The resplendent banquet hall had a burgundy carpet, crystal wineglasses, gentlemen in evening dress walking about and conversing, and impeccably made-up young waitresses with figures to rival Miss World.
Even the air seemed steeped in the decadence peculiar to high society. Amid the clinking glasses, these social elites, who had already reached the pinnacle of worldly power, seemed to have taken another great step into a world once beyond their reach.
Everyone wore a gracious, warm smile. Light shone through the wine, suffusing it with an intoxicating radiance.
After tonight, they would all have a place in the world!
Jiang Chen and Jiang Xiao Chen followed Gushta and the potbellied merchant inside, casually found seats in a corner, and remained silent throughout.
Several gazes involuntarily turned toward them.
People were perceptive. They could sense that when this young man with an Eastern face entered, he had not spared so much as a sidelong glance for anything else. These upper-class figures who controlled society's lifelines apparently did not even qualify for a second look from him.
But they only looked him over briefly before withdrawing their gazes.
As believers in divine beings, their worldview had long since been reshaped. Naturally, they understood that the world held all sorts of strange people. There was nothing surprising about it.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Somewhat heavy footsteps sounded, accompanied by a faint smell of blood. The pianist immediately stopped playing and rose reverently. Everyone looked in the same direction, where a tall, dark figure emerged.
When he stepped fully into the light, some people involuntarily drew a quiet breath.
For this was a demon with a goat's head, his blood-red body hideous and over three meters tall. He, too, wore a perfectly tailored tailcoat, looking utterly elegant.
"Is that... Old Hogg?" someone ventured cautiously.
"It