Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 208: The Exceptions

Chapter 208: The Exceptions

"How much do you have?"

"Oh?"

"I’m willing to spend five hundred thousand," Dasha said. "I require a long-term stream of monsters. Limbs, organs, whatever you can get your hands on."

Points and not coins. Meaning, this was no scam. There couldn’t be.

"Hooo..." The dealer was interested. "Does quality not matter?"

"No. However, in turn, I wish to know one thing."

"I’m listening."

"Where do you get them?"

Dasha’s question brought a smile to his face. There was a stillness, a rare type of tension. "Sharp, aren’t you?" The dealer crossed his arms. "A survivor of the Demonic Sect, a Council Elder, is in league with me. I do his dirty work and he splits the points. In their prime, the Demonic Sect were of course known for hunting monsters and doing whatever it takes for greater strength. The Council Elder still has things to sell from his vault."

An Unorthodox Sect member was in cahoots with a Demonic Sect Council Elder? That was comforting, indeed. Dasha gave a nod. "That is acceptable. Let us sign a Geas of Service—" His words suddenly came to a stop.

No, the world came to a stop, turning blood red.

The dealer went wide-eyed, his smiling lips trembling and his gaze eerily still.

Sitting on a table in the Moon Club was akin to seeing the truth of the house; of the people sitting around them and quietly discussing terms. Unless one was seated, it was impossible to see another walking between the tables.

But not with her.

It was a sensation Dasha had long forgotten. For the first time in years, a strange heaviness crept up to the back of his neck. A thick waft of blood spread throughout the Moon Club, the footsteps a distant thud. The stench grew deeper, deeper. Growing alongside the palpable evil and footsteps. Every little sound and scent struck the very soul, seizing the senses of every man and woman whether they liked it or not.

The woman was refined and silent and a darkness cloaked her face. Whether she was young or old was impossible to discern. All that Dasha sensed was death. He did not dare activate his Qi Sense, possessing the foresight to know that she would know. Her holy existence was wrapped in blood red in the form of a shenyi-style hanfu. The sleeves were loose and conjoined by her clasped hands. The blood red robes wrapped around her delightfully with a spiraling pattern from the left lapel to the waist. Her flesh was hidden entirely save for her face. Stripes of black were used for the overlap. The fabric flowed around her form akin to liquid.

She sat down. Dasha held his breath.

A middle-aged man of Chinese descent—evidently another member of the Unorthodox Sect—was already at the table. It was impossible to hear what he said due to the nature of the house’s magic. Whatever it was, it ended up with the Unorthodox member handing over a box.

The woman stared at the box and quietly opened it up.

A Liangbatou, a pink fan-shaped headdress of Chinese tradition, tilted with her head. Dasha registered curiosity and confusion in her. In turn, fear flashed across the dealer’s face.

The middle-aged dealer got up, the magic rendering him mute to outsiders yet clearly mouthing, "W-wait! I-I didn’t meant to—"

She snapped her finger.

Squelch!

His head imploded and blood rained down. A barrier appeared around every table to stop the rain in place. Watching trickles of scarlet go down the barrier, the dealer across from Dasha fell from his chair and backed away, terrified. If it wasn’t for the active barrier, he would have fled. He would have screamed. His instincts knew to fear and to fall ovr bht not to scream. To scream meant to die.

Dasha himself didn’t know how to react. He simply observed the woman who got up, took the box, and walked away. Not a single droplet of blood had tainted her.

The White Abyss was said to disallow violence. Today, Dasha witnessed that exceptions existed.