507: Chapter 507: The Performance Begins (Super Long Chapter, Seeking Monthly Pass) 507: Chapter 507: The Performance Begins (Super Long Chapter, Seeking Monthly Pass) He Ao glanced at the bottom of the girl’s flower basket, beneath the crowded roses there was the smooth base of the basket.
This ant that the flyer he had been given was the only one the girl had; handing out flyers was not her main job.
He Ao briefly used his Super mory to scan the flower-selling girl.
Her soul was weak, that of an ordinary person, and moreover, one with less than average intuition, she likely couldn’t see the strangeness of this flyer.
He Ao crouched down, took the flyer, and handed out a skewer of the roast at he had just bought to the little girl, asking softly in not-so-fluent Rodan, “Was it soone who asked you to give this flyer to ?”
The skewer had cooled down a bit, but that could not hide its alluring aroma.
The little girl hesitated as she looked at the skewer, swallowed, and then turned her head to point to the other side of the square, “It was that sister over there who told to give it to you.
She bought three flowers from and then told to hand you this flyer.”
The little girl spoke quickly, but He Ao still managed to roughly understand what she ant.
At that mont, the little girl’s tone paused, “Hey, where did that sister go?”
The place she pointed to had only a flow of walking people, no ‘sister’ was standing there.
Thus,
He Ao followed the girl’s gaze to that moving crowd of people, narrowing his eyes slightly.
This was not the aimless distribution of flyers, but a ‘invitation’ aid at him.
The situation was starting to get interesting.
He Ao reached out his hand, accepted the flyer, and then handed the skewer to the girl, “Thank you.”
He had already eaten several skewers of the sa kind; they were not poisoned.
For many ordinary people in Rodan, especially the children, eating at was not an everyday affair.
“Thank you, big brother!”
The girl took the skewer from He Ao’s hand and dashed into the crowd.
He Ao, on the other hand, stood up and stared at the flyer in his hand.
Every night at ten o’clock, aning there was a show tonight as well.
He Ao glanced at the ti; it was six in the evening.
There were four hours left before the show would start.
So, he had a al nearby, and after eating his fill, he leisurely made his way towards Oak Street.
—-
Nine thirty
72 Oak Street
This was a courtyard located deep on Oak Street.
There was no signboard in front of the courtyard gate, just a young man in a crisp suit, smiling with a pale complexion, standing at the entrance as a greeter.
The young man’s entire being exuded an indescribable stiffness, as if he were a long-dead corpse.
The courtyard gate was closed tight, not a person in sight.
There was no light above the gate, and the dim yellow streetlight only illuminated the steps in front of the gate, leaving the gate and the young man at the door shrouded in the faint night.
“Sir, you seem unfamiliar?
Is this your first ti here?”
As He Ao approached, the young man asked with a smile in Tia.
“Is this the Molt Shadow Club?”
He Ao looked at the unremarkable gate, which had no sign or indication.
“Please show your ticket,” the young man said ticulously, “a flyer will do as well.”
He Ao took out the flyer he had received and handed it to the young man.
The young man took the flyer, slightly stepped aside, and the tightly-closed gate opened automatically with a creaking noise.
At this point, the young man made an inviting gesture, pointing into the courtyard,
“Welco to the Molt Shadow Club.
Please enjoy the show tonight.”
Behind the opened door was a delicately arranged small courtyard, scattered with tables and chairs interspersed with sun umbrellas, resembling a bar or a distinctive restaurant.
Hidden behind these tables and chairs, however, was a small door obscured by a curtain, upon which dim light shone, faintly revealing lodious music emanating from beyond the door.
He Ao stepped into the courtyard, and at the sa ti, he briefly activated Super mory to scan the young man guarding the entrance.
Attached to the young man was not the hazy soul typical of ordinary people but rather a pure Shadow.
This Shadow clung tightly to the young man’s body, manipulating it as if he were a puppet on strings.
The young man was no longer alive.
He Ao withdrew his gaze and passed through the tables and chairs in the courtyard, brushing aside the curtain.
Behind him, the open courtyard door slowly closed, and the young man who had gestured in invitation retracted his hand and turned to face the entrance once again.
As the courtyard door completely shut, He Ao also crossed beyond the curtain and entered the space behind the small door.
Instead of a theater-like setting, he found a larger hall where tables were placed in an orderly manner throughout.
Phone not in use.
The small tables were surrounded by chairs and sofas, all of which faced in the sa direction: toward a rectangular stage at the very end of the hall.
Faint, ambiguous dim lights twinkled throughout the hall, while lodious music echoed within the space.
Rather than a theater, the place resembled more of a bar.
As He Ao entered, a waiter approached and led him to a seat.
“Is this your first ti here, sir?”
The waiter handed a nu to He Ao, “Would you like to order so snacks?
For first-ti patrons, we offer a complintary cocktail.”
He Ao opened the nu, glanced at the empty stage, and asked casually, “Isn’t there supposed to be a performance?”
“The performance starts promptly at ten o’clock, which isn’t far off; you can wait a bit if you like,” the waiter said with a smile.
He Ao skimd through the nu, ordered so fried onion rings, and chose a cocktail with a relatively low alcohol content before returning the nu to the waiter.
Then he scanned the surroundings.
At this ti, the hall was already fairly populated with individuals; so were drinking alone, while others chatted in groups, making the place seem like any typical bar.
About four or five minutes later, He Ao’s fried onion rings and cocktail were served.
It was then that a series of footsteps could be heard from outside.
Three figures pushed through the curtain and entered.
All three had a strong presence: two young n and one middle-aged, all bearing the standard features of the Tia Empire.
It seed they too were first-ti visitors, the two young n flashing curious glances, while the leading middle-aged man appeared sowhat perplexed and cautious, his eyes sweeping over the ‘patrons’ seated below the stage.
He Ao rely glanced at them and then naturally lowered his head, going unnoticed by them.
A waiter stepped forward to welco the trio, guiding them to seats near He Ao and handing them a nu.
These three were probably Transcendents, though not particularly powerful.
After a mont’s thought, He Ao picked up his phone and sent a ssage to the head of the gendarrie, briefly describing the three individuals’ appearances.
[These should be people from ‘above,’ the middle-aged man is the one who handed over the case files to today.]
The head of the gendarrie quickly replied.
He Ao closed his phone.
Indeed, they were from Moonlight.
So, had individuals from Moonlight found this place?
It didn’t seem likely; judging by their puzzled expressions, they had probably also received a flyer and been lured here.
But that leading middle-aged man must have sensed sothing.
Things were getting more interesting.
He Ao couldn’t help but admit that the Molt Shadow Club was quite bold.
This might be due to never encountering such a covert Sect in the main world and, therefore, lacking experience, but they couldn’t be foolish enough to expose themselves directly under the scrutiny of Moonlight.
Ti ticked by, minute by minute.
Not long after the arrival of Moonlight, a beam of light poured down from the ceiling, illuminating the stage.
A person who looked like an emcee walked onto the stage.
“Thank you all, esteed guests, for taking the ti to co to our Molt Shadow Club.
Tonight’s performance is about to begin.
There are several newcors here this evening, and we welco you.
Please believe , this will be the most important and spectacular performance you have ever seen in your lives,” the emcee said.
As his words ended, a thunderous applause erupted from the audience.
Those ‘regular custors’ who had been chatting and drinking normally were now all staring intently at the center of the stage, their eyes ablaze with a strange excitent on their faces.
It was as if they were not onlookers at a bar for leisure, but believers in the presence of a Divine Being.
At this mont, sitting not far from He Ao were three individuals belonging to Moonlight; the middle-aged man among them seed to sense sothing, took out his phone, and abruptly stood up, intending to leave with his two companions while dialing a number.
Ding—
Just then, the clear sound of music chid in everyone’s ears.
A woman wearing a light white dress and white knee-high stockings, barefooted, slowly stepped out from behind the stage, dancing on her toes.
“Please enjoy the dance, ‘Molt Shadow’,” the voice of the emcee ca from behind the stage.
Soft music that seed to seep into the soul started to play slowly.
The middle-aged man who had abruptly risen seed to forget what he was about to do in an instant and just stood there, frozen.
Beep—
His phone was answered at that mont, and a puzzled voice ca from the other end, “Zane, what’s the matter?”
Upon hearing this voice, the middle-aged man finally realized sothing.
He stiffly lowered his head to look at the phone in his hand, slowly opened his mouth as if trying to say sothing but was unable to make a sound no matter what.
“It’s nothing, I dialed the wrong number,” a voice ca from behind him, into the phone’s microphone.
The voice was so familiar; it was his own.
Then, a hand reached out from behind him and hung up the call.
The middle-aged man struggled to turn his head and saw the waiter who had led them in, standing beside him with a smile on his face.
Then he watched as the waiter opened his mouth and, in his own voice, continued to say, “Everything is going smoothly, nothing happened, the dance is beautiful, we can quietly appreciate it.”
The waiter’s soft voice entered his ears, echoing in the depths of his soul like a murmuring whisper.
He slowly put down his phone and sat back down, watching the performance on stage.
His gaze was enraptured.
It was as though everything that had just happened had never occurred.
The two young people beside him were already captivated, their eyes shining with a bright and insane glow as if they had seen the most beautiful thing in this world, ready to give everything for it.
He Ao quietly observed all this.
Under the perspective of Super mory, a huge Shadow was erging from the glowing ceiling, fuzzy tentacles of darkness stretching out from it, touching every person in the audience, clinging to their bodies, eroding their Souls.
Similarly, a Shadow tentacle tried to extend downwards to erode He Ao’s Soul.
Then, the next second, this tentacle was struck by the power of He Ao’s gathered Super mory, recoiling as if electrocuted.
He Ao picked up a cocktail from the table and took a sip, his gaze fixed on the woman on the stage.
re power like this was not enough to invite him with such confidence.
In that instant, the gaze of the woman on stage also briefly t He Ao’s.
She had a fiery red rose petal in her mouth, still dotted with drops of water, contrasting with her red lips.
She slightly opened her mouth, and the petal fell, gliding down her lustrous skin, like flowing blood.
After this fleeting exchange of glances, she gently lifted her head, her gaze leaving He Ao.
Then she delicately raised her slender hand, her wide white sleeve slipping down her smooth skin, revealing her porcelain arms like tender willow branches in the spring breeze.
At this mont, the entire venue fell into an unusual silence, so silent it was as if only she and He Ao existed.
The Dancer and the Onlooker made up the entirety of this world.
The woman’s hands started to stir, and as they swayed, they gradually grasped the void, seemingly peeling away sothing.
With each peeling, her body beca heavier, as if shedding Husks.
Indeed, the dance was beautiful.
He Ao watched it, directly experiencing the beauty through his senses as if the word “beauty” had walked out of the books and into reality.
anwhile, his soul began to quiver slightly, and as the dance progressed, it seed as if a vast and grand gaze was trying to pierce through the barriers of space and ti to cast its attention here.
And as this colossal force attempted to make its advent, He Ao also felt sothing else.
Ruins.
Fleetingly, he sensed the existence of the desolate, lonely ruins overrun with exotic beasts.
He put down the cocktail in his hand and revealed a smile.
The only thing that could make soone feel the presence of the ruins from the main world was the ‘Space-Ti Anchor’ that opened the passageway to the ruins.
Just as he had guessed, the reason Moonlight and the World Tree had not found the Space-Ti Anchor for so long was that this ti’s anchor was not fixed in a certain area or on a mysterious individual, but rather, it had been bound to him by the god attempting to descend using so thod.
Although He Ao did not know why the divine being would do such a thing, it was obvious that obtaining the anchor for the ruins this ti was much more difficult than before.
While He Ao felt this divine breath and the presence of the ruins, the dance onstage seed to be nearing its end as well.
Epheral fragnts in the air were pieced together, forming a new, illusory Dancer.
She stepped forward, her legs wrapped in white stockings crossing the void, and walked up to He Ao.
At this mont, in this area, there seed to be two of her existing simultaneously.
One was dancing on the stage, arduously shedding the illusory fragnts from her body, and the other was an illusory figure made of those very fragnts.
The flesh and blood body on the stage seed only like a discarded and useless husk, while the floating, illusory figure was the life that erged after shedding the husk.
Fresh red bloodstains spread over the dancing flesh and blood body, and although the light shone on her, no shadow could be seen beneath her feet.
“Your strength is sowhat beyond my expectations, your powerful soul shines like the sun,”
The illusory figure floated before He Ao.
The grand gaze of a Great Being was ultimately blocked outside of space and ti, but Its diffusing power seeped into reality, locking onto He Ao’s body.
In that instant, He Ao felt his body fall into a kind of stiffness that left him motionless, not because his ability to act was restricted, but rather, like a puppet, he had lost the ability to act.
“You just had a chance to leave,” the illusory figure continued to approach He Ao, “but you gave it up.”
“Your arrogance has granted you the opportunity to join us,”
Her voice was a blend of hoarseness and ethereality, possessing a strange beauty, “The great Mysterious Shadow has cast Its attention upon you.
Join us, comrade.”
She extended her hand as if asking He Ao to reach out and grasp it.
Twisted power began to try to invade He Ao’s soul, and he felt his ‘body’ becoming increasingly lighter; it seed as if he would shed that decaying flesh and transform into a different existence.
“The will of the divine is incontestable.
You either beco an eternal servant or join us as a comrade.
Your powerful force will be blessed by the divine and grow even stronger.”
The woman continued to reach out her hand to He Ao.
He Ao gazed at the woman before him.
At this mont, he fully understood the purpose of the Molt Shadow Club ‘inviting’ him.
They possessed so ability to observe souls and had noticed that He Ao was a very strong Transcendent.
Thus, they attempted to recruit him as ‘one of their own.’
Of course, given that the diffused power of that god was still trying to erode his soul at this mont, it seed that the Primitive Sect did not wish for He Ao to retain his complete sanity either.
The options the woman offered were actually to either die, becoming like a Black Shadow, a Monster completely bereft of reason, or beco a submissive servant.
A crude and arrogant practice indeed, but it would certainly transform ‘He Ao’ into their fighting force in the quickest way.
The woman watched He Ao as if waiting for his response.
But in reality, she did not need He Ao’s response; the power of the divine would first attempt to transform this man into a servant.
If the transformation failed, it would simply kill him, turning him into a Monster.
From the very beginning, He Ao had no choice; she simply liked giving the Prey the illusion of choice to distract their minds, making the erosion easier.
In fact, this was the first ti she had caught such a powerful ‘Prey’ as He Ao, and as the erosion proceeded, along with nervousness, a sense of accomplishnt began to rise in her heart.
The will of the divine cannot be opposed.
When the force of the divine descends, everything is over; there’s no possibility for the Prey before her to resist any longer.
At that ti, the biggest ‘Prey’ she had caught so far slowly raised his head and smiled at her, “I choose the third option.”
The roaring train suddenly crashed through the old walls, awakening those in dreams.
The real performance is only just beginning.
Reviews
All reviews (0)