324: Chapter 324 The Night Watchman in the Lighthouse, One Finger Pointing Upwards

In Guanlan District, on the cliff by the coast.

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An abandoned lighthouse stood lonely in the wind and rain.

The sea breeze carrying salty and damp raindrops roared into the glassless arched window openings, making the scattered debris rustle.

The shrill wailing sounds echoed continuously, as if ghosts were hovering and whispering here.

The interior of the lighthouse was pitch black and silent.

Only the faint halo of the distant city projected through the window openings into the lighthouse room, barely outlining a blurry silhouette.

A tall and thin figure leaned against the cold and damp wall with arms crossed over the chest.

That pair of deep pupils, even in this pitch-black darkness, reflected a cold and sharp light.

The figure stood quietly, gazing through the window opening into the boundless night and the surging sea surface.

It seemed to be waiting for someone, or perhaps thinking about some worries.

The stopped figure was upright like a pine tree, and the well-tailored dark trench coat fluttered slightly in the wind.

Taking advantage of the lightning flash occasionally cutting across the sky, one could see raindrops wetting a few strands of hair on the forehead, sliding down the handsome and fair cheeks.

Even in such a harsh environment, he still maintained a good posture.

Like a professional model standing in front of the camera, ready to shoot photos for a fashion magazine.

It's just that the surrounding environment was untimely, and the atmosphere seemed a bit gloomy and terrifying.

"Why hasn't he come yet?"

Cheng Jiashu frowned slightly, raised his wrist, and confirmed the time displayed on his watch with another flash of lightning.

"Didn't we agree to meet here?"

He silently repeated the appointment details written on the note in his mind:

"The abandoned lighthouse west of Qingshui Bay... The location is correct."

"Midnight... It's already past 3 o'clock now..."

Thoughts couldn't help drifting back to a few hours ago.

Last night at 11:30, the night was thick, mixed with wind and rain.

Cheng Jiashu had already quietly arrived at this precariously located abandoned lighthouse like a ghost.

Cold rainwater and deep darkness were his natural cover.

In terms of stealth and assassination, he was also very rich in experience, and he believed he would never lose to those king soldiers born from special forces.

Cheng Jiashu carefully inspected every corner of the lighthouse.

From the cobweb-covered tower top to the damp stone steps on the bottom floor, any possible traps or ambushes could not escape his sharp eyes.

After confirming safety, Cheng Jiashu did not plan to wait for the appointment so frankly.

He first set up some small mechanisms, then hid his figure and hid in the darkness.

Preparing to give the upcoming visitor a surprise.

Cheng Jiashu imagined dozens of ways the opponent would appear, as well as his own decent coping posture.

Even a few sarcastic opening remarks and how to question the opponent had been rehearsed many times in his heart.

However, the midnight bell had long since whistled with the wind and rain, dissipating without a trace.

Time crawled slowly in the ticking of the hands, but the agreed figure never appeared.

The carefully arranged plan was like being washed away by heavy rain, and irritability inevitably began to breed.

Cheng Jiashu was initially able to maintain calm and walked out of the ambush corner.

Sometimes poking his head out to look at the dark night scene outside, sometimes retreating into the tower, pacing, and thinking about countermeasures.

By now, he simply stood with his arms crossed, listlessly looking at the wind and rain outside the window.

Nearly four hours of waiting was enough to wear away most of a normal person's patience.

Not to mention this kind of stormy, pitch-black early morning hour.

But Cheng Jiashu was not a normal person.

Seeing signs of the heavy rain outside easing, his eyes flashed, and his brain ran fast.

"Should I wait a bit longer?"

Since the other party took the initiative to request a meeting, they shouldn't break the appointment for no reason.

Perhaps an accident happened halfway, like the car breaking down on the road.

Perhaps the whereabouts were exposed, and they were being hunted down by the Noah Organization. Saving lives was paramount, so they couldn't make it to the appointment.

Or perhaps they were simply delayed by something.

Various thoughts fluctuated like the waves under the cliff outside the window.

In the end, Cheng Jiashu took a deep breath of slightly salty and damp cold air.

Suppressing his messy thoughts, his eyes regained firmness.

Since he had waited so long, he might as well give the other party more time.

After all, someone who could master that level of intelligence was by no means an ordinary person, and being a bit cautious in their actions was reasonable.

Time passed minute by minute.

Outside the lighthouse, the sound of wind and rain gradually subsided, but the roar of waves hitting the reefs was still clear.

Occasionally, a few vague and distant police sirens came from the city direction, which were quickly blown away by the night wind.

Adding a trace of inexplicable tension to this lonely and long waiting process.

Cheng Jiashu still maintained a good posture, as if he had melted into the wall behind him.

Only the occasionally slightly adjusted standing posture showed that he had not fallen asleep.

I don't know how long passed, the heavy rain outside the window finally stopped completely, leaving only fine raindrops and roaring sea breezes.

The interior of the tower was still dim and lightless, but through the arched window opening, one could already see the eastern sky, where a faint white fish belly was quietly blooming, driving away the remaining night.

The outline of the distant city gradually became clear in the darkness.

Like a huge, wet silhouette just washed by rainwater, quietly lying on the horizon.

Dawn had arrived.

And the person Cheng Jiashu was waiting for had not appeared for a long time.

It seemed that person had long forgotten such an important appointment.

...

Wenchuan District, Midnight Forest Bar.

After midnight, the hustle and bustle came to an end.

The huge disco ball in the center of the dance floor hung quietly at this moment.

Most of the lights were turned off, and only the back of the bar and a few corners still lit up dim working lights.

The lingering charm of mixed alcohol, perfume, and tobacco in the air had not completely dissipated.

Several uniformed bar staff were pushing Cleaning carts, Cleaning up the wine bottles, paper towels, and various messes scattered among the booths.

The low humming sound of the vacuum cleaner echoed in the empty hall.

Occasionally a few suppressed snores came from some hidden corner, quickly covered up by the noise of Cleaning work.

A young female waitress walked to a row of booths by the window and reached out to pull open the heavy velvet curtains.

Clatter—

The curtains were pulled open abruptly, and the faint morning light rushed in eagerly, driving away the dimness inside the booth.

The waitress paused her movement, then uttered a low cry with a hint of surprise:

"Oh!"

I saw a man curled up on the sofa of the booth, his hair highlighted with a dazzling yellow, fast asleep and unresponsive.

"Brother Hao? Why are you sleeping here?"

Xu Hao was awakened by the sudden light and sound, opened his eyes dazedly, and rubbed his drowsy eyes.

He looked around somewhat blankly, and turned his head to look out the window.

The sky was gloomy, it seemed the rain last night had stopped, the ground was wet, and the air carried the freshness after the rain.

"What time is it?"

Xu Hao asked vaguely, his voice carrying the hoarseness of just waking up, looking at Xiao Qing standing in front of him.

"Brother Hao, it's almost eight o'clock."

Xiao Qing replied with concern.

"Eight o'clock?!"

Xu Hao popped up from the sofa like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Under Xiao Qing's surprised gaze, he didn't even have time to tidy up his bird's nest-like messy hairstyle, and ran hurriedly toward the stairs in three or two steps.

On the second floor, the door of the VIP lounge was tightly closed.

Xu Hao lightened his steps, carefully pushing open a gap in the thick soundproof door.

The moment it opened, his eyes paused slightly.

What came into view was a shirtless, robust back.

That man, relying solely on the index finger of his right hand, firmly hooked onto the sturdy metal anti-theft grid above the window like an eagle's claw.

This nearly Heaven-Defying balance and strength firmly seized Xu Hao's line of sight in an instant.

As the man exerted force, the bulging muscle groups on his arm seemed to come alive.

From the flexor muscle group to the biceps brachii, from the scapular deltoid muscle to the latissimus dorsi.

The muscle fibers of nearly half of the torso swelled and rolled strand by strand, forming a coiling dragon-like twisted state.

In this ultimate explosive power, the man simultaneously showed amazing flexibility.

When pulling himself up, the latissimus dorsi was like an eagle spreading its wings, and when falling, it folded like mountains.

Every rise and fall carried a nearly artistic rhythm and sense of oppression.

The surface of the bronze skin shimmered slightly with a crystal-clear gloss.

That masculine and athletic physique exuded a breathtaking force and beauty in the morning light.

Xu Hao swallowed a mouthful of saliva, subconsciously held his breath, and dared not rashly disturb the other party's exercise behavior.

Watching that man hook the window grid with just a single finger, he completed over a hundred such high-difficulty Pull-ups in one breath.

And it looked like there was no sign of exhaustion at all, his body hanging steadily in the air. After changing hands slightly and hooking the window grid with his left index finger, he continued to Pull-up.

Xu Hao's heart couldn't help surging with an indescribable shock.

A Single-Finger Pull-up, even with all his might, he could barely complete twenty or so, and the process was by no means possible to be so relaxed and freehand.

Yet the person in front of him could do hundreds of them continuously, as if that weight of over a hundred catties was as light as a feather to him, with no burden at all.

This had far exceeded the physical limits of normal humans, it was simply a monster wearing human skin!

What shocked Xu Hao even more was that this man was already so powerful, yet he was still so hardworking and self-disciplined, persistently honing himself every day, clearly pursuing an even more ultimate Realm or power.

"Is this the spirit of a Martial Artist?"

Xu Hao's gaze couldn't help becoming complicated, full of awe and deep thought.

"Whew—"

The young man let out a breath, seemingly having finally finished his exercise, hopped down lightly from the anti-theft window, and stood steadily on the floor.

Shaking his hands, his fingertips didn't even show any signs of redness.

"Is there any news coming from Noah?"

He asked calmly without turning his head.

Xu Hao gave a start, instantly snapping out of his shock, and quickly stepped forward to reply:

"Brother Cheng, not yet."

This title, compared to the past, seemed to carry more heartfelt admiration.

After a pause, Xu Hao added an explanation:

"Last night, after we retreated separately, everyone's communication equipment was completely destroyed according to organizational regulations, and relevant contact methods were also deleted, temporarily entering a silent state."

"How about later, I find an opportunity to contact that kid Ma Biao and subtly probe to see what reaction Noah's upper management has now?"

Fang Cheng turned around, looked at Xu Hao with deep eyes, and shook his head.

Last night's Demon Hunting Operation caused such a big commotion, and the Special Investigation Team intervened directly.

The Noah Organization was probably overwhelmed right now, and its primary task must be to go into hiding and find a way to get rid of the tracking of the Special Investigation Team.

After solving this imminent big trouble, they would consider other things.

Fang Cheng pondered for a moment and asked again:

"What about the Special Investigation Team? What is their attitude? How many people were caught last night? Did they capture any important figures?"

Xu Hao scratched his head, a trace of depression showing on his face:

"This... I wanted to ask around, but I was severely scolded by the people from the Special Investigation Team, saying that I deliberately concealed the situation and misled their operation."

"However, from the other party's tone, I still heard some news."

"They did catch quite a few ordinary members of the Noah Organization, but they probably didn't catch many of those truly heavyweight Advanced cadres."

Fang Cheng's eyes flickered slightly, and he asked:

"Did they suspect your motives?"

Xu Hao waved his hands hurriedly, saying with confidence on his face:

"Boss, don't worry, absolutely not. I have successfully fobbed them off, just saying that I joined the Noah Organization not long ago, and it was already not easy to sneak into this operation."

"I originally planned to grasp more detailed plans and conclusive evidence before telling them together, but who knew that upon arriving at the scene, I discovered the Noah Organization had put on such a massive show."

"Besides, the situation was so urgent at the time, and communication conditions were limited. It's normal that some intelligence wasn't explained clearly."

After Xu Hao finished speaking, he curled his lips and couldn't help complaining a few times in front of Fang Cheng:

"I'm not entirely lying to them either. Those bastards really try to act innocent after taking advantage. It's already good enough that credit is given to them, yet they are still picky!"

While moving his wrists and cervical vertebrae, making crisp cracking sounds, Fang Cheng said casually:

"If the Special Investigation Team brings this matter up again afterwards, you can generously tell them the cause of the whole thing."

"Just say that the Noah Organization is actually hunting down a mysterious expert who specifically goes against them."

Speaking of this, Fang Cheng paused slightly and organized his words:

"You can retell Cheng Jiashu's glorious deeds to them with embellishments."

"And then say that after racking your brains and trying every possible means to inquire, you finally found out a shocking secret—"

"It turns out that this mysterious expert was once a member of the Noah Organization. This person's codename is 'White Owl', and his real-world identity is that idol singer Cheng Jiashu."

"Due to some emotional entanglements, out of love turning to hate with two other high-level leaders in the organization surnamed Luo and Li, the two sides had a fierce conflict. After a big brawl, he chose to betray the organization."

"Precisely because of this, Cheng Jiashu was hunted down, forged a feud with the Noah Organization, and opposed them everywhere."

"And the reason why Minister Luo personally rushed to Dongdu seems to be to deal with this unspeakable old friend..."

Xu Hao listened in a daze, his eyes widening more and more:

"Brother Cheng, your story... is simply... too cliché, right?"

The corners of Fang Cheng's mouth curved into an arc:

"The more cliché the better, it's easier to make people believe it."

"Anyway, the general meaning is that this 'White Owl' only kills members of the Noah Organization and never attacks ordinary civilians. In a sense, he and the Special Investigation Team are actually standing on the same front line."