Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 610 - 42 The End

Unbeknownst to many, the Yan Zhao Club was drawing to a close.

The representatives of the News Conference had mostly arrived. These latecomers were largely in disarray, and they could only learn about the earlier events through whispers. The formal announcement of the October proposal, in particular, startled many.

Pang Chunhao entered the meeting hall of the Yan Zhao Club, his body exuding a strong smell of blood. Over his shoulders, he wore a tattered suit jacket, a black vest, and trousers. His blocky muscles bulged out, covered with brown, tubercular scars that made him look fierce and terrifying.

He looked around the venue; the first four seats were already occupied, and the fifth row had only a few spots left at the corners—about a dozen in all.

Pang Chunhao stood still for a moment before grimacing and heading toward the few remaining seats in the fifth row. Everyone made way for him, and finally, he took a seat on the edge of an aisle, by sheer coincidence next to Chou Ci.

"Get lost, go sit somewhere else."

Pang Chunhao glanced at Chou Ci, his face a mask of brutality.

Chou Ci’s face reddened as if all his blood had rushed to his head.

Pang Chunhao looked down on him from a high vantage, his oppressive presence making it hard to breathe.

"..."

Chou Ci stood up silently and walked to another seat in the fifth row, hands in his pockets.

Consequently, the seats next to Pang Chunhao emptied, leaving him alone with a do-not-approach expression on his face.

A disheveled Lv Jian and Broom Eyebrow bravely entered the venue, avoiding eye contact with the almost murderous glares from the proud Jiao Chong at the front.

Both Luo Hou and Wang Lingguan possessed extraordinary legacies, and even though they weren’t far behind Li Yan’s Wu Zhiqi, Chou Ci managed to escape from both of them and arrived at the venue first. Even if luck played a part, Chou Ci must have had formidable strength as a backup. Remembering how he, an ordinary Eight Extremes Peak Walker, was targeted by Jiao Chong’s field team for his extreme actions and was nearly beyond redemption, yet he seized the opportunity presented by the reorganization of the Yan Zhao Club to ascend to power, one had to acknowledge his exceptional qualities.

As time ticked away and more people entered, Pang Chunhao’s neighboring seats remained vacant. It was clear that those present would make up the core of the reconstituted Yan Zhao Club.

"That concludes the content of this Yan Zhao Club, meeting adjourned. Also, the auditorium is connected to the main trunk of the Yan Fu fruit tree, including the Thunder Pool and Mother Crown. If you’re interested in exploring antiquity, feel free to look around. If you’re not inclined to stay, just notify Li Li, and he will escort you out."

No sooner had Zhao Jianzhong’s voice faded than Wushan panted his way through the entrance.

The whole venue immediately erupted into a buzz of activity, with most from the first row swiftly retreating and leaving.

"Damn it."

Wushan irritably scratched his head.

"Hey! Over here," Pang Chunhao lazily waved at him, "You just got here too?"

Li Yan stood up and stretched lazily. He surveyed the entire meeting hall and, bowing his head, noticed a girl standing before him and Lady Dan.

Hou Tu.

"Could you two join me for a moment?"

Li Yan nodded and followed Hou Tu down the simply styled corridor to leave the hall.

Yang Zheng also stood up and approached Jiao Chong and Commissioner Bai, "Sorry to bother you, leaders."

Commissioner Bai got straight to the point, "Did you go easy on them?"

Yang Zheng shook his head solemnly, "Absolutely not. Compared to my desire to avoid all this mess, I don’t believe the other party was any more enthusiastic."

"...This debt is partly on Zhan Yuejin’s shoulders."

Commissioner Bai sneered, "With his skills, would it be difficult to create a wide-open terrain? And Pang Chunhao is his student."

Yang Zheng did not reply but simply asked, "If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going."

"Go ahead,"

Jiao Chong answered.

Without another word, Yang Zheng turned and left. Bai Xiao stuck her tongue out at the grim-faced Commissioner Bai and followed suit.

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Zhao Xuantan quietly noted down the appearances, names, and legacies of the newcomers present in his seat.

The first three rows had almost no changes, with the most significant being Pang Chunhao’s demotion to the fifth row.

There was a major turnover in the fourth and fifth rows, with two-thirds being faces that Zhao Xuantan had never seen before.

Suddenly, he noticed a frail figure who was awkwardly trying to strike up conversations with others. It was Chou Ci.

He would respectfully offer a smile to every stranger he met, handing out business cards, which came from an obscure building material company. Even when faced with stern expressions, he remained enthusiastic.

Of course, he knew his limits. To those who obviously loathed him, or people like Pang Chunhao with their perverse and fierce demeanor, he wouldn’t insist.

Even so, Chou Ci still encountered both polite and blunt rejections from some people.

Some even threw his business card on the ground the moment Chou Ci turned his back. Chou Ci didn’t mind at all, just waiting for the person to walk away before he picked up the card and put it away properly.

Zhao Xuantan squinted and cocked his head, sitting quietly in his chair, staring at Chou Ci with an ambiguous smile on his face.

"Do you two still remember what I told you before?"

Jiao Chong asked Lv Jian and Broom Eyebrow standing before him.

Lv Jian spoke reluctantly, "Boss, it’s my responsibility."

"I’m asking you, do you remember what I have told you before?"

Jiao Chong repeated.

"Oh, come on, why get angry with children?" Commissioner Bai waved his hand and cheerfully asked, "What actually happened? Can you two not handle such a kid?"

Lv Jian stood up straight, "We had caught him, but he dived into an abandoned septic tank factory. Thinking of resolving it quickly, I suggested we split up. Later... I messed up."

He spoke vaguely, and Broom Eyebrow also wore a grim expression.

Jiao Chong recalled Chou Ci’s disheveled appearance when he arrived, his body not only covered in blood but also seemingly carrying a faint smell.

"Such a small trick, and it made a mess of you two?"

Jiao Chong asked with a mocking, insincere laugh.

"From now on, you two won’t handle fieldwork anymore. It just so happens that the Yan Zhao Club is short of hands; you’ll join the latest group from Three-Eye Technology and clear out the Sifan seeds at the Tinghai Axis."

"Understood."

The two said in unison.

Jiao Chong cast a distant glance at Chou Ci, noticing he was chatting and laughing with Zhao Xuantan, and frowned even more deeply.

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"Yang Zheng didn’t make it into the second seat and was defeated by a newcomer from the Divine Court."

Pang Chunhao couldn’t hide the schadenfreude on his face.

"How do you two plan to explain this to the teacher?"

The woman with a shawl of hair seemed helpless.

Pang Chunhao glanced at Wushan.

Wushan appeared very defiant as he spread his hands, "I’ll apologize to Mr. Zhan. The ring is lost, I’ll figure out a way to get it back."

"And you?"

The shawled woman asked Pang Chunhao.

"Why? What about me?"

Pang Chunhao glared back with his bulging eyes.

"Chunhao, Mengran."

All three turned around at once, the speaker was a woman sitting in a wheelchair, not ugly, but certainly not beautiful, especially her lifeless eyes, which were quite uncomfortable to look at.

"The teacher said it’s fine as long as you remain in the Yan Zhao Club; the rank and seat are not important. He wants you to go back and wait for further news. Wushan, the teacher will redeem your ring for you, but only this once."

Wushan pursed his lips slightly and bowed his head gently, "I’m sorry."

The woman in the wheelchair shook her head and then wheeled away.