Light Fortress
Chapter 181 - 168: Gilded Invitation

Chapter 181: Chapter 168: Gilded Invitation

"Okay, if I keep going, you’re going to find me tedious."

Zhou Jiren clapped his hands, and the ancient rattan umbrella that had been propped up to the sky suddenly drilled towards the ground, disappearing in the blink of an eye, leaving only a slowly healing crack in the earth.

The rain had stopped.

A stream of cold air hung over the long street.

"’Black Spot’ containment complete. I’ll submit a report to the council about this incident, claiming it was a survey error, just a leak of Extraordinary Essence," he said quietly. "Chi Huo’s ability to consume disorder... At this stage, it’s better not to reveal it."

"I understand."

Gu Shen grasped the rationale.

He looked deeply at Mr. Shu, "Thank you."

"Tsk..."

Zhou Jiren laughed and waved his hand, "You, brat, giving me that formal thanks?"

The old fellow seemed erratic usually, but when it came to real issues, he was quite reliable.

"By the way..."

Gu Shen suddenly remembered something, he rubbed his head and said softly, "After the explosion at Freedom Hall... did I just pass out?"

Zhou Jiren’s eyelid twitched slightly.

The old fellow asked back without changing his expression, "Or what?"

"I always feel... like I had a dream, a very real dream, where my senior sister, you, and I went to the uninhabited area at the border of Da Du to trade." Gu Shen gave a wry smile, "Then we ran into a drunkard named ’Mr. Bai’, who told me something... and I passed out. When I woke up again, I was in a hospital bed."

Zhou Jiren said indifferently, "How much did you drink to have such a vivid dream?"

"It’s mainly the way you handled senior sister today, it felt strangely familiar to me..." Gu Shen looked at his teacher with a slight suspicion, "This trick of deceiving heaven and crossing the sea, have you used it on me before?"

Zhou Jiren, of course, denied it outright.

Without evidence, Gu Shen had no choice but to drop it, but he felt more and more... that this matter was not as simple as just a dream, and it was very possible that senior sister was also subjected to the old fellow’s special technique of hypnosis.

"Speaking of this ’Black Spot’ incident..."

Zhou Jiren was very dismissive of Mr. Bai’s question and quickly changed the subject. Standing in front of the leveled old factory ruins, he pointed to the fluttering scraps of iron in the air and asked, "Do you sense something amiss?"

"Amiss..."

Gu Shen nodded slowly.

He remembered that this factory was originally inscribed with Array Patterns.

Initially, he had thought that the array was just a special ritual for collecting Extraordinary Essence, which led to the creation of the heavy fog on Yuan Dan Street...

"Black Spots don’t arise easily. If the array patterns in the archives are related to the Black Spot, then the situation might be dire," Zhou Jiren spoke gravely. "Xiao can create explosions just using explosives, which is still within controllable limits... But if he can create sealing artifacts and somehow generate ’Black Spots’, the damage that guy can cause to order is immeasurable."

Gu Shen took out the blood-colored Compass.

All this time, it had been Xiao who was in contact with him alone.

"This Compass... was originally going to be sent to Cui Zhongcheng. If I’m not mistaken, Xiao wants to create a ’disaster’ that will attract the attention of everyone in Da Du," Gu Shen murmured. "And he considers this as a... game."

"He doesn’t care about the life or death of ordinary people, nor about the existence of order."

Zhou Jiren said coldly, "Such a person indeed has the motive to create ’points of order collapse’... Truly a despicable existence."

"The quality of this world often does not depend on how hard most people try, because it only takes one or two bottomless scums to destroy all the good,"

Gu Shen fell silent upon hearing this.

Zhou Jiren took out a paper invitation from his bosom and handed it to Gu Shen, saying, "Here... take a look at this."

"What is this?"

"The annual Freedom Dance is about to begin," Mr. Shu said softly. "The ’big shots’ from the top echelons of Da Du will all receive an invitation. The event will be held at the Freedom Hall you’re familiar with, and just like in previous years, the big shots will enjoy a cocktail party, dance, concert... In addition to physical enjoyment, for them, this is a rare social opportunity."

Gu Shen listened with rapt attention.

He looked at the invitation and felt it weighed a ton.

"Wait a second... am I considered a big shot now?" Gu Shen asked cautiously.

"Of course, you are, you’re an S-class from the Judgement Institute, the future’s elite of East Continent," Zhou Jiren laughed heartily.

Gu Shen smiled too; it was his first time receiving such an "invitation." He opened the thin envelope to find the black-paper invitation edged with a layer of gilded trim.

This invitation... was it also gilded?

Wow! Quite the grand gesture!

He weighed it in his hand, remarking with deep emotion, "This invitation is quite heavy... it’s quite an honor."

"I also think so. An invitation this heavy, this honorable, it would be a waste not to show it off," Zhou Jiren shared the same sentiment, then extended his hand, taking back the invitation, saying, "Actually, this invitation is mine, I just let you take a look."

Gu Shen was dumbfounded.

Zhou Jiren smiled and said, "Here, gilded, how is it, beautiful, isn’t it?"

Just as he had done when he posted the amnesty order, Mr. Shu dangled the invitation in front of Gu Shen’s face, asking three times whether it looked nice.

"Pah..."

Gu Shen felt a profound disappointment, glaring fiercely at the old man.

"After all, you are the future’s elite... it’s not yet time for you to receive invitations," Zhou Jiren tucked the invitation back into his jacket, declaring spiritedly, "But no matter, you don’t need an invitation to enter. There’s a mission I need to entrust to you."

"This year’s Freedom Dance is different from the previous years... because of the Awakening Bill, those attending the dance are generally divided into two factions, the supporters and the opposers. You know the specifics; the bill’s final battleground has landed in Da Du, and it’s just one vote shy of passing."

Gu Shen’s expression became grave.

"That one vote... lies with Lu Nanzhi."

"After the alternate representatives finished speaking, Lu Nanzhi hid away in the old mansion down Lion Alley and refused to meet anyone, neither Zhao Xilai’s flower-bannered supporters nor Chen San’s South Bay opposers. This momentum should continue right up to the dance... For both sides, the dance is the most important opportunity for contact," Zhou Jiren lowered his voice. "Clearly, both factions will contend at this dance. It’s a war without smoke."

"All the big shots will be there..."

Gu Shen realized something and murmured, "Believers of the Changjiu Foundation will also take action, this is the best opportunity!"

"Exactly—"

Zhou Jiren said, "Xiao won’t miss such a great opportunity, he will surely take action... in previous Freedom Dances, figures of Zhao and Chen’s caliber wouldn’t participate."

Gu Shen silently clenched his fists.

"I will arrange for you to enter the event site in a different way..." Zhou Jiren spoke in a low voice. "You and Nan Jin need to keep a close watch on the guests at the venue, you can’t let any abnormality go unnoticed."

The old man solemnly patted Gu Shen’s shoulder, declaring boldly, "Xiao Gu, though you have no invitation, you are the real Hunter of this dance!"