Everybody thought that Feng Xingmie was out of his mind.
The mission in the City of Torn Gust would impact far more than just Feng Xingmie's life and possessions: it would also blowback on Lord Xu. That powerful man had assigned such an important task to a hooligan who was a con artist.
Did he know Yun Zhonghe well?
As a matter of fact, because of Mister Li, he knew Yun Zhonghe way better than anyone could have imagined. Mr. Li had lost everything to save Yun Zhonghe's life.
However, he had already failed once. He would be doomed if he failed once more.
The Order of the Black Dragon showed no mercy!
"Mr. Yun, do you know what is going to happen next?" asked Xu Anting.
"The Imperial City could give a secret order at any moment," Yun Zhonghe answered, "at which point Sir Feng Xingmie would be arrested immediately, escorted to the Imperial City, incarcerated, and punished by the order."
"You're right!" Xu Anting said. "So what would happen to me if I followed Sir Feng Xingmie's order and supported you, a hooligan, in executing the mission in the City of Torn Gust?"
"You would also be incarcerated and punished by the order," Yun Zhonghe said.
"Correct." Xu Anting nodded. "I would be held responsible because I'm not Sir Feng Xingmie's subordinate; I am under the No-King Division."
Yun Zhonghe said, "So, you will choose Viper, arrest me, and escort me to the Order of the Black Dragon's prison in the empire's territory. I will be imprisoned for the rest of my life. That is the wisest choice to make."
"Correct," Xu Anting said.
Yun Zhonghe then said, "Do you want to do it now? I won't struggle, I promise. I have one request though: you can let your sister arrest me, but cover my eyes or her face."
Xu Antiing was standing to the side, and her bust increased suddenly by five centimeters, as if by magic. Her whole body made crackling sounds.
Xu Anting sighed again. "An hour ago, I would have chosen Viper without hesitation, arrested you, and sent you back to the empire. But your performance just now was very intriguing, and I am rethinking my decision."
Judging solely from this point, Yun Zhonghe could tell that Xu Anting was very dedicated to his job. The man wasn't going to make his decision based on his anger at being humiliated by Yun Zhonghe's trick.
"I am just an unimportant centurion in the No-King Division," Xu Anting continued. "I was originally a backup of a backup. The tragic failure a year ago resulted in total destruction of the undercover forces that were planted by the Order of the Black Dragon in the City of Torn Gust. Since then, our Anting Tavern has played a more important role."
"Even so, we have been undercover in the City of Torn Gust for eleven years, and we have handled plenty of manpower and resources. We have also formed a thorough game plan for the upcoming mission. Almost a hundred undercover agents are working together for this mission. All of them are to provide their services to the mission executor. We are all bound together for good or ill."
"One in a humble position dares not be ungrateful to his country. I am just a tiny centurion, but for the sake of the survival of my brothers and the prosperity of the empire, I will be bold enough to choose one of the two of you to execute the mission in the City of Torn Gust."
"Mr. Viper, please present yourself."
A stream of air blew through the dark room, and a figure appeared. He stood in the intersection of light and darkness. The shape of his face could be seen, but his facial features were not clear at all.
Yun Zhonghe gave him a fist and palm salute and said, "Brother Viper, a pleasure to meet you."
Viper snorted, cold and arrogant.
Yun Zhonghe was out in the cold. He turned around and pretended to be Viper to return a salute to himself. "The pleasure is mine."
"It's an honor to meet you."
"The honor is mine."
Xu Anting's face was twitching.
"Yun Zhonghe, that's enough! Can't you see that now is not the time for your insanity?"
"Mr. Viper, you are my idol, and I admire you very much. We have all heard about your legendary achievements. Your kung fu and your wisdom are unparalleled. You have a perfect memory and thousands of faces, and you are the pride of every member in the south-western part of the Order of the Black Dragon," Xu Anting said ingratiatingly. "However, today, I must be so bold as to ask you to take part in a competition with Mr. Yun."
"Hum!" Viper snorted again.
"My own limited talents constrain me as an examiner, so this competition will be fundamental in nature."
"There is a Taoran Bookstore half a kilometer from Anting Tavern. After you enter the bookstore, locate the fifth book on the third row of the fourth rack."
"It doesn't matter what book it is. Buy it and bring it back to Anting Tavern."
What was more fundamental than the faculty of memory?
Whoever could memorize more from the book within a half-hour would be the winner?
It was rather easy and direct, but it was also the most hardcore activity.
"Gentlemen, do you think this will work? Are you willing to take part in this competition?"
Yun Zhonghe said, "Okay."
"Hum," said Viper.
However, this was Viper's strength. He had perfect memory, after all.
"Sis, bring some brothers, and escort the two gentlemen to Taoran Bookstore." Xu Anting then said, "Mr. Yun, put on your disguise from before. Do not show your real appearance."
***
Half an hour later.
Sister Xu Antiing took five men who were disguised as Anting Tavern's hired roughnecks and escorted Yun Zhonghe and Viper out of the tavern.
Well?
Where was Viper?
It was very strange. He was walking not far from Yun Zhonghe, but no one knew where he was because he had completely blended into the crowd on the street.
He had thousands of faces, and he was very skilled at the transfiguration.
Yun Zhonghe sighed. How nice it would have been if he had possessed that skill in the past.
He could have used disguises to seduce the women he had already seduced, since the women he stole from normally became his enemies. Once he showed up, they would try to force him to marry them, or chop him into pieces, or die with him.
The route from Anting Tavern to Taoran Bookstore was very straight, and it was 500 meters long in total.
There were lots of people on the way. The city was definitely bustling.
"My Lord, come and have some fun."
"The old gentleman with a grey beard who is wearing a bedsheet, come and have fun! You will get a 20 percent discount if you are 50 years old and above."
Yun Zhonghe looked up and said, "Miss, are you calling out for me?"
"Yes, come and have some fun. Be brave!"
"Next time, next time," Yun Zhonghe said.
Then, he murmured to Xu Antiing, "She was so hospitable! That makes the guests feel like they're at home."
Xu Antiing was poker-faced, and she clenched her fist.
Yun Zhong hurried on with his journey.
As they made the 500-meter journey through the jostling crowd, Yun Zhonghe took his own sweet time, looking here and there. He was completely distracted.
He took more than half an hour to reach Taoran Bookstore.
"Which rack, which row, and which book again?" Yun Zhonghe whispered.
Xu Antiing's face twitched. "You knew it was a matter of life and death when my brother told you. Your performance will not only affect your own life, but also Sir Feng Xingmie's. If you don't even know which book to take, you are dead meat."
He was too unprofessional.
However, she absolutely wouldn't remind him.
Yun Zhonghe thought for a while and took the fifth book on the third row of the fourth rack.
"'Butterfly's Dream.' What kind of book is this? I've never seen it before."
Indeed, no one had heard of the book because the rack held books that no one read. They were all very obscure and badly written, and very few people had ever picked one of them up.
The book was thick enough, though. It had more than 600 pages and 20,000 characters in total.
After Yun Zhonghe paid for the book, he left Taoran Bookstore and returned to Anting Tavern.
Yun Zhonghe hadn't seen Viper from the beginning to the end of the journey, although the man had been there the whole time. He hid in the crowd, and no one could tell who he was.
***
Fifteen minutes later, they were back in the basement under the Anting Tavern.
Yun Zhonghe saw Viper again. The man was still standing in the intersection of light and darkness, and only the shape of his face could be seen.
The competition was about to start, and the one who won would stay and execute the mission of the City of Torn Gust.
The stakes of this competition were far higher for Yun Zhonghe, because if he lost, the Order of the Black Dragon would incarcerate him for life.
Sir Feng Xingmie would probably be escorted to the Imperial City and meet his end in the south-western region of the empire.
The worst part was that he wouldn't be the only one; a whole bunch of people would face the same fate.
"Now, the competition between the two of you is about to start," Xu Anting said. "I know that it is unfair. Mr. Yun was still a mere con artist a few days ago, while Mr. Viper was already an elite agent who had partaken in many missions."
"I am flattered." Yun Zhonghe gave him a fist and palm salute.
"I wasn't complimenting you."
This was indeed an unfair competition, like one between a primary school student and a Ph.D. graduate.
Yun Zhonghe had never had any training, while Viper was a one-in-a-million elite agent.
"Whoever wins this competition will have my full support in executing the mission in the City of Torn Gust. Let's start from here," Xu Anting announced.
"Okay," said Yun Zhonghe.
"Hum," Viper responded.
Then, they would probably be given half an hour to read the book and memorize as much as possible from the book.
Xu Anting instructed, "Please flip open the book you bought."
Yun Zhonghe and Viper did as he said, flipped open their books, and started reading swiftly.
"You have half an hour," said Xu Anting.
Yun Zhonghe could barely believe how quickly Viper could read. The man could read ten lines at a glance.
He must have been a genius, one with perfect memory.
"What should I, Yun Zhonghe, do then? Was there a genius in X Psychiatric Hospital with perfect memory?"
"Yes, there was. Patient Twenty-Three, Da Vinci."
Patient Twenty-Three had been an amazing artist. He was also the one who had castrated himself to study the origin of life.
His main ability was drawing, but he had been able to draw the complete structure of the pineal gland. Hyperthymesia was just a supplementary ability.
However, the spirit in his body was that of Patient Six. He could read minds, but he didn't have perfect memory.
"Patient Twenty-Three, possess me, possess me."
At that instant, Xu Anting said, "Now, the first round of the competition consists of only one question. The distance between Taoran Bookstore and Anting Tavern was 500 meters. On the way, how many women did you encounter? How many of them had single-fold eyelids, and how many had double eyelids?"
F… F*ck!
"Weren't we going to compare who could memorize more of the book?"
"You, Xu Anting, were too cunning!"
Answering this question would be as hard as nailing jelly to a tree! There had been at least a few thousand people on the way!