Chapter 461: Figure in the Painting

Bang—

The heavy door closed. Jian Changsheng and Red Heart 9 stood in the empty room, letting out a long sigh of relief...

"Finally shook them off..."

This was the original Beidou Casino, but it was now Chen Ling’s property. Before leaving, he had arranged everything properly. The casino area operated as usual, while some hidden rooms in the depths had become Jian Changsheng’s temporary base.

Although not as luxurious as the VIP lounge of the auction house, the configuration was quite good. Most importantly, the location was hidden, and entry and exit were very safe.

"Shaking them off wasn't hard. The main thing was leading them near the Beidou Consortium," Red Heart 9 shrugged. "If it weren't for that guy Red Heart 6 insisting on making trouble, I would have killed them all!"

"You almost killed me too!" Jian Changsheng couldn't help but curse. "We’ve only been together for a few days, and you’ve already blown me up twice! The enemy hasn't touched a hair on my head, but my own teammate has blown my head open!"

"Don't worry about the details, as long as the mission is accomplished!"

Red Heart 9 said with a smile.

Jian Changsheng rolled his eyes at him and turned on the room lights. Looking out the window, the first floor of the casino was crowded. At this hour, it was packed with people from all walks of life in Red Dust Main City, throwing money around like dirt. Business was extremely booming.

"Red Heart 6 is gone. From now on, we can only rely on ourselves," Jian Changsheng muttered to himself.

"Not 'we', it's 'you'."

Red Heart 9 sat on the sofa, casually peeling an orange and tossing it into his mouth. "You can call me for fighting, but for other aspects... I’ll likely just be a hindrance."

"...I can see that."

Honestly, Jian Changsheng was really afraid that this guy would get unhappy one day and blow up the casino over some trivial matter. Then all their hard work would be in vain, and they’d be back to gnawing on steamed buns on the side of the road overnight.

"What’s your plan next?" Red Heart 9 asked.

"What plan could I have? Guard the position, gather information, and wait for other Twilight Society members to arrive," Jian Changsheng looked at the crowded casino below. "At least we shouldn't be short of funds now."

"You should learn more from Red Heart 6. Look at him—proficient in disguise and wealth accumulation. I don't know where Corpse-Chopper Chu found such a talent."

Jian Changsheng: ...

"By the way, where is that painting?" Jian Changsheng seemed to recall something.

"With me."

Red Heart 9 swallowed the orange in his mouth, then opened his mouth and reached his right hand in to rummage. A metallic clashing sound came from his throat, as if he were hiding an entire warehouse in there...

A moment later, he seemed to have grabbed something, and a slender scroll was pulled out from his mouth.

Red Heart 9 handed the scroll to Jian Changsheng, but the latter took a half-step back with a look of disgust, as if he found it a bit gross...

"It’s not covered in spit!" Red Heart 9 couldn't help but curse.

Jian Changsheng reluctantly took the scroll and unfolded it. There was indeed a Plum Blossom 8 mark on the back. But when he flipped to the front and saw the painting of the lady-in-waiting, his brows furrowed involuntarily, and he let out the same uncultured exclamation as Chen Ling:

"What kind of crap is this..."

"Don't ask me, I don't understand it either."

Jian Changsheng flipped the painting over and over in his hands for a long time without seeing anything special. Just as he was about to put it away and find time to hand it over to the Twilight Society, his nose twitched.

He paused, puzzled, brought the painting to his nose, and sniffed hard.

"That's not right..."

"What's not right?"

"There’s a smell of blood in this painting."

Red Heart 9 raised an eyebrow, his mouth opening in shock. "What is this? The Soldier Divine Path, [Military Dog] path?!"

Jian Changsheng: ...

Jian Changsheng knew Red Heart 9 was getting back at him for his previous "Trick Divine Path [Robot] path" comment. He couldn't be bothered to argue, so he laid the scroll flat on the table and began to observe it bit by bit from the side.

Then, as if he had discovered something, he pressed his fingertip to the corner of the scroll and wiped downward with force.

Under the scouring of his killing intent, the pattern on the scroll peeled off rapidly, and beneath it, another pattern emerged...

"What's going on? Two paintings?" Red Heart 9 asked in surprise.

"Plum Blossom 8 must have painted another layer over the original painting to cover up the original content..." A sharp glint flashed in Jian Changsheng’s eyes. He quickly peeled off the lady-in-waiting painting on the surface, and a brand-new scroll was exposed to the two of them.

Red Heart 9 examined the painting inside and asked in confusion:

"What the hell... underneath a portrait, is another portrait?"

"Also a woman?" Jian Changsheng stared at the face for a long time. "Who is this person? Do you recognize her?"

"Don't recognize her..."

"I don't recognize her either."

"Is the woman in this painting the message Plum Blossom 8 went to such lengths to pass to us?" Jian Changsheng scratched his head, completely baffled. "But... but who exactly is she?"

On the scroll, a woman was lying quietly on the ground, her hands folded peacefully, and flower petals made of blood were scattered around her, vivid and serene.

The woman was wearing a white research lab coat, looking as if she were asleep.

If Chen Ling were here, the moment he saw this woman’s face, he would surely be deeply shaken... Unlike Jian Changsheng and Red Heart 9, if all went well, he might be one of the few people in this era who could recognize this woman.

Former member of the Red Star Fragment Exploration Team, now one of the Nine Human Monarchs...

[String Theory] Doctor, Su Zhiwei.

……

"Finally back."

Chen Ling pushed the cart, traveling across the desolate gray land, and let out a long sigh of relief when he saw the faint outline of Ugly Peak in the distance.

He took off the golden mask, reached up and tore at his chin, returning to his original appearance. His black trench coat also transformed into a bright red opera robe, fluttering in the wind.

"Yi-ya!!"

The Jester sat on the mountain of banknote boxes, his little face filled with excitement. For him, this was his first time traveling far away, and seeing Ugly Peak again after playing wildly outside for a few days, he missed it very much.

He jumped hard on the banknote boxes, flew into the wind, landed lightly on the top of Ugly Peak, and struck a "welcome home" pose toward Chen Ling, who was walking slowly up the mountain.

Chen Ling smiled, patted the Jester’s head, and said:

"Fifth Senior Brother, I’ll go report to the seniors first... We’ll see each other at dinner."

"Yi-ya!!"

As his voice fell, Chen Ling pushed the cart to the edge of the cliff and jumped down with the entire cart of banknote boxes!