Chapter 243: Chapter 139: Sudden Realization
Upon reaching this square, security measures seemed to be even more stringent. However, the masked leader of the armed personnel appeared to hold a high status there. When the black-robed warriors who came forward to inspect them caught sight of the true face of this masked leader, they saluted him and immediately allowed them to pass.
It took the group more than ten minutes to walk across the square before they finally arrived outside a stone chamber that had been carved out of a rock wall. At the entrance of the stone chamber, a team of black-robed warriors was performing guard duty. The leader of the masked militants stepped forward and whispered a few words to one of the black-robed guards. The guard promptly pushed open the door and entered the stone chamber. After a while, the guard came out and spoke a few words to the masked leader.
Then the masked leader led the people behind him through the stone door and into the stone chamber. As soon as Yan Fei entered, he found the chamber to be extremely spacious, with several giant stone pillars supporting the middle. It seemed that the chamber had been forcibly excavated out of the mountain’s rock wall. The chamber was circular in shape, completely surrounded by hard rock.
The chamber was brightly lit, and there was a circle of seats in the middle of the room, which were already filled with people. The spot that seemed intended for the main seat was empty, but there was a smaller table next to it, behind which sat a burly man with a scar-covered face and a big beard. Yan Fei recognized him instantly as the Assassin Sect envoy who had cruelly slit Liu Tingting’s throat in the video. Behind these people, a giant Assassin Sect flag was displayed.
In this place, Yan Fei saw his greatest enemy, the big-bearded man, but he didn’t immediately lash out. Instead, he carefully observed the surroundings. The seats around him were filled with people of various skin colors, but Arabs were the majority. They were eating meat heartily and laughing loudly. In their midst, a group of masked, seductive women was dancing. To the sounds of mysterious, ancient music, these masked women moved their bodies, teasing the primal impulses of the humans present.
Upon seeing the masked militants’ squad coming in from outside, they immediately stopped their banter. The music in the room also came to an immediate halt, the group of masked women stopped dancing, bowed, and then left after saying their goodbyes.
Yan Fei also spotted that Assassin Sect envoy named Salek, who he had followed to find the Assassin Sect’s headquarters. Unlike his previous abject escape, Salek’s face now glowed with health. He looked at Yang Wanlin without noticing Yan Fei among the crowd.
The big-bearded man was obviously the boss of the room. He said, “Ali, remove the black cloth from our esteemed guest’s face!”
The masked leader named Ali first pulled down the headscarf covering his own face, then with a wave of his hand, two subordinates stepped forward and removed the black cloth tied around the eyes of Yang Wanlin and the middle-aged man. Yang Wanlin took a while to get used to the light in the room, rubbing his eyes for some time before he could see properly, while the middle-aged man carefully surveyed his surroundings, a look of shock on his face.
Switching to English, the big-bearded man said, “Mr. Yang Wanlin, please take a seat.”
Yang Wanlin sat down in the chair pointed out by the big-bearded man, while the middle-aged man stood behind Yang Wanlin, apparently his bodyguard, responsible for his safety.
Looking around at the people, Yang Wanlin felt somewhat afraid and asked in English, “Honorable envoy of the Assassin Sect, may I ask why you have summoned me here?”
The big-bearded man, who was all smiles a moment ago, suddenly threw down the lamb chop he held and flew into a rage upon hearing Yang Wanlin’s words. He said, “You Chinese People are all deceitful! Our Assassin Sect’s decision to cooperate with you this time has led us into a major trap. You must compensate us for the losses from this operation!”
Seeing the big-bearded man’s anger, Yang Wanlin was taken aback, but he still said, “Respected envoy, I truly don’t understand what you mean by that? Keep in mind that it was your Sect’s people who carried out the kidnapping operation. If the kidnapping failed, how can you lay the responsibility at our feet?”
The big-bearded man bellowed, “What did you tell us when you first contacted us? You said that Yan Fei not only had money but was also isolated and without any powerful backing, that even if we kidnapped his people, he could only choose to pay up to resolve the matter. Who would have thought that Yan Fei would turn out to be a foolhardy man, preferring to use the ransom to issue a bounty rather than submit to us. What’s even more infuriating is that someone actually accepted his task, took Yan Fei’s people away from us, and inflicted heavy losses on our Assassin Sect. This failure is entirely due to the inaccurate Intelligence provided by your Yang Family of Beijing, so you must compensate us for our losses.”
Hidden among the crowd, Yan Fei, upon hearing the big-bearded man’s words, suddenly realized; it turned out that Lu Pingping’s kidnapping was indeed orchestrated by the Yang Family of Beijing. He had been deceived by Yang Liu’s seemingly honest image before and never suspected that Yang Liu was also a masterful actor. If not for hearing the Accusations of the Assassin Sect in person today, Yan Fei might have never believed that the Yang Family was the true mastermind behind the scenes.