56. Threat

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“He really told us everything.” Hu Weifeng sighed. “He has forgotten all about his church, yet he still knows what he is doing here. Perhaps we will have more opportunities to work together in the future. No one will be able to keep any secrets from us.”

Ma En smiled and nodded.

“If the opportunity arises.”

This believer had revealed nearly everything he knew. However, he only knew that he was participating in some extremely important demon-summoning ritual, and he was not entirely certain where the other members were located.

The mastermind behind the ritual had anticipated that they might be attacked by another organization and had prepared for it in advance. As a result, the Coordination Bureau still had no idea that they were creating a Gate to Hell.

Xiang Yudi had told Ma En about the composition of these sects and what they intended to do. Yet even as a member of the secret cult of Lanudast who ranked just below its leader, he had not been entitled to learn anything truly important. The main information he had provided was that he was summoning a demon named Long Qin.

It seemed that the man in black robes was also highly wary of his adopted son.

As it turned out, he had every reason to be.

“Wait.”

As Ma En was making his way back, Ren Shizhi suddenly called out from behind him. A moment later, Ma En felt something collide with him. But when he turned around, he saw nothing.

He paused, then realized what had struck him—his own psychic mantle.

Normally, even if he suddenly slowed down, his psychic power should have changed speed along with him under the control of his subconscious. What had just happened felt as though his body itself had come to a stop.

Ren Shizhi walked up to Ma En and said with a smile, “I never expected you to get Qin Luan to sign the approval personally. Qin Lan had never made any requests of her elder sister before. It seems she places quite a high value on your abilities.”

He had just said, “Wait.” That seemed to reveal an interesting fact: Ren Shizhi was actually an ability user, capable of influencing other people’s actions through language—or by some other means.

Moreover, his power was exceptionally difficult to detect. To this day, neither Qin Lan nor the other ability users had realized that he was one of them.

If Ma En had not been surrounded by a layer of psychic power, he probably would not have noticed anything either.

This was likely because Ren Shizhi used his ability with considerable subtlety. After all, no one would find it strange to stop when someone called out to them.

Looking back, Ren Shizhi had also used his ability when he told Ma En to sit down by the entrance. But at the time, he had perhaps not been sufficiently focused, and had therefore failed to influence Ma En.

His purpose in using his ability to stop Ma En had certainly not been to make him halt. It was more like…

He had been trying to influence Ma En gradually.

Ma En looked at him.

“Aren’t you afraid?”

Ren Shizhi pretended not to understand.

“Afraid of what?”

Ma En said, “As far as I know, Qin Luan is a powerful Tier V ability user. You and your superior have actually dared to oppose her sister so openly. I find that somewhat difficult to understand.”

Ren Shizhi looked at him as though he had just heard something amusing.

“Really? You haven’t figured it out yet?

“Of course I’m not afraid of them. Who would be afraid of two good people?

“When dealing with fools who genuinely believe that morality exists, you never need to worry about retaliation.

“As long as you control the degree of your offense and do not cross the boundaries in their hearts, these so-called good people will be shackled by the very beliefs they hold. We can manipulate them with ease.

“They are the ones who chose to draw their own lines.”

A trace of contempt appeared on his face.

Ma En nodded.

“So you take pride in having no bottom line.”

Ren Shizhi laughed.

“That’s right. And there’s no need to pretend. You’re just like me, Ma En. You aren’t a fool like them. You’re one of my kind. Listen to me…”

Once Ma En realized that Ren Shizhi was attempting to influence him, he could clearly feel an urge welling up inside his mind—an impulse to listen carefully to everything the other man said. But he broke free of the sensation almost instantly.

“…I know what you’ve done.” The corners of Ren Shizhi’s mouth lifted slightly, forming the practiced smile of a politician delivering a speech. “Lu Yide wasn’t suffering from multiple personality disorder. You killed him.

“Just imagine how Qin Lan and Qin Luan would see you if they learned about this. Your way of doing things is completely in line with ours. They would never trust you.”

Hearing this, Ma En felt somewhat helpless.

“Do you think killing Lu Yide was evil? Didn’t you look into why he was hospitalized in the first place? How about this: whatever you intend to threaten me with, just tell me what you really want. There doesn’t seem to be any grudge between us.”

Ren Shizhi was somewhat surprised.

Had Ma En not been affected by him?

Impossible. Ma En must already have begun to feel that what he was saying made sense. He was merely trying to conceal his thoughts in order to gain leverage.

“This isn’t what I want.” He answered with an innocent expression. “It’s my superior, Huang Qingfeng. He wants you to become his dog, just as I have become his.

“From my experience, you can gain far more by working for us than by working for Qin Luan.

“You should understand that they don’t even break the law. They have no way of making money, and hard work alone will never help you rise through the ranks of the Federation.”

When Ren Shizhi said that he was Huang Qingfeng’s dog, he showed no shame whatsoever. If anything, he seemed rather proud of it.

“I still refuse.” The problems Ma En faced were not things they could help him solve. “If you truly think this is useful, I can send Qin Lan a text message right now and mention that I was the one who killed Lu Yide. How does that sound?”

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Ma En took out his phone and looked at him calmly.

Ren Shizhi had not expected Ma En to actually do this. It was as if his ability had been completely ineffective. That was probably exactly what had happened. He had underestimated the strength of Ma En’s will and spirit; his groundwork was nowhere near sufficient.

“What about Chen Yun?” Ren Shizhi put away his smile and looked at Ma En coldly. “What about you, Chen Yun, and You Yue? What about the truth behind your hospitalization four years ago? Do you really think that doesn’t matter either?”

He had not intended to reveal his trump card so soon.

Ma En studied the man opposite him but did not answer immediately.

The other man clearly did not know the truth. Otherwise, he could never have spoken to Ma En in that manner. Yet whether by accident or through some other means, he had evidently sensed that Ma En did not want the events of four years ago to come to light.

“I’m a Tier III memory eraser,” Ma En said.

Ren Shizhi replied confidently, “Yes, and I know that. So don’t worry. I have detailed countermeasures prepared for your ability. Whatever you do to me, the Coordination Bureau will know that you attacked a fellow employee.”

“No, you misunderstand.” Ma En shook his head. “What I mean is that I’m a Tier III memory eraser, and you seem not to understand what that really means. Do you honestly think I can only erase the memories of a few prisoners?

“You know that I killed Lu Yide. But in fact, I also killed Xu Wen, the company spy, Doctor Li, and a whole host of Tier III ability users who wanted to cause trouble for me.

“And if I don’t want them to know, no one will ever learn that I was the one who killed them.”

Ma En’s gaze gradually turned cold.

“Qin Lan and Qin Luan are good people. That is why you can provoke them as much as you like without crossing their boundaries. But unfortunately…

“I am not.

“If you cause me any more trouble, I will go to Qin Lan and submit my resignation. Then I will turn around and kill both you and Huang Qingfeng. No one will be able to find a single piece of evidence.

“Do you understand?”

Ren Shizhi was so frightened that he stumbled two steps backward. He stared at the man before him in shock and terror.

This was completely different from what he had imagined. Ma En did not care in the slightest about the principles Qin Luan and the others revered. He was also far more dangerous and terrifying than Ren Shizhi had believed.

Ren Shizhi swallowed and forced a smile.

“I understand.”

He had to go and change Huang Qingfeng’s mind about dealing with Ma En immediately.

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