CHAPTER 195: Promoted To The Dark Moon Division

Apart from the moonlight spilling into the courtyard and the two puddles of water around the well, there was no sign of anything else in the area.

Suddenly, scattered footsteps could be heard from outside. They approached quickly as Phoebe and a group of ten others appeared in front of Han Shuo.

Concern filling her face, Phoebe's clear eyes landed on Han Shuo's body and visibly relaxed when she saw that he was unharmed. However, she didn't let go of her grip on the longsword as her pale neck swivelled, scanning the area as if to determine if there was any danger lurking elsewhere.

Apart from Phoebe, there were a dozen armoured Cairo mercenary guards. It seemed she had led them here. Their eyes were alert as they cautiously patrolled the area.

"Are you all right?" Phoebe breathed a sigh of relief as she looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary or dangerous.

Shaking his head, Han Shuo glanced at Phoebe and smiled comfortingly, "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"My apologies, Mr Harris, I think we must have seen an illusion just now. The danger I spoke of earlier doesn't seem to have appeared." Phoebe understood that Han Shuo must have taken care of things and wore an embarrassed expression as she spoke to the stern, unapproachable guard captain.

This man was in the prime of life. Swarthy, with a head full of short, brown hair that was untidily crooked, he carried a double-headed battle-axe in his right hand and naturally radiated the violent aura of someone who'd been through many battles. It was obvious that he had been forged by slaughter.

"This shop is a place cursed by a demon. All the owners who have run this shop have died of unnatural causes over the years. No matter who enters, man or beast, they will all die from this curse. There have never been any exceptions, so no matter how you entered, I suggest you leave immediately. Harris' eyes swept over Han Shuo and Phoebe's bodies as he spoke coldly.

He waved his hand and didn't wait for Han Shuo and Phoebe to say anything before leading his band of a dozen soldiers out of the courtyard, seemingly unwilling to linger in the area for another second.

"Harris is a battle-hardened warrior who's seen hundreds of battles and is the second-in-command of the Cairo Mercenaries. When I told him there was danger here, he paid us a visit anyway, albeit reluctantly. It seems that there is something here that people are afraid of. I didn't have the strength to defend myself earlier, even with my sword-master level! Phoebe made a cursory mention of Harris' identity after he'd left. Then she changed the subject and stared at Han Shuo, "What just happened?"

Smiling dashingly, Han Shuo reached out a hand to stroke the fountain and said happily, "The two Blood Water Demons have been taken care of, so that no more strange things will happen here in the future. Besides, I'm going to buy this place no matter what it costs!"

Phoebe's beautiful clear eyes looked at Han Shuo with a look of surprise on her face as she confidently said, "You must have a lot of confidence since you're saying that. Don't worry about the shop, I'll take care of the negotiations with the Cairo mercenaries. I think such a cursed place won't be worth much money."

Nodding, Han Shuo walked over to Phoebe, wrapped his arm lightly around her, put his mouth close to her ears and said softly, "Thank you, Phoebe!"

Her face suddenly flushing red, Phoebe turned around and hugged Han Shuo tightly, pursing her lips to kiss Han Shuo's lightly. Then she pulled back and stared deeply at Han Shuo, saying passionately, "I am the one who should be thanking you! You threw me out first when we were in danger!"

The danger with the Blood Water Demon earlier had caused Phoebe to have a life and death experience. Even Han Shuo's soul had almost been scattered to the four winds. Having survived these two disasters, the two of them felt a unique sense of the joy of life as they looked at each other now.

As the moon shone down on them, it added a touch of beauty to Phoebe's stunning features. Her eyes shone with light and Han Shuo fell deep into them.

He tightened his grip and held her tightly, feeling her tremble slightly in his intimate embrace. A feeling of happiness and satisfaction filled his heart.

Before he'd arrived in his world, Han Shuo had been an ordinary person who only dared to think evil thoughts. He didn't dare to act on them. His personality was a bit shy. He had lived twenty years and hadn't paid much attention to anything. He'd never had a woman and had lived a routine life for twenty years.

But thanks to Chu Cang Lan's manoeuvres, he'd successfully arrived in this strange world with the legacy of magical cultivation. In a short period of time, he'd amassed great strength, amassed considerable wealth, and won the hearts of two beauties.

The affairs of the world had changed greatly and unexpectedly. What had been far-fetched daydreams twenty years ago had become a reality in such a short time. An incredible feeling rose in Han Shuo's heart as he sometimes felt that all of this was still an unrealistic dream. However, his encounters with danger and pain always reminded him that this was no illusion.

"Well, I think Emily must be waiting for us. We should hurry and make our way there!" After a moment of reflection, Han Shuo looked at the fading light in the sky and spoke softly to Phoebe.

Seemingly enjoying this moment of peace and romance that belonged to the two of them, Phoebe gently agreed and allowed Han Shuo to hold her soft, gentle hand. The two of them walked side by side to the place Emily had mentioned earlier.

Soon the two of them had appeared outside the shop. There were no customers inside as night had fallen. A hale and hearty elderly man walked up cheerfully after Han Shuo had entered, "Are you Sir Bryan?"

"I'm not a sir, please just call me Bryan!" Han Shuo bowed humbly to the old man and took out his identity token, handing it to him with both hands.

The elder took Han Shuo's iron mark and looked at it, then returned it with a smile. Then he said a bit apologetically to Phoebe, "My apologies, Miss Phoebe, please wait here for a moment. These are the rules of the Dark Mantle, no one may enter unless they are of the Dark Mantle."

As a shadowy organisation under the King's control, the Dark Mantle naturally had its rules that everyone had to obey. The fact that Phoebe, an outsider, was allowed to accompany Han Shuo to this place was already an exception. Of course, she couldn't go any further.

In front of such a polite and benevolent old man, Phoebe didn't maintain her usual aloofness and nodded with a smile, willingly sitting down.

"Come, I'll show you inside!" The older man bent slightly and led Han Shuo inside. They walked through a hallway and stopped in front of the living room. The old man pointed inside, "Mistress Emily is inside!"

The old man returned along the original route as Han Shuo walked in, seemingly back to his post at the head of the shop.

"Is it Bryan?" Emily's voice sounded from somewhere as soon as he stepped inside. A piece of the living room floor then opened into a hole, a mechanism similar to what Han Shuo and Emily had seen in Bob Ascher's room last time.

Emily stepped out of the hole dressed in casual clothes. There was a fireplace in this living room and the temperature was quite comfortable. That was why Emily hadn't wrapped herself up any further.

"How are things? Has everything been taken care of?" Han Shuo walked towards Emily with a smile as the hole closed.

"No problems at all. My brother is taking over and our mission is complete. We succeeded! Hehehe, do you want to know how much of that was thanks to you?" Emily's seductive cheeks held a hint of mischief as she looked at Han Shuo.

The mix of youthful playfulness and adult maturity in Emily gave her an unusual allure at this moment. Han Shuo's heart skipped a beat as his hands reached out and grabbed Emily as he sat down in a chair. His hands cupped her breasts naughtily as he chuckled, "Little tramp, I haven't even punished you for what you did in the tree hole earlier!"

"Humph!" Emily threw her head back and glared at Han Shuo, "How dare you say that! You started that with Phoebe right in front of me, did you think of me at all? Don't think I couldn't see because it was dark. Hm, Phoebe was panting so loudly and the two of you were trying to put on a normal act!"

He suddenly lifted Emily's legs and turned her so that she was kneeling on his thigh. Her well rounded bottom was lifted high into the air and to her surprise he began to spank her hard. Emily began to beg for mercy through the pain.

"All right, all right! I won't tell you what to do in the future, you big bastard!" Emily played along and suddenly became serious, "After this mission, you've gone from a Third Dark Star to a First Dark Moon. You've skipped a few levels again."

Han Shuo started, stopping his movements and looking at Emily in confusion. "Sometimes, completing several missions wouldn't be enough to advance one level. Why did I advance several levels after only completing one mission? You didn't do anything for me behind the scenes, did you?"

Emily rolled her eyes at Han Shuo, not knowing whether to laugh or get angry. "Remember, you were up against Bob Ascher of the Gryphon Legion. The difficulty of this mission is completely different from the usual scouting for information or arresting a few fugitive nobles. Based on your contributions this time around, it wouldn't have been out of the ordinary to promote you directly to Second Dark Moon. However, you've only been in the Dark Mantle for half a year, and promoting you to First Dark Moon was surprising enough. That's why we didn't go any further."

Han Shuo understood after he thought about Emily's words for a moment and then remembered Chester. "Oh right, Chester should still be in the Dark Mantle branch in Valen City, what kind of treatment is he getting?"

"Thanks to you, he's already a Fourth Dark Star. That boy is smart enough to be promoted just by delivering messages. I never came across anything so easy when I was running missions!" Emily replied with a smile.

"Oh right, when are Elaine and Belinda coming?" Han Shuo was happy for Chester when he heard of his circumstances and then thought of Elaine and Belinda again.

"I almost forgot! Belinda was an unexpected gain. If we hand her over to the headquarters and have her interrogated by the experts there, we're sure to get a lot of information about the Calamity Church. We'll be rewarded according to the amount of information we get from her! Emily chuckled slightly and spoke happily.

"Oh right, what kind of different treatment can I enjoy after advancing to the First Dark Moon?" Han Shuo thought for a moment and asked immediately. This was what he was most concerned about at the moment.

"First of all, you'll receive an increase in your monthly stipend from 70 gold coins to 150 gold coins. Of course, I don't think you'll be interested in that. Apart from that, you will be able to use your current level to obtain all the information that corresponds to your level from all the Dark Mantle strongholds in the Empire. You can use the transportation matrices in all the cities of the Lancelot Empire, and you don't have to pay any fees. You can command a troop of soldiers in any of the military organisations, up to a maximum of 100 men. In addition..."

Han Shuo finally discovered that there was a significant increase in all areas of his benefits after advancing from Dark Star to Dark Moon. He already enjoyed so many privileges in the Dark Star Division, so being a part of the Dark Moon Division, or even one of the three heavyweights, would surely come with even more benefits.

No wonder so many people wanted power! It looked like a really nice thing!