156 A Clever Trap

"With this, it appears we are finished." She Meixiao said, looking down on the documents on the table. Branchmaster Lu agreed, putting down the pen in his hand. "Yes, that was the last one. Vice-Leader She, what do you think about my Daedalus?"

"It's very good. Everything is in order and there is no need for me to interfere with anything." She Meixiao gave a vague reply, not mentioning what she truly thinks about Branchmaster Lu's leadership abilities and mentality regarding his subordinates.

The latter nodded with a content expression, but didn't say anything else. A short moment later, they heard someone knocking on the door of Branchmaster Lu's office and Sheng Feilong and Huang Jialong came into view after being invited in.

Branchmaster Lu's expression darkened ever so slightly for an extremely short moment before he looked the two of them up and down with his usual calm expression. "The two of you have recovered already?"

Huang Jialong nodded and bowed ever so slightly. "Yes, Master. Thanks to Brother Feilong showing mercy, there were no wounds to take care of and it was simply a matter of recovering Soul Power." Branchmaster Lu's eyebrows twitched at the word 'mercy', but he remained silent once more and only nodded his head.

Thanks to their Spirit Power, both, She Meixiao and Sheng Feilong, noticed this miniscule change; The former just attributing it to Branchmaster Lu's pride, while the latter understood his anger about the matter thanks to what Huang Jialong had told him.

Sheng Feilong glanced at Branchamster Lu with a calm expression, then at She Meixiao and his expression turned into an innocent one. "Master, will we remain here for a while or will we set out to the next branch directly?"

She Meixiao glanced at the time and thought about it for a moment before turning to Branchmaster Lu. "It is already pretty late, so I'd say we'll set out tomorrow. I wonder if it would be possible for us to remain for the night, Branchmaster Lu?"

"Of course, that's no problem. I'll make for arrangements to accommodate Vice-Leader She and your disciple." Branchmaster Lu said with a faint smile and calm expression. She Meixiao returned a friendly smile. "Then I'll have to trouble Branchmaster Lu."

Branchmaster Lu then excused himself for a minute and made a call before returning. "The arrangements have already been made; Both of you will be able to reside in guest rooms for the time being. Jialong, show them to the way."

"Yes, Master." Huang Jialong gave a small bow, then turned towards Sheng Feilong and She Meixiao with a small smile. "This way please, Vice-Leader She, Brother Feilong." The two of them followed him and left the room, leaving Branchmaster Lu alone in his office.

After they were gone, the latter expression darkened; No one knew what he was thinking about. A few moments later he stood up and left the office as well into another direction, still with a frosty expression. "Huang Jialong... That useless mutt..."

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Sheng Feilong and She Meixiao had set in in their respective rooms; Small, barely decorated rooms with a bathroom attached to each of them. They weren't anything fancy, but more than enough to spend a single night there.

Huang Jialong talked with Sheng Feilong for a few more minutes before excusing himself and leaving. He slowly walked down the hallways back to Branchmaster Lu's office. However, Branchmaster Lu had gone somewhere else and, after asking one of the administrative staff, Huang Jialong went there as well.

Soon, he arrived in front of another office and knocked on the door. From the inside, he could hear Branchmaster Lu's voice telling him to enter. Knowing what was soon to come, Huang Jialong took a deep breath to brace himself and silently activated the recording function of his Soul Communicator.

Branchmaster Lu was sitting at the table, impatiently tapping his finger on it. His expression was frosty to egin with and it only got worse after Huang Jialong entered. The tense atmosphere was terrifying, even for Huang Jialong, who already knew of Branchmaster Lu's temper and expectations.

"Branchmaster Lu." Huang Jialong bowed to him with his hands clasped, then stood in front of Branchmaster Lu with his back straight. Branchmaster Lu continued to tap on the table, not saying anything for a long while.

The atmosphere became more tense with every tap of his finger and Huang Jialong swallowed dry, before Branchmaster Lu finally spoke. "You have failed your purpose." Huang Jialong still stood straight and then slowly spoke, trying to remain as calm as possible. "We have underestimated Sheng Feilong's abilities. His prowess in combat in general is much higher than we initially thought."

"Do you think that is an excuse for failure?" Branchmaster Lu said with an icy voice after Huang Jialong finished. Once again, Huang Jialong remained calm and continued to speak. "I was talking with him after the match and he personally described his fight against Long Yue as an 'anger-fueled beatdown'. Both of us were unaware of his true strength when he was calm and collected like today."

"Both of us? You mutt; Are you saying it was my fault?" The atmosphere changed once more and the aura that Branchmaster Lu was radiating became filled with killing intent. Still, Huang Jialong stood his ground. "I will not take the blame for something neither of us expected, Branchmaster Lu."

The killing intent Branchmaster Lu radiated slowly vanished, only to be replaced with an ice cold feeling, accompanied by his equally cold voice. "Good. Very good. Starting tomorrow you are to enter secluded cultivation. You will not come back out until you have broken through to rank 61. Now, get lost before I change my mind and kill you."

Huang Jialong didn't say anything. Instead, he bowed to Branchmaster Lu again and left the room. He, again, went down the hall way, away from Branchmaster Lu's position. Only after taking another turn did he kneel over, supporting himself with one hand on the wall while cold sweat ran down his back and forehead; The killing intent and anger of a Hyper Douluo isn't something a mere Soul King like him can withstand.

His body was shaking and it took him a few, long moments to calm down enough to continue. He stopped the recording of his Soul Communicator and slowly stood up. Then, he walked towards the night quarters; However, not towards his own.

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Sheng Feilong was silently meditating on his bed for a while now. Inside of a Daedalus base, he could completely relax and cultivate in peace; Much more so than in the Grand Star Luo Hotel in the Empire's capital.

However, he was disturbed by a knocking on his door. He opened his eyes and opened the door, only to see a, though ragged, familiar face in front of him. "Brother Jialong? What happened?!"

"Brother Feilong, sorry to disturb you. Could you help me talk to your Master for a moment?" Huang Jialong replied with a small smile on his face. Although he wasn't doing very well, he was still very clear about what he was about to do.

Sheng Feilong didn't understand what was going on, but still agreed to help and brought Huang Jialong over to She Meixiao's quarters. She Meixiao was still awake and invited both of them in, clearly surprised to see Huang Jialong, much less in his current state.

The three of them sat down on the table in the room and She Meixiao calmly looked at Huang Jialong. "So, what is it that you wish to talk to me about?" Huang Jialong remained silent and only took off his Soul Communicator. He placed it on the table and played the recording that he took just a few minutes ago.

Sheng Feilong and She Meixiao could clearly see and hear Huang Jialong and Branchmaster Lu and She Meixiao was able to tell that Branchmaster Lu wasn't just angry but also radiated killing intent at some point.

After the recording showed Huang Jialong step out of the room, he stopped it and lookeda t She Meixiao with a determined expression. "Vice-Leader She, I wish to resign from Daedalus. Or at the very least from this branch. Would it be possible for you to help me with this?"