GOR Chapter 430 Shen
At the same time.
Shen gently pulled off the scarf he wore over his head, revealing his elegant golden hair. The extraordinary face and the pair of eyes that shone like the stars turned the heads of the nearby young women.
Shen turned his head and smiled at a freckled girl, who was staring at him.
The girl blushed. However, she moved over with her camera and spoke in non-fluent English, “Excuse me, are you a movie star?”
Shen was slightly shocked.
“What I mean is, you… you are very handsome. Can I take a picture with you?”
Shen smiled and nodded his head. The girl was pleasantly surprised and she exclaimed in joy. She quickly waved her hand and her female companions rushed over and they surrounded Shen. They raised their cameras and selfie sticks and were soon taking some pictures through several different angles.
After they were done, Shen did not refuse when one of the young females wrote down her number on a piece of paper and shoved it into his hand. He then smiled and put on a pair of sungla.s.ses.
After that, Shen slowly made his way out of the Wailing Wall plaza.
Not far away, Chen Xiaolian and Qiao Qiao were embracing each other. Qiao Qiao, who was attracted by the screams of the young women, glanced over and smiled before saying, “Eh? That man is quite handsome.”
Chen Xiaolian became somewhat jealous and he gave a harrumph. “Not as handsome as me.”
“He looks like a rich and handsome man,” replied Qiao Qiao with a giggle.
Shen reached the street beside the plaza and a Bentley Continental swiftly stopped there. A driver came out and bowed toward Shen, who entered the car. After that, the driver drove the car away.
Chen Xiaolian laughed. “Fine, that fellow is a rich and handsome man while I am the beta-male. At any rate, my girlfriend has enough money to support me. Right, that sports car looks good. How about you give me one as a present?”
Qiao Qiao took his words seriously. “You really like it? When we get home, I’ll give you one.”
“… … forget it. I think it will be more fun to drive a Thunderstorm Tank.”
When evening arrived, everyone returned to the David Citadel Hotel.
They gathered in their room and summed up the information they collected today.
Soo Soo, who was left in the hotel room for the whole day, displayed a bitter baby face. However, Xia Xiaolei and Qimu Xi were happy. That was especially true for Xia Xiaolei. This was his first time travelling so far away from home. Although he had spent the day gathering information, the experience was almost the same as going on a vacation. When he returned to the hotel, he wore one of those Jewish caps on his head. He had also bought a carved miniature version of the Ten Commandments from a tourist shop.
Lun Tai had remained calm. He discussed the information he gathered with Chen Xiaolian. “We went to several locations. Generally speaking, three great religions had converged here: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. If we want to check through history and religion, there would be too many things to go through. We can only gather some.”
Beside him, Roddy shut down his laptop and said, “I have already gotten the city map from the munic.i.p.al system.”
He pulled out a stack of printed maps. “I had made a mark of several of the famous attractions here. Those might well be the quest related locations. I had also marked down the surrounding terrains. And then there are the roads. There are basically 36 roads that I believe to be important and thus I had marked them down as well. I marked them all with red marker.”
Chen Xiaolian accepted it and carefully examined it. He sighed involuntarily. “Perhaps any more than this would be pointless. Only Heaven knows what the instance dungeon would be.”
Lun Tai comforted him. “There is nothing wrong with being prepared. At any rate… … this is just a [B] cla.s.s instance dungeon.”
Chen Xiaolian checked the time. “We have less than 24 hours left. Let us rest for now.”
Night fell.
In front of a huge Gothic-style building…
Engraved stones rose up through the empty square. A white coloured Bentley Continental swiftly made its way in and curved in an elegant manner into the parking s.p.a.ce beside the building.
A toned leg stepped out from the car and Shen slowly emerged from the car.
The night wind blew his hair up and he observed the surrounding darkness.
He tightened the white coloured trench coat that he was wearing. After pulling off his scarf, he held it in his hand and strode toward the Gothic-style building.
The closed gates of the building automatically opened the moment Shen stepped onto the stairs.
A very thin middle-aged man in formal clothes walked out. He had grey hair and droopy eyelids.
“Your invitation, sir.” The middle-aged man stopped Shen from proceeding.
Shen looked at the middle-aged man. After a few seconds, he revealed a soft smile. “Petro, is that you?”
The middle-aged man was startled. He raised his head to regard Shen.
There was a smile on Shen’s face as he said, “It has truly been a long time. To think that you would have aged so much.”
The middle-aged man stared at Shen’s face and horror soon appeared on his face. “You… you are… … you are…”
“It is me, Petro.” Shen continued smiling, revealing his white set of teeth. “Let me think, how long has it been since we last met? 30 years? 40 years?”
Petro suddenly lost his balance and he staggered a few steps backward. There was utter terror on his face. “You… … you…”
“Don’t be so nervous.” Shen slowly stepped forward. “I am not here to kill you. I am not here to kill any of you. Maybe you should invite me in so we can sit down and talk.”
“Ge ge” sounds could be heard coming from Petro’s throat but he was too panicked to say anything.
Shen walked past him and the gates.
Inside the building.
The empty hall was about seven or eight meters long.
Shen showed no interest in the relief and oil paintings on the walls. He simply walked toward a door to the side.
Petro caught up from behind to see the two muscular men positioned beside the door moving to confront Shen. They revealed stern expressions as they rushed Shen.
Shen smiled and extended his fingers out gently.
Bang! Bang!
A certain power immediately sent the two muscular men flying! When they struck the surface of the walls, they found their bodies pressed onto the wall by an invisible force! Thus, they could only remain immobile, three to four metres above ground.
“Easy now. If I had any intention of killing, you fellows would be dead.” Shen sighed before extending his hand to push open the door.
Inside was a place that was as big as a library. A long oval shaped table rested in the middle of the room and several people were seated before the table, discussing something.
The building was three storeys high and its hollow architecture allowed this conference room to occupy all three floors. Books lined the surrounding walls and a few ancient looking cold weapons hung down from the walls…
The room was rather dark as the lighting within was dim. However, up on the ceiling was a large painting with a religious theme. A group of angels with wings were raising various types of weapons to do battle against a chaotic ma.s.s of dark coloured demons…
Shen’s sudden appearance caused several of those seated before the table to rapidly stand up. Their eyes coldly stared at the door.
There at the door stood Shen; he tossed the scarf in his hand to Petro, who had followed him in. Then, he swaggered into the room until he was standing before the table.
“It has been a long time, my old friends… … ahh, perhaps I should amend that to… enemies?”
Silence!
Deathly silence!
The faces of several of the figures before the oval shaped table were ugly to behold. They glared at Shen as though they had encountered their enemy.
Finally, the one in the most important position on the oval shaped table took a deep breath. He extended both hands and made a down gesture with both hands. “Shen?”
The corners of Shen’s mouth curled into a smile. “It seems you have not forgotten me. How nice of you.”
He snapped his fingers and one of the chairs placed in a row nearby automatically moved over to rest behind him.
Shen then sat down. When he did so, a transparent decanter slid over by itself, a gla.s.s along with it.
Shen gracefully picked up the decanter and poured himself a gla.s.s before smiling.
“Mene, you still love enjoying the finer things in life. I knew I would be able to drink some good wine if I come here.”
He raised his gla.s.s of wine in the direction of the man standing in the most important position and swirled the wine slightly.
There was extreme iciness in Mene’s eyes. After his gesture, everyone else slowly sat down. Petro exchanged glances with Mene before quickly heading out of the room. Before leaving, he closed the door.
Mene himself remained standing and he glared at Shen. “It has been so many years. Yet, you are still the same.”
“Surprised?” Shen took a sip.
“No, not surprised.” Mene clenched his teeth. “All these years, I have spent nearly every day praying… for you! Shen, I prayed, prayed that no accident will ever befall you, prayed that you would not die under someone else’s hand! Because the sinful debt that you had incurred from us… we will personally demand repayment from you!”
Shen laughed.
He put down the gla.s.s.
“Shen!” The figure sitting beside Mene shouted, “This is the land of the light! For a follower of evil like you to enter, are you not afraid of divine retribution?”
Shen raised an eyebrow and a commiserating expression could be seen – it was an undisguised look of commiseration.
Then, he slowly spoke.
“Gattuso, how should I say this? It has been so long now. Yet, you have not changed a single bit.”
Shen shook his head. “You, all of you are still the same. Why? Are you unable to accept reality? Or, despite knowing it, did you choose to deceive yourselves to protect your fragile hearts?”
Shen looked around. “Just look, the arrangements you all made here… holy, majestic, mysterious… … br.i.m.m.i.n.g with religion.
“But you are not ordinary humans. You are not like those NPCs in the streets outside, you are all Awakened ones.
“As Awakened ones, you already know the truth of this world.
“G.o.d? Divine retribution?
“Stop joking around. The G.o.d that you invoke is just a setting in this world.”
Gattuso’s cheeks tensed and it seemed as though he was about to jump out to attack Shen.
“Calm down, Gattuso,” Mene spoke up and he leaned forward slightly. “Shen, stop trying to provoke us. There is no need for you to add this little bit to the already substantial amount of grudge between us. Since you have come here…”
“What then?” Shen laughed. “Close the door and take action together to kill me?”
The commiserating expression on his face only grew. “Do you know, Mene? I had originally thought that you were one of the few among the circle of Awakened ones worthy of my recognition. How unexpected. You had devolved into a pitiful wretch.”
He spread his hands out and said in a very calm manner. “Kill me? You know all too well, Mene. The same goes for you, Gattuso… … you all cannot kill me. Even if every one of you here combined your powers, you would still be unable to kill me. Since that is the case, why do you insist on uttering these… … NONSENSE!”
After saying that, Shen suddenly stood up and extended his hand. He tossed something onto the table.
Bang!
The sound of the item falling onto the table echoed clearly through the s.p.a.cious room.
It was a box.
A long and narrow box.
Shen, who stood before the table, snapped his fingers lightly and the box quickly slid forward until it was before Mene.
“Open it, it is a surprise,” said Shen with a smile.
There was shock on Mene’s face. He hesitated for a moment before reaching his hand out to open the long and narrow box.
A crack was opened and a dazzling golden light instantly shone out from the box!
The golden light shone upon Mene’s face and he immediately revealed a look of absolute shock!
Bang!
Mene quickly shut the box! He raised his head and cast a look of shock at Shen. “This, this is…”
“Yes.”
Shen had a very relaxed look as he raised his gla.s.s and took another sip. “Back then, I had beaten you all up and took this from you. For this, you all have hated me for decades, wis.h.i.+ng nothing more than to peel my skin, feast upon my flesh, drink my blood, no? And now, I return it to you.”
“… … why?” Mene took a deep breath and suppressed the emotions roiling within his heart. “Back then, for the sake of this holy relic, you killed so many…”
“Because I had gotten what I wanted from it and it is now of no value for me,” Shen said casually. “I have already used it. Naturally, I would have to return it to you. At any rate, it is not really that useful.”
Ecstasy surged out from Mene’s heart and he nearly cried.
Shen regarded Mene and released a soft sigh. “If you want to cry from excitement, you had best wait until I am gone before putting on this show. I still have something I want to say.”
Shen pointed at the long and narrow box. “The item inside… … I had later found several others that are exactly the same as it.”
Hiss!
Several figures in the room inhaled in unison!
“Those items no longer hold any value for me, so I don’t mind giving them to you. However, I am not here to be charitable – you all know me, I am not that kind. What I want to tell you is… … while those items are of no value to me, I believe you all desire it, right?”
“Enough nonsense! Shen!” There was hoa.r.s.eness in Mene’s voice.
“It is very simple. I can give you a few more of it.” Shen smiled. “But…”
Mene stared distractedly at Shen. “But what? A trade?”
“That is right. A trade.”
Mene suddenly burst into laughter!
“Trade? To think that you would suggest a trade with us! We made a trade with you last time and that proved to be the biggest mistake ever! The things you did to us…”
“Did I not return the item to you? Also, I am going to give you even more.”
“… … …” Mene was at a loss for words.
“You all want this thing. You really, really, really want it bad, so badly you dream of it every second of the day and night. I know you all very well. And so… … this trade, yes or no is up to you all.”
Mene was silent again.
Clearly, these fellows were secretly discussing this matter through their guild channel.
Shen was in no hurry. He took his time and sipped the contents of his gla.s.s until it was empty.
Finally, Mene sighed. “First, tell us about your conditions.”
Shen smiled.
“You should already know that an instance dungeon is about to open in this area…”