Chapter 166: Enemies Meet Face to Face

Carefully drawing his eyebrows in the mirror, Lin Qi adjusted the thin, artificial mustache glued to his lips. He tilted his head to scrutinize his reflection: dull, straw-like hair, sunken eye sockets, a slightly sallow and darkened complexion, and eyes narrowed into listless slits, out of which peered pale grey pupils burning with a fanatical light.

He looked precisely like a hopeless gambler whose excessive nightlife had drained him of all vitality. In Dunkirk, Lin Qi had seen plenty of such ruined men who had lost everything. They always looked just like this—drained of energy, resembling stalks of sugarcane squeezed completely dry, yet with burning eyes as though a frantic volcano smoldered within their chests.

"I look just like a master of gambling!" Lin Qi twisted his waist and asked Julien with a grin, "Even if I take off my mask, they shouldn't be able to recognize me, right?"

Julien stroked his chin, examining Lin Qi’s new appearance before slowly nodding, "Boss, they will definitely not recognize you. After all, tonight’s gathering features plenty of entertainment. The gambling tables are important, but I don't think those two young ladies will crowd around the tables to watch the fun."

Lin Qi shrugged, satisfyingly snapping his tongue to produce a crisp sound. He turned to look at Longcheng, who stood beside him. The black-haired, black-eyed Eastern aristocrat had also undergone a complete transformation into an entirely different person: his pale face was nearly translucent, his sunken cheeks made him look like a dying consumptive, his scarlet pupils flashed with a chilling, demonic light, and his unkempt, long hair hung down his back like countless dead serpents.

Right now, Longcheng looked precisely like a nocturnal demon that preyed upon human blood, and the faint, elusive chill radiating from his entire body only served to reinforce that impression. It was thanks to Lin Qi’s exquisite ancestral makeup skills, combined with Longcheng’s own superb mastery over his muscles and the circulation of his vital energy, that such a remarkably chilling visage had been achieved.

"Well, it's not like I'm afraid of them!" Lin Qi crossed his arms behind his back with a smug expression. "It's just that before they crawl into Titian's bed, before we secure the two-million-gold-coin bounty, and before Julien's elders officially obtain those five official positions, we cannot afford to take even the slightest risk. They must not know we have returned to the imperial capital; we must keep it a secret—absolute secrecy is paramount!"

Longcheng turned his neck indifferently to appreciate his new face, then shook his head with a trace of despondency. "I really look like a dissolute ghost drained dry of vitality and essence by a woman. Why did I have to turn into this? Oh well, are you certain I can get the information I want in that damn gathering tonight?"

Longcheng needed to obtain the itinerary of the Empire's Emperor—information that ordinary people had no possible way of knowing. Having newly arrived in the capital, Longcheng had found no proper channels to investigate such matters, and he didn't even know whom he should kidnap to interrogate for the secret.

Therefore, the secret gathering Lin Qi was taking him to tonight represented Longcheng's greatest hope. He needed to grasp the Emperor's movements as quickly as possible to fulfill certain conditions stipulated in his wager with a certain individual back in the East, allowing him to return eastward without delay.

Lin Qi gave Longcheng's shoulder a hearty slap and burst into laughter. "Don't worry, relax, it's nothing major. Ah, the information you want will be available tonight, rest assured! Julien, wouldn't you say so? Are the people attending tonight all peers of Lord Titian in terms of status and standing?"

Julien hurriedly nodded like a chick pecking at grain. "Yes, everyone attending the gathering tonight in Lord Titian's private club is a heavyweight of equal status and standing to Lord Titian. They are well-informed, and nothing in the imperial capital can be kept from them. With just a little conversational skill, there is nothing we cannot find out."

Nodding in satisfaction, Longcheng puffed out his chest and let out a soft sigh. "Very well, I shall humor you lawless youngsters and play along with this mischief once more. Ah, it seems during my time in the West, I have done quite a lot of these lawless things, haven't I?"

Shaking his head, Longcheng let out another deep sigh, radiating the poignant grievance of an inherently righteous man forced into a life of crime.

After a brief flurry of activity, the three of them—Lin Qi, Longcheng, and Julien—dressed neatly and boarded a carriage sent by Titian, slowly heading toward Titian's secret private club outside the city. As for Enzo, that unlucky fellow had recently been officially commended by the Ministry of War and awarded a military medal for his extraordinary battlefield achievements. Because of this, he had become the darling of the instructors at the Land Military Academy over the past couple of days. Every single day, numerous instructors with time on their hands would track him down, either dragging him out for patrols, ordering him to clean the dormitories, or simply hauling him off to the drill grounds.

Consequently, Enzo had no way of attending tonight's gathering, though truth be told, his presence wouldn't be needed tonight anyway.

The four-wheeled carriage traveled briskly along the clean streets. This grand avenue was reserved exclusively for the high-ranking officials and nobles of the imperial capital coming and going, meaning that no matter how severe the snowstorm, the thoroughfare was always meticulously cleared. Unhindered by accumulated snow, Lin Qi and his party departed the capital from the East Gate in less than an hour, turned northeast into a tree-lined lane, and traveled for another half-hour before arriving at a wide river bend along the Seine.

This expansive river bend was vast, appearing practically no different from a lake. Shielded by small hills on all sides, it was a sheltered sanctuary that gathered favorable winds and trapped vital energy. Even with a blizzard raging in the outside world, this place remained as tranquil as a celestial paradise.

Planted densely with all sorts of rare flowers and trees, a three-story villa was concealed within the surrounding greenery. Squads of burly men clad in tight martial attire marched silently in formation along the paths, each group holding fierce fighting hounds on leashes, guarding the area so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through.

This was Titian’s secret stronghold, a gilded pleasure palace built at immense expense. He frequently hosted various clandestine gatherings here, where figures of all stripes came and went. The romantic luxury reached the absolute extreme, earning it a prestigious reputation among the capital’s circle of idle aristocrats.

A squad of guards in tight attire intercepted the carriage, forcing the three of them to disembark and proceed on foot. Not only them, but anyone arriving here had to dismount from horses or carriages and enter exclusively on foot along the designated trails. This was a deliberate security measure implemented by Titian to prevent anyone at odds with him from smuggling bizarre items into his domain.

Years ago, someone had smuggled a high-tier magical beast into a similar private estate near the capital via carriage, and the horrific aftermath could well be imagined—it had been a nightmare of utter chaos.

Just as the three of them had taken a few steps, a shout rang out from behind.

"Who goes there? Isn't that Julien, Titian's newly acquired lackey and penniless loser?"

With a flash of indignation, Lin Qi turned his head to see Bear, dressed entirely in tight martial attire, striding aggressively toward them from a luxurious carriage.