Edited by Aelryinth

“Could this be one of the Freemasons’ Xinjing branch liaison locations?” Zhang Che mumbled to himself as he followed the person from before to this little courtyard.

This courtyard looked truly ordinary. Nobody would have thought this was actually a place where evil cult members gathered.

Those people really knew how to hide!

Zhang Che followed the person into the little courtyard. Dim lights were on inside. Under the illumination, he saw the appearance of the person who led them here. Comparing it with the information Zheng Huawei had provided, he guessed this person should be a beastmaster called Sun Hailin from the liaison office.

After seeing Sun Hailin’s appearance, Zhang Che was finally certain that he had indeed found his way into enemy territory.

Going forward, as long as he kept a stable position in their territory, there would be a chance of him going to the Freemasons’ headquarters. At that time, he’d naturally be able to bring down their headquarters in one move and take revenge for himself and Miss Tienan’s ambush.

The three walked into the little courtyard in order. Although there was light inside, no one could be seen. However, Zhang Che knew there were people observing them from the dark thanks to his sharp senses.

This was normal. As the recruitment office of an evil cult organization, it would be unusual if they weren’t on guard.

Zhang Che and Fang Ruqing didn’t say a word, and kept following Sun Hailin inside. After they went inside a room at the side of the little courtyard, Sun Hailin reached his hand out and felt around. The wall suddenly split open, revealing a dark, secret tunnel.

This secret tunnel was very well concealed. If Sun Hailin hadn’t opened it, Zhang Che would probably not have found it if he searched on his own.

Those rats actually had such talent in such fields, designing such an ingenious secret tunnel!

Sun Hailin turned back and glanced at the surprised Zhang Che and Fang Ruqing, instructing them softly before walking into the secret tunnel, “Don’t speak. Come with me.”

Zhang Che and Fang Ruqing exchanged glances, then followed silently, feeling a little wary inside.

After all, they were both escapees from the military. Surely it would be difficult for them to gain the full trust of the organization. In order to prevent unwanted accidents, the two were prepared to summon out their subdued beasts if something was amiss and fight their way out.

In any case, they were still within the borders of Xinjing City. They definitely wouldn’t dare cause a huge commotion.

Fortunately, the Freemasons either believed they really escaped, or didn’t think much of their strength at all. They kept walking along in the secret tunnel, and no incidents occurred.

Zhang Che guessed it was probably the latter. After all, how strong could two mere Tier Four beastmasters be? They could just kill them if they dared to play any tricks!

However, Zhang Che could sense that there seemed to be a signal blocking device activated in this secret tunnel. His personal terminal had lost contact with the outside world.

Zhang Che didn’t put it to heart. As the saying went, the talented and skilled were bold. Given his true strength, nobody in this little Freemason branch would be able to threaten his safety. Putting his powerful babies aside, even by himself, no one could touch him if he summoned out the scarlet and white sword.

They finally arrived at the end of the spiraling tunnel after walking a few dozen meters. Faint light shone ahead once more. This portion of the tunnel was dug straight through. The three walked another few dozen meters forward, and finally arrived at a spacious underground area.

This place was like a secret base, split into many rooms. There were actually more than a hundred people scattered in all the rooms.

A faint light flashed across Zhang Che’s eyes as he sensed all this.

It seemed like this place wasn’t as simple as being the branch’s point of contact. If Zhang Che’s guess was right, this place was extremely likely to be the Xinjing branch itself! Zhang Che could clearly sense a few rather powerful auras that could only come from high-tier beastmasters!

If this wasn’t the branch quarters, then why would there be a few high-tier beastmasters here?

Sun Hailin led Zhang Che and Fang Ruqing directly to one of the rooms.

This room seemed to be a small meeting room. A few people were already sitting inside. When the three walked in, all their gazes fell onto Zhang Che and Fang Ruqing.

The handful of high-tier beastmaster auras Zhang Che had sensed earlier were all present here.

After getting a good look at their appearances, Zhang Che felt happy inside.

After comparing them to Zheng Huawei’s descriptions, it seemed like the officers of the branch were all assembled here!

If it wasn’t for the fact that Zhang Che’s goal was much bigger than this, if he had only wanted to destroy the Freemasons’ Xinjing City branch, he could guarantee killing all of them cleanly if he made his move now!

“Very good. I didn’t expect you two, Zheng Huawei and Fang Ruqing, to escape.” After the three entered the room, the middle-aged man sitting in the head seat with a round face smiled faintly, his eyes squinted. He nodded, seemingly very satisfied with the two’s escape.

“Branch Chief, I think this matter is rather suspicious,” a youth with a cold gaze suddenly interjected, sweeping his gaze across Zhang Che and Fang Ruqing. He continued, “It is said that the Xinjing City’s new military commander has a epic-quality subdued beast, and his men aren’t weak, either. How could they let the two of them escape so easily? In my opinion, these two should be locked up for now and investigated.

“The consequences would be unthinkable if they couldn’t withstand the military’s interrogation and defected, wanting to come back to find out our information and sell it to the military.”

After he was done speaking, Zhang Che and Fang Ruqing both revealed anger and wronged expressions on their faces. They said almost simultaneously, “Branch Chief, Elder Mei has wronged us!”

Fang Ruqing continued brusquely, “Branch Chief, you and the others know what kind of a person I am. Although the military’s interrogations were strict, I would rather die than give in! Why would I surrender to them? Moreover, my family is in the branch as well; would I not want them to survive and dare betray the organization?”

The branch chief nodded slightly, then raised his hand to stop the youth at his side and smiled, “I believe Old Fang’s words. They are the most loyal members of our branch. I trust that they won’t betray us, even in death.

“Alright, no one is allowed to say such dampening words. It’s a joyous matter for Old Fang and Old Zheng to escape. How can we dishearten them?

“Old Fang, Old Zheng, you’ve had it tough these past few days, and have suffered a lot. Rest here for a day; tell us about the military in detail tomorrow. They went crazy this time and raided our organization like mad. We need to learn as much as we can about them. The two of you were locked up for two days and interrogated. Surely you know something about them, more or less. This information will be very helpful for our future operations.”

“Thank you, Branch Chief!” Zhang Che and Fang Ruqing thanked him happily. Under Sun Hailin’s guidance, they walked to the back of the underground base. There was an area there used as resting quarters.

—

After Sun Hailin left, Zhang Che could still sense there were people monitoring them in the dark. They’d definitely draw a fierce attack upon themselves if they made any suspicious moves.

Obviously the Freemasons wouldn’t really lower their guard against the two of them, nor did they remove their suspicions towards them.

However, this was all within expectations. Zhang Che didn’t mind it. He rested in peace after a simple wash up.

—

The next day, Sun Hailin came and woke the two of them up, then brought them back to the small meeting room from last night.

This time, there were more members gathered here. There were several more people compared to last night.

Zhang Che thought to himself, -This should be all the mid-level and above members of the Xinjing branch, right?-

If Zhang Che went on a killing spree now and killed all these people, the Freemasons’ Xinjing branch would be destroyed right then and disappear from the face of the world.

As for the remaining ordinary members, they wouldn’t be able to raise any waves if the mid and high-level members were not there to lead them.

This time, the atmosphere in the meeting room was much more serious than last night.

After they were brought here, the round-faced middle-aged man, who was the branch chief, began questioning the two along with the others. They had them recount everything in detail, from when they were arrested, to the interrogation they suffered in the military prison, until they noticed the security loophole two days ago, and the process of their escape.

Zhang Che was expecting this, and had prepared himself. He didn’t make any mistakes in his story.

As for Fang Ruqing, he had truly escaped with his own abilities. Naturally there wasn’t any loopholes in his words either, and he easily went through the questioning.

The round-faced man nodded slightly. He clapped lightly and said, “Alright, Old Zheng and Old Fang have already recounted the matter in detail, and it matches what we know. There aren’t any problems.

“Now, let’s discuss what we should do next. The military is searching for our organization and some other factions very energetically. It’s very difficult for us to operate like we did in the past. It has become extremely difficult to expand our numbers. Also, we are facing huge risks at every moment, and the branch doesn’t operate based on my words alone, either. Let’s talk about what steps we should take next.”

Naturally it wasn’t that the round-faced man truly believed there was nothing suspicious about the two of them and cleared them after their questioning so easily. In the beginning, when they began recruiting the mid-level members, he had learned a method from headquarters that could make these mid-level and below members quickly forget the more important information… well, to say that they forgot about it wasn’t accurate.

Although they knew some important information, some peculiar restrictions placed on them would be triggered when they were being interrogated, and they would forget about the important information temporarily.

So, it was impossible for the mid-level members to reveal any important information, even if they were caught. As for basic intelligence, it didn’t matter much if they talked about it. Even if the military didn’t interrogate them, they would be able to find out many things just by investigating.

The key question the branch was facing right now was whether they should continue developing in Xinjing City.

If they decided to withdraw, then how should they leave? On the other hand, if they were to stay, how should they continue to expand their numbers and guarantee the military wouldn’t find a huge weakness of theirs?

For a period of time, everyone started arguing with one another.

Some agreed on withdrawing from Xinjing City immediately and developing in another city, while others couldn’t bear to abandon the foundation they’d built up, and thought they should endure for now. It wasn’t too late to resume developing when the situation died down.

Everyone thought their own opinion was backed up with ample reasoning, each standing their ground. Nobody could convince the other side.

The branch chief, the man with the round face, kept a faint smile all the time, and didn’t say a word, acting like the matter didn’t concern him.

Zhang Che had been observing this man stealthily from his peripheral vision, guessing his true intentions.

Obviously the branch chief already had a case in his mind and had purposely brought up the two choices. He only wanted to see what everyone was thinking.

Zhang Che guessed that this round-faced man probably didn’t want to continue staying in Xinjing City.

After all, Huang Juyun’s subdued beast, the Metal Tyrant, had displayed godly might when the search and arresting of evil cult members was going on, dealing a severe hit to some members. It was impossible for this round-faced man to be unaware of this.

If they continued staying here, heavens knew when Huang Juyun would finally find his way to them and destroy the Freemason branch in one go.

Done thinking, and when the people around him were a little tired of arguing, Zhang Che suddenly said, “Branch Chief, this subordinate thinks that we should give up on Xinjing City for now and make a strategic retreat. We’ll go to another city and endure for a period of time first, then make our next moves depending on the situation at that time.”

Everyone in the room suddenly went quiet and looked at Zhang Che.

The round-faced man smiled faintly, sweeping his gaze across Zhang Che’s face, then waved his hand and said, “Tell me about your reasoning behind this.”

Zhang Che nodded and continued, “When this subordinate was being interrogated in the military prison, I overheard by chance that the Xinjing military division not only had Huang Juyun, their Huang family also has a future son-in-law who is very powerful, and has come to Xinjing City recently.

“I presume many of you here have heard about this man. His name is called Zhang Che, and he claimed victory against the Bei Du City’s Zhen family in an arena deathmatch, and was hailed as the number one expert among the younger generation. His strength is incredible.

“Also, during my time in the prison, this subordinate has also heard that this Zhang Che, and even Huang Juyun’s daughter, were ambushed by other branches before, and he has a deep hatred for us Freemasons.

“So, this subordinate thinks that their target will definitely be us. Although we’re very strong as well, we should be far from being able to take on two powerful figures, in addition to the military force at the same time. As such, I think we should leave Xinjing City as soon as possible, perhaps even withdrawing from Jingzhou.”

Zhang Che was certain the branch chief was at least vaguely aware of everything that he’d mentioned. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be inclined to leave Xinjing City.

However, Zhang Che was helping him finalize his decision. It’d be best if the branch withdrew from Jingzhou and returned to the Freemason headquarters!