Chapter Seventeen: The Game Is About to Begin

The rain had begun to ebb and then ceased altogether. The damp air only made the gloom feel heavier. The blood on the street had already been washed away, and the corpses had been dragged off by a group of unidentified men for disposal.

Everything was as it had been yesterday, except that one person was missing from the neighboring room.

The four of them sat together inside. Su Ning, as expected, had vanished again. Chen Hongxu could not quite make sense of Su Ning's devotion to Su Xiaoxiao: to stay loyal, yet never at her side. But he knew this much: whenever Su Xiaoxiao was in danger, Su Ning's sword would appear without fail, always first.

He glanced around the room, then fixed his gaze on Big Bear and said in a low voice, "Big Bear, tell us the real purpose of your mission this time."

Fan Caobao looked at Big Bear in surprise. He believed Chen Hongxu would not waste words at a time like this. Su Xiaoxiao was even more so; her presence sharpened, her eyes full of wariness, as though one wrong answer from Big Bear would be enough for her to strike him down on the spot.

Big Bear wore a pained expression and sighed, as though he truly carried a task unlike the others.

The reason Chen Hongxu had asked was that he had been troubled all along by the make-up of this mission. Su Xiaoxiao, a member of the Black List, had every reason to take part. Zhang Shufang, the one specifically named by the mission, was even more important here than Su Xiaoxiao. As for himself, he had been dragged in by Su Xiaoxiao's shameless pestering and recommendation. Fan Caobao had simply come along to enjoy the ride, seeing little risk in the task. But Big Bear? Unlike Fan Caobao, he had no deep family backing that let him join any mission he pleased, and as the captain of a team, the best arrangement when going on a mission was to keep close to one's own teammates.

Now everything seemed out of place.

"I wasn't trying to hide it on purpose," Big Bear said with a bitter smile. "It's just the rules. Before a mission is completed, the Inspector cannot reveal his identity. The reason everyone recognized Fan Caobao last time was only because the Fan family is rather prominent."

He continued, explaining with a rueful expression, "Since things have turned out like this, there isn't much harm in saying it. The organization had long suspected that something was wrong with this barrier. After all, every group sent here has ended up dying inexplicably. The key clue was a fifth-rank master named Ma Ji.

I don't know how the organization determined that he was still alive, but he disappeared three or four years ago anyway. In the end, these were not solid enough proof. The organization could not use such things to persuade those old experts hanging on by a thread. That is why people have been sent here again and again to gather information.

As for me, I was just following the main force this time to see whether there really was a traitor."

Chen Hongxu frowned. He hated this sort of swirling conspiracy. After hearing the explanation, Su Xiaoxiao studied Big Bear for a while and, finding no sign of falsehood, merely shrugged and relaxed, as though she were long used to such things.

Fan Caobao let out a breath of relief. He and Big Bear were of relatively low strength, so from the start of the mission until now, the two had more or less relied on each other, inseparable as if they shared the same trousers. If Big Bear truly had some hidden purpose, then Fan Caobao would surely be the first to act, after all, only the one who loves you most can hurt you deepest.

"You hid that well enough. If Brother Chen hadn't found it out, I would have thought you were just here to make up the numbers," Fan Caobao said carelessly as he rose on tiptoe and patted Big Bear on the shoulder.

Big Bear smiled wryly and went on, "I already reported the situation to the organization. Their meaning was for us to act as circumstances demand, though in truth I fear they just want us to take the blame."

"Very likely," Su Xiaoxiao said, having remained silent until then. "Since Su Daji and the others are no longer holding back in this matter, it means the time to break through the barrier is only a few days away. I'm afraid the state side won't make it here in time.

So many talents have died. Every nation will start bickering over it again. And if those old monsters learn they missed this chance to enter, they will certainly do something terrifying. It seems we are destined to become the scapegoats."

"They dare?" Fan Caobao shot to his feet and cursed.

Chen Hongxu and the others said nothing, only shook their heads. They already knew the broad shape of the matter matched their conclusions.

"Then what now? Everyone vote: go back, or take part?" Chen Hongxu asked with a dark face.

"Take part," Su Xiaoxiao said coldly.

"Take part. Better to gamble now than go back and bear the blame. If we can really get in and become formidable in strength, who would dare provoke us then?" Big Bear said gravely.

Fan Caobao hesitated. After all, his family was large and powerful, and there was still an old man at home whose depths he could not gauge. "Actually, if I go back and beg the old patriarch, this matter can still be settled. Shouldn't we avoid taking this risk? You know, the small fry have basically all been slaughtered by Su Ning's sword by now. What we'll be fighting over at that point will basically all be top-ranking experts."

Chen Hongxu thought for a moment, then looked at Fan Caobao with real seriousness. "You go back. We'll go on. The risk is too hard to judge. Since we've been through so much together, we count as brothers now. No one will blame you."

"Brothers?"

Watching Chen Hongxu and the others' backs, Fan Caobao fell into a daze and muttered, "Chen Hongxu, what the hell do you take me for? Good brothers for life—I'm going too. Even if I really die out there, at least we'll have the old man to help avenge us, won't we?"

When the rain clears, a rainbow appears. The game that Su Daji and the others had plotted for so long had clearly already begun, while Chen Hongxu and the others were only just stepping into theirs.

Su Ning hid himself in the shadows, looking at the four people who had bound themselves together, and smiled with quiet satisfaction. He seemed very happy.

At the same time, in the Fan family courtyard in the capital, the old patriarch whom Fan Caobao had spoken of, being a figure at the peak, had naturally already learned of the barrier. With a sorrowful expression, he clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky, murmuring, "The Fan family's seal may be about to be undone. I only wonder how far that foolish boy will be able to go."

...

Deep in an isolated mountain region of the Central Plains, an old man in a Taoist robe, washed pale with age, picked at his nose and gazed shamelessly at the Three Pure Ones statues before him, muttering to himself, "That girl Shufang has also reached the time to leap through the dragon gate."

...

In a primeval jungle in Africa, along the route Chen Hongxu had come from, an old monk in a brown kasaya, cloth shoes on his feet and a round bamboo hat on his head, crawled on the ground. His nostrils flared as his deep eyes fixed ahead, and he smiled sinisterly. "I have caught your scent..."

The game has begun. Everyone's game has begun. Hunting and being hunted, opportunities and the making of others, all of it will unfold the moment the barrier is opened a few days from now...

The Hidden Saint chapter seventeen: The game is about to begin. Update complete!