Chapter 399: Chapter 398: Discovered?

Night was like water.

Vasily felt he was a fish in this water, swiftly gliding past obstacle after obstacle under the power of Spell until he finally stopped before an ordinary courtyard.

Glancing around and seeing no one, he quickly pushed open the gate and entered the courtyard, then walked into the room, lifted a metal plate in the corner, and revealed a descending passage.

Looking at the passage, Vasily touched the iron earring on his ear, his eyes flickered, and he took a deep breath before descending.

…

“Tap, tap, tap…”

Following the passage to its end, he entered a secret chamber. From the secret chamber, several passages led to different locations, each connected to other rooms and passages.

In short, the entire underground space was intricate, like a labyrinth.

Vasily was not very familiar with this place, but he was not about to get lost. Following his memory and the familiar routes, turning here and there, he quickly arrived at a large hall.

In the hall, many people were busy. Occasionally someone glanced at him and said aloud, “Vasily is back.”

“Mhm,” acknowledged Vasily with a nod, his gaze turning to a corner of the hall where a man in blue–the Steward of the East Coast, Ji Burlen–was busy behind a desk.

As if sensing Vasily’s stare, Ji Burlen stopped his work, looked over, and asked, “How are things? What’s the situation?”

“It is almost exactly as you predicted, Steward,” Vasily quickly responded. “The other side has grouped together everyone they can. Many members of the other Wizard Organizations have also arrived. The time for action has matured.”

“That’s good news,” Ji Burlen nodded, pondered for a moment, then clapped his hands and announced, “Alright, everybody gather around; let’s make some plans.”

“Yes.”

Everyone in the hall quickly gathered around Ji Burlen, including Suo Men, Mu Konni, and other members. Vasily watched and then drew closer, bringing a gust of wind with him.

Ji Burlen stood up from his seat, sweeping his gaze over everyone, and without much ado, said crisply, “You should all understand what the situation is. The busyness we’ve endured up to this point has all been for one purpose. To achieve our goal, White Stone City and White Stone Tower must be taken–this is a starting point. Only by taking this place can the rest of the Wizard Organizations’ plans unfold smoothly.

Therefore, there must be no accidents with White Stone Tower.

Since the wizards of White Stone Tower have already gathered nearly all of their strength, let’s give them a hand. I’ve decided, in three days, we begin our action.”

Ji Burlen’s bloodshot eyes were fiercely sharp in that moment, “In three days, I expect everyone to participate, and we will sabotage in batches to draw the attention of the White Stone Tower, dispersing their strength before launching a full assault.

At that time, each person must carry out their task to eliminate their assigned targets, aiming to annihilate all the wizards in White Stone City. The reason I’ve decided on this strategy, instead of dealing with all the wizards in one place, is to prevent any chance of their breaking through. Even if we could capture most, the escape of a small group would not be good. Do you understand?”

“Understood!” came the unanimous response from everyone.

“Then…” Ji Burlen nodded, about to continue speaking when he suddenly froze, as if caught. The atmosphere in the hall tensed, and before many could react, the temperature started to plummet rapidly.

Ji Burlen’s expression turned extremely serious, as if he had discovered something infuriating, his gaze ice-cold as he stared at a spot… at a person.

“Gulp!”

Vasily swallowed unnaturally. Although he could easily overpower three wizards from White Stone Tower, he was incredibly nervous at that moment, even feeling on the verge of losing control of his bladder–Ji Burlen’s gaze was fixed on him.

“Steward Ji Burlen, you…” Vasily tried to inquire with forced calmness, but his voice trembled, betraying his fear.

Ji Burlen did not answer Vasily’s question, his eyes remained fixed on him, and in the next moment, with no visible movement, he was right beside Vasily.

Vasily felt a shiver run through his entire body as he sensed a terrifying energy slowly brewing within Ji Burlen. Once released, it would surely blast him into smithereens.

Vasily was fearful, extremely fearful, and completely clueless as to why. His mind raced, frantically searching for any misdeed he may have committed.

But everything he had done had been by the book, hadn’t it? Even if there had been minor mistakes, surely they wouldn’t warrant a public execution, would they?

Indeed, for someone like him, death wasn’t truly the end. Given the chance, he could always be resurrected later.

But what if, for some reason, the organization took actions that denied him any chance of resurrection?

Then death would be akin to… complete eradication.

Why would this happen?

Vasily racked his brain but couldn’t comprehend it; then Ji Burlen reached out his hand toward him.

“Slap!”

Ji Burlen’s hand landed on Vasily’s body.

Vasily felt his entire body stiffen. Though Ji Burlen hadn’t launched an attack and he possessed the power to resist, no courage to fight back arose within him. He was acutely aware that if Ji Burlen truly wanted to kill him, any resistance would be futile, mere laughable struggling.

But… why was this happening?

Vasily felt his brain might explode from thinking so hard, but he still couldn’t figure it out.

At that moment, Vasily felt a surge of power from Ji Burlen’s hand. Before he could react, Ji Burlen flicked him to the side.

Huh?

Vasily was stunned.

He turned his head and realized something, then saw Ji Burlen’s eyes shrink to two black dots, staring intently at a patch of air where he had just stood, his expression utterly terrifying.

A horrific aura burst forth from Ji Burlen, and the power of destruction within him had been fermenting to its peak.

Could this be…

A misunderstanding? Vasily confusedly thought that Ji Burlen wasn’t trying to kill him after all.

But what caused Ji Burlen to react so intensely? What was peculiar about the air behind him?

Vasily was filled with questions, and so were many others in the hall.

Ji Burlen, however, provided no explanation, instead staring intently at the invisible air, gazing for a very long time…

“Whoosh–”

Suddenly, Ji Burlen exhaled deeply, and the explosive aura within him receded entirely, the destructive energy dissipating, returning to his normal state. Turning his head, Ji Burlen looked at the confused crowd and spoke, “Well, it’s nothing. I just remembered something trivial and lost my composure for a moment.”

“Then…” someone asked tentatively.

“The issue is resolved now, let’s… continue the meeting,” Ji Burlen suggested, walking back to his original spot. He narrowed his eyes, sweeping a glance across the hall, then spoke slowly to everyone, “We need to make some adjustments to our plans…”

“Um…”