Chapter 249 - 136: Dark Surge (Part 2)

By now, Chen Cheng had changed back into his original clothes. He had also carefully inspected himself to make sure he hadn’t left any incriminating marks.

He had also discarded the coarse cloth used to wrap the wooden box, as it had traces of blood and frozen earth and couldn’t be kept.

"A local specialty?"

Li Family glanced at the long, flat wooden box Chen Cheng had placed upright between their seats.

The box itself looked plain and unadorned. It was a somber, dark color and seemed to have a faint metallic sheen.

’What kind of specialty would require a box like this?’

Li Family’s eyes showed a hint of confusion, but she didn’t voice her question. Her son would tell her if he wanted to. If he didn’t bring it up, she wouldn’t ask.

Afterward.

The guests at the main table began taking turns toasting Chen Cheng.

The bride’s mother was the most enthusiastic and sincere, and the other important guests were all deferential toward Chen Cheng. The atmosphere was quite harmonious and lively.

When Zhou Long finished toasting the other tables and Hu Niu finished her duties, they both returned, making the atmosphere at the main table even more cheerful.

After his long period of high-intensity, secluded cultivation, this was a rare chance for Chen Cheng to relax.

He and Zhou Long sipped their wine and reminisced about their childhood, with Hu Niu chiming in now and then.

Their childhoods may not have been full of sunshine, but they weren’t without memories worth cherishing.

Looking back from their different stations in life gave those memories a different flavor.

"Lord Cheng! Allow me to toast you! We’re both from Kuhuai Village, I hope Lord Cheng will do me the honor..."

Cao Bado sidled up, a wine cup in hand and his face plastered with a grin.

His face was flushed and his eyes were glazed over; it was clear he’d had plenty to drink.

As the saying goes, wine gives courage to the coward.

To the onlookers, it seemed Cao Bado only dared to approach for a toast because he was drunk.

Chen Cheng, however, noticed his furtive movements. He couldn’t be bothered to call him out on it, but he certainly wasn’t going to humor him.

When Chen Cheng didn’t raise his cup, Cao Bado showed no sign of annoyance. He just kept smiling and shuffled closer, not saying a word, simply planting himself stubbornly beside Chen Cheng.

A moment later.

A hand snaked out from behind Cao Bado.

The hand was thin and bony, its fingertips trembling slightly, as if afraid of being seen, yet also afraid of not being able to reach.

It crept forward inch by inch, staying close to the hem of Cao Bado’s robe, until it finally landed on the upright wooden box.

The five fingers clamped down on the top and gave a hard pull...

The wooden box didn’t budge an inch.

Immediately, a second hand joined the first. Ten fingers gripped the two top corners of the box and, with all their might, gave a sudden yank...

The box still didn’t budge.

After several more moments of desperate straining, the knuckles on both hands had turned bone-white, the nails had a bluish tint, and the veins on the back of the hands pulsed violently.

But the wooden box was like a boulder that had taken root; no matter how desperately the two hands strained, it refused to move even a fraction of an inch.

Finally, the hands trembled and retreated.

Then, Cao Bado backed away as well.

With Chen Cheng’s heightened senses, this little parlor trick was as obvious as if they had stripped naked and stood before him. Nothing could be hidden.

He didn’t expose them, only because he didn’t want to ruin Zhou Long’s happy occasion.

In reality, the two of them were now on his kill list.

’Today they dare to steal from me, tomorrow they’ll dare to try and kill me.’

’A threat like this must be rooted out completely, and as soon as possible.’

...

「After the wedding banquet.」

Chen Cheng saw Li Family to the Inner City Gate.

The gatehouse tunnel was brightly lit, and elite soldiers in full armor, holding spears, maintained a strict watch.

Chen Cheng stopped and stepped aside, letting Li Family go first:

"Mother, I still have some other business to attend to. You should head back and get some rest."

Li Family nodded. She glanced again at the wooden box Chen Cheng was carrying in his right hand and said:

"Should I take this box back for you?"

"There’s no need. You wouldn’t be able to lift it."

Seeing Chen Cheng shake his head, Li Family didn’t press the issue and walked into the Inner City by herself.

Chen Cheng stood back, watching through the gate’s archway as Li Family entered the brightly lit main street of the Inner City. Only then did he turn to leave, his mind at ease.

「An Nan District.」

Cao Bado and Liang Guang were walking side-by-side down a back alley that led to the slums.

The shops on both sides of the street were already boarded up for the night. An occasional lantern hung outside, casting a dim, yellow halo that made the snow on the road appear a grimy, dusty gray.

For the past month, the Captain’s Mansion and the Evil Extermination Bureau had been patrolling the Outer City every night, and the remnants of the Red Moon Nunnery had finally quieted down for a time.

The streets at night now had a few scattered pedestrians. Though they all walked quickly with their necks hunched against the cold, it was still an improvement over the dead, ghost-town silence of before.

"Liang Guang, you’re a fucking waste of space. Couldn’t even lift a damn box."

Cao Bado had his hands tucked into his sleeves and his chin buried in his collar. Puffs of white mist escaped his mouth and nose.

Liang Guang froze for a second. Back when he was still a Patrol Clerk, Cao Bado was always fawning over him, calling him "Brother Guang" this and "Brother Guang" that.

But now, all that came out of his mouth were curses and insults, without a shred of respect.

He glanced sideways at Cao Bado. The face that was once plastered with fawning smiles for him was now hard as iron, every line around his eyes and brows filled with contempt.

’Time had flown by in a blur, yet it felt like only yesterday... How could things and people change so drastically, so quickly?’

Liang Guang looked away and didn’t respond.

The wind carried the sour stench of a nearby garbage pile, along with other foul, unidentifiable odors.

He hunched his shoulders and pulled his large, empty-feeling coat a little tighter around himself.

But the person who had made the biggest impression on him tonight was Chen Cheng.

Cao Bado had never touched the wooden box, so he had no idea, but Liang Guang knew perfectly well.

That seemingly ordinary wooden box actually weighed hundreds of pounds. It would take several strong men to even think about moving it.

Yet when Chen Cheng returned, he had been carrying it with just one hand, and it looked completely effortless.

’After seeing that, how could he, Liang Guang, not understand the true extent of Chen Cheng’s power now?’