BPIFC -Volume 1 – Chapter 71 Huang Ran Makes His Move

When Wan Changluo appeared at the entrance, everyone froze. They stared blankly at the man who should not have been there.

After hearing Huang Ran explain that all the tragedies here had been caused by Wan Changluo, Che Qianzi had long been furious with him. Now that the culprit himself stood before him, the young Taoist was itching to rush over and kick him squarely in the crotch.

Sun Desheng saw right through his thoughts. Grinning, he whispered into Che Qianzi’s ear:

“Brother, your time to shine will come. For now, just sit back and watch the show with me. This is Old Huang’s performance. Right now he’s playing Red Cliff—Zhou Yu versus Cao Cao.”

Though Che Qianzi had never been much of a scholar, he had heard storytellers recite Romance of the Three Kingdoms when he was young.

Rolling his eyes, he asked:

“Huang Fatty is Zhou Yu? Then who’s Zhuge Liang?”

Sun Desheng laughed and quoted an opera line:

“Easy. That humble genius happens to be your big brother here.”

Meanwhile, Huang Ran addressed Wan Changluo:

“Chairman Wan, you came down pretty quickly. So you must have arranged a double to deal with things above. But coming here alone—do you really think you can take advantage of us?”

Wan Changluo sneered.

“Alone? Are you talking about yourself?”

Then he turned to the foreigners.

“You may act now. Send Mr. Huang and the others out of this world.”

These foreigners had originally been planted by Chairman Wan among Huang Ran’s team. Most were former mercenaries with blood on their hands, intended for precisely this moment.

Yet after hearing the order, every single one lowered their heads.

None moved against Huang Ran.

Halfway through his sentence, Wan Changluo realized something was wrong.

From the beginning of the expedition, he had secretly inserted his own mercenaries into the group.

After careful selection, Huang Ran had unknowingly—or perhaps knowingly—chosen all of Wan’s men.

Apart from Huang Ran, Meng Qiqi, and Zhang Zhiyan, nearly everyone else belonged to Wan Changluo.

The few genuine outsiders had conveniently ended up as food for the giant spiders.

Seeing his mercenaries refuse to act, Wan Changluo shook his head.

“So you’ve been bought over by Huang Ran.”

He looked at them coldly.

“How much did he pay you? I’ll give you five times as much.”

Huang Ran smiled faintly.

“I didn’t give them much. Just forty percent of the gold here.”

He continued:

“Five times? Chairman Wan, that means you’d have to come up with over ten additional tons of gold. I hear the resort project has stretched your finances thin. Didn’t you borrow several billion yuan from the banks? Can you really afford that?”

Wan Changluo was stunned.

“Forty percent?”

He had assumed a few hundred thousand dollars would have been enough to buy loyalty.

Now, he knew he could no longer outbid Huang Ran.

Still, he tried one last time.

“You’re being generous with someone else’s property. Everything here belongs to the Hehuan Sect—”

Before he could finish, Sun Desheng interrupted:

“Everything underground belongs to the state!”

Grinning, he added:

“Technically speaking, all this gold belongs to the country. But exceptions can always be made. I’m willing to turn a blind eye this time. After all, sixty percent of it belongs to me.”

Wan Changluo’s face darkened.

“You dare divide up the Hehuan Sect’s property?”

Taking a deep breath, he pointed at the faceless corpse.

“Bring me the sacred relic. As for everyone else—they all die.”

At his command, the corpse began walking toward him.

Immediately, Huang Ran shouted:

“Did you hear that? Unless we kill Wan Changluo, none of us are getting out alive! I’ll cover your transportation costs for the gold. Take back the relic!”

The foreigners acted instantly.

Four or five men drew concealed firearms and opened fire.

Bullets struck the corpse.

But it paid no attention whatsoever.

Ignoring its former companions, it continued walking toward the exit.

Having witnessed it tear apart snakes and smash coffins with its bare hands—and now seeing bullets prove useless—the mercenaries dared not approach.

Some quick thinkers changed targets.

If they couldn’t stop the corpse, they would kill Wan Changluo instead.

One foreigner turned his gun toward Wan and prepared to fire.

But before he could pull the trigger—

A bloody hole suddenly appeared between his eyebrows.

Without even a groan, he collapsed dead.

The others scattered and charged from different directions.

Yet before they had taken more than a few steps, identical holes appeared in their foreheads.

One after another, they dropped lifelessly to the floor.

From beginning to end, Wan Changluo had not moved a finger.

Even Huang Ran failed to see how he had done it.

Standing expressionlessly at the doorway, Wan blew a whistle.

Hearing the signal, the corpse tossed the sacred relic toward him.

Then it turned and attacked its former companions.

Catching the relic, Wan Changluo smiled at Huang Ran.

Stepping outside, he said:

“Enjoy the last moments of your lives.”

“I’ll return in half an hour to collect your bodies.”

The massive stone gate slowly began to close.

“That bastard got away!”

Che Qianzi tried to chase after him, but the stone door had already sealed shut.

Furious, he shouted at Sun Desheng:

“Fatty! You stopped me! Otherwise, I’d have at least dragged him down with me!”

Sun Desheng pulled him back and whispered:

“Listen to your big brother. Did you see Old Huang making any move? He’s all thunder and no rain. A mere walking corpse isn’t enough to trouble him.”

Then, lowering his voice even further, he said:

“Brother, you missed something.”

“The relic is fake.”

Che Qianzi froze.

He wasn’t stupid.

After thinking for a moment, he immediately understood.

Blinking, he glanced toward Huang Ran.

The man stood calmly watching the battle.

But every now and then, his eyes drifted toward the scar-faced man who had lost his nose.

The man’s complexion had turned deathly pale.

He sat motionless against the Golden Platform.

The bandages on his face were soaked red, and blood had pooled beneath him.

By all appearances, he had died from excessive blood loss.

Yet Huang Ran did not look at him as though he were dead.

He seemed to be waiting.

Every time he glanced at the corpse-like figure, he would unconsciously check his watch.

It was as though he were counting down to something.

By then, the faceless corpse had already killed several foreigners.

Its methods were horrifying.

It simply punched them in the head.

Its fists moved like lightning.

With one blow, a hole would be smashed through the skull, sending blood and brain matter spilling everywhere.

No one could survive such attacks.

Terrified by its brutality, the remaining two or three foreigners fled to the far corners.

Though they knew death was inevitable, living a few minutes longer was still better than dying immediately.

After finding no more living targets nearby, the faceless corpse turned and charged toward Huang Ran, Sun Desheng, and the others.

And then—

Something completely unexpected happened.

Instead of confronting the corpse, Huang Ran suddenly spun around and hurled his dagger at the bearded Aiden, who had been hiding nearby.

Caught off guard, Aiden failed to dodge.

The blade embedded itself directly into his shoulder.

The moment Aiden was wounded—

The charging corpse suddenly collapsed to the ground.

And this time, it never rose again.

Looking at the stunned bearded man, Huang Ran said coldly:

“Aiden, my friend…”

“You disappoint me.”

“I had expected you to be the last person to turn against me.”