Chapter 57: The Mantis and the Oriole

As soon as Chigusa Tamako entered the building, she took off her overcoat, revealing her slender figure; combined with her wavy hair and bright red lips, her glamorous appearance immediately attracted many gazes.

Most of the people here were Germans and local officials, with only a few White Russian nobles and White Russian women looking to be kept.

However, compared to Chigusa Tamako, the White Russian women paled in comparison.

Chigusa Tamako walked in very elegantly, and a waiter wanted to ask for her membership card.

But an official had already stepped forward to stop him and invited Chigusa Tamako for a drink.

Chigusa Tamako smiled slightly and said shyly, "Thank you. To show my appreciation, please allow me to buy you a drink."

This soft, gentle voice instantly made the man feel numb all over, a desire to protect her rising in his heart, and he quickly agreed.

Moreover, Chigusa Tamako's performance immediately aroused the covetousness of even more people.

It was like a sheep entering a pack of wolves; it made their brains feel excited, hormones surging rapidly and rushing straight to their heads.

Unfortunately, Zhang Cheng could not see any of this; he had no membership card, so naturally, he could not get in and could only wait outside.

Around twelve o'clock at night, Chigusa Tamako was helped out of the building by a high-ranking official.

The expression on that official's face was very lewd; after all, a glamorous woman would soon be at his mercy, so how could he not be excited?

He immediately directed the driver to help stuff Chigusa Tamako into the back seat of the sedan, and he sat in the back seat himself, holding Chigusa Tamako.

Once the car started, he couldn't help but get handsy, and the driver couldn't help but peek through the rearview mirror.

As for Zhang Cheng, he was sprinting across the rooftops, following the car closely.

Before long, they arrived in front of a villa, and the high-ranking official immediately had someone carry Chigusa Tamako inside.

Zhang Cheng quietly snuck into the villa.

Soon, the high-ranking official and Chigusa Tamako were alone in a room.

Before the door had even closed, Chigusa Tamako, who had been keeping her eyes shut, woke up, stared at the official with a cold expression, and said with great disgust, "Shina pig, how disgusting."

Without waiting for the official to react, Chigusa Tamako directly cast a spell to make him fall into a deep sleep; the old woman in the villa, the driver who hadn't left yet, and the guards all collapsed as well.

Having finished all this, Chigusa Tamako then said, "There are no idlers left now, why are you still hiding?"

Hearing this, Zhang Cheng was secretly startled, but then he felt relieved; being discovered at close range was normal.

He broke through the window, walked in, and said, "You're very confident, aren't you?"

"A Daoist?" Chigusa Tamako was puzzled for a moment, then smiled, "Such a young Daoist, a very good material."

As soon as she finished speaking, a cold wind blew in the room, and three evil ghosts blocked Zhang Cheng's path of escape.

Zhang Cheng took one look at this level—it was a bit worse than Mouri Enko—so there was no difficulty at all.

He immediately unleashed his Seven-Star Copper Sword, instantly slaying the three evil ghosts, and then directly stabbed Chigusa Tamako with one strike, pinning her to the wall, unable to move.

"Killed three evil ghosts, gained three hundred merit."

Chigusa Tamako felt death approaching, but she did not panic; as long as her ghost soul left her body and turned into a demonic form to kill that Daoist, she could still find another body.

"How can this be!"

Chigusa Tamako's ghost soul screamed.

Her ghost soul was actually unable to move.

Zhang Cheng stepped forward and smiled, "Heh heh heh, want to know? But I won't tell you; I want you to die with your eyes wide open in resentment!"

Having said that, he summoned Liu Yongquan—good heavens, this guy had been promoted again and was now a Soul-Snatching Envoy.

He had come this time with Black and White Impermanence following behind him.

The two caught up on old times, and then Liu Yongquan took Chigusa Tamako's soul down to the Underworld.

It was the same old rule: to be reincarnated in the eighteenth level of hell for all eternity.

"Killed Chigusa Tamako, gained one thousand merit."

Zhang Cheng put away the Seven-Star Copper Sword,

and then waved his hand to open the villa's safe; inside were one hundred large gold bars, one thousand ocean dollars in cash, and ten thousand US dollars in cash, all of which he took.

As for the other bank documents and property deeds inside, he didn't take them.

However, before leaving, he cast a spell to make that high-ranking official have nightmares—a chain of nightmares, an infinite loop that would only end when someone woke him up.

What is a chain nightmare? For example, you dream that you see a ghost, then you run for your life, and then you meet your own people who save you.

Just when you want to breathe a sigh of relief, it turns out the people who saved you are even more powerful ghosts, and so it loops infinitely.

"Snap!"

Fukada Miko watched as Chigusa Tamako's life tablet shattered and instantly began to calculate and sense, only to find the same result as Mouri Enko.

She widened her eyes, feeling some terror in her heart; she hadn't expected that the person from Nanchang City had come to Shanghai!

To be able to erase the existence of her disciple so cleanly, it was clear that this person's magic power was not below her own.

Moreover, the barrier might have been destroyed by this very person! Such a powerful person was no longer someone she could deal with alone.

Therefore, Fukada Miko notified the other few Nine Chrysanthemum Family Ministers at the first opportunity.

The Nine Chrysanthemum Family Ministers still in Shanghai, besides Fukada Miko, were Saito Momoko and Suzuki Kyoko. The others had all gone to Manchuria to suppress the local shamans.

As the saying goes, three women make a play; when women get together, they are prone to infighting.

So basically, the three of them all controlled their own subordinates and acted on their own.

It was the first time Fukada Miko had invited the other two like this.

In reality, Fukada Miko was scaring herself; Zhang Cheng's current strength was only slightly stronger than the branch presidents below, and he could barely fight to a draw with a hall master.

It was just that the destruction of the Hongkou barrier had made the onmyoji in Hongkou and their Nine Chrysanthemum Sect somewhat panicked.

That was why Fukada Miko misjudged the situation and requested the other two Family Ministers to take action together.

Saito Momoko was dressed in a gorgeous courtesan outfit, holding an exquisite smoking pipe and a folding fan, and said with a chuckle, "Fukada, I didn't expect you to come and ask us for help today?"

Fukada Miko smiled, "We are all working for the imperial court and the empire, why talk about asking for help?"

Suzuki Kyoko was wearing a long dress, her hairstyle and makeup both Western-style, and she asked directly, "Fukada, stop saying these useless things. Tell us, what exactly is the matter?"

Fukada Yoshiko still smiled as she said, "You should also know that I have three excellent disciples; now, Maruko and Tamako have been killed by someone, without even a chance to call for help. The other party even erased all traces."

Saito Momoko's expression became much more serious, and she frowned, saying, "When did this happen?"

Fukada Yoshiko replied, "Maruko's incident was at the end of last month, and Tamako's incident was tonight."

Suzuki Kyoko said with some surprise, "What, that's impossible. Tonight, my people saw Tamako; she was taken away by a high-ranking official of the Shanghai Bund."

Fukada Yoshiko did not care about Suzuki Kyoko watching Tamako, and she analyzed, "I suspect that the person who destroyed the Yin-Yang Bureau's barrier is the one who acted; he should be a cultivator of the Tang people."