Chapter 60—Shadow bizarre
Chapter 60: Chapter 60—Shadow bizarre
Chapter 60—Shadow bizarre
Lei Cheng ignored the guards’ warnings entirely, his attention fixed on the courtyard and the flow of gang members entering from the street. Many carried brown sacks slung tightly across their backs—sacks that occasionally twitched. Not a single gang member paid them any attention, as though such movements had become completely ordinary. They were allowed to enter the courtyard from the side. They glanced at him coldly as they stepped in.
He strained his hearing, searching for even the faintest cry, but heard nothing.
’Children.’ His expression darkened as he sensed the faint life essence radiating from inside—a byproduct of his Life Intent letting him detect vitality even through cloth and silence. Every sack represented another family waiting in despair somewhere within Azure Cloud City.
"Kill him." Several gang members rushed toward him, spears, swords, axes, and hammers raised.
Lei Cheng snapped his fingers. White-silver energy rippled outward from his body, and every weapon aimed at him froze mid-swing.
"Huh? What were we doing?" the bald thug muttered, rubbing his head in confusion. Every gang member around him wore the same bewildered expression, weapons suspended, eyes darting around in search of an explanation that wouldn’t come.
"Why are we attacking the air?" a younger thug with unkempt hair mumbled, slinging his spear back over his shoulder.
"Let’s head back," the one in front ordered, and the group turned and filed back toward their posts. To them, the attack had never happened. Only Lei Cheng remembered the killing intent from moments earlier.
Lei Cheng, who hadn’t moved an inch, blended seamlessly into their ranks and walked inside with them.
The moment he stepped through the inner corridors and entered the garden, he froze.
A mountain of tied sacks rose several meters high. ’At least fifty children... perhaps even more,’ he roughly counted them.
Killing intent flashed through his eyes. His fists clenched almost on instinct.
He forced himself to calm down, taking deep breaths. ’I need to wait for the Shadow.’ Saving fifty children meant nothing if another hundred disappeared tomorrow. The Shadow had to die first.
Looking around, he counted more than a hundred armored thugs standing guard with spears and swords, clearly prepared for a fight. Many were Level Three or even Level Four modern martial cultivators by his estimate—far stronger than Constable Zhu, who was only Level Two.
’The constabulary is weak?’ he thought grimly. ’How did a mere gang become stronger than the government itself?’ Corruption had weakened the city long before the Bizarre Creatures arrived.
He walked forward, and not a single thug so much as glanced at him, even when he passed within inches of them.
’Illusion Intent,’ he mused. ’Still as useful as ever.’ It had been the very first intent he’d comprehended, and it had helped him more times than he could count.
He entered the main hall, where a child’s voice cried out, "Let me go! Dad, save me!"
The main hall was without furniture, nothing to be seen except polished walls, tiles, and a podium with a throne at the end.
A group of gang members stood before an older, muscular man in a martial robe, unruly temperament, untied rough long hair, standing atop a raised podium.
A thug had just dumped a boy out of a sack. "He’s beautiful," the gang leader grinned. "Good job, men." The kid was crying, "Dad, where are you?"
Lei Cheng studied the gang members lining the hall—battle-scarred, unruly, carrying an unmistakable killer’s aura. Every one of them bore a snake emblem on their chest; the color of their robes varied and matched their snake emblem’s color. ’Even gangs have clear ranks,’ he mused. ’Shadow bizarre had gained control over proper organisation.’
He pushed past several of them and walked right up to the podium, turning to observe the room from the front, standing at the corner. Despite the sound of footsteps echoing as Lei Cheng stepped onto the podium, no one paid attention, as if they didn’t hear them.
The boy crying below couldn’t have been more than four years old—porcelain skin, bright red lips, star-bright black eyes, jet-black hair, dressed in fine white silk robes clearly tailored for him.
Lei Cheng felt something in his chest soften involuntarily. ’How could someone this small end up in a place like this?’
He shook his head, almost smiling.
The gang member beside him raised his voice. "Excellent! This one will impress the Shadow Master for sure!"
"Gang Leader, we’re going to reach new heights with this one!" Another joined.
"Master would grant us power." They all cheered.
Lei Cheng’s gaze shifted to the gang leader—and his killing intent flared briefly at the sight of the man’s smug expression.
"Hooray! Thank you, Gang Leader! The Bamboo Snake Gang will reach the heavens!" the thugs cheered.
Lei Cheng leaned against the wall. ’When is that Shadow going to show up?’
"By the way," the gang leader asked, settling into his throne lazily, "who’s this one?"
"He’s the twelfth young master of the Tei Clan," a thug answered.
The gang leader straightened, his eyes gleaming. "You caught the Tei Clan’s young master as well?"
"Yes, Gang Leader."
The man burst out laughing. "Excellent. Excellent." He leaned back, smug satisfaction dripping from his tone. "This is exactly how our gang should operate—taking whatever we want from even the top clans of Azure Cloud City." To him, power wasn’t responsibility—it was permission to do whatever he wanted.
The gang members nodded proudly.
At the gang leader’s gesture, a thug scooped the boy back up, stuffed him back into the sack, and cinched it tight—ignoring his continued screaming.
"Dad, help! Uncle! Butler!" the boy cried out every name he could remember in his small, desperate voice. His tiny voice gradually grew hoarse, yet he refused to stop calling for someone to save him.
Lei Cheng stood perfectly still, his eyes glowing faintly gold, forcing down the urge to act.
’When is that Shadow coming?’
Another thug came forward and dumped out a second sack, flipping a child onto the floor.
"Not as pretty as the clan heir," the thug said, "but good enough."
One by one, the gang members paraded the kidnapped children before the leader.
Half an hour passed. Lei Cheng’s leg nearly moved of its own accord when he spotted a five-year-old who bore a resemblance to the grieving servant and maid who had begged him earlier to find their child.
’So he really is here,’ Lei Cheng thought, steadying himself. ’I’ll wait for the Shadow.’
He wanted desperately to save them all at once, but restrained the impulse. Every passing minute felt like an hour.
A few minutes later.
"Mom! Dad! Save me!" one child screamed.
"Shut up!" a burly thug snarled, raising his palm to strike.
Before the blow landed, Lei Cheng snapped his fingers. A flash of silver-white light passed unnoticed, and the thug simply picked the crying child up and tossed him back into the sack instead—no one registering the change at all.
The parade of captured children continued.
Just as the last thread of Lei Cheng’s patience was about to snap—
"Good job, humans."
A cold, eerie voice filled the hall—masculine one instant, feminine the next.
Every gang member, including the leader, dropped to their knees. The leader abandoned his throne entirely, stepping down to kneel among his own men. Not a single person dared raise their head. Even the arrogant gang leader trembled like a servant awaiting judgment, afraid that one wrong word might cost him his life.
A mass of black fog descended through the ceiling and settled onto the throne—nearly two meters of swirling darkness, half draped over the seat, half pooling beneath it. Even the air itself seemed unwilling to move in its presence.
The thugs trembled, sweat breaking across their faces. "Ah... ha..." Several fainted outright.
The Shadow’s presence rippled with dark amusement. "Good job."
Its laughter alone sent several more thugs collapsing.
The gang leader’s voice stammered. "We... captured... the children... Master."
The Shadow seemed to rise slightly from the throne.
"Good job," it repeated. "Let me reward you... My servants."
Its voice echoed throughout the room multiple times and from all sides.