Trafford's Trading Club Chapter 1099: Chapter 143: Brute Courage

Chapter 1099: Chapter 143: Brute Courage

“What was the oute?”

The location of the second Jade Dragon Pillar was in a small, relatively uninhabited forest — obviously, by the time Yan Xiaoxi and the others arrived, there were no clues left to follow.

The Management Bureau, having drawn a blank, promptly sent their research team to the site, where they busied themselves for half a day.

Once again, Dr. Zhao, the head of all research projects of the Management Bureau, was conversing with Yan Xiaoxi.

“The same, the area is filled with unmeasurable special magnetic fields that distort the surrounding space, making it impossible to approach.” Dr. Zhao stared at the second Jade Dragon Pillar ahead, and rather than feeling disappointed by the inability to analyze it, he grew increasingly enthusiastic, “I have a feeling this thing is going to show up again.”

Yan Xiaoxi glanced at Dr. Zhao with a blank expression… In fact, from what his master revealed, Yan Xiaoxi knew that there were indeed more Jade Dragon Pillars, seven in total.

“Dr. Zhao, please continue with your research; obtaining useful information a minute earlier gives us an extra layer of security.”

“I need more manpower.”

“I will assign them to you.”

After that, Yan Xiaoxi intended to leave — but at that moment, the Jade Dragon Pillar in front of him unexpectedly trembled slightly.

This anomaly made Dr. Zhao, who had been researching without results for dozens of hours, excited beyond measure, and he quickly instructed his team to start recording data.

However, after the Jade Dragon Pillar trembled, it soon calmed down again.

After waiting for a while with no further developments, Yan Xiaoxi could only leave… His master had said that if there was no way to prevent the appearance of the second Jade Dragon Pillar, the exact location of the second pillar should be delivered immediately.

As he left, a thin mist began to rise in the small forest.

…

…

The day after Song Haoran returned safely, Zhang Qingrui visited the Song Ancestral Mansion again with Mr. Aqi.

Earlier, shortly after Zhang Qingrui and Mr. Aqi left to cooperate, Zhang Qingrui had informed her grandmother about the events through a long-distance call.

The old lady should have already spoken with Song Tianyou on the phone before Zhang Qingrui’s arrival, so when Zhang Qingrui came to visit, Old Master Song did not show an unpleasant expression.

Song Tianyou did not mention the subsequent events, and Zhang Qingrui and Mr. Aqi stayed for a while before politely declining Song Tianyou’s invitation to dinner and left in a hurry.

However, before leaving, Song Ying called Zhang Qingrui aside, and the two went to a corner of the courtyard.

“Are you heading straight back?” Song Ying asked curiously.

Zhang Qingrui nodded, “Grandmother wants me home tonight to take care of some things.”

Song Ying nodded understandingly; as a child of a prominent family, unless one aspired to be a slacker, they usually led busy lives, “Alright, it’s rare to find someone to chat with.”

Zhang Qingrui smiled slightly and made a gesture to keep in touch by phone.

The two exchanged a knowing smile.

“By the way, do you remember that incident when we went on a picnic a few days ago?” Song Ying suddenly asked.

Zhang Qingrui couldn’t help but feel her ears burning, but she feigned calmness, “It’s really not a fond memory… Why bring it up all of a sudden?”

Song Ying said, “Do you remember, besides you, me, and my uncle’s dead head, was there anyone else?”

Zhang Qingrui paused, lowered her head in thought for a while, then shook her head, “It seems it was just the three of us, right? Was there someone else?”

“I feel like…” Song Ying shook her head, “Never mind, maybe I remembered wrong.”

Zhang Qingrui pursed her lips and smiled, “You must be too tired, have a good rest… And you’re the first person I know who calls their uncle a dead head.”

Song Ying shrugged, “I don’t know, it just slipped out, but it felt so satisfying to say it!”

Zhang Qingrui laughed heartily.

The two later hugged.

Song Ying acpanied Zhang Qingrui to the door, and the young lady of the Zhang Family, after casting a thoughtful glance back at the Song Ancestral Mansion, got into the car and left the Song Family Village, heading straight for the airport.

…

But to Zhang Qingrui’s surprise, when she arrived at the airport planning to catch her flight, she was informed by the airport staff that due to weather issues, all flights had been temporarily suspended.

“Since when?”

Relaxing in the lounge with her eyes closed, Zhang Qingrui glanced out the window, noticing a dense white fog had enveloped the airport surroundings at some point.

The temporary news broadcast on the television was also covering this incident — an unknown heavy fog had appeared in various parts near Mount Tai.

On TV, the field reporter was depicted almost unable to see their hand before their face — and soon the TV screen in the lounge lost its picture, turning into a sea of white noise.

Moreover, the lights in the lounge suddenly went out, leaving Zhang Qingrui slightly panicked.

At this moment, Mr. Aqi rushed back, “Miss, the airport suddenly lost power, and the phones have no signal either. They are starting the generators, so power should be restored shortly.”

Zhang Qingrui was taken aback… Airports are generally not prone to power outages.

She instinctively looked at the thickening white fog outside the window and felt a strange unease, “What on earth…”

…

…

The power outage wasn’t limited to the airport — large areas near Mount Tai were experiencing electrical failures.

Those places that had independent power systems quickly restored power temporarily, but most areas weren’t so fortunate… The thick fog pervaded unnoticed through the city, suburbs, industrial areas, rivers, and forests.

No one knew the source of this fog, only that its appearance seemed like it was meant to engulf human civilization… In a world shrouded in fog and devoid of power, almost only primitive sounds could be heard.

The sound of falling, the sound of collisions, angry curses, things crashing from above… Vehicles colliding on the highway.

Crying children, howling pets, breaking glass… Explosions.

Mo Mo had been inside the underground treatment room of Wolong Mountain Villa for an entire day and night. Such short-term sleeplessness didn’t affect a Taoist like Mo Mo much… but the sudden plete darkness around startled Mo Mo.

He quickly got up, only to see that the devices placed next to Zhan in the isolation room were in the process of rebooting.

After spending a night here, only one female medical staff remained to provide care—since the operation was over, Zhan entered the observation period, and the doctors naturally wouldn’t stay all the time.

“It seems like there’s a blackout.” The nurse looked around in confusion.

Mo Mo felt a sudden impulse, instructed the nurse to stay put, and walked out of the underground medical room alone—but upon returning to the surface, he found himself in a hazy world.

“This fog…”

Mo Mo found it familiar… Perhaps he had experienced it once before!

Before New Year’s Eve, such dense fog had appeared—during that fog, Mo Mo had a relatively direct impression of the club.

Neither proper nor evil, just doing its so-called ‘business.’

At this moment, there were not many people left in Wolong Mountain Villa—since the appearance of the second Jade Dragon Pillar, Yan Xiaoxi had intensified the search, sending out almost everyone except the logistics staff.

Mo Mo wandered inside the villa for a long time before finally arriving at a separate courtyard—here, Mo Mo saw a white-haired man with a youthful face, eyes tightly shut, looking up beyond the courtyard wall.

But at that moment, Mo Mo felt a chill behind him, a strong sense of danger stimulated his nerves, prompting him to react instinctively.

In the thick fog, Mo Mo lowered his body, swung his arm back, his fingers forming a sword technique, quickly pointing out.

He heard a ‘yi’ sound, as if his finger had touched a hard steel plate, causing a faint pain… He was astonished immediately.

“What relation do you have with Changhe from Dragon Tiger Mountain?”

At this moment, a figure slowly walked out—it was a middle-aged man in a Tang suit… This man exuded a power as if it was Mount Tai, a heavy feeling, reminding Mo Mo of Huang Baifu he had fought before… In his impression, when Huang Baifu had the strange tiger pattern, the pressure felt similar.

“My master.” Mo Mo posed himself, but remained on guard, knowing he must have encountered a true senior expert.

“Changhe’s disciple, not bad. So you’re the youngster who stirred trouble between the Dao and Demon Realms before?”

Mo Mo heard this and became nervous.

The Tang suit man nodded and then waved his hand, “Relax, I won’t attack you. However, when you practice the True Scripture of Dragon and Tiger to the Ninth Layer, even if you don’t seek me out, I’ll e looking for you.”

Mo Mo was startled, thinking that his master, Elder Changhe, had practiced for many years and only reached the ninth layer, how many years and months would it take him?

Nevertheless, the Tang suit man directly called his master’s name… Could he be an acquaintance of his master?

But the Tang suit man said, “You’re only twenty or so, right? You’ve already reached the seventh layer, probably have had two experiences of unity with heaven and man, and they were recent, proving your talent is good. I believe that day is not too far away.”

Mo Mo was truly astonished… This Tang suit man only glanced at him, yet discerned his true capabilities?

“Senior, may I ask who you are?”

“Me?” The Tang suit man smiled casually, “Just an old fool, you can call me Old Fool if you like.”

“How can that be…” Mo Mo shook his head.

But this Tang suit man… Old Fool did not pay attention to Mo Mo at this moment, directly walking up to the white-haired man, deeply asking, “Blind Man, it’s a blackout and fog outside, all the same within a hundred miles, is this your senior brother’s work?”

This white-haired man was indeed Mr. Blind.

Mr. Blind shook his head, “I don’t know for sure, but it’s probably very close.”

“Senior, I’ve seen this kind of fog once,” Mo Mo furrowed his brows at this moment, “Before Lunar New Year’s Eve, this fog appeared once.”

“Oh? Tell me.” The Tang suit man directly said.

At the moment, Mo Mo did not conceal much… except subconsciously hiding the incident where the club’s maid later saved Nero.

Mr. Blind and this Tang suit man could hear that Mo Mo was indeed withholding something… However, neither of them probed deeper.

“You said a white War Spirit called itself Xuanyuan?” Mr. Blind slightly frowned at the moment.

Mo Mo nodded, his expression serious, “They are very powerful, especially the one later, seemingly able to summon a golden light from the earth.”

Mo Mo pared Gongsun Shiyu he encountered that evening to the Tang suit man before him… Unsure which of the two was more powerful.

Yet, in the latter part of that battle, it was the club’s maid who mercilessly crushed Gongsun Shiyu… If the maid was already so formidable, what state could Senior Luo be in?

Thinking about this, Mo Mo couldn’t help but bee a bit distracted.

“It should be them,” Mr. Blind slowly exhaled at this moment, “I’ve heard that the Xuanyuan Palace contains countless secret treasures, among them one called the ‘Four Seasons Glass Book,’ alleged to be made from the bones of the Lord of Wind and Teacher of Rain, capable of calling the wind and rain and changing seasons.”

“Are you certain it’s Xuanyuan Palace?” The Tang suit man frowned.

Mr. Blind shook his head, “I’m just guessing… I can’t calculate anything now. But I believe my senior brother is the same, because now… the heavenly mechanism seems locked, certainly something is happening somewhere unknown to me.”

The Tang suit man pondered at this moment, “It involves Xuanyuan Palace? One Tianxin Seventy-First Generation is troublesome enough, and now adding Xuanyuan Palace… speaking of which, today’s ‘guests’ are many.”

As the Tang suit man spoke, Mr. Blind seemed to have a revelation, turning his head to face a part of the yard.

Seeing the two seniors’ actions, Mo Mo couldn’t help but follow their gaze… only to see three shadows appeared unknown when in the fog.

The shadows stood on the courtyard wall.

Mo Mo felt a wave of tension… These three shadows, two had mana fluctuations far stronger than his, and the third emitted a chilling demonic power throughout its being.

“Senior, who are they?”

“Find a place to hide yourself.” The Tang suit man raised his head and stamped his foot.

Instaneously, the ground of the courtyard directly cracked, and the courtyard wall shattered… The Tang suit man directly charged into the thick fog.

In the fog, the four shadows moved swiftly together, but in a blink, the Tang suit man returned swiftly, chuckling, “Interesting, a huge powerful monster and two in the Seeking Dao Realm… Blind Man, they’re here for you, right?”

“Probably.” Mr. Blind replied calmly.

From within the thick fog, three shadows gathered again, a sinister voice echoed out, “Fiery Cloud Evil God… quite formidable indeed.”

“Enough talk.” The Tang suit man stepped forward, his right hand behind his back, “I’ve been here two days without a good workout, you should try a little harder, let’s see if you can make me use my right hand.”

The sinister voice sneered, “If we force you, then what?”

The Tang suit man blinked and laughed heartily, “Then of course I’d use both hands to beat the three of you… let’s start with a set of Taizu Long Fist!”

With that, the Tang suit man clenched his left hand into a fist… throwing a punch!