Du Ju was thirty years old this year. He had faced life and death with Shen He for over a decade and had encountered many dangers.
Honestly, he had never been afraid. He was the kind of guy who could tell a cold joke even with a gun pointed at his head.
But at this moment, what he felt was a soul-crushing, destructive fear.
The Wisdom Demon. Xiao Lin had actually summoned the Wisdom Demon at the cost of his life?
Why? Was it necessary to be this crazy?
Did he have to make everyone die with him?
His legs went soft, and he sat on the ground. While scrambling backward desperately, he drew his pistol and fired at the Wisdom Demon.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
An entire magazine was emptied, yet the Wisdom Demon didn't have the slightest trace of injury. Du Ju looked around in despair. The entire meeting room was already in chaos, with people screaming and squeezing towards the door.
That included Yang Jufeng. His confidence and arrogance had vanished into thin air the moment the Wisdom Demon appeared. He was fleeing frantically like a dog with its tail between its legs.
"Get out of the way! Get out of my way!"
He flipped a subordinate who was blocking his path. The subordinate fell heavily to the ground but made not a single sound.
Yang Jufeng sensed something was wrong. He looked subconsciously and saw that the subordinate's eyes had lost their luster. His pupils were trembling at an extremely rapid frequency, and he was muttering something quickly.
Black characters slowly emerged on his body surface, becoming more and more numerous, denser and denser!
Yang Jufeng looked around and realized that not only him, but all the members of the Yang Gang had suddenly fallen into a state of confusion.
They stood in place, bewildered and helpless, eyes trembling, muttering incoherently.
Immediately after, his senses seemed to be amplified. He began to see and hear a colossal amount of information—colors, shapes, smells, sounds.
This information galloped through his mind, self-propagating, forcing him to associate and dig out more things. He couldn't stop this out-of-control thinking.
He looked at his own hands. Black characters and symbols were manifesting from beneath his skin.
Cold sweat streamed down Yang Jufeng's temples. His breathing became heavier and heavier. He wanted to keep running, but the thoughts in his brain grew more and more chaotic, occupying all his focus, making him forget to escape.
Until finally, he just stood there quietly, letting the thoughts in his mind run rampant.
The Shen Gang members were still in chaos. Some were screaming, some firing guns, some running.
Until Shen He suddenly roared: "Stop moving! Everyone stop! Don't shoot!! We are not under attack!!"
His powerful voice calmed the Shen Gang members down. Only then did they realize that only the Yang Gang members were mentally corrupted. Aside from a few injuries sustained in the chaos, their Shen Gang was unharmed.
"Th... this isn't an indiscriminate attack. It's targeted. The Wisdom Demon didn't attack indiscriminately," Shen He's voice still carried a slight tremor.
"What does that mean?" Du Ju swallowed hard. He thought of an inconceivable possibility.
"The Wisdom Demon wasn't summoned randomly. The Wisdom Demon is controlled," Shen He said.
Wisdom Demon... Controlled...
Even if Du Ju exhausted his imagination, he couldn't connect these two words.
But Xiao Lin, who summoned the Wisdom Demon, was already dead. Who was controlling it?
Just then, Xiao Lin, who was still sitting in the chair, slowly spoke: "Can you give me a gun? Their brains are all broken. It's better to kill them and let them find relief."
Du Ju's brain, which had just recovered its ability to think, was struck again: "You're not dead?"
He had been the closest just now. He saw with his own eyes Xiao Lin stab a hole in his forehead with a fruit knife!
"I just killed a few people. Killing myself first would be putting the cart before the horse, wouldn't it?" Xiao Lin looked at Du Ju. There wasn't even a scratch on his forehead.
"The Wisdom Demon... you're still controlling it?"
"Yes, but it's harmless unless I make it kill."
Du Ju felt his heart pounding like a drum, and his body was trembling. Until Shen He tossed a gun over from a distance, saying: "Use this."
Xiao Lin picked up the gun, pulled back the slide to check the bullets, and then walked towards Yang Jufeng.
Yang Jufeng stood there, pupils trembling, lips muttering. Xiao Lin walked up, pressed the gun against his forehead, and calmly pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out. The bullet entered through the forehead and exited through the back of the head. Yang Jufeng's muscles instantly stiffened, and then he fell to the ground, dead.
Du Ju never imagined that the boss of the Yang Gang, Yang Jufeng, would be killed in such an execution-style manner.
Then Xiao Lin walked towards the other members of the Yang Gang, killing them one by one without any ripple of emotion.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In the not-so-spacious meeting room, there was only the dull, rhythmic sound of gunshots. No one disturbed Xiao Lin or spoke throughout the entire process.
Until Xiao Lin killed the last person.
He returned the gun to Shen He and said, "Thanks."
Shen He silently took the gun and turned to Shan Yi, saying: "There should be a few more Yang Gang members outside. Take a few people and eliminate them too. Don't leave any survivors. Remember, act fast.
"Also, after you're done, remember to bring a few people to handle the bodies in the room."
"Yes." Shan Yi acknowledged and turned to leave the room.
A few gunshots rang out from the camp, and soon everything quieted down. Only then did Shen He sit down.
He completely ignored the sudden storm that had just occurred and simply asked: "Mr. Xiao Lin, is it? May I ask what brings you to our Shen Gang?"
"Actually, it's nothing major." Du Ju interjected from the side. "Mr. Xiao eliminated the Wisdom Demon and is currently returning. But it was getting too late, so I invited him to stay here temporarily. We'll drive him back tomorrow."
Xiao Lin nodded. "Hmm, that's about it. I wonder if it's convenient."
"Of course, it's convenient. We have plenty of empty rooms. Would you like us to arrange a room now or..."
"Then please arrange it now. I'm a bit tired," Xiao Lin said.
Shen He nodded immediately. "Alright, then let Du Ju take you there. Oh, and one more thing."
He picked up the box containing ten gold coins from the table and slid it across to Xiao Lin, saying: "This should still belong to you."
"Isn't this the deposit the Yang Gang gave you?" Xiao Lin opened the box, looking at the gold coins inside.
"But the Yang Gang no longer exists, so the transaction is void. Besides, you wiped them out. This is your loot."
"Alright, then I'll accept it." Xiao Lin didn't decline further. He continued, "By the way, I'm leaving the Yang Gang's inheritance to you, but I want thirty percent."
"Of course. We'll send it over after we finish counting."
Xiao Lin nodded. The Wisdom Demon beside him began to collapse rapidly, soon shrinking into a small sphere until it vanished.
"Let's go, I'll take you to your room," Du Ju said.
After Du Ju took Xiao Lin away, Shen He slowly sat back in his chair. A sense of powerlessness filled every inch of his muscles.
He wearily waved his hand, signaling the others to leave. Alone in the meeting room full of corpses, he stared blankly, his heart filled with undissolvable horror.
He had never seen such a terrifying scene, terrifying enough to induce despair.
Xiao Lin... that young man... was likely an extremely powerful Transcendent.
But why would such a powerful guy appear in Madman's Howl? Why was there no news of him? Why had he never heard of him?
About twenty minutes later, Du Ju walked in. He lit a cigarette and handed it to Shen He.
Shen He raised his hand to catch it, took a drag, and then slowly relaxed.
"Did you get Mr. Xiao to sleep?" he asked.
"Yeah, I asked if he wanted dinner, but he refused."
Shen He looked at the dim sky outside the window: "The Yang Gang... I thought they were hard to kill, but they were wiped out just like that. Truly, the world is full of unexpected changes."
"Aren't you happy? Anyway, I'm pretty happy. Yang Jufeng always thought he was invincible. This time he hit a wall and died," Du Ju laughed deeply.
Shen He didn't continue the topic: "By the way, have Shan Yi take Mr. Xiao tomorrow. Find a decent car. Tell Shan Yi not to ask random questions."
"What about me? I handled this huge matter. There must be a reward, right?" Du Ju grinned.
"Of course there's a reward. The reward is that you don't rest tonight. Work all night." Shen He stood up and stretched his shoulders. "Take advantage of tonight to transfer all of the Yang Gang's assets to our side.
"Also, try not to rest for the next week either.
"The Wisdom Demon has been hunted. This intel is known only to us. The resources in Block 13 are abundant. Organize a few more teams and grab the most valuable stuff before anyone else reacts."
"Ah, I hope I can survive these few days without dying from overwork," Du Ju sighed, but there was still excitement in the depths of his eyes.
This time, their Shen Gang would gain an enormous fortune.