Chapter 329: The Same Trick Won't Work on Me

The First Red King must have had something the Royal Family wanted back. Supreme Heaven? No, that wasn't right. The Royal Family had just used Supreme Heaven not long ago, and Jasmine had died as a result.

Yang Dongqing couldn't figure it out. He couldn't even pass the information to the Revolutionary Army because of the contract he had signed. For now, he could only take things one step at a time. Even if the mission target wasn't Supreme Heaven, it had to be something absolutely vital to the Royal Family.

"In three days, you will depart for the Nightmare World," Dongfang Yuan said. Then he left, giving the group time to digest the news in silence.

An enforcer walked up to Yang Dongqing. "Mr. Yang, Count Su is waiting for you at his manor. The car is ready. Please follow me."

With a heavy heart, Yang Dongqing nodded and followed the enforcer out. His mind was entirely consumed by the mission. He had a nagging feeling that this operation would be the key to bringing down the Chiyan Empire.

An hour later, the car pulled up to a magnificent manor.

Yang Dongqing stepped out and let the butler lead him inside. As the heavy doors slowly swung open, a bright, spacious hall came into view.

In the center of the hall, Su Mu and the others were gathered around a table eating hotpot. Su Qing was drinking beer and singing, looking utterly delighted.

Su Qing had demanded the hotpot, and Lin Lingling had immediately seconded the motion. The two shorties had hit it off instantly.

Spotting Yang Dongqing's arrival, Su Mu smiled and waved him over. "Take a seat, Yang... Jas."

Yang Dongqing walked over with a blank expression, looking completely out of place in the lively atmosphere.

He didn't sit. Instead, he stared straight at Su Mu and said coldly, "I might have joined your team, but let me make one thing clear upfront. Joining doesn't mean I take orders from you. Anyone who gets in the way of my mission is my enemy, and that includes teammates!"

His icy words shattered the festive mood. Everyone slowly put down their chopsticks and stared at him.

Lin Nanxing stood up in a flash of irritation and pointed a finger at him. "Seriously, man? Are you always this arrogant? Does your family know?"

"Let me handle him. I could use a little warm-up so I can eat more later." Su Qing had already rolled up her sleeves, baring her slender, pale arms.

Su Mu waved a hand, gesturing for the others to stand down. He slowly rose to his feet, walked up to Yang Dongqing, and asked mildly, "You want to be the captain?"

Yang Dongqing gave a cold nod. "I should have been the captain from the start."

"Beat me, and the spot is yours." Su Mu unbuttoned his collar and strolled over to an empty space in the hall.

Refusing to back down, Yang Dongqing followed him. "You said it."

The moment they took their stances, Yang Dongqing struck first. He threw a punch—a simple motion, but one refined through thousands of grueling battles, carrying a chilling, lethal intent.

Su Mu met the attack head-on, and a fierce battle erupted between them.

Fists flew in a blur, the air cracking with explosive force as their afterimages flickered across the hall.

Feeling the heavy impact of Su Mu's fists, Yang Dongqing was secretly shocked. He never expected the once-fragile Su Mu to go toe-to-toe with him without losing ground.

But this level of strength still isn't enough to beat me!

He let out a roar. His punches grew faster and more ferocious, carrying astonishing momentum.

"Gotta admit, watching a sideshow while eating hotpot is definitely a unique vibe," Lin Lingling mumbled, her mouth stuffed with food.

"Wow, this fishball is so good! Su Mu, you have to try one." With exaggerated acting and a deliberately shy expression, Su Qing placed a fishball in Su Mu's bowl.

Su Mu stared at the fishball, then glanced at the chopsticks Su Qing had just been sucking on. "I don't like fishballs," he said dryly.

He scooped a slice of mutton from the pot and elegantly popped it into his mouth.

Lin Nanxing hadn't even touched his chopsticks. Instead, he was glued to Yang Dongqing's one-man show, bursting into uproarious laughter every few seconds. "I'm dying! Look at him! The idiot is choking himself with one hand! He's almost lifting himself off the ground!"

Out in the open space of the hall, Yang Dongqing was locked in a brutal battle with thin air. He would let out fierce war cries and occasionally punch himself in the face, knocking himself to the floor in a completely absurd display.

An hour later, a panting, exhausted Yang Dongqing struggled back to his feet. A victorious smile stretched across his face. "I win."

"Yup, yup, you totally won. Come grab some food before the hotpot boils dry," Lin Nanxing teased.

Yang Dongqing froze. He reflexively turned his head toward the table and instantly went rigid.

Su Mu was sitting calmly in his chair, completely unscathed, sipping red wine and eating hotpot.

Realizing what had happened, he stiffly jerked his head back toward the clearing. The battered and defeated Su Mu he had just taken down was nowhere to be seen.

"An... an Illusion Technique?!"

Yang Dongqing's face flashed green, then pale white. As a veteran victim of Illusion Techniques, he could easily picture exactly what he had just spent the last hour doing. He had been brawling with empty air like a performing monkey, while the rest of them sat there eating hotpot and laughing at his one-man show.

Damn it! How did I get hit by an illusion again? I've gotten so much stronger! I even underwent specialized mental conditioning with the Revolutionary Army. My mental resistance should be way beyond anyone at my level! Su Mu must have cast the Illusion Technique early on when I wasn't paying attention!

Without a single word, Yang Dongqing marched over to the table, sat down, and started eating. After an hour of intense fighting, he was genuinely starving.

He shoved a bite of mutton into his mouth, chewed, and said with a completely blank face, "I was careless this time. It won't happen again. The same trick won't work on me twice."

Beside him, Lin Nanxing suddenly erupted into breathless, howling laughter. He slapped the table repeatedly, tears streaming down his face as he pointed a shaking finger at Yang Dongqing.

Yang Dongqing frowned, glaring at him. "What's so funny?"

"Hahaha..." Lin Nanxing wiped his eyes, wheezing with joy. "'The same trick... won't work on me twice!' Hahaha... Bro, why don't you look at what you're eating first?"

Yang Dongqing looked down, and his expression instantly turned as foul as if he had just eaten shit. The thing gripped between his chopsticks wasn't a slice of mutton at all. It was a half-chewed paper napkin...

Damn it! The Illusion Technique was never dispelled!

After that humiliating farce, Yang Dongqing didn't say another word about becoming the captain and slunk away in defeat.

The rest of the group finished their meal and eventually headed out as well.