Time seemed to stand still. Fireworks bloomed in rings across the sky, their falling sparks lighting up the night and the face of the Lean Priest opposite Xia Lun.
The priest's eyes glimmered like a wolf's, greed and hunger nearly spilling from them. He did not look at Xia Lun as an equal, but as a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
He made no attempt to hide it. His gaze was openly predatory, as though he wanted to devour Xia Lun alive!
Xia Lun knew that look. The man had plainly come to take his money.
He did not speak at once. Instead, he glanced at the High Sun Priest Derino, who, sure enough, was watching him too.
Something stirred in Xia Lun's heart, but he quietly looked away.
Derino clearly knew what was happening, if he had not outright sanctioned it. The money Xia Lun had gathered through his Ponzi Scheme had long since become the property of these lofty Sun Priests in their own minds. They had probably even agreed on their shares in advance!
A stifling discomfort rose in Xia Lun, but his expression did not change.
His chief goal was to assassinate the Shrine Priest. Until that was done, everything else could wait. Besides, viewed another way, these High Sun Priests banding together to rob him of the money he had swindled might not be a bad thing. It might even be a chance to make the whole scheme bigger.
For a Ponzi Scheme, a business built on nothing, every bit of profit was an illusion, a bubble waiting to burst. At a time like this, powerful backers were worth far more than ready cash.
As his thoughts turned, the ripple in Xia Lun's heart subsided. He smiled and nodded.
"Nothing gets past you. It's