Chapter 190: Makeover.

Chapter 190: Makeover.Lee arrived before the agreed time, the midnight, but three people were already waiting for him. Apparently the higher-ups were more anxious about the mission than he was. But that was understandable – Elder Luo was working on it since the attack on the Nethermoon sect.

When Lee entered the brightly lit room, his vision blurred for a moment, but he already recognized one of the present. He nodded towards the elder of the Hall of Justice and followed his gesture to sit on the only chair in the room.

The second person, or rather, the most eye-catching one – a tall and burly elderly man, at least six – five, with shoulders so wide they could barely fit through the door, immediately stepped forward and began to fiddle with Lee’s hair.

No one said anything, but Lee knew he was about to get a bit of a makeover. His guess was that the man was the famous Elder Xiao, Xiao Lian’s uncle – the most skilled artisan in the sect.

Lee’s hair wasn’t short, probably around three to four inches, but for the role he was about to play he needed it to be longer, much longer. He had to play someone who had been in the sect’s prison for some time, and the worst thing about it – he needed to play a woman.

There were no modern hairdressers in this world, thus the important job of changing Lee’s appearance fell in the hands of an experienced artisan.

"This is Junior Elder Fan." Elder Luo broke the silence and meanwhile introduced the third person, "He’s the one who’ll escort the escapees."

"Hi!" Lee said, observing the man leaning at the wall.

He was dressed in simple leather attire, with the Hall of Justice’s badge on the chest. His unkempt beard and the deep, dark circles under his eyes gave him the worn look of alcoholic, and the murky eyes suggested he could even be a drug abuser.

If not for Elder Lou introducing the man as junior elder, Lee would’ve never guessed that he was elemental lord, one of the strongest entities in the sect. The most intriguing thing about him was that the man’s gaze at first might’ve seemed dull, but Lee immediately felt a peculiar sharpness coming from him. Clearly his looks were altered to allow him to play a specific role in the scheme.

"The initial group will be of thirty prisoners." Junior Elder Fan began the briefing. Lee and Elder Luo had gone through this, but there was no harm in repeating.



"After the initial clash, there will be nine left, including you." Junior elder continued.

He spoke softly, but clearly and his voice didn’t fit his image at all. Obviously the man was changing it when interacting with the prisoners.

"There will be two elemental lords, one elemental master and one warrior. The rest of them ... regular people." He said, "Don’t make mistake, everyone is equally dangerous, but your focus should be on the lords, obviously. To increase your chances, we’ll neutralize half of the remaining group along the way."

"How will I be able to tell elemental lords apart from the only master?" Lee asked, "No one will introduce themselves, not at first."

"Shackles." Junior elder expected the question, and in his hands appeared two pairs of shackles.

They looked like they were made of thick stone, but Lee already knew it was a peculiar alloy that disrupted a person’s ability to gather and guide elemental energy. Basically, no matter how strong the cultivator was, as long as they had the shackles on, they could be considered a common mortal.

One pair of shackles was thicker, indicating those were the ones the elemental lords would be cuffed with.

"Done." Lee heard Elder Xiao say.

While they were talking, under the elder’s nimble hands, Lee’s hair grew over ten inches. He shook his head and ruffled them to get used to the change.

"You’ll have two days to familiarize with everything." Elder Luo said, "Including the message system. Are you sure you’ll be able to copy her writing properly? There won’t be too much light."

"I’m gonna write few words in blood. It’s not that hard." Lee confidently said.

"Alright, you know the rest." Elder Luo nodded, "Elder Xiao, would you mind demonstrating the beacons?"

"Mhm." The big man nodded and from his pocket pulled out four rings, "You activate the beacon when inserting the small ring inside of the bigger one, like this. You’ll have two pairs, so two chances. But you must place them on a surface, not in a small opening, like, I don’t know, between the floor planks. The sect master ... won’t see then."

"Huh?!" Lee was surprised by the implication, "You mean I can blind the old baldy?"

Seeing the expressions of the three men change, he sighed, "You guys are too tense. No sense of humor whatsoever. On a serious note, those things are too eye-catching. It’s impossible to leave a golden ring unnoticed anywhere, especially if I’m being watched."



"That part you’ll have to figure out yourself." Elder Luo said, "We needed the rings to be golden for you to plausibly acquire them, remember? Just be careful. Junior Elder Fan has only two hands."

"No worries." Lee nodded, "How many interceptions will we have? Two or three?"

"We decided to go with two. There are groups prepared in each of the cardinal directions." Elder Luo said, "The sect master will guide the closest to you. He’ll also monitor your escape, so you should be fine."

"What about the weapon?" Lee asked.

He needed a weapon and Elder Xiao had prepared a special one.

"During the first skirmish the man in the white shirt will have it." Junior Elder Fan said.

"Be careful." Elder Xiao said, "It’ll hold only a cup of blood."

"Alright!" Lee said and nodded, "If that’s all I need to know, let’s get me dressed."

He was in good spirits which were dampened the moment he saw the two pieces of the bloodied clothing the junior elder passed him.

To Lee’s questioning look, Junior Elder Fan said, "You didn’t expect us to leave the person you’ll replace alive? We don’t need surprises."

Lee nodded, and wore the partially torn and dirty shirt and trousers. For the upcoming days he’ll have to stay barefooted, though.

This idea he liked the least, but then his eyes lit up, and he pointed at his feet, saying, "Please have someone of my size during the interceptions."

Elder Luo nodded, and then said, his tone becoming especially serious, "From now on, no fooling around. More importantly, in few days you’ll be on your own, so watch your back! These people are not simple. They might not have the strongest combat power, but they are adept in scheming."

After giving his I understand, Lee said goodbyes and Junior Elder Fan led him to his cell.

***



On the way they didn’t speak, but after entering the last corridor, Lee was grabbed by the neck and lifted up. It was done by another man who joined them on the way. He didn’t say anything, but only nodded to to junior elder earlier.

Lee didn’t even need to try to do anything special to play his role – he made the low gurgling sounds naturally. The grip was so tight, he couldn’t breathe and his eyes were watering, but before he passed out, they arrived to his cell.

Junior elder Fan opened the door, the man threw Lee in, and said with a sneer, "Thank you for your services! Till next time!"

"You shouldn’t overdo that, Knox! One of these days she’ll slit your throat while you’re at it!" Junior elder said, and Lee could barely recognize his voice. The man had completely changed the character.

"Shut up, Fan! Next time I’ll make you watch!" Then the man left, loudly laughing, but junior elder closed the door to Lee’s cell, deeply sighing, as if being helpless.

During the past months they had been preparing three potential plants, including the former resident of the cell Lee was currently in. They prepared the background of someone getting abused on a regular basis, and while it might’ve seemed immoral, it was perfect for what Lee had to play. Except the fact that it was a woman, of course.

***

For two following days he mostly meditated, on one occasion got fake-raped and got to write the expected letter in blood.

The guard that was played by Junior Elder Fan was the one who secretly acted as the corrupt postman, delivering the letters. And all the correspondence was controlled by one of the elemental lords – the person who was organizing the prison break.

Since the man never left his cell, his potential collaborators were suggested by the junior elder and during the past months were carefully checked and verified via the prison messaging system. The elemental lord didn’t particularly like it, but he had no other options.

In his situation one might consider a death being a better sentence than the life in prison, because he still had centuries of life span left. Spending them here was probably worse than dying.

Lee’s letter consisted only of on word – in. It was his last official confirmation to the elemental lord’s offer and the next night was finally going to be the big night the man had prepared for months.