Yuanshi Tianzun was a member of the Kangyang District Second Team. While he might not live in Kangyang District, among the people she could reach, he was the only one who could provide backup without losing precious seconds.
A Night Wanderer’s skills were ideal for stealth, making him an excellent choice. However, Yuanshi Tianzun belonged to the official faction, so he would certainly be unwilling to clash with official walkers. Was there a way to save Kou Beiyue without causing a confrontation? Sitting here agonizing over it was pointless. She had to lay out the situation and let him decide. Whether this succeeded or failed, she would owe him a favor and could no longer refuse joining his guild.
Her thoughts raced, but Xiao Yuan’s tone remained composed yet stern. “Tell me what’s happening on your end.”
“There are six of them. Three are guarding the exits, and the other three are hunting me down inside the nightclub. I’ve been wounded, so all I can do is hide. Using their official credentials, they’ve seized control of the club’s security staff to help with the sweep,” Kou Beiyue murmured in a low voice. “The club is huge, so I can stay hidden for now, but I can’t hold out for long. Plus, they’ve definitely notified the Public Security Bureau and other official walkers. A larger force might already be mobilizing…”
Once the official forces completely cordoned off the nightclub, his death would be sealed.
Xiao Yuan listened in silence before offering a cold warning. “Stay hidden for now and stall for as much time as you can. Put your phone on silent and keep an eye on it at all times. Someone might reach out to you.”
“Xiao Yuan, do you have a way to save me?”
“I don’t know. It depends on whether your luck holds out.” Swallowing the urge to scold him, Xiao Yuan hung up.
She opened her call log, pinpointed Yuanshi Tianzun’s number, and tapped call.
“Hello? A long night, isn’t it? Missing me, Auntie Xiao Yuan?”
Yuanshi Tianzun’s overly familiar teasing came through the speaker, accompanied by energetic, intense sound effects—whether from a television show or a video game was hard to tell.
At times, Xiao Yuan truly detested how presumptuously chummy he was, taking the liberty of pinning an identity on her. Auntie this, Auntie that—couldn't it be ‘big sister’ instead?
Taking a deep breath, Auntie Xiao Yuan skipped the pleasantries and idle chatter, getting straight to the point.
“Tonight, one of our people set out to eliminate an enemy—a Deacon from your official faction—but the target seemed prepared, and the ambush failed. He is currently trapped at the Red Dragon Nightclub on Baixing Road in Kangyang District.
“Can you help?”
By the time she finished, the sound effects from the speaker had vanished. Yuanshi Tianzun’s voice came through. “I need to know two things. First, what’s the grudge? Second, does helping mean saving someone or killing someone?”
Though he hadn't agreed right away, Xiao Yuan could hear the rustle of him putting on his shoes.
Touched, she spoke with a touch more sincerity. “It’s a personal vendetta; I can’t explain it in just a few words. But rest assured, my companion isn't a cruel, bloodthirsty killer. I hope you can help me get him out.”
Xiao Yuan gave a concise rundown of the situation and added, “That’s how things stand. Consider whether you can help.”
*If it’s only about saving someone, that’s manageable. I can’t help them fight official walkers… Red Dragon Nightclub isn't far from my place…* Zhang Yuanqing then asked, “Why not ask Master Wuhen to step in?”
*He really is suspicious!* Xiao Yuan explained helplessly, “Master Wuhen’s rule is to forget the past and let go of former grievances. Kou Beiyue—yes, his name is Kou Beiyue—assassinating an official walker directly violates Master Wuhen’s principles. He hasn't let go of his past, taking it upon himself to make an enemy of the official faction.
“If Master Wuhen learned of this, he would most likely expel him from the group, let alone help him.”
“Understood,” Zhang Yuanqing said. “I’ll go save him. I hope he’s as good a person as you say. However, don’t pin your hopes on me.”
Auntie Xiao Yuan said softly, “Regardless of the outcome, thank you.”
Time was too tight for further discussion. As Zhang Yuanqing ended the call, he snatched his jacket off the desk and strode out of his bedroom.
He knew of the Red Dragon Nightclub. Back when Songhai was still a metropolis of debauchery and sordid nightclub encounters, Zhang Yuanqing had often heard of this establishment.
For one, it wasn't far from his home—less than five kilometers away. For another, it was famous and lavish enough, reputed to offer top-tier young hunks and hostesses.
Back then, when Zhang Yuanqing had just entered high school, he had fantasized about striking it rich in the future and splurging there, throwing around fat wads of cash to have pretty girls line up and dance the horse-riding dance for him.
Years had flown by; the horse-riding dance had faded from fashion, and the Red Dragon Nightclub had gone straight.
The dreams of youth always seemed to drift away so inadvertently.
Given the short distance, hailing a cab was worse than running; the time spent waiting for a car would be enough for him to reach his destination on foot.
Leaving the residential compound, Zhang Yuanqing opened his phone, set the navigation to Red Dragon Nightclub, turned the volume up to maximum, and broke into a dead sprint. His pace rivaled that of a speeding car as he advanced at full throttle down the empty sidewalk.
Prompts kept chiming from his pants pocket:
“You are speeding. Please slow down… You are speeding. Please slow down…”
Soon, he caught sight of the nightclub building, adorned in dazzling neon. It stood three stories high, arranged in a massive U-shape.
The front courtyard was packed with all sorts of cars. The five large characters of “Red Dragon Nightclub” shone with piercing brilliance, outlined by pulsating strips of multicolored lights.
Zhang Yuanqing halted, ducking behind a black BMW. Pulling out his phone, he closed the navigation and tapped the phone number Auntie Xiao Yuan had sent over the messaging app.
He canceled the call before it could connect, opting to send a text instead:
“Tell me where you are inside the club. Xiao Yuan sent me to save you.”
Calling right now could easily turn into a death sentence; texting was far safer.
About a dozen seconds later, a reply came:
“I’m on the second floor, the third private booth from the end.”
Zhang Yuanqing replied, “Wait for me!”
He locked his phone and looked toward the nightclub’s entrance. His Night Wanderer vision pierced the dark, spotting four men in sharp suits stationed at the doors, seemingly the club’s security guards.
Patrolling the front courtyard were two men in plainclothes—one middle-aged and one young.
This cut off any chance of the target jumping out a window to flee.
*Infiltrating will be easy for me, but how do we get out? Auntie Xiao Yuan’s companion definitely lacks high-tier concealment skills; otherwise, he would have escaped long ago.*
Zhang Yuanqing weighed his options quickly.
*Slip inside and lend him the Disguise Ring? No, if I were an official member, I’d maintain the lockdown, wait for reinforcements, and screen the guests one by one. Even in disguise, he wouldn't get past that. And if we break out by force, a disguise wouldn't matter anyway.*
*If we force our way out, there’s a Deacon on the other side, and things could easily go sideways. If that happens, rumors of Yuanshi Tianzun colluding with an evil profession will spread across the world.*
It was tricky.
Yet he still decided to help.
First, it would build goodwill with Xiao Yuan. Second, if the person truly was an evil-profession walker striving for good, he was willing to lend a hand. What he had told Xiao Yuan earlier wasn't mere flattery; it had come from the heart.
Still, he would definitely get to the bottom of this matter afterward.
After pondering for a dozen seconds, an idea struck him: put on a disguise, infiltrate the nightclub, and make a loud commotion breaking out from the inside, creating the illusion of a cornered beast attempting to force an escape.
The men patrolling outside would surely alert their comrades inside the club. Once they came out, he could draw them away, giving Auntie Xiao Yuan’s companion an opening to slip out.
No sooner thought than done. Zhang Yuanqing immediately sent Xiao Yuan a message:
“Send me that guy’s photo, fast!”
Two or three seconds later, the photo arrived.
Evidently, Xiao Yuan was watching her phone every second, paying rapt attention to the situation.
Zhang Yuanqing opened his inventory, took out the Disguise Ring, and put it on. He then scrutinized the youth in the photo.
The boy looked around sixteen, pale-faced, with thick eyebrows and eyes bright as stars—handsome, yet sharp.
Zhang Yuanqing’s features rippled like water, shifting into the likeness of the sharp-eyed youth.
Exiting the messaging app, he drafted a text to the boy inside:
“Stay hidden and await my signal. The moment I tell you to run, get out immediately.”
Without waiting for a reply, he channeled his Lunar force, activated Night Walk, and watched his figure dissolve into thin air, inch by inch.
***
In the dim room, Kou Beiyue pulled out his phone and read the message with a furrowed brow.
After a brief moment of thought, he grasped the person’s intention.
*He’s going to lure the enemies away for me?*
*Against six official walkers, one of whom is a Deacon—can he really pull that off?*
Kou Beiyue felt both startled and skeptical. Anyone capable of doing that had to be at least a Saint. What was this person’s background? A friend of Xiao Yuan’s in Songhai?
Loud music pounded around him. Soft lighting and the glow of the giant television screen filtered faintly through sheer layers of fabric.
Indeed, Kou Beiyue was hidden beneath a young woman’s voluminous skirt.
She was a girl he had run into near the restrooms. Heavily wounded and cornered, he had acted on inspiration, using his bewitchment powers to make her willingly act as his shield.
Relying on the remarkable flexibility of a Bewitching Demon, Kou Beiyue had hidden beneath her skirt and followed her step by step back to the private booth.
Shortly after, the nightclub’s security personnel had taken up positions outside the door, announcing that an incident had occurred and asking guests to stay inside their booths rather than wander about.
The guests in the room had consumed plenty of alcohol and were having a blast, so they paid it no mind as long as it didn't disrupt their singing.
Kou Beiyue had actually considered another option: bewitching the guests to cause a riot, creating chaos to cover his escape.
However, in the Transcendent stage, manipulating a large crowd through bewitchment took an exceedingly long time, and the enemy would never give him that luxury.
Just then, the door was shoved open. The lights snapped on, and the singing ceased.
“What’s your problem?”
“Who is that? Looking to die?”
The guests, annoyed at the interruption, hurled curses.
The man standing in the doorway announced in a booming voice, “I’m a public security officer. A wanted fugitive slipped into the nightclub just now. I need your cooperation.”
Unable to see outside, Kou Beiyue only heard the cursing abruptly cut off.
Next came the exchange between the official walker and the security guard:
“Did anyone leave just now?”
“No.”
“Are there only seven people in this room? Were there seven from the beginning?”
“Yes, we’ve already checked.”
The official walker stepped into the booth, his gaze sweeping across the room like a razor-sharp blade. “Take out your ID cards and state the names of the people beside you.”
The official walker checked everyone’s identification one by one, listening to them recite their companions’ names. He noticed that the young woman standing before the big screen, microphone in hand, hadn't moved an inch.
His eyes narrowed instantly. He strolled over to her and said, “Show me your ID.”
“Didn't bring it!”
The girl in the voluminous dress rolled her eyes.
The official walker scrutinized her from head to toe, then suddenly said, “Walk over to the couch.”
The girl remained motionless.
The walker’s heart leaped in alarm. By instinct, he reached for his walkie-talkie to summon his companions.
Beneath the skirt, Kou Beiyue’s muscles coiled tight like a hunting leopard poised to strike, ready to burst out and kill at a moment’s notice.
Right at that instant, an urgent voice crackled through the walkie-talkie:
“He’s broken out to the exterior! Requesting immediate backup—”
Amid static and crackles, sounds of a violent struggle erupted.
The walker inside the booth changed countenance, spun on his heel, and sprinted outside.
*Phew…* Kou Beiyue let out a long breath beneath the skirt, a single thought echoing in his mind: *Did Xiao Yuan’s friend really just take on six official walkers head-on?*
Chapter 151