Chapter 409: Twilight Society's Executive Meeting

A few days later.

"Second, Third, Fourth, why are you all so silent?"

Beside the dining table, the youth asked with a smile while picking his teeth with a bamboo toothpick.

It wasn't mealtime yet, and taking advantage of the fact that Chen Ling hadn't come to eat, the senior brothers and sisters had come over early. Except for Ning Ruyu, the expressions of the others were somewhat strange.

Wen Renyou was silent for a moment before speaking:

"Master, I have nothing left to teach the little junior brother."

"...Me neither," the End-Role sighed. "The little junior brother seems to have read all the scripts. No matter which one I mention, he can recite it word for word, and there are almost no flaws.

These past few days haven't really been teaching him; it's just been me listening to him sing... he sings for an entire morning at a time."

"I have nothing to teach him either," Luan Mei's eyes showed a rare flash of approval. "He is a natural Dan role. As long as he starts performing, his movements are completely natural. And I've only taught him for a few days, but he already shows signs of mastering the [Cloud Step]."

"It's only been a few days, and he's already learning the secret technique of [Acting]?" Ning Ruyu asked in shock.

"No, perhaps it can't be called 'learning'..."

In Luan Mei's mind, the image of that red-clad figure rising from the ruins after Aurora City was destroyed suddenly appeared... At that time, Chen Ling was still in a state of "mental confusion" after his promotion.

She clearly remembered the scene in those ruins where the red robe seemed weightless, dancing gracefully, his movements like a ghost, elusive and unpredictable...

"He might have already realized the [Cloud Step] on his own," Luan Mei paused. "Not just the [Cloud Step], even the [Soul-Soothing Ballad]—he only heard me sing it once, and he was able to reproduce it almost perfectly..."

As soon as this was said, the expressions of the senior brothers and sisters were incredibly surprised. They looked at Luan Mei in disbelief, and the room suddenly went quiet.

"If that's really the case... then the little junior brother's talent is simply too monstrous," the End-Role couldn't help but exclaim.

"As I said, he is a natural Opera God."

The youth spoke unhurriedly. "As long as his instincts are awakened, mastering the four basic secret techniques is only a matter of time... You don't need to deliberately teach him anything; just provide a little guidance when necessary."

The senior brothers and sisters nodded one after another.

Not long after, Chen Ling knocked on the door with his bowl and chopsticks, and everyone stopped the topic.

"Senior Brother, is there braised pork today?" Chen Ling asked naturally as he sat at the table.

After a few days of getting along, Chen Ling had completely integrated into the Ancient Opera Treasury, and his skin had thickened along with it. Although he hadn't started eating out of a washbasin like Master, his bowl was already the same size as Eldest Senior Brother Ning Ruyu's.

Wen Renyou's mouth twitched slightly. "...No."

"Stir-fried pork slices?"

"None of that either."

Hearing this, Master put down his toothpick, somewhat displeased. "I say, Old Third, the food has been getting more and more vegetarian lately... Is there not even a bit of meat today?"

Wen Renyou looked at Ning Ruyu and said nothing.

Ning Ruyu coughed twice, somewhat awkwardly. "Master... did you forget something?"

"What?"

"Two days ago, we just finished paying the society members' salaries."

Master's expression stiffened slightly.

"...They're all paid?" he asked tentatively.

"When we were recruiting members, you were the one who said that even if we go hungry, the members' benefits and treatment cannot be poor. Of course, we have to pay them on time," Ning Ruyu sighed. "Since the day before yesterday, our funds have almost run out..."

Hearing this, Chen Ling's expression became somewhat strange.

Perhaps because he had been with his senior brothers and sisters in the Ancient Opera Treasury for too long, he had almost forgotten that this was the headquarters of the Twilight Society. Whether it was Jian Changsheng, Chu Muyun, Bai Ye, or other Twilight Society members, their salaries all came from here.

And Chen Ling remembered very clearly that when he first joined the Twilight Society, Chu Muyun had said that their salary and benefits were very good, several times more than those of the Law Enforcers...

Plus, there were quite a few members in the Twilight Society, and the monthly expenses were astronomical. Chen Ling had once thought that the Twilight Society's upper management must be a very wealthy corporate organization, but now it seemed that was not the case.

How much money could a "black opera troupe" that spent every day setting up broken stages outside and singing for free earn? How could they support such a large Twilight Society?

At this moment, Chen Ling suddenly realized that he had accidentally stumbled into a "Twilight Society Executive Meeting"...

This "most vicious" organization in the world, standing in opposition to all human realms, was holding a serious and earnest meeting in front of him. If the leaders of those human realms knew, they would probably break their heads trying to come and hear what shocking evil plans they were brewing.

"If it really comes to it, we'll just go perform breaking stones on our chests," Ning Ruyu said seriously.

"That counts as street performing, we can charge for it."

"Breaking stones on our chests? Even if a hundred people watch, how much money can that make?" The End-Role immediately shook his head. "The monthly salary expenditure for the Twilight Society is astronomical. Even if we broke a hundred stones on our chests every day, we wouldn't earn that much."

"You can't say that. Look at Old Five, he almost shattered a mountain just with his head the other day."

"The efficiency is too low; we still need to think of other ways..."

The atmosphere at the dining table suddenly became heavy.

Chen Ling kept his head down, silently shoveling a few more mouthfuls of rice into his mouth. At this moment, he wished he had the End-Role's ability to minimize his presence, fearing that these senior brothers and sisters would get a heat-of-the-moment idea to go break stones on their chests and drag him along.

"If it really comes to it, we can only use that method..." Wen Renyou said in a deep voice.

"Indeed, at this rate, we won't even be able to pay next month's salaries... Only that method can obtain a large amount of funds in a few days."

The senior brothers and sisters looked at each other and finally looked at Master in the center, seemingly waiting for him to make a decision.

The youth thought for a while and sighed helplessly.

"That's the only way."

"Whose turn is it this time?"

"Last time it was Old Four, the year before last it was Old Three, and the year before that it was Old Two... Following this rotation, this year it should be Old Five."

"Uh... Old Five..."

Everyone looked outside with strange expressions. A short figure was clinging to the window, secretly peeking at Chen Ling in the room.

Seeing everyone suddenly turn to look at him, he shuddered and dove to the bottom of the wall in a flash.

"Old Five won't work. Old Five can't talk; he can't complete that task at all."

"Since that's the case, then there's only..."

Everyone's gaze fell on the corner. Chen Ling, who was silently shoveling rice, paused.

He was silent for a moment.

"First things first, I won't break stones on my chest."