CHAPTER 212: CHAPTER 209: THE RIO ADVENTURE

Chapter 209: Rio Adventure

As Chen Nuo headed towards the security checkpoint with his backpack, suddenly, a shout came from the left.

"Junior Brother!"

A thought crossed Chen Nuo’s mind, and he stopped in his tracks to turn and look.

From afar, he saw a man in his thirties, with short hair, wearing a drab grey jacket and sporting travel shoes.

The man had an otherwise unremarkable face, save for a black mole on the left tip of his eyebrow, from which sprouted a tuft of black hair.

"Eh? Wu Daodao... Ah, no, Eldest Senior Brother?"

Chen Nuo’s expression changed slightly, just a flash before he steadied himself, standing firm.

Wu Daodao, looking like a township entrepreneur with a leather bag tucked under his arm, wobbled over in a three-step gait and, upon reaching Chen Nuo, grinned and said, "Junior Brother, have you been well?"

Chen Nuo glanced at Wu Daodao’s attire and laughed, "Eldest Senior Brother, not dressing up as a monk or a Taoist priest this time?"

"Too many commoners in the world, those without wisdom. You try to enlighten others, and they’ll just think you’re a swindler. Forget it, forget it, I’d better do less of that in the future."

Chen Nuo hummed in agreement, merely nodding his head.

Chen Yanluo’s face remained calm, but his mind was filled with peculiar thoughts. This Wu Daodao, his Eldest Senior Brother, had already left a deep impression on Chen Nuo from their last encounter—this guy was no ordinary person! He certainly knew some tricks.

"Eldest Senior Brother, did you come here to wait for me on purpose?"

"Yes, specially to see you."

Chen Nuo’s brows knitted together.

Came specially? How did he find me? Now that was interesting! Him coming to Shanghai, to the airport, especially at this time... it was impossible for anyone else to know! He hadn’t told anyone either. To time it so accurately, waiting at the airport to meet him, pinpointing the time, place, and his itinerary?

Chen Nuo pondered for a moment. "So, Eldest Senior Brother, you’re not pretending it’s a coincidence this time?"

"Even if I did, you wouldn’t believe it," Wu Daodao spread his hands.

"...Hmm, indeed, I wouldn’t." Chen Nuo shook his head. "But, Eldest Senior Brother, that’s quite the skill you have!"

"No, no, no, it’s just a little bit of my modest practice. Junior Brother is the one with the real skills." Wu Daodao wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with a wry smile. "I didn’t mean to pry into Junior Brother’s whereabouts, it was truly out of necessity."

Wu Daodao was clearly a bit nervous.

He was very aware that the young man before him, Chen Nuo, was no ordinary person.

This person recognized Old Jiang as a true master. But, he might not really consider me his Eldest Senior Brother.

Chen Nuo checked the time; it was still early.

He pulled Wu Daodao into the airport lobby, found a small convenience store, bought two bottles of ice-cold cola, handed one to Wu Daodao, and then found a seat in the rest area to sit down.

"Eldest Senior Brother, tell me, what do you need?"

As he spoke, Chen Nuo twisted open the bottle of cola. FIZZ.

Wu Daodao exhaled and spoke softly, "Junior Brother, are you leaving on a long journey?"

"I am heading out on a long trip," Chen Nuo smiled. "Otherwise, what, did you think I came to the airport for a walk?"

"Well, my visit this time is to convey a message to Junior Brother."

Chen Nuo’s eyes flickered. "Please go on, Eldest Senior Brother."

"That... Can you not go?"

"..."

They stared fixedly at each other.

A few seconds later, Chen Nuo suddenly laughed. "Eldest Senior Brother, are you here to joke around with me?"

Wu Daodao had a solemn expression, his brow furrowed with a hint of dilemma.

However, having come all this way, Wu Daodao had already made up his mind. After taking a deep breath, he slowly said, "Junior Brother, when our master celebrated his birthday, we met in Jinling City and got along well..."

"Hmm, before you left, Eldest Senior Brother, you also tricked me."

"...That’s because you scared me first, saying you’d get that bald guy to strip me." Wu Daodao glared, but then quickly composed himself. "Let’s not dwell on the past, let’s not dwell on the past. I want to tell you... that time we met in Jinling, I actually cast a spell on you."

That sounded a bit far-fetched. However, Chen Nuo’s face showed no hint of disbelief. The Underground World had all sorts of demons, ghosts, psychopaths, and madmen; this Wu Daodao was clearly a capable person. To say he knew spells—it was more likely he was also an Ability User. Chen Nuo had sensed this during their previous meeting in Jinling.

"Hmm, Eldest Senior Brother cast a spell on me." Chen Nuo nodded. "And then?"

"I took two strands of your hair from your clothes."

Chen Nuo frowned, thought for a moment. "Eldest Senior Brother, your cultivation doesn’t involve Gu sorcery or curses, does it?"

"Absolutely not! I would never dream of harming you, Junior Brother. It’s just... Junior Brother’s destiny is peculiar, so I became curious and took them back to study."

Chen Nuo didn’t press for details, merely nodded and said, "Alright, you secretly took two strands of my hair. And then?"

"Junior Brother’s fate is strange, and I, your senior brother, don’t dare ask too much, nor is it proper to pry into your privacy." Wu Daodao said with a wry smile. "However, I had actually divined one thing long ago: before I went to Jinling that time, I would meet a fated person. Thinking back on it now, wasn’t that you, Junior Brother?"

Chen Nuo sighed. "Eldest Senior Brother, I don’t have much money on me."

"No, no, this trip isn’t for money." Wu Daodao shook his head. "Junior Brother, let me be frank. I’ve divined that we have a fated connection. However, your destiny is so peculiar that many things about it are like looking at clouds and mist; I can’t see them clearly. But this time, I had to come find you... because those two strands of your hair I took, I used a ’thread-pulling’ spell on them, kept them in my courtyard, and studied them daily. Junior Brother’s destiny is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I just hoped to learn from your hair some patterns of change in fate, which would also help improve my cultivation."

"So, Eldest Senior Brother, did you discover anything?"

Wu Daodao said nothing but slowly extended his left hand.

Both his index finger and middle finger were covered with band-aids.

"Yesterday, while doing the ’thread-pulling’ spell on your hair to study the path of fate, I always felt uneasy. While cooking, I was distracted and ended up cutting my own fingers." Wu Daodao slowly said, "Junior Brother, although I don’t have any great abilities, cutting my own fingers while chopping vegetables is definitely not a mistake I would make."

Chen Nuo nodded his head.

He believed it! The spiritual power of Ability Users usually far exceeded that of ordinary people, and their grasp of the force in their hands was also precise. Such minor mistakes were unlikely in everyday life.

"Afterwards, I meditated for a long time, but my mind just couldn’t settle down, and I knew something was going to happen. I made a divination and saw that the fates of all those around me were unharmed. But when it finally came to divining yours..."

"What about mine? What happened?" Chen Nuo asked.

Wu Daodao’s expression turned serious, and then, in a strange tone, he softly replied.

"Those two hairs... one of them suddenly burned up on its own."

Chen Nuo: "..."

Chen Nuo didn’t understand Wu Daodao’s spells or magic. But at the very least, from Wu Daodao’s expression, it could be seen that when he was divining his fate, one of his hairs had silently and spontaneously combusted... That probably wasn’t a good omen.

And Wu Daodao’s answer evidently confirmed this.

"I predict that you, Junior Brother, are likely to take a long trip soon. But I fear this journey might not go well."

Chen Nuo frowned.

Wu Daodao spoke so seriously, he too became earnest.

"What’s wrong with it?"

"Don’t know."

"Serious?"

"Don’t know."

"...Will it be very dangerous?"

"Uh... also don’t know."

Chen Nuo sighed. "Will it kill me?"

"That it won’t." Wu Daodao shook his head, scrutinizing Chen Nuo thoroughly, his tone certain. "There’s no death aura on your face. Besides, only one of the two hairs burnt; I fear it means some disaster will befall you. But what exactly, I can’t figure out."

Chen Nuo nodded his head. "As long as I won’t die, that’s good."

"Junior Brother, this is not something to joke about." Wu Daodao said with a wry smile. "Though there is no death aura, the feeling I get from my divination just doesn’t seem too good."

Chen Nuo hesitated in his heart. He believed Wu Daodao wouldn’t come to harm him for no reason. Or lie to him to prevent him from going abroad. Wu Daodao didn’t even know what he was going out to do.

"If your trip isn’t for something particularly important... if you can avoid going, then don’t go," Wu Daodao added.

Chen Nuo thought about it and shook his head. "No can do."

This trip truly had to happen. Bigfoot Harvey was someone he had lured and captured by design, after going through so much trouble with this undercover identity. It was all to get a glimpse of the mission from the Octopus Monster website this time! The Octopus Monster, eight mission targets... These details were too intriguing, too easy to remind him of the underwater alien mother’s nest he had visited during his time in RB! After so much trouble, he had finally managed to infiltrate this mission with his undercover identity. It would truly be a pity to give it up now. As for the danger Wu Daodao mentioned... As someone who walks in the Underground World, what dangers hadn’t Yama seen? Moreover, Wu Daodao had said, it wouldn’t be fatal. Then there’s no need to be too afraid of danger.

Seeing Chen Nuo’s expression, Wu Daodao sighed, fumbled in his pocket for a while, and finally pulled out something, handing it over to Chen Nuo.

"Junior Brother, I guessed that with your temperament, you wouldn’t abandon the trip just because of a few words from me. If you have important matters on this trip and must go, then you’ll need to be extra careful. This is an amulet I carved by hand. Keep it with you."

Chen Nuo opened his palm, and in the center lay a jade carving the size of a thumb.

The jade stone was of the most common kind, but the carving wasn’t bad, with fine knife work, obviously done with care.

The figure was unmistakably a Pixiu.

Chen Nuo thought about it and put the object in his pants pocket, securing it. "Then, thank you very much, Eldest Senior Brother."

Wu Daodao nodded, but did not retract his outstretched hand, opening his palm in front of Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo: "...??"

"Every family has its rules, every sect its regulations." Wu Daodao sighed. "In our sect, magical items cannot be given away lightly. Junior Brother, give something in return, big or small. We can’t break the rules."

Chen Nuo glared at the guy.

After some thought, Chen Nuo took out his wallet from his pocket.

As his two fingers sifted through the wallet, Wu Daodao’s eyes were glued to the stack of bills inside that Chen Nuo’s fingertips brushed past...

Then, Chen Nuo plucked a coin from the wallet with two fingers and placed it in Wu Daodao’s palm.

"Much appreciated, Eldest Senior Brother."

"...Can it be exchanged for one with a higher value? I like those red ones a lot; I’m very fond of red."

Chen Nuo smiled but put away his wallet.

"Eldest Senior Brother, no matter what, I owe you a favor."

「」

Wu Daodao watched Chen Nuo leave from the security checkpoint entrance, and then stood there waiting for Chen Nuo to go through security and the procedures, enter the departure hall, and disappear from sight...

Only then did Wu Daodao turn around and let out a long breath.

Well, the purpose of this trip had also been achieved.

After stuffing the coin given by Chen Nuo into his pocket, Wu Daodao turned and walked out of the airport terminal, then went to the bus station and boarded a bus.

He took the bus to the downtown area, got off near the Shanghai City railway station, and walked the rest of the way to the train station, where he bought a ticket for the return journey.

Once Wu Daodao entered the train station, he found a small shop in the waiting hall, bought a cup of instant noodles, and filled it with hot water from the dispenser.

Wu Daodao found a corner in the waiting hall, padded the ground with his leather bag, and started eating his noodles.

After finishing the cup of noodles and seeing that there was still time, Wu Daodao took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and headed to the smoking room in the waiting hall.

In 2001, there weren’t the strict indoor smoking bans that came later, and smoking rooms still existed in Shanghai City’s train stations.

He had smoked more than half of his cigarette in the smoking room when the announcement reminded him that his train was ready for boarding.

Wu Daodao had finished the work he had come to do and was feeling relaxed. He threw away the cigarette butt, ran to join the ticket check line, and followed the crowd down to the platform. After boarding his train and finding his seat, he took out a cell phone from his bag and called home.

On the other end of the line was the voice of the middle-aged woman from his home.

"Did you finish the job?"

"Hmm, it’s done. He insisted on leaving, so I gave him a talismanic amulet," Wu Daodao replied with a laugh.

"Why did you suddenly deal with this matter so impulsively this time?" The woman’s voice on the other end was very hoarse, and her tone was strange. "Before, haven’t you always said that this person has an unusual fate, and you didn’t dare to provoke him, wanting to keep your distance?"

"This time is different. I divined his fate; this trip seemed likely to bring trouble his way. We have a predestined connection, and if something were to happen to him, it might also affect me. Therefore, I really had to give him a heads-up on this trip. And... in the future, he will still have a destiny with us. If it were a small matter, I wouldn’t bother. But with something this significant... it’s a good opportunity. This is the time for me to lend a hand; it’s all about showing the weight of our connection. The opportunity must not be missed."

「」

Wu Daodao sat on the train for nearly four hours before finally reaching a small city in Hui Province.

Then he got off the train and boarded another bus at the railway station.

The bus bounced along for more than an hour, leaving the county town and finally arriving at the small town of his home. He then called for a tricycle, which took him all the way to Cross Village.

Jumping off the tricycle at the entrance to the village, he swaggered for about half an hour before finally returning to his own place, "Qingyun Sect," on the southern hillside.

Before he even entered, he heard the sound of chickens flying and dogs barking in the courtyard.

Just then, a hen flapping its wings flew straight towards him. The middle-aged woman from his family was chasing it with a kitchen knife in hand.

Wu Daodao was about to greet her when suddenly...

WHOOSH!!

THWACK!!!

The woman threw the kitchen knife, which slipped from her hand. The hen fluttered away just in time; the knife missed and flew past Wu Daodao’s cheek, embedding itself in the door panel of Qingyun Sect!

"...Are you freaking trying to murder me?!!!"

Wu Daodao was stunned for a full five seconds before suddenly letting out a terrified scream and jumping up from his spot!

Afterward, a stream of local dialect and curses poured out of the mouth of the Eldest Senior Brother.

The woman walked up, completely ignoring Wu Daodao’s frantic and stomping manner, casually went over and plucked the knife from the door panel with a flourish before glaring at Wu Daodao and running off to chase the chicken again.

"I can’t take this anymore! I can’t live like this! Divorce!!! Divorce!!! I want a divorce!!!"

Just as he was swearing to the heavens, footsteps sounded from behind him, and he saw the woman approaching with the caught chicken in hand, walking slowly towards him.

Holding a chicken wing in one hand and the knife in the other, she approached Wu Daodao.

The woman’s hand shot up and the knife came down, severing the chicken’s head with one swift strike!

She allowed the chicken’s blood to drain into a small bowl on the ground, then looked up seemingly indifferently at Wu Daodao. "What were you saying?"

"... I said, it’s best to cook the chicken soup with a few shiitake mushrooms... We also have dried wood ear mushrooms at home; you could soak them in water and stew them together in the chicken soup."

Wu Daodao replied in all seriousness.

It wasn’t until the woman put down the kitchen knife that Wu Daodao breathed a sigh of relief.

"Go wash your hands and light the incense. Later, you head to the entrance of the village to pick up a few kids; they will be getting out of school later today."

"Alright."

Wu Daodao sighed inwardly, shook his head vigorously, and turned to walk to the shrine in the courtyard.

The woman at the courtyard gate carried a small stool over and brought a kettle of boiling water to fill an enamel basin, beginning to pluck the chicken’s feathers.

As she was tidying up, suddenly a series of clattering and banging sounds came from the shrine.

Startled, the woman leaped from the stool, kicked the kitchen knife off the ground with her foot; the knife flew up, she caught it in her hand, and leaped into the shrine!

"What happened?"

She rushed into the shrine and saw that the altar had collapsed, and the incense, candles, and offerings that were originally placed upon it were scattered all over the ground.

Yet Wu Daodao was sitting on the ground, dumbfounded with an ashen face!

"What exactly happened?" The woman sensed that something was seriously wrong with Wu Daodao’s expression.

Wu Daodao’s eyes flickered, then finally settled on the ground in front of him.

In front of Wu Daodao, there was a small box on the ground. The lid of the wooden box was open, revealing a bright yellow satin lining with nothing on it, as if it was empty.

Only by focusing and looking closely could one discern a tiny bit of ash on the yellow satin lining.

"This is..." The woman’s eyes widened.

"Hair! Chen Nuo’s! The second one!"

Wu Daodao’s voice was so dry it was almost too much, as if each word was being squeezed out of his throat!

"Two strands of hair, one burned up on its own before... and then, this second one, it’s burned too!"

The woman put down the knife, walked over, and helped Wu Daodao sit up on a cushion on the ground.

"What... does this mean?"

Wu Daodao lifted his eyelids, a wry smile on his face.

After a few seconds, he finally squeezed out a few words from his mouth.

"... Death!"

「」

At the beginning of August in Rio de Janeiro, it’s the most pleasant time of the year.

The daytime temperature won’t exceed thirty degrees Celsius at its highest, hovering around twenty degrees Celsius at the lowest.

When Chen Nuo disembarked the plane and passed through customs, he wandered around the airport lobby for a while before finding a restroom to slip into.

In the men’s restroom stall, Chen Nuo set down his backpack and fished out some pre-prepared items...

「」

More than half an hour later, the Chen Nuo who emerged from the restroom had undergone a transformation.

His already slender figure donned a jacket, but somehow, his shoulders seemed broader than usual, making him appear tall and burly.

His naturally fair skin for an Asian had now taken on the complexion of a Caucasian.

A face with a hooked nose, deeply contoured eye sockets, and a beard encircling the jaw.

A baseball cap was nonchalantly placed on his head, with slightly curled brown hair peeking out from under the brim.

After leaving the airport, Chen Nuo climbed into a run-down local taxi and gave a hotel name in fluent Portuguese.

As the car jostled along, Chen Nuo took a cell phone out of his backpack—this was one of the items previously confiscated from "Bigfoot" Harvey.

He quickly found a phone number on the mobile and, after a moment’s hesitation, dialed it.

"Hey, Harvey! How was your trip to Huaxia? Enjoyable? You haven’t contacted me for some days."

On the other end, it was obviously the voice of the middleman involved in Harvey’s mission in Huaxia.

"Shut up, where’s my money?" Chen Nuo rasped in Portuguese, his voice and tone bearing a striking seven or eight-tenths resemblance to "Bigfoot" Harvey.

The person on the line didn’t seem to notice anything amiss and after a few chuckles, replied swiftly, "The money, minus my commission, has been deposited into your account. Pleasure doing business with you, Harvey."

"Next time take less commission, and I’ll be happier," Chen Nuo snorted.

"Don’t be like that, Harvey! We’re old friends," the middleman laughed, and quickly added, "I’ve got another job for you, you’ll definitely be interested... It’s not difficult, and the pay is generous..."

"No! I’m freaking tired and need a break," Chen Nuo answered coldly. "I’ve had enough of this life. I just want to enjoy some good wine and women."

"... Alright then, enjoy your holiday, brother."

"Get lost, we’re not brothers, you bloodsucker."

After cursing, Chen Nuo hung up the phone.

「」

The hotel Chen Nuo chose wasn’t one of Rio de Janeiro’s top luxurious hotels.

Located at the crossroads of the city’s old town and the new district, the hotel was large but clearly had old facilities.

However, it was cheap.

Most importantly, the transportation was convenient from this place, making it easy to go anywhere. The hotel’s layout and location were also strategic. Situated at an intersection, it faced two streets, front and back.

Geographically, it was a place extremely difficult to surround and entrap.

Next to the hotel was an electronics store. Chen Nuo first went to purchase a laptop, then turned back to the hotel.

After checking in using "Harvey’s" passport, he entered the room, closed the door, and checked the room thoroughly.

Then, Chen Nuo sat down on the bed, which had an old and fraying bedsheet,

pulled out the laptop, connected to the internet, then inserted "Bigfoot’s" account USB drive and logged onto the Octopus Monster website, and started typing in the private message box.

"I’m in place."

A minute later, the private message inbox received a reply.

"Mr. Harvey, welcome to Rio de Janeiro! Please inform us of your location."

Chen Nuo quickly typed in the name and address of the hotel, along with his room number.

Soon, the phone in the room rang.

Chen Nuo casually picked up the bedside phone to answer.

"Mr. Harvey, it’s a pleasure to speak with you. I am a member of the special affairs group of the ’Magical World’ website, assigned to be the official liaison for the commission task you’re undertaking. You may call me Vanel."

The voice on the phone, which spoke English, had a distinct tone and cadence.

Vanel? Hearing this person’s voice and the name, Chen Nuo couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows on the other end of the phone. This was an old acquaintance from his past life.

"I don’t like beating around the bush; now tell me how to proceed with the mission," Chen Nuo replied in English.

"Please don’t rush, Harvey," Vanel said with a laugh. "First, we need to assemble. The commissioned individuals who will act with you will form a team for the operation. Now, we will send a car to pick you up. So, regarding the timing..."

"The sooner the better, I’ll just wait at the hotel," Chen Nuo replied impatiently.

"You sure it’s the hotel?" Vanel laughed heartily. "The last commissioned individual to gather gave me a fake address; we waited for him quite a while, and he was secretly watching from the shadows."

Vanel was obviously very talkative. "However, we understand such behavior. Ability Users in the Underground World are always very cautious."

"I don’t have time to play those boring games with you," Chen Nuo deliberately said in a displeased tone. "You’re the Octopus Monster website! All my money is in your accounts, what do I have to be afraid of?"

"...Uh, I’m sorry, but I need to remind you that although I know that Ability Users from the Underground World refer to our organization as the ’Octopus Monster,’ please use our official name ’Magical World website’ in formal situations."

Chen Nuo snorted. "Half an hour, you can pick me up in half an hour. I’m going to take a shower first!"

SNAP!

Chen Nuo hung up the phone, but his expression became serious!

Vanel! Others might not know, but Chen Yanluo knew that this Vanel, within the Octopus Monster organization, was definitely not a small figure! In his past life, Chen Yanluo was hired by the Octopus Monster website, becoming one of their advanced security consultants and earning a consultant fee in the tens of millions of US dollars annually. He also assisted the Octopus Monster website on one or two occasions. For those one or two operations, it was Vanel who represented the Octopus Monster website! Vanel, within the Octopus Monster organization, was a person in charge specifically responsible for high-level operations! You should know that those who are recruited by the Octopus Monster website as Advanced Security Consultants are all big shots with Gold-tier accounts on the site. Many of them are masters at the Controller level, similar to Chen Nuo. For example, Lu Xixi and the Wizard are part of this rank. Being sent by the Octopus Monster organization to lead a team composed of a group of Gold account big shots in action, and to take the role of the leader! This Vanel had left a deep impression on Chen Nuo. In his past life, the operation to Antarctica with Lu Xixi was led by Vanel.