The sea breeze showed no mercy, seeking a reading from White Horse

As night deepened, on the top floor of the Year-Eating Hotel...

Nearly twenty people were gathered in the conference room. On the oval table were the weapons and magical artifacts they had brought.

"Have you really found traces of Nie Longding?"

"That old bastard finally couldn't escape our pursuit."

"Don't try to take it from me. I want his skull. Whether I make it into a magic artifact or keep it as a collectible, it will be very meaningful."

The group chattered amongst themselves, but when they checked their weapons, they were extremely serious, and no one was negligent.

Scarface, a cigarette dangling from his lips, scanned the people present and asked a question.

Where are the Su Ha?

A large, overweight chef standing nearby, who was taking off his chef's uniform and putting on a bulletproof vest, said upon hearing this, "I tried calling him, but I couldn't get through."

Scarface took out his phone and dialed a number.

His regular cell phone must have broken down again, Scarface is now calling his backup phone. It rang for a while, but no one answered.

Little Qin said, "He wouldn't actually go and bomb the casino, would he?"

"How could he possibly have the ability to procure so much explosives here?"

Scarface replied, then pulled out Li Kang and A Luo's phone numbers and dialed them both, but no one answered.

The chef said, "The three of them haven't been back for years. We were practicing our coordinated attacks to build teamwork. We didn't originally include them, so if they don't want to go, fine."

Someone nearby laughed and said, "Anyway, if they don't go, they'll be the ones who regret it later."

"After a few years of wandering around, they've come back looking down on everyone. Hmph, if we really fought, together we could kill all three of them more than three times in ten minutes."

Scarface remained silent, then dialed the backup number again after a moment.

"It seems we really can't get them to come."

Scarface stood up. "Old Tiger is still as mighty as ever, as you all know. Tonight's trip will likely result in casualties, and I wonder how many will return alive."

The chef slammed his fist on the table, his face contorted with rage, and he gritted his teeth.

"Boss, you don't need to say so much. I've wanted to fight that old bastard to the death for a long time, I just regret that I didn't have the chance to fight him before."

The expressions on everyone's faces were different, but what they all shared was a murderous aura.

The conference room lights flickered on and off, and cracks appeared on the crystal chandelier.

In the flickering light, everyone had already stood up and grabbed their weapons.

"Good!"

Scarface's single eye seemed brighter than an unsteady lamplight. "Who knows where Nie Longding will be tomorrow?"

We'll set off tonight!

The bright moon hangs high in the sky.

The waves crashed violently against the cliffs at the edge of the island, the spray and foam like shattered jade and scattered snow, making the rocks appear even darker and more somber.

On this low cliff stands a church, not large in scale, but with a history of over two hundred years.

The cross atop the church bears witness to the passage of time and is now missing a piece.

There were several tents around the church, belonging to young people who seemed to be camping, dressed in various ways.

Some were wearing jeans, some were in sportswear, and some were wearing leather jackets.

But a very experienced person can tell.

Whenever this group of people went out, they subtly guarded the church, likely a group of elite bodyguards. They dressed like this because their employer didn't want to attract attention.

Suddenly, a faint gunshot, fitted with a silencer, rang out from the woods.

The tents were immediately pierced, and the bodies inside splattered blood onto the tents.

Most of the bodyguards walking outside the tent were also shot down, their clothes stained with thick blood from the gun barrels.

Only two or three people were alert enough to rush into the church to hide.

As soon as the church doors were opened, rows of pews with backs were exposed to the moonlight.

An elderly man in a white suit sat in the front row of chairs, facing the cross on the stage, as if enjoying a rare moment of peace.

A hail of bullets pierced the chair back, sending splinters flying.

The old man in the suit had at least seven bullet holes in his body.

Some bullets also hit the ground and walls around him, some sparking, some embedding themselves in the wood.

Although it's described as a random hail of bullets, if you were to freeze the point of impact at that instant, you would find that it forms a pattern with remarkable geometric beauty.

Just like a meticulously woven fishing net, it has several key points, and the remaining bullet holes are distributed among these key points, forming a net.

The area within 15 meters of the elderly man in the suit is a danger zone.

This is a shooting method specifically designed for top-tier soldiers in combat.

Scarface and his team spent a lot of money hiring someone to teach them for more than half a year. It was only through their martial arts reflexes, eyesight, and wrist strength that they were able to develop this kind of tacit understanding.

It is by no means easy for a boxer to escape from this danger zone in an instant, or to find a gap within the danger zone that is enough to survive.

When a sorcerer tries to create an illusion, the distance between their real and illusory forms is usually no more than fifteen meters, making escape impossible.

From the moment they started fighting, Scarface and his men held their breath.

The warlock in the team has only one task: to do everything possible to obscure the enemy's sense of danger.

At this moment, the net of bullets they had created was finally deeply embedded in the church.

The next second, the old man in the suit on the bench collapsed forward, blood gushing from his body and spreading into a pool on the ground.

Did they succeed?!

Everyone witnessed the scene, yet remained silent for a moment.

After harboring such longing and hatred for so many years, has he finally succeeded?

This was indeed a deadly move they had devised with all their might.

But did they really succeed just like that?

People, including the one with the Scarface, were somewhat incredulous.

Nie Longding died, died here, died beneath the cross.

The cross in the church still bears bullet holes.

Scarface's gaze inexplicably drifted towards the cross on the roof.

The old, weathered cross with its missing corner twisted slightly.

He transformed into a silver-haired old man in a white suit and gold-rimmed glasses.

"Above!!"

Scarface's pupils contracted, and he raised the muzzle of his gun.

But in the instant it was raised, all that was left were a pair of bleeding wrists.

His two hands, which had originally belonged to him, were still tightly gripping the gun, falling to the ground along with it.

Little Qin's screams also rang out.

The moment Scarface turned his head, he saw that his companions' wrists had all been severed.

The blood of nearly twenty people splattered into the air, something that should have been invisible and even silent...

A fleeting, swirling silhouette was outlined in the blood!

Cards! Invisible playing cards!

Those colorless cards swirled rapidly, and while they were in excruciating pain from their severed hands, they swept across their calves, severing their Achilles tendons.

Scarface's companions, like withered reeds, fell in droves.

The old man in a suit on the rooftop had his right hand resting on a sandalwood cane, while his left hand was raised.

The transparent playing cards that hovered in the air flew back into his palm one after another, making a soft rustling sound.

"Nie Longding!"

Scarface forced himself to look at the roof and roared, "You knew we were coming?!"

"I noticed long ago that there was a group of people like you tracking me down. You must be enemies from the old days in the underworld."

Nie Longding smiled and said, "I didn't think it was necessary to meet with you before, and I had better candidates for those sacrifices. But now I realize that I still need to use you."

"The view from the rooftop is excellent. Using a double to destabilize your mindset, then capturing you all alive, is a very worthwhile strategy."

Scarface didn't get to hear the whole thing.

He had already fainted.

By daybreak, there were no more corpses or bloodstains to be seen around the remote church.

The old church, seemingly dilapidated from years of neglect and blown askew by the sea winds, finally succumbed to its weight and collapsed down the cliff.

No one but the participants will know what happened here.

"What a peaceful day."

Macau Special Investigation Bureau Division Branch, Office Building.

Branch manager Shen Yuntai looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows from the top floor and sighed with satisfaction.

Shen Yuntai was fifty years old. She was wearing a women's suit, and the smile lines at the corners of her eyes, the gray hairs on her forehead, and the hair clip at the back of her head gave her an elegant air despite her age.

A cup of black tea on her desk, at the perfect temperature, was picked up and sipped.

"Our city is so much better, unlike Hong Kong, which is such a mess."

She had just gone to Hong Kong to provide assistance and had only been back for less than three days, yet she felt that the city she was stationed in was wonderful in every way.

"Minister!"

A muscular young man knocked on the door and brought in a document.

"Last night, Fang Jun and a temporary consultant from the mainland were attacked by unidentified individuals, but Consultant Chu annihilated them all."

"The technical department repaired several of the attackers' phones and discovered that these individuals may belong to an organization that was deliberately seeking revenge against Mr. Gambling King Nie Longding."

Shen Yuntai didn't take it to heart.

"Nie Longding has too many grudges from his early years, it's normal for someone to seek revenge. But that old bastard is cunning enough, we've never been able to find any fault with him."

"Check if any other members of this gang have criminal records. If they do, arrest them; if not, give them a warning."

The young man said, "The action team is very familiar with this procedure; they've already sent someone to handle it."

"But the problem is, apart from these three who smuggled themselves back from Nanyang, the rest of the gang all have official identities, and when our people went to investigate, they couldn't contact any of them."

Shen Yuntai perked up a bit. "When did this happen?"

"No more than 24 hours."

The young man said, "Normally, it would take at least 48 hours for this case to be Police Bureau department, then for them to determine whether to merge the cases for investigation, collect basic information, and then transfer it to us. That would take several days."

"However, considering their status as a revenge group and the fact that most of them are cultivators, I think we should take over directly."

Shen Yuntai pondered for a minute, "Okay."

After approving the documents and affixing her seal, she sat back down in her chair, the lethargy of the past two days gone.

"A revenge group, did they know their covert identities might be exposed, so they went into hiding? If so, that's understandable..."

Shen Yuntai suddenly became worried about another possibility.

If we didn't know these people were secretly plotting revenge, we might not be able to guess anything. But since we know they are people with grudges, could it be that Nie Longding targeted them?

But Nie Longding has become increasingly composed with age, and in recent years he has been extremely well-behaved. Isn't it somewhat abnormal for him to suddenly resort to such ruthless measures?

Having been a branch manager for so long, she knew that people like Nie Longding were already on her priority list and couldn't be ignored.

Shen Yuntai took out his phone and made a call to the minister in Hong Kong.

"Hey, Master White Horse... no, no, no, I'm not that free. I was thinking of traveling to your place... but I'd like to invite you to travel to my place instead."

"Haha, okay, then let's tell the truth."

Shen Yuntai said, "I'm worried that something big might happen in Macau recently. You're so good at fortune telling, could you tell my fortune?"

The voice on the phone was hoarse. "I've already completely confused myself with the calculations on my own side."

Shen Yuntai's tone hardened slightly. "I just helped you out."

Master White Horse said helplessly, "Alright, it's useless for me to cast a divination for you from a distance. Just say a word, and I'll interpret it for you."

Shen Yuntai pondered for a moment and said, "Then, the character 'Nie'."

"Nie, this is a good character."

Master White Horse perked up. "You're asking if something big will happen soon?"

"The character 'Nie' is composed of 'ear' on top and 'double' on the bottom, suggesting that if someone is truly planning a major event, no matter how meticulously they scheme, there will inevitably be oversights, and the unusual information will be detected through two channels."

Master White Horse seemed to have written this large character on the paper; the sound of the pen rubbing against the paper could be heard. Then, he changed the subject.

"However, the ear is above and both eyes are below, which means that those who sense the abnormality through either of these means will be a step behind the planner. You cannot nip this in the bud before he even begins."

These words sound far-fetched.

But Master White Horse has long since proven his divination abilities with numerous facts.

In 1997, White Horse horse carried Buddhist scriptures into Hong Kong.

Given the complexity of the situation at that time, the Hong Kong Special Investigation Bureau was established within a month, and no one dared to underestimate this seemingly incapable monk.

Shen Yuntai pressed further, "Will it definitely be slower than the planner? Is there any way to break this?"

"Hmm... The oldest meaning of the word 'double' is to catch two birds with one hand, but how can you hold two birds securely with one hand? It's better to catch only one."

Master White Horse said, "You have two leads, so abandon the one that seems easier to follow; it will only cause you to miss your chance."

"Focus on checking the other one."

Shen Yuntai took a sip of tea with a blank expression.

Where did she get two clues?

She only had a tiny, loosely connected thread of information.

The idea that something big would happen was simply a judgment she made based on a combination of experience, intuition, and a sense of responsibility.

"Master, where is my second clue?"

Master White Horse was also taken aback.

"You don't have a second option, so don't ask me."

"I'm just a charlatan, not a god. If I could predict everything, I would have deterred anyone from causing trouble long ago. Sigh, I'm really tired, I can't take it anymore, my eyelids are drooping."

"Watch out, goodbye!"

The call was disconnected.

Shen Yuntai put down his phone, picked up his teacup and brought it to his face, resting his elbows on the table, but remained motionless for a long time.

"The second clue..."