694 Lou Cheng, The God Of Calamity

Lou Cheng turned to Shadow Hunter, Cheng An.

"Report the situation to the allied HQ."

The decaying spot had already scabbed, but he still felt pain. The purple flames gradually extinguished, revealing his upper body that concealed a terrible, latent energy.

He drew a concealed breath and smothered a grimace. In his heart, he was confused by the events that had transpired.

The Physical Invulnerability expert earlier most likely belonged to the Witch King branch, which explains why he had decided to run when his skills were countered. But in the end, he fought with his life on the line and harmed himself, after which he even used a curse that caused mutual destruction. It didn't make any sense.

Normally, if one gets caught in an inescapable situation, unless he has a vendetta against his enemy, wouldn't the logical choice be to surrender?

To preserve one's body and hold out hope, wouldn't that be better?

A Physical Invulnerability expert was valuable no matter which faction they joined. Of course, they have to comply with certain methods of manipulation, like Number 16 and 17.

This could be considered one of the worst types of ending. His Witch King branch might even pay enough money to buy him back. After all, producing a Physical Invulnerability expert involves lot of difficulty and luck.

With several irons in the fire, why would he choose to sacrifice his life?

Could the secret he's involved in be more important than his life?

His misjudgment on the enemy's attitude nearly caused Lou Cheng to let the worms slip into his body and take on the mutual destruction curse directly, suffering serious injuries. If his stage or abilities were any weaker, whether he could even stand in one piece would be in question.

"Yes," said Cheng An quickly to Lou Cheng's instructions. Without realizing it himself, there was more reverence and fear in his tone than before.

Looking away, he took out the satellite phone to contact HQ.

Nearby, Smith stared blankly at the pile of flesh and blood, then looked up at Lou Cheng. He felt like he hadn't changed much in appearance since their first encounter, other than his new maturity. However, the Terror Grade expert was silently questioning his senses.

Every time they met, Lou Cheng was exponentially stronger, as though there were no limit or delays to his strength. It was the same back when he came to Connecticut each month, just to a less ridiculous extent.

But now, he had grown into an awe-inspiring Mighty One who could single-handedly take down a terrifying Terror Grade expert.

Was this the evolution of a god-tier martial arts genius? Like China's Dragon King and Warrior Sage? Like New York's Saint and Hand of Order?

Being born in the Information Age, it wasn't as though Smith hadn't seen any top tier experts. However, he saw them only through screens and never personally experienced the terror of watching them grow.

Now, he understood.

This rate of growth is enough to strip one's confidence and plunge them into despair.

At the same time, he had ascertained another conclusion.

Lou Cheng was indeed a troublemaker, the source of all troubles.

To stay safe, get away from Lou!

That was when the voices of the high-ranked HQ commanders bled from Cheng An's satellite phone.

"Have you identified the Physical Invulnerability expert?"

"We took a picture of him. We'll send it to the HQ for comparison right away. We suspect that it's Talin from the branch of the Witch King," reported Cheng An. He often went on missions in the war-torn zones, so he wasn't unfamiliar with the famous Mighty Ones in the region.

"Excellent," said the high ranked Chinese official with a hint of delight. "What about Ta Gu and his gang? Have they been dealt with? Any survivors?"

"All dead apart from Ta Gu. The others were all killed by the expert suspected to be Talin. Probably to silence them," said Cheng An.

"Silence huh…something feels off…" The official pondered for a moment. "Did the Physical Invulnerability expert leave any other clues?"

"No," said Cheng An, glancing at the pile of flesh and blood. Without realizing, he lowered his voice. "He's already dead."

There was a moment of silence from the other side. Not even breathing could be heard. At length, Cheng An heard a new question, uttered with a little anxiety.

"How did he die?"

"He was…" Cheng An swallowed some spit. "Done in by Mr. Lou."

Inside the Allied HQ, the high-ranked officials that had gathered lost the ability to speak once again.

"Oh, god…" muttered a brown-haired man a few seconds later.

"If it was Talin, he would indeed have been countered by Lou," said a blue-eyed woman in a dark green military uniform thoughtfully.

"Still, killing a Terror Grade expert is no easy feat," said the brown-haired man, shrugging.

The few high-ranked Chinese officials exchanged glances, not sure if they should join the discussion or remain modest.

Would it be bragging to express our awe and give compliments?

As they hesitated, the blue-eyed woman drew a sharp breath.

"The last time Lou came to the war-torn zones, two Terror Grade experts, Number 16 and 18, died."

She was part of the negotiation meeting for that incident, so she was fully aware of the details.

The brown-haired man looked away and blurted,

"Before that, when he was in Nile, even more Terror Grade experts died. Among the casualties, Dark Night Bat and the Mummy's deaths are suspected to have something to do with him."

"At the time, Nile was also considered as a war-torn zone…" said a high-ranked Chinese official, feeling the need to interject.

"Three times in the war-torn zones, three times being involved in the deaths of Terror Grade experts, with no exceptions…" the blue-eyed woman's voice tailed away. There was a hint of fear in it.

"What if he's actually a human-like monster that targets Terror Grade experts?" muttered the brown-haired man. "We'll have to restrict him from coming here in the future…"

Is it really okay to discuss this right in front of us? Plus, you can rest easy since you're all Inhumans and below! The high-ranked Chinese officials exchanged glances but didn't interrupt.

Collecting themselves, they quickly made an order to Cheng An:

Search Talin's corpse and other valuable things. Return to HQ as soon as possible. Make sure to remain discreet. If any information was leaked, they would be prosecuted in military court.

Hanging up, Cheng An relayed the order to the others.

Frowning, Dwayne didn't hide his confusion.

"Why suicide? Why not surrender?"

To him, sacrificing his life to curse Lou Cheng was equivalent to committing suicide.

"Maybe he's a determined Physical Invulnerability expert with a strong will," said Jian Dan, half-seriously and half-jokingly.

There were indeed such Physical Invulnerability Experts with unwavering willpower.

"Perhaps he's against being controlled. Or it could have something to do with a curse. He could still belong to the Witch King branch, who may have some important secret. If he surrendered, he'd be cursed from afar and killed," deduced Cheng An from her experience over the years.

"It's possible," Lou Cheng nodded slowly. "Let's get back quickly."

The subsequent investigation was no longer his mission. The military did not lack professionals.

As for new missions, they would have to wait until they figured out the secret. It seemed like that could take a while.

That means I can go home for my vacation, then to Connecticut to celebrate the New Year!

...

Outside the jungle, in a camouflaged armored jeep.

A seemingly blind middle-aged man with hoary eyes gazed outside, his back against the chair.

He wore a black vest unique to the southeast region of the war-torn zones. His hair was fixed up and his face was green. It was no other than the current Witch King, Ruo Xin.

The mission was to save Ta Gu, which meant the tricksters from the Witch King branch were the best choice for the job, an offer they didn't turn down. However, Ruo Xin didn't show up personally—if they were exposed, Talin's actions and the branch of the Witch King would be affected. That would draw a lot of unwanted attention to them.

There was a sudden snap. A puppet on the counter before Ruo Xin shattered into pieces.

It had been a dark red puppet with various patterns and a face similar to Talin and eyes that seemed especially alive.

"Voodoo Doll!"

This was the foundation for training curses in the branch of the Witch King. When one masters the art, it becomes the most important and deadly skill. If it is controlled by another curse expert, then the owner's fate will be completely in their hands.

"Talin's dead…" blurted Ruo Xin, the light in his eyes contracting.

Shock and disbelief flashed through his head. Changing his hand seal, hoary light gathered and shot out from his eyes as he chanted.

He was going to use the voodoo doll to communicate with the victim's soul, which had not yet dispersed, to question him on how he died.

The shattered puppet flew up, burning with hoary liquid flames.

In the light of the fire, a scene began taking shape: endless darkness and a condensed mass of sparkly stars.

Then, an extremely complex ancient word appeared and extinguished the flames.

Ruo Xin's head tilted backward and coughed. Two dark red streams flowed down his nose.

Covering his nose, his eyes gleamed.

"Let's get out of here," he said to his subordinates.

...

In the military airport, Lou Cheng received a call from Empress Luo.

"So you did run into trouble…" The experienced beauty was speechless.

Having completed the task, Lou Cheng had been escorted out of the country. He laughed dryly.

"That's their problem."

Ning Zitong was silent for a moment. Then, she said,

"You should be proud of yourself for killing a Physical Invulnerability expert solo. Your Master only managed to do it years after attaining Physical Invulnerability. As for your contribution, wait for the subsequent investigations. If it involves something bigger, then you don't have to do anything else and can go straight to studying the Forbidden Sect Yuqing Chapters."

"Thank you, Sister Ning," said Lou Cheng, delighted.