The King of Curses

Chapter 193 Night Banquet
The man was about thirty years old, handsome, and wore a casual suit with his bow tie loosened to reveal the floral shirt underneath. He was in sharp contrast to the other male guests around him who were dressed in formal attire, and had a somewhat cynical temperament.

"My cousin, you finally came to the family party. The last time I saw you, you were still in high school, right? I heard that you were admitted to Tianhai University. We wanted to celebrate with you but couldn't find anyone. We are so eager to wait."

The man greeted her warmly, and as he walked over he opened his arms as if he wanted to hug her.

Jiang Yunmei glanced at him, but just grabbed the arm of the man next to her and didn't bother to pay attention to him.

"Who is this?"

Cen Dongsheng asked in a low voice.

"Jiang Zihao, my cousin, is the oldest in our generation."

"Ah, I remember you said..."

"Yes, that cousin."

Before coming, Jiang Yunmei introduced to him the current situation of the Jiang family. His eldest cousin Jiang Zihao and third uncle Jiang Zhifeng are currently the representatives of the entire family.

Jiang Zhifeng is the head of the family and the chairman of the Jiang Group, while Jiang Zihao is the president of a partnership company under the group. He is mainly responsible for external communication within the family - the so-called "outside" mainly refers to the attracted curse masters.

At least half of the people from all walks of life gathered in the Jiang family mansion were recruited by Jiang Zihao. For the Jiang family, who want to secure their position as the "middleman", this person plays a vital role.

"What's wrong? Don't you recognize me anymore?"

"I know you, but I don't think you and I are that familiar with each other?"

Jiang Yunmei's attitude was cold and distant. She might be polite to the elders in her family, but since she was of the same generation as Jiang Zihao, there was naturally no politeness in her words.

Although it is said that "don't hit a smiling person", in the girl's impression, the other party's warm and hospitable appearance in front of others is just a disguise; Jiang Zihao's attitude in front of the Jiang family, especially the young people of their generation, can be described as arrogant.

All he really cares about is the power of the curse masters.

Other men might approach her because of her appearance or something like that; but to Jiang Zihao, Jiang Yunmei, who was not a curse-master herself and was unwilling to recruit a curse-master for the family, was a transparent person who was not worth caring about at all.

As for his performance tonight...

"Okay, I just got a little too excited."

Jiang Zihao didn't care. He put his hands down and turned his gaze to Cen Dongsheng beside her.

"Hello, this is Mr. Cen, right?"

He extended his hand toward Cen Dongsheng again, and his attitude was obviously more enthusiastic and attentive, which showed that the person he really cared about was not his relative.

"Jiang Yunmei brought back a second-class curse master" - things became different after this news spread among the clan.

"It's me. Good evening, Mr. Jiang Zihao."

Cen Dongsheng answered in a flat tone, also without extending his hand.

"It seems my cousin has already introduced me."

Jiang Zihao laughed and withdrew his hand without any embarrassment.

"I won't say any more. I'm here to invite you to go somewhere else. Of course, if you two want to stay here..."

Jiang Zihao's eyes swept across the faces of the well-dressed guests in the banquet hall, revealing a sense of contempt.

"Did you see anyone you know, or anyone you want to meet? Some of the people here are wealthy and powerful, and some are curse masters... but they are all too weak and unworthy of you two."

Jiang Zihao turned his gaze back to the two of them.

"It would be better for you to communicate with people of the same level, right? To be honest, we have something important to discuss and we urgently need the help of an expert."

This person is quite direct.

Cen Dongsheng and Jiang Yunmei exchanged glances.

A second-class spell master suddenly appeared here from nowhere. He originally wondered if this would arouse the Jiang family's suspicion;
But Jiang Yunmei knew the style of these people better. They never considered screening and turned the Jiang family mansion into a gathering place for all kinds of people. As long as you are strong, you have the reason. This rough approach has caused some family members to stay away.

When Jiang Zihao, who was in charge of receiving Cen Dongsheng, met a strange curse master for the first time, he did not even think of testing the authenticity of his identity, let alone asking him about his background.

Being so lenient actually makes people feel suspicious: we can choose not to investigate the guests' backgrounds, but we have to confirm whether they are the "second-class curse masters" they claim to be, right?

"I'm free to do it."

Cen Dongsheng had an indifferent expression, while Jiang Yunmei nodded silently beside him.

"Great, then please follow me."

Jiang Zihao walked in front.

……

Cen Dongsheng looked at the man's back and asked the girl beside him in a low voice.

"Can you hear me?"

"very clear."

Jiang Yunmei nodded gently. As early as when she stepped into the banquet hall, her hearing had already caught the interesting conversation from the hundreds of voices gathered in the mansion.

"But they were all polite words. No one mentioned the so-called 'big thing'. It seems that their plan is to wait until everyone is present."

……

Led by Jiang Zihao, the two went to the garden adjacent to the banquet hall.

When they walked in, the people who were chatting happily fell silent and looked at the young couple with tentative eyes.

"Including you, Mr. Cen, there are a total of five guests who are spell masters."

Jiang Zihao said with a smile beside him.

There were five B-grade spell-binding masters, plus four introducers present, a total of nine people.

"Uncle San is not here. He is in the hospital taking care of the old man. This is the curse master invited by Uncle San..."

Cen Dongsheng looked in that direction and saw an ordinary-looking old man with gray hair, drinking alone in a corner. Next to him was a short sword made of copper coins.

"Don't call me a 'curse master'. A Taoist priest is a Taoist priest. I don't know when these incomprehensible names came into being."

After hearing what Jiang Zihao said, the old man snorted coldly and slammed the wine bottle on the table. It was obvious that he was in a bad temper.

"...Mr. Wang is a Taoist who has returned to secular life. He used to practice in Lingyun Temple on Tianmen Mountain. He has been practicing in the secular world for thirty years now."

Jiang Zihao didn't care about the old man's attitude and continued speaking.

"And this one is..."

"Sister Yunmei, you're here!"

At this time, a young man who looked about the same age as Cen Dongsheng stood up with joy on his face and interrupted their conversation.

"Jiang Qi? We talked about it in the hospital a few days ago. I thought you wouldn't come."

"I mean, I'm not at the stage of looking for a partner yet...but this time is different. I invited a friend over."

Jiang Qi introduced his friend to the two of them.

A curly-haired young man sitting at the rear left waved at them, smiling sheepishly, and seemed a bit introverted.

"His name is Shi Zhishang, and he went to the same university as me. We met on the swimming team."

Jiang Qi was a talkative person. He was very happy to meet an acquaintance and told everyone about their history.

"Guess how I met him? I used to find it strange that this guy doesn't look very strong, but his swimming speed is amazingly fast. One time I saw him training privately, and his speed was even faster than the world's number one! But when I tried to test him, he was exposed. It turns out that this guy has been using his ability to cheat."

"Don't, stop talking..."

Shi Zhishang's face turned red and he secretly glanced at Jiang Yunmei. He felt that he had lost face in front of the beautiful woman.

"Haha, what does it matter?" Jiang Qi laughed. It seemed that he and Shi Zhishang had a good relationship.

"Then again, I think it's more surprising that Sister Yunmei would come to this party."

He stared at Cen Dongsheng without blinking, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Who is this……?"

"I also met him in college. He is... my junior, I guess."

"Oh, junior..."

Jiang Qi dragged out his words. Sister Yun Mei said this, but she had noticed that the two of them were very close to each other, and couldn't help laughing in her heart.

The opposite sex is very sensitive to the so-called "social distance". Even if there seems to be no intimate behavior on the surface, the fact that Sister Yun Mei allows a man to get so close is already very telling.

He extended his hand to the tall young man in a nonchalant manner.

"first meet."

And this time, Cen Dongsheng did not refuse.

……

"If you have a falling out later, will you protect this guy? I see you two have a good relationship."

When they sat down, they chatted on their phones. Cen Dongsheng winked at Jiang Yunmei.

"Our two families have a good relationship... Come to think of it, has the teacher started thinking about fighting?"

Jiang Yunmei was surprised at first, but then she felt relieved. Because the other party had been so intellectual and calm during this period, she almost forgot that when they first met, the man left her with the impression of a complete battle maniac.

"Do you think it's possible to avoid fighting? Or, is it worthwhile for us to try to avoid it?"

After a moment of silence, the girl sent a reply.

"If he has nothing to do with the 'big event' planned by the Jiang family, please show mercy."

……

"Mr. Cen, Mr. Wang, Mr. Shi, you have all been introduced to each other. Next, I would like to introduce this person, my girlfriend."

My cousin Jiang Zihao put his arm around a female spell master and sat down on the main seat. This woman had dark yellow skin and smiled shyly after her boyfriend put his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm Zhuo Jing."

she says.

"Jingjing is good at the art of cursing. I won't say much about other matters as they involve private matters."

Jiang Zihao seemed very proud to have a girlfriend who was much stronger than him.

Cen Dongsheng heard a soft, sarcastic voice coming from beside him.

"You're just a gigolo, what's there to be proud of?"

Jiang Qi was holding his head in his hands and chatting with his friends. Looking at his disdainful expression, it seemed that he had a conflict with his eldest cousin for a long time.

"..."

Jiang Yunmei was still quietly observing the man next to her and found that Cen Dongsheng had a blank expression on his face.

"Teacher Cen?"

She put down her phone and asked cautiously.

"...I agreed."

"That's good."

The girl breathed a sigh of relief. She looked around and found that all the chairs in the garden were occupied by the guests.

"Me, Jiang Zihao, Jiang Qi, and Jiang Zhifeng who didn't come yet... there's only one introducer left, and the curse master he brought with him."

"Ah."

Cen Dongsheng's gaze fell on the last two people, the middle-aged man with a wealthy look sitting in the passenger seat, and the young man standing next to him.

"Are there any guests that haven't been introduced yet?"

He raised his voice.

"They are not guests invited by the Jiang family." Jiang Zihao made an inviting gesture, "Please introduce yourselves."

"I'm Zhang Yuanlu."

The man replied with a smile.

"Zhang Yuanlu? I seem to have heard of him somewhere..."

"You may have seen this name in newspapers or on the news. He is the chairman of the famous Dadi Holding Group. Mr. Zhang had an agreement with our Jiang family before, and this time he chose to stand on our side. Of course, there is also this person beside him..."

The short-haired man who had been standing silently beside Zhang Yuanlu from the beginning did not move, with a stern expression on his face, until this moment he spoke:
"I'm from the Super Working Committee."

After saying this, he shut up. It seems that he is a man who values ​​words very much.

"Oh……"

Cen Dongsheng narrowed his eyes.

Jiang Zihao seemed to have misunderstood and quickly introduced.

"Mr. Cen, you may not have heard of this name. The full name of the Supernatural Working Committee is the 'Supernatural Working Committee'. On the surface, it is a mass organization jointly organized by the government and the private sector, but in fact it is the official..."

"So, this person is an official?"

Cen Dongsheng looked at this person with interest.

The man who claimed to be a member of the Super Working Committee had an indifferent expression and ignored the inquiring gazes of others; Zhang Yuanlu, on the other hand, showed a friendly smile and nodded to Cen Dongsheng.

……

"Okay, everyone is here now."

After chatting for a while, a waiter came over with food and red wine, and closed the door to the banquet hall before leaving to avoid being disturbed by other guests. Jiang Zihao, who was sitting at the main seat, clapped his hands to attract people's attention. He first raised his glass and said:

"Come, let's have a toast to meeting each other."

After the guests put down their wine glasses, Jiang Zihao finally announced the theme of the banquet.

"The reason why we specially invited Mr. Zhang and his companions here is actually for one thing."

He suppressed the cynical smile on his face.

"I wonder if you have heard of the 'cutting down mountains and destroying temples' plan?"

When hearing this word, some people looked confused, while others were expressionless. Jiang Zihao took in everyone's reactions. Then, anger appeared on his face, and he said in a low voice:

"In the past two days, this matter has caused a lot of buzz among the curse masters in Tianhai City. You may have seen related rumors in places like the 'World Forum'. And I can tell you: this matter is absolutely true."

"The Super Working Committee intends to start from this city and wipe out all the folk curse-forbidden groups in one fell swoop. They will compile all the folk curse-forbidden groups into a register so that everyone can work for the higher-ups... This is the official organization's idea. They intend to deprive us of our current status and freedom."

……I see.

Cen Dongsheng kept his face tense to avoid showing any strange expression.

This bunch of people want to rebel against Sister Zhizhen.

(End of this chapter)