People Can Make Mistakes

Night.

Red Star International Hotel.

The grandest hotel in all of Gu City was hosting a charity gala in its banquet hall that evening.

The event had drawn prominent figures from every sector of Gu City, especially the business community.

It was said that plenty of elite guests had come from neighboring provinces as well.

For them, it was a good place to expand their social circles and look for new opportunities.

The event was a cocktail reception with hors d'oeuvres. Most people hadn't come to eat; they mingled over drinks, gathering in small groups to chat.

Lv Yalian was wearing a beautiful evening gown and chatting happily with the second-generation crowd in Gu City. She was quite popular.

Quite a few well-known playboys had already begun courting her in secret. After all, the strength of Green Tech Group was plain to see.

Some local socialites had also started making a show of ingratiating themselves with her.

Although Lv Yalian seemed warm and approachable, she still gave people the feeling that she was keeping them at arm's length.

She thought nothing of these people.

Her father, Lv Feng, had already told her that the charity gala was genuine, and so was the casual conversation at the reception.

But once the reception reached its second half, they would leave and go pay their respects to a distinguished figure.

Quite a few of the second-generation crowd around them came from wealthy families.

But in a world where anomalies kept appearing, money was important, but not as important as it used to be.

Of course, only well-informed people like them even knew the word "anomaly."

Ordinary people didn't even know what an "anomaly" was.

This was how the higher-ups protected ordinary people and kept them from panicking.

Lv Yalian also knew of the Anomaly Bureau.

But compared with the powerful organization she was going to meet that evening, the Anomaly Bureau in Central Province was nothing special.

It was a backward institution that only knew how to protect lowly ordinary people. It had no idea that the world was changing rapidly and becoming increasingly stratified.

And she was destined to belong to the highest tier.

As she chatted, Lv Yalian looked forward to the important moment that was soon to come. She couldn't help feeling a little excited.

The lights in the banquet hall dimmed. Everyone except those near the auction stage was left in the gloom, and the charity auction began.

The items up for auction were works by various artists. It was said that all the money raised would be donated to help treat rare diseases.

Lv Feng soon spent hundreds of thousands to buy a painting consisting of a tangle of lines, earning a round of applause from the crowd.

In Gu City, Lv Feng's Green Tech Group was unquestionably an influential local business, and he himself was a highly respected figure.

Lv Feng nodded to everyone, then walked into the shadows with his glass in hand and exchanged a glance with his daughter, Lv Yalian.

A few minutes later, Lv Feng and Lv Yalian quietly left the banquet hall through a side door.

Others began to slip out of the banquet hall one after another. Most of the guests were focused on the auction and didn't notice anyone leaving.

In the long corridor, more than forty people who had left the banquet hall moved forward in silence under the dim lights.

They were all prominent figures from Gu City or other provinces in the southwestern part of Central Province.

Some of them were even wealthier than Lv Feng.

Lv Yalian followed behind her father, visibly excited.

She had never known that there was a secret passage beneath Red Star International Hotel.

Apart from the older guests, there was another young man present. He was also the scion of a major group and had chatted with Lv Yalian earlier.

They exchanged a brief glance and nod, but didn't speak.

Clearly, the young man had also been given instructions by his elders and understood the importance of that evening's visit.

Leading the group was a woman wearing a white smiling-face mask. She moved gracefully as she guided them onward.

The red pearl earrings on her ears were particularly lovely.

"Mr. Song, are we really going to meet that lord tonight? The new Shepherd has actually arrived. The Association is making quite a grand gesture..."

Lv Feng asked in a low voice to a stern-looking man with graying hair.

Lv Yalian recognized him at once. The gray-haired man was Song Zhonghai, head of the largest financial company in the southwest.

Song Zhonghai nodded slightly. "That's right. We just don't know who this Shepherd is. We must show proper respect later and avoid displeasing that lord."

At this, several people following behind them also looked excited.

Some seemed to be attending an event like this for the first time. They began whispering among themselves, mentioning things like the Cleaning Association and the Shepherd.

Lv Yalian was now certain that the person they were going to pay their respects to was the Cleaning Association's Shepherd for the southwestern region of Central Province.

Although the Cleaning Association had been branded a criminal organization, her father, Lv Feng, had told her that power had no good or evil.

Compared with the rigid authorities, joining the Cleaning Association and wholeheartedly worshiping the Lord of the Abyss would bring them power and salvation.

The Cleaning Association could even lend its power to Green Tech Group. Even the life-extension project Green Tech Group was researching would no longer be a pipe dream!

The Association's power could help them complete forbidden research that the government wouldn't allow!

As the heir to her family's business, Lv Yalian knew Green Tech Group inside and out.

Although the Cleaning Association's influence in Central Province wasn't very strong yet, joining now would bring them the greatest benefits.

Just then, the woman leading the way seemed to notice that the people behind her were making too much noise. She suddenly turned around, her eerie white smiling-face mask fixed on the group, and raised a finger to her lips.

"Shh..."

The prominent figures who had been chatting excitedly fell silent at once, like schoolchildren who had just been scolded.

Only a few who were clearly first-timers showed a hint of disdain in their eyes.

A mere maid dared to order them around?

After walking through the passage for more than ten minutes, they finally reached the end and spotted a staircase leading up.

They climbed it, panting, and found themselves in a carpeted room.

It seemed to be a lounge.

The masked woman leading them spoke softly.

"Follow me."

She stepped forward and pushed open a door.

The group filed in behind her. In the dim light, they saw a dignified reception room.

At the far end of the room stood a black sofa.

Two people wearing clown and bear masks stood on either side of it.

A man wearing a blank white mask sat upright on the sofa, holding a Flower Civet Cat in his arms.

He gently stroked the cat's head.

Two black suitcases sat beside him.

The bizarre scene made the newcomers' scalps tingle.

Song Zhonghai stepped forward and asked respectfully in a low voice:

"Are you the Shepherd, my lord?"

The person on the left, wearing the clown mask, immediately answered:

"That's right. The respected Shepherd stands before you. You who have lost your way on the path to the abyss may step forward and receive his blessing."

From the voice, it was a woman.

Song Zhonghai hurriedly said:

"I am Cleaner Song Zhonghai. I welcome the Shepherd."

Lv Feng quickly bowed as well.

"I am Cleaner Lv Feng. I respectfully welcome the Shepherd!"

Two others beside them bowed at the same time. They, too, were Cleaners of the Cleaning Association.

The four Cleaners prostrated themselves before the person on the sofa and prepared to step forward to receive his blessing.

Lv Yalian's father pulled her down to the floor as well.

Just then, several disgruntled voices came from the back of the crowd:

"Why is he still wearing a mask? Even if he is the Shepherd, this is disrespectful to us!"

"Exactly. How can you prove you were sent by the Cleaning Association?"

"If we're all members of the Association, there's no need for all this secrecy."

The crowd parted, revealing the speakers.

Lv Yalian turned to look too, shocked and bewildered.

They were several up-and-comers from Gu City, some who had made their fortunes in energy and others in internet businesses.

Their leader was a middle-aged man named Feng Shihao, the owner of a real estate company with assets worth tens of billions. His company was no less powerful than Green Tech Group.

At that moment, seven or eight people beside Feng Shihao had guns in their hands.

Two others stepped forward with grins, rolling their wrists and necks as if warming up.

The four Cleaners who had been kneeling before the Shepherd were stunned as well.

Song Zhonghai said furiously:

"Feng Shihao! Do you know what you're doing? You even brought two Awakened here... You're blaspheming against the Association!"

Feng Shihao waved a hand. "I just want to see the Shepherd's true face. Once he proves he has what it takes to lead me, I'll bow. Otherwise, if he can be the Shepherd, why can't I?"

Was this... a rebellion? Lv Yalian watched the scene, nervous and thrilled. She had never imagined that she'd encounter something like this right after meeting that distinguished figure.

It was as if a corner of the dark world had been lifted before her eyes.

She just didn't know how the great man would handle it.

The mysterious man holding the cat slowly shook his head and spoke in a hoarse, deep voice:

"People can make mistakes, but they must never make a fatal one..."

At this, the masked figures exchanged glances and trembled, apparently afraid.

They, too, bore undeniable responsibility for everything that had happened that night.

They had made mistakes as well.

The woman wearing the smiling-face mask and red pearl earrings immediately walked up to the two Awakened beside Feng Shihao and lightly patted them from a short distance away.

The two Awakened burst out laughing, apparently amused by her actions.

But under the others' gazes, veins suddenly began to emerge from their skin!

Red blisters formed at the ends of the veins, countless and densely packed, like dazzling fruit!

Song Zhonghai cried out, trembling:

"B-Blood Pearl!?"

Li Fan, the man in the blank white mask holding the cat, was frightened by the bizarre sight before him and instantly went on alert.

Was Auntie Zhang, the cook, really that powerful!?