The Wicked System: Path of the Devourer Chapter 45 The Tianlong Invitation

At the entrance of the Tianlong Grand Hotel, Ah Hu, whom he had met once before, was waiting. Seeing Zhang Wenbin arrive, he immediately welcomed him warmly. "Senior, please follow me. Normally, President Lin should be here to welcome you, but there are too many people here. Please don't take offense."

Zhang Wenbin smiled and said nothing, comfortably enjoying his deference.

The moment he entered the hotel, the little ghost infant didn't react at all. It had to be said that Yang Qiang was truly unlucky. This ghost infant was one of the extreme minorities—an anomaly that the "Golden Seal Dropping on Paper" array couldn't detect.

If it were any other evil spirit, it would have been dealt with by the Golden Seal Dropping on Paper the moment he came here to play cards. This could be considered a predetermined fate.

The hotel staff were all astonished. Ah Hu was President Lin's trusted aide, someone notoriously vicious. But having witnessed Zhang Wenbin's methods, how could he dare treat this seemingly harmless teenager as an ordinary person? Like Lin Guoxiong, he had already preconceived the notion that this was a terrifying, ancient monster.

Inside the luxurious private dining room, Lin Guoxiong, dressed in a sharp suit, warmly welcomed him: "Senior arrived so quickly! Ah Hu, tell the kitchen to serve the food immediately, and bring over my case of aged wine. Remember to guard the door and let no one disturb us."

The dishes quickly filled the table. More than twenty dishes for just two people to eat was a bit extravagant. The wine was a case of Lin Guoxiong's treasured twenty-year-old aged wine, said to taste far superior to supposedly high-end imported liquors.

After taking a few bites, Lin Guoxiong raised his glass and said, "Let me toast Senior first. It is my honor that you deigned to come." Zhang Wenbin felt the small liquor glasses were too unsatisfying, so he drank from a large beer mug. Mainly, among the thousands of resentful souls, there were many drunkards who loved this stuff. With their support, Zhang Wenbin's alcohol tolerance was practically bottomless. Drinking was also a way to appease them and satisfy their cravings.

Putting down his glass, Zhang Wenbin, although hungry, got straight to business: "Boss Lin, do you have venomous snakes here?" Such a high-end hotel like Tianlong naturally served wild game. There were two cobras in the back kitchen, usually used for snake soup, or stewed with chicken in a famous dish called 'Dragon and Phoenix Duel'.

After asking, Lin Guoxiong eagerly said, "If Senior is interested, you can try some. Our head chef's snake soup is quite good." "Not interested. Have your men prepare ten live venomous snakes for me. Cobras, the bigger and more venomous, the better." This request sounded bizarre, but to Lin Guoxiong, it was a trivial matter. After giving the order, he raised his glass again and said, "Senior, to be honest, Junior does have a favor to ask of you."

"Speak!"

Lin Guoxiong said eagerly, "It's like this. We have a very good relationship with a big boss from the Northeast. We partnered to develop a hot spring resort, and the cooperation has been progressing very smoothly. But ever since she arrived, she has consistently refused to stay at our Tianlong Hotel."

"As you know, and I'm not boasting, our Tianlong is definitely the most upscale in Coastal City. When our own business partner chooses to stay at another hotel, where does that leave my pride? Moreover, this big boss is highly valued by the city government. If word of this gets out, I'll completely lose face."

Zhang Wenbin looked at him in confusion. Lin Guoxiong quickly got to the main point: "Not only does that big boss refuse to stay with us, but she also politely declines invitations to dine here. Yet, our cooperative relationship remains very good. When asked why, she won't state the reason, so I'm worried sick."

"Have you asked that Uncle Chen of yours?" Zhang Wenbin vaguely understood the situation.

"Uncle Chen is like a solitary cloud and wild crane; he wouldn't bother with such trivial matters." Lin Guoxiong wasn't an idiot and asked directly, "I was thinking, does she have some sort of taboo, or is she repulsed by the Feng Shui of my hotel?"

"He's a solitary cloud and wild crane, a transcendental master, while I'm just a meddlesome nobody you can freely order around, huh." Zhang Wenbin teased.

Lin Guoxiong was terrified. His face paled as he hurriedly explained, "Senior misunderstand! How could I dare imply such a thing? It's just that Senior is more approachable, so I gathered my courage to ask Senior to inspect the situation and help me see what exactly the problem is."

Lineages from orthodox sects like Uncle Chen were mostly highly arrogant. Once they got a bit of money, they would put on airs of false purity and refuse to act easily. To put it simply, if they had easy ways to make money, they didn't want to invite trouble.

As a member of the wicked path, Zhang Wenbin loathed these self-proclaimed pure orthodox sects the most. Every single one of them acted all high and mighty, but fundamentally, they weren't good people either.

The wicked path acted according to their hearts—doing good deeds or committing evil acts without being bound by rules. Those orthodox sects, however, were sanctimonious hypocrites full of grand-sounding moral platitudes. He found them utterly repulsive.

Zhang Wenbin originally didn't want to bother with this crap, but on second thought, the situation was strange. He might uncover something good, so he hesitated.

Lin Guoxiong immediately pulled out a card and said, "Senior, this is our Tianlong Grand Hotel's VIP card. It has a limit of 880,000 RMB. Just a small token of appreciation, please don't disdain it, Senior."

With benefits on the table, temptation arose. Zhang Wenbin picked up the card, glanced at it, and chuckled, "Interesting. 880,000 should be quite a lot. That old man Chen isn't even tempted by this—could his asking price be even higher?"

Lin Guoxiong smiled awkwardly, "Uncle Chen has always lived in seclusion. Now that he's older, he only seeks peace and quiet. Sometimes, we juniors feel embarrassed to disturb him."

"Alright. Since I have nothing else to do, I'll take a look for you when the time comes."

"Thank you, Senior! Thank you, Senior!"

Lin Guoxiong let out a huge sigh of relief and said, "That boss will be visiting Coastal City in a week. At that time, please be magnanimous and help inspect the place, Senior. With such a massive investment, I don't want any unexpected incidents."

"Rest assured."

Zhang Wenbin swaggered out, but instead of leaving the hotel, he turned around and booked a room to rest. His trusted aide, Ah Hu, couldn't help but lean in and say, "Boss, is it appropriate to seek out this old monster? Uncle Chen already warned us not to provoke him. Inviting a god is easy; sending one away is hard."

Lin Guoxiong snorted and said, "Uncle Chen couldn't help either, only knowing how to spout those high-sounding words. The investment amount this time is massive; we can't afford a single slip-up."

Ah Hu still had lingering fears: "But President Lin, you saw his methods that day. He casually made a living person jump off a building. If we happen to slight him anywhere, I fear it will be too late for regrets."

"Then just serve him well! As long as the old monster is tempted by money, it's fine. I only feel at ease precisely because he has such methods. What we need are results; who cares what methods he uses."

Lin Guoxiong was indifferent and sneered, "Why do you think Yang Qiang was so eagerly at his beck and call? Wasn't it for the sake of his own little life? Flattering such an old monster definitely has its benefits. In case we encounter a similar situation as his, if the old monster is willing to act as a black-hearted fixer, then it’s safe."

"As for a security guard dying, what is there to be surprised about? He never claimed to be a good person from the very beginning."