The top-floor hall of the Black Hand had never been as silent as it was now.
So silent that the sound of the stone talisman, split in two, spinning across the floor could be clearly heard. One half landed at Makima's feet, while the other rolled beside Valmont's leather shoe.
With a soft clack, it stopped.
And Valmont's heartbeat seemed to stop with it for two seconds.
"S-Shendu… this, it really fell by itself…"
Valmont's face changed drastically after catching nothing but air with both hands. He lowered his head and looked at his feet, his voice trembling slightly.
"It has nothing to do with me… It's broken in two. Can it still be used?"
Facing Shendu's possible impending wrath was still a small matter. If this inexplicable accident prevented Shendu from resurrecting and cut him off from Jinji Wang's treasure, that would be an earth-shattering disaster.
After all, that ancient palace lost for a thousand years was full of money.
His money!
In a single fall, it was equivalent to losing tens of billions, hundreds of billions, or even trillions of dollars. Just thinking of that made Valmont feel his heart begin to hurt, as though it had the urge to go on strike.
He hurriedly crouched down and sprawled on the floor, picking up the talisman that had split in two. Then he carefully pieced the two halves together.
His expression was serious. His gaze was devout.
It was as though he were performing some major life event tied to faith itself.
Unfortunately, his faith was destined to be shattered again and again today.
The talisman, which had already split into two halves and exposed the scattered limestone fracture lines inside, was forcibly aligned by Valmont and pressed together.
Then…
With a crisp crack—
It shattered completely.
It broke into several pieces. Some were large, some were small, some had become only dust, and some still retained a little broken stone.
They lay scattered across Valmont's palm, lightly stirred by the wind.
"Valmont!"
A voice filled with fury came from ahead. Valmont raised his head in a daze, but before he could say anything, he realized Shendu's anger was not directed at him.
"A true talisman is nowhere near that fragile, and there is no magic inside it!"
The voice seemed to drift from a hell of molten lava and spread beside everyone's ears.
"This talisman… is fake!"
It was fake.
Fake!
Those words rushed straight into Valmont's mind. He instinctively repeated them once, then a few traces of light returned to his eyes.
Wonderful. It was actually fake.
That meant the real Monkey Talisman had not been destroyed. Shendu still had hope of resurrection. His Jinji Wang treasure still awaited him in the not-too-distant future.
Feeling as though he had found hope again, Valmont's English gentlemanly smile returned to his face.
He scattered the stone fragments from his hand, tidied his collar and hat brim, and made himself look presentable again.
Then he turned toward the orange-red-haired woman who had been standing quietly at the side since just now, and said in a deep voice,
"Miss Makima, shouldn't you give us an explanation?"
There was no answer.
Makima's gaze was somewhat distant, as though she were thinking about something.
Valmont narrowed his eyes. He half-raised his cane and repeated the question in a louder voice.
This time, Makima seemed to hear him.
She paused slightly, blinked, then looked at Valmont and nodded.
"Mm? Did you need something from me?"
"Do not play dumb here, Miss Makima."
Valmont's tone was very impolite.
"Our cooperation should be built on sincerity, yet you brought a fake talisman here to deceive us. Forgive my directness, but I see not the slightest sincerity in you."
"A fake talisman?"
Makima furrowed her brows slightly and shook her head.
"Impossible. I was still using its ability yesterday."
Then she lowered her head and saw the broken stones on the ground. Calmly, she said,
"The goods had already reached your hands. Whatever happened afterward is your responsibility. I accept none of it. Nor will I take the blame for trading counterfeit goods for no reason."
Valmont frowned, observing Makima's expression the entire time.
Although he had never studied specialized microexpression analysis, he believed that after building such a vast enterprise, he knew at least a few things about reading people's faces.
But on Makima's face, he saw nothing.
Unable to make a decision, Valmont turned toward the high wall and lowered his head slightly.
"Shendu…"
"What she said… should be true."
Shendu hesitated briefly, then spoke.
When Makima had spoken just now, she had happened to be turned sideways toward him, so naturally he had not seen much from her expression either.
However, he chose to believe that intermediary.
If he had not guessed incorrectly, that was Xiao Feng.
Contrary to himself, whose reputation in Hell had long since gone rotten, Xiao Feng's reputation had always been good.
He felt he should give the Wind Demon some face.
Valmont, having received Shendu's answer, felt somewhat troubled.
The talisman was fake, but Makima's words were true.
Where was the breakthrough between these two contradictory points?
His gaze circled around, sweeping past Ratso, Finn, and Chow, then landed on the white-haired old thing who had kept his head lowered and said nothing since entering.
A trace of suspicion appeared in Valmont's eyes. He was just about to say something when Makima's indifferent voice rang out from the side.
"If you are trying to find a scapegoat, then you have chosen the wrong target. He currently has no consciousness of his own and obeys me entirely."
Finding the remaining talismans still required Dao Long's help. Naturally, Makima could not allow this old man to be handed over as a scapegoat.
In her view, this had clearly been a mistake caused by the Black Hand leader himself. The moment the talisman left her palm, it had nothing more to do with her.
However, Valmont did not think so.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Oh? And how can that be proven?"
Makima frowned slightly.
She did not want to waste too much time here. She was afraid that if Su Tang returned after finishing his business, he would be unable to find her.
A little impatience rose in her heart. Makima said coldly,
"Since you wish to see it so much, then I will show you. Dao Long, lie down."
Her tone was like someone training a dog.
She was indeed training a dog.
But today, this dog seemed a little disobedient.
Dao Long, who should have immediately put out both hands and bent down, remained completely motionless.
Valmont raised an eyebrow from the side.
At this moment, Makima also suddenly felt something was wrong. She turned around and was about to say,
"Dao Long, did you not hear my comm—mm?!"
Dao Long moved.
The instant Makima turned around, his left hand struck her back.
"Dao Long! You were not controlled?!"
For the first time, shock appeared on Makima's usually still face. Part of it was because Dao Long had broken free of control.
The other part was because…
She suddenly realized she was "rising."
Yes, rising.
As though weightless, she floated out of her own body.
Wait.
My body?!
Makima stretched out her hand, only to discover that she could see through her faintly transparent palm and look at the "Makima" below, who had lost balance and fallen onto the carpet.
This strange scene was truly chilling. However, although it had happened suddenly, Makima instantly sorted out her thoughts.
The most urgent matter right now was to make her suspected soul return to her body.
She immediately tried to control this light, floating body, wanting to dive down headfirst into her physical body.
But just before she made contact with it, she saw a wooden staff suddenly appear in Dao Long's hand.
He pointed lightly at her body lying on the ground.
Bang.
Purple-black light flashed. Makima frowned and watched her illusory body get bounced away.
"I can't go back… And…"
She looked at the white-haired old man quietly stroking the top of his staff. Several strange colors flashed in her eyes.
If she had not seen incorrectly, some shadow had seemed to appear in Dao Long's mismatched eyes just now.
"That was…"
"The Sheep Talisman?"
"The Sheep Talisman?!"
A hoarse voice suddenly came from the darkness. Its tone carried some amazement and delight.
"Interesting. Kicking out another person's soul, then using a barrier spell whose name I have already forgotten to seal the opponent's body, thereby achieving victory without battle… The Sheep Talisman, which most people think useless, can actually display such wonderful use in your hands."
Shendu seemed to be praising him.
"Dao Long… yes? I remember now. Su Tang once mentioned this name to me. You are not bad."
"You are a qualified black-chi mage. As long as you pledge loyalty to me and help me find the twelve talismans, once I resurrect, I will give you that Complete Encyclopedia of Magic. It records thousands upon thousands of spells, many of which have already been lost to age. I remember that you seem to want it very much."
One of the Eight Great Demons, a demon monarch who had once ruled Asia, a demon sorcerer known for wisdom, praising a black-chi mage like this was not common.
A thousand years ago, almost no one had received such an honor.
Of course, whether this could still be called an "honor" a thousand years later was another matter.
At the very least, Dao Long did not think so.
"Save your polite words, Shendu."
The old man with mismatched eyes held his staff and slowly raised his head.
His back, which should have been hunched, straightened. He glanced at Makima's soul drifting in the air, then looked toward Shendu.
"What happened tonight was truly beyond my expectations. I did not intend to reveal myself so quickly."
"According to my original plan, I thought you would have at most two or three talismans here. I did not expect you to have already gathered six talismans…"
As Dao Long spoke, his body trembled slightly.
Not from nervousness.
Not from fear.
But from excitement.
"Haha! This is truly heaven's aid!"
"Shendu! Once I obtain those six talismans from you, I will only be one away from gathering all twelve! When that time comes, all divine power shall belong to me! Hahahaha!"
The aging body laughed loudly, emitting vitality completely unlike its appearance.
His staff lightly tapped the ground. In an instant, five phantoms appeared behind Dao Long.
Sheep, Horse, Rat, Monkey, Dog.
At the same time those phantoms appeared, two bright yellow laser beams suddenly shot out from the darkness and instantly pierced through Dao Long's body.
"Shendu! Why bother with such useless effort? With the immortal Dog and the healing Horse, I stand forever undefeated!"
His white-gray hair fluttered in the wind. Dao Long raised his staff and laughed wildly.
"Gan, Wen, Cui!"
Three streams of black chi split from the staff and surged into the bodies of the Black Hand trio standing behind Dao Long.
"Finn, Ratso, Chow!"
Valmont had originally been watching from the side, but when he saw this scene, his expression instantly changed.
With a flick of his hand, several green dollar bills drifted toward Dao Long.
"Old thing, release the three of them at once!"
As his words fell, invisible ripples spread from the bills.
Dao Long sneered, and the sheep phantom behind him suddenly lit up.
The ripples vanished instantly. The dollar bills also seemed to lose support and fell onto the ground.
"A lackey under Shendu dares speak to me like this?"
Dao Long's face darkened. He pointed his staff at Valmont.
"Knock him down!"
"Yes, master!"
The trio, who had already transformed back into black-chi warriors under the infusion of black chi, reached out and summoned their exclusive weapons into their hands.
"Ratso! Finn! Chow! Wake up!"
Valmont looked at the three walking toward him step by step. A laser suddenly appeared on his cane, but vanished again in the next instant.
His face darkened. With his left hand, he pulled out a bill and threw it out.
It was a one-hundred-dollar bill. It grew in the wind, becoming roughly a meter large in the blink of an eye.
Valmont stepped onto it, gripping his cane as he said in a deep voice,
"The three of you, catch up to me first!"
After saying that, he lightly tapped his cane.
The bill floated upward, then smashed through the glass and flew out of the building.
Flying on a bill.
Gan, Wen, and Cui looked at one another. After exchanging glances, they took their weapons and jumped out of the window as well, pursuing Valmont.
"So those are your subordinates? Truly stupid enough. Just like you."
From the high wall, a mocking voice drifted over.
Dao Long turned his head and gripped the staff in his hand.
"Shendu, you can hardly protect yourself, and you still have leisure to comment on others?"
"Oh? I can hardly protect myself? Against you?"
Shendu seemed to have heard some joke and laughed loudly.
"Hehe, Shendu. Do you think you are still the same as before?!"
Dao Long shouted forcefully,
"You were imprisoned in Hell, your fire chi was divided, and you were sealed by the saints. Now, even with six talismans, you are nothing but dry bones in a tomb, ready to close your eyes and await death!"
"If you know what is good for you, hand over the talismans voluntarily. Spare us dark brothers from fighting to the death!"
What heroic spirit.
After speaking all at once, Dao Long laughed heartily, already imagining the scene of himself gathering all twelve talismans.
But in the next instant, his laughter stopped abruptly.
Carpet, chandelier, desk, high wall…
The same scenery remained.
But…
Where was Shendu?
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