Chapter 31: The Gods Are Really Dogs |
The next day, they received that Mad Blood Clan member in a private room at the bar.
He dressed casually, was big and burly, had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and swaggered to the door of Wu Zhong and the others’ room.
Of course, he didn’t recognize Infinite Summer. He stood outside, turned to one side and started counting which private room this was from the corridor, double-checking.
“Stop counting.” Infinite Summer grabbed a bottle and hurled it at his face; the air screamed as it flew!
The man spun aside like lightning and caught it midair.
“Pop!”
With a thumb flick he popped the cap, then gulped the whole bottle down on the spot.
“New skin? Nice, looks better than you in person.”
The man came in and shut the door casually, plopping down beside Infinite Summer, then set the empty bottle in the center of the table.
Infinite Summer chuckled lightly. “If you’re here to help me, I wouldn’t be worried.”
He pointed at Wu Zhong. “Let me introduce—this is my brother Xiao Wu.”
“Xiao Wu, call me Lord Luo.”
Wu Zhong hurriedly called him Lord Luo and poured him a drink.
Lord Luo waved him off. “Hold on! Are you Wu Dong?”
Wu Zhong was stunned. Wu... Dong? The name only half remained?
Then he realized: maybe Unit 985 had concealed his real name.
Infinite Summer frowned. “He really is Wu Dong. What’s up? You know him?”
Lord Luo looked at Wu Zhong with interest. “First time meeting, but I’ve already heard the name.”
“This Xiao Wu fellow can command ghosts and gods, broke into the Mount Lu base, made a scene at Five Elders Peak, and even Lu Guangqi was defeated by him...”
“Now everyone’s saying a new super rookie has appeared. The nickname going around is the Spirit-and-Ghost Lord.”
Infinite Summer froze. Yang Chunsha went speechless. Wu Zhong even spilled his drink.
What the hell? Command ghosts and gods? He’s the one being hunted by ghosts and gods—this is completely backwards!
Infinite Summer asked blankly, “When did this happen?”
Lord Luo raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t it on the 18th?”
“You were captured alive by Lu Guangqi—and you escaped. Didn’t you owe it to this Xiao Wu summoning ghosts and gods that dealt heavy damage to Lu Guangqi?”
“Otherwise, do you think you could’ve beaten Lu Guangqi and run off from him?”
Infinite Summer’s mouth twitched. Of course he didn’t beat Lu Guangqi. But escaping was easy for him. He had indeed helped Wu Zhong get away, so it was normal the circle wouldn’t know the real situation—but how did it become this?
“Did Unit 985 say that?” Infinite Summer’s eyes narrowed.
Lord Luo shook his head. “Those guys would never expose their own shortcomings. The information was sealed; they didn’t say a word about the Mount Lu incident.”
“But you know how the platform copied all the Mount Lu intelligence and circulated it wildly.”
“You were the first to upload the intel and walk away unscathed; after that many mercenaries couldn’t help themselves and went up the mountain.”
“Some were captured, some managed to smuggle out intel. 985 was scrambling, completely overwhelmed, and this newcomer’s deeds leaked out.”
Wu Zhong was speechless—what kind of exposure was this? This is pure rumor-mongering.
“Uploading intel without evidence?”
Lord Luo lifted a bottle and examined it. “How is there no evidence? The ghost and god said it themselves; someone secretly recorded the conversation between Lu Guangqi and that someone.”
“That someone... what was the name? Ji Meng—the dragon-headed god you mentioned in the intel... ton ton ton...”
Lord Luo downed another bottle on the spot.
Infinite Summer kept a straight face. “Shen Ji Meng.”
Lord Luo stacked the bottles. “Right, Ji Meng. The 985 people were apparently negotiating with them, and Ji Meng, in passing, mentioned Xiao Wu’s deeds and respectfully called him ‘the Lord’.”
Wu Zhong’s eyes went wide. Not mercenaries, but ghosts and gods said it themselves? And they called him their Lord?
Are the ghosts and gods crazy? Dramatic much?
Lord Luo continued, “That’s when the circle learned what your so-called ghostly mark from three days ago meant. Apparently, the Mount Lu ghosts and gods were summoned by him. Although still weak now, they’ll only grow stronger... It’s been temporarily classified as a Delta-level anomalous disaster.”
“As the holder of this disaster artifact, Xiao Wu is now widely recognized as having immense potential—potential to exterminate all humanity at the top end!”
Wu Zhong’s eyes went blank. Exterminate all humanity? That’s him? If he were that powerful, why wouldn’t he know?
He turned to Infinite Summer. “Xia-ge, did you spread the ghostly mark story?”
Infinite Summer nodded.
They had agreed on an external explanation while outside the funeral parlor: describe Wu Zhong’s anomaly as a ghostly mark, to hide the ‘door’ attribute. Later, when Infinite Summer used teleportation to change his skin set, he had already posted about the ghostly mark on the platform, making Wu Zhong known to the circle.
Infinite Summer’s face grew strange. “What I meant by ghostly mark wasn’t that.”
Of course it wasn’t that. Wu Zhong knew that fabricating “ghostly mark” was based on the fact he’d been hunted by ghosts and gods. But he hadn’t expected people not to only disbelieve that he was being hunted, but to believe he could command them.
Lord Luo laughed. “You aren’t honest, old Xia. What does the ghostly mark do? You can test it.”
“They say the ghostly mark is like your ghost tattoo—kill the previous host and you automatically inherit it.”
At those words, Wu Zhong immediately tensed.
Infinite Summer said coldly, “What? Old Luo, you want to verify it?”
“Heh.” Lord Luo smirked, took a cigarette to slot onto the butt already in his mouth, lit a new one with the old, then stubbed the ember out and set it in the ashtray, seamlessly drawing on the second cigarette.
“I verify my ass. What business of mine? Xia Heng, I’m just warning you to be careful.”
“Right now the circle’s attention has shifted to Xiao Wu. Aside from 985, many mercenaries are after you all—some want Xiao Wu dead.”
Wu Zhong’s face turned ugly. “What do we do?”
Infinite Summer patted him. “No rush...”
“No rush?” Wu Zhong blinked in confusion. “Do we need to wash our feet first?”
Infinite Summer snorted. “Not here. Let’s go somewhere else to drink.”
...
They didn’t go wash their feet; they returned to the apartment. It was a five-minute walk, but Lord Luo chain-smoked three cigarettes, even in the elevator. A couple in the elevator complained and scolded him righteously. Lord Luo blew smoke, pulled out a wad of cash, shoved it to them, and the elevator went quiet.
In the living room, Lord Luo leaned back on the sofa. “Bring the booze!”
“You said you’d drink with me, that’s why I came. Hurry up.”
Infinite Summer—or rather Xia Heng—rolled his eyes and took two big buckets of chilled white beer from the fridge and set them on the table.
“It’s not good wine.”
Lord Luo chuckled and drank. “Doesn’t matter. If it’s alcohol, I’m good.”
“Last time I was on a job at a university and couldn’t find any booze, I tore apart a chemistry lab alcohol lamp and drank three bottles.”
Wu Zhong was speechless—this is a real alcoholic.
Lord Luo glanced at him, another drink already gone.
“Don’t just sit there. If you’re going to be dull, I’ll leave.”
He was here because Xia Heng had pulled some strings to help rescue them. Wu Zhong had hoped Lord Luo would make him a Mad Blood Clan member; he downed a glass immediately.
Yang Chunsha, on the other hand, cozied up to flatter. “Lord Luo, I’ll drink with you.”
Lord Luo was surprised. “Beautiful, you speak Mandarin?”
Yang Chunsha had acted like a foreigner before and hadn’t said much; Lord Luo had assumed she was a foreigner.
“This body is a skin,” Yang Chunsha explained. Then she took out her phone. “Brother, I’ll order some bar snacks for you. What do you want?”
Lord Luo lit another cigarette seamlessly with the previous butt. “No need. I smoke with my drink.”
Wu Zhong and Yang Chunsha were both stunned. Smoking with drinks? Pure—so damn pure. They started to feel this guy really had issues. Also, his physique was for real—tough as hell.
“You pulled Xiao Wu out of 985. What about this girl?” Lord Luo asked between puffs.
Xia Heng said indifferently, “Local mercenary. Took my job and helped me get out of Xunyang City.”
“She saw my teleportation and couldn’t let it go.”
Yang Chunsha’s pupils trembled.
Lord Luo patted her shoulder with a smile. “Don’t be scared. He’s just scaring you.”
“The last one to discover his teleport secret was me. Look, we’re buds now.”
Yang Chunsha made a pitiful face. “Did you take a poisoning pill too?”
Lord Luo cocked his head. “Xia Heng, scaring the kid again?”
Xia Heng said coldly, “Not scaring. It’s truly poisonous.”
Lord Luo wasn’t impressed and raised his cup. “Come on, don’t listen to him! Drink—this guy’s poison can be cured with alcohol, I ate it like peanuts.”
A few drinks went down for everyone. Except for Lord Luo chain-smoking, the others were starting to feel it. Wu Zhong gulped down two drinks and couldn’t help but say, “Lord Luo, the ghostly mark doesn’t let you command ghosts and gods... It’s actually a mark left because ghosts and gods hunted the previous host. If they kill me, they’ll inherit the characteristic of attracting ghostly pursuit.”
Lord Luo glanced at him. “You little liar—lying to me? You’re still green.”
“Next time if you fib, don’t put so much effort—tell more truth.”
Wu Zhong was speechless. The old fox saw through the little lies. He had indeed fabricated a bit, but he truly didn’t have the ability to command ghosts and gods. He looked at Xia Heng for help.
Xia Heng said in a low voice, “What Ji Meng said may not all be true.”
“People in the circle really believe it that easily?” Lord Luo snorted.
“Believe it or not, it is what it is.”
“For every new disaster artifact, the intel often comes from a mix of guesses, half-truths, and probing.”
“No matter what the ghostly mark actually does, once they find you, they’ll figure it out.”
Xia Heng asked, “So right now many mercenaries are looking for us... who has come?”
Lord Luo shrugged. “Not sure exactly. We can’t see who accepted the missions.”
“Apart from the group you killed, I guess there are some mercenary teams.”
Wu Zhong froze. “We killed that group?”
Lord Luo blew a smoke ring. “Yep. What’s the matter, little brother? Some folks hadn’t even escaped 985’s sphere of influence before you started offending various Awakened families?”
Wu Zhong was bewildered. “I offended who? What are you talking about?”
Lord Luo lit another cigarette. “Heh, two days ago a team of mercenaries was probing about you. They encountered a ghostly god attack on the river.”
“Three died, two wounded. The one who attacked was a Day Wandering Deity—didn’t it obey your orders?”
“One of the dead was from the Ruan family, two from the Tijuana family.”
Hearing this, Wu Zhong sucked in a cold breath.
“It’s not my fault. If the Day Wandering Deity killed them, I didn’t know.”
Lord Luo raised a brow. “You didn’t know? So you only gave an order to have the Day Wandering Deity find those nearby who held ill will toward you and deal with them, but you don’t know who died?”
Wu Zhong’s features contorted. “No... I can’t command ghosts and gods. The Day Wandering Deity acted on its own.”
Lord Luo poured him a drink. “You sure do push the blame cleanly. Go tell the Tijuana family that.”
Wu Zhong opened his mouth to argue more. Xia Heng waved him off. “Enough. No need to say more.”
“No matter the truth, you can’t shake off suspicion.”
“The Day Wandering Deity has already offended people for you. Whatever you say, mercenaries will come trouble you.”
Blood boiled in Wu Zhong’s face; his blood pressure spiked. He didn’t know exactly who those two families were, but he knew Awakened families were powers formed by people who became Awakened and gathered together. The Day Wandering Deity attacked them? Killed three? Seriously wounded two? And supposedly on his orders?
This was setup! Slander! The ghosts and gods were deliberately using his name to kill and frame him, dragging him into global hatred!
“This is nonsense! Making things out of nothing! Fabricating facts! Pure slander! Spreading lies and stirring trouble!”
Lord Luo watched him with interest. “Oh? You really can’t command ghosts and gods?”
Wu Zhong was sincere. “I really can’t.”
Lord Luo drank deeply and set his glass down. “Who knows?”
“What do the gods owe me? They won’t listen to me.” Wu Zhong spread his hands to show he couldn’t summon ghosts and gods.
Lord Luo smiled without answering.
Xia Heng said softly, “When enemies come to you, you’ll learn.”
Wu Zhong’s pupils trembled. He realized: the Day Wandering Deity really had helped him—solidifying the affair, helping him to death!
Xia Heng explained, “The ghosts and gods know I’m here. With their current strength, they can’t easily kill you.”
“So they changed strategy—kill with a borrowed knife!”
“They go offend people on your behalf and spread the rumor that you can command ghosts and gods.”
“As long as you’re alive, everything the ghosts and gods do will represent your will.”
Wu Zhong wanted to object. Xia Heng waved him off. “Trying to defend yourself? That’s hard now.”
“In the mercenaries’ eyes, once the intel that ‘killing you lets one inherit the ghostly mark’ spreads, there’s only one way to verify it.”
Wu Zhong gritted his teeth. He understood: in the disaster world, true and false information was always mixed. People make inferences from fragments and tests. Then they verify. Regardless of truth, they’ll try it.
That is: actually kill him and see if one inherits the ghostly mark!
And this idea was extremely tempting.
First, Xiao Wu is a newcomer who just obtained the disaster artifact.
Second, the ghostly mark supposedly has huge potential—able to command ghosts and gods, and they are growing stronger!
Third, the ghosts and gods are still weak now.
A newcomer holding a high-potential but weak disaster artifact—what outcome would that bring?
Not to mention the Day Wandering Deity killed some mercenaries, adding a few debts of blood on top of everything!
Dirty! Truly dirty! Underhanded! Despicable!
“A bunch of gods—how can they be such dogs?”
“Fuck them!”
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