, not yet having realized what was happening.
"You, you misheard! Yes, you misheard!"
"I'm not deaf!"
"Nian Gao" stopped talking and chose to play dead.
Oh no, is this going to expose us?
Will Sora hate me? No way!
"Um, Master Bai Shu?"
Bai Ji smiled and nodded at Qiong, trying his best to show his friendly side.
"Although I don't know the specifics, could you tell me more about this pine bird matter? I am Bai Ji, and I have some influence with this Lamp Organization..."
Bai Ji glanced silently at the Deng Organization cadre who was stomping his feet in frustration for some reason. The Deng Organization would definitely give face to the patron, just like they let Bai Ji do whatever he wanted—as long as they got paid, they didn't care whether it was good or bad.