Erica then drew her foot back and ploughed it into Noreen's stomach, blood pooling into her mouth as she gagged. The moment before her fist landed on her, Noreen tried her best to get up from the ground and found a chance to escape.
Erica ran after her almost immediately with her bodyguards and she would have surely caught up to Noreen if it hadn't been for the people from the Immortal Killer Sect blocking their way. The Immortal Killer Sect's defensive stance made it evidently clear that if Erica and her cronies wanted to get to Noreen, they would have to cut through a dozen of their ranks. Having realized that it would be foolish to carry on with the pursuit, Erica raised her hand to gesture at her men. "Stand down. She can't run from us forever!"
As she puffed and panted, trying to catch her breath, Erica tidied up her messy clothes and shouted, "Go back and tell your boss that if the Immortal Killer Sect dares to provoke the Violet Eagles in the future again, I'll have your entire faction decimated! Tell your boss, this is a warning from Erma Huo."
Unfortunately, the people from the Immortal Killer Sect were not convinced. After all, Erica was just a woman, and the power of the Immortal Killer Sect was much stronger than that of the Violet Eagles. Before long, a few people stood forward and shouted, "Cut the crap! Do you think we're afraid of you?"
"Our sect is the most powerful force in all of K Country. You must be joking!"
"Ah—" All of a sudden, the ones who had stepped forward to taunt Erica and the Violet Eagles cried out in pain, as they had no idea what hit them or where the attack came from.
Crack! With the blunt sound of each bone cracking, a cold shiver went up Erica's spine.
The aggressors who were standing just a moment ago, were now writhing on the ground with pain.
The sheer speed and fluency of Erica's bodyguards had everyone mesmerized and equally frightened. As all eyes, taken by curiosity, fell behind Erica, the bodyguards were standing with a sense of calmness almost as if they had no idea of what they had just done.
In fact, it wasn't only the people of Immortal Killer Sect that were shocked, even Erica struggled to make sense of what she had just witnessed. However, she deliberately didn't show it on her face. After all, Erica had no idea that the men Matthew sent with her would be so strong. Judging from their short demonstration of speed and strength, Erica realized that she didn't even have one third of their abilities.
This display of dominance was enough to convince the people of the Immortal Killer Sect, who wasted no time to turn around and retreated with their tails between their legs. It was made abundantly clear to them that they didn't stand a chance against Erica's forces.
In the headquarters of the Immortal Killer Sect
Half of Noreen's face was covered with a pack of ice cubes, and she could barely hold the phone to her face as she spoke with Michel. Her voice was venomous with hatred. "It's her! I'm sure of it! Her name in K Country is Erma Huo, the portmanteau of Erica and Matthew. I should have guessed it earlier!"
Noreen couldn't pronounce her words clearly because half of her face was swollen, but fortunately, Michel understood every word of what she had said.
"I see. Get back here as soon as possible. Tell our men not to provoke the people from the Violet Eagles right now." 'I'll have to take the long way and handle this with patience and care to get what I want!' he mused, gritting his teeth.
"Okay! But I can't even feel half of my face because of Erica's slap..." Suddenly, Noreen broke down in tears and started to act like a spoiled child.
Michel sneered, stifling the annoyance in his heart. "I hear there's going to be a new drama show. I'll see if I can get you the role of a heroine."
After a short pause, Noreen asked, "Is it the drama called 'Green Gardenia'?"
"Yes."
She stopped crying immediately and said, "Thank you!" Rumors had it that Chantel was pegged to star in that TV drama, but now with Michel's assurance, Noreen was almost certain that she would get the role of the lead female.
Meanwhile at the base of the Violet Eagles, the more Erica thought about the woman she had fought, the more familiar she seemed to her. In fact, all evidence was pointing towards that woman being Noreen Xia. Now that Erica had her suspicions, all that was left was to uncover the truth.
The most efficient way to do this, Erica realized, was to ask for Gifford's help.
Gifford was training his subordinates outside when he received a phone call from Erica. He wiped off the sweat on his forehead, holding his phone in his other hand and said, "Dismissed!"
Everyone sat down all at once and exclaimed, "Finally, we can get some rest! I'm exhausted!"
Gifford slid the answer key and sat down on a big stone casually. He teased the person on the other end of the line, "I wasn't expecting the supreme leader to call my number directly. How can I be of service?"
Erica pouted her lips. "Gifford, you can be so annoying sometimes!"
"If you think I'm annoying, then why have you called me?"
'How could he say that to his own sister?' Speechless, Erica rolled her eyes and said, "I need a favor from you."
"I figured that much. Just tell me what it is!"
"How did you know that I needed your help?"
Gifford chuckled and said, "Mrs. Huo only remembers her brother when she needs help."
"Hey, that's not true! I miss you all the time."
"All right, all right, that's enough! Now, what is it? What do you need?"
She cleared her throat. "Here is the thing. I want you to help me locate a person. It's very important that I know about this person's whereabouts."
Sensing the seriousness in her tone, Gifford decided not to make light of things anymore. "Okay, just tell me what you know about this person."
"Noreen Xia. She is 35 years old and the number one star in the entertainment industry. I don't know anything else."
Gifford's face displayed utter confusion. "Wait, didn't you ask me to investigate her once? Why are you asking me to investigate her again? Does she have some kind of a grudge against you?"
"Yes! I think she is in cahoots with some other criminals. I just wanted you to confirm whether my suspicions were right or wrong." Erica knew that Gifford was a righteous man who wanted nothing more than to put criminals behind bars, even if it meant doing it by himself. Erica was smart to mention the word "criminal" in hopes of convincing him to help her.
Sure enough! Gifford agreed without hesitation when he heard that Noreen Xia could be a criminal. "Wait for my updates!"
The man could work wonders and just ten minutes later, Erica got the answer she was looking for.
He also found out the room number of Noreen's accommodation at the hotel she was staying in.
Erica sneaked into the floor of the presidential suites of a five-star hotel with two people in a stealthy way. She and her bodyguards hid in the safe passage and secretly called in a cleaner.
She took out a wad of money and waved it in front of the cleaner. "Go to Room 6033 and see if the woman's face is swollen. If you do that, all this money will be yours after the mission is finished."
The cleaner went to Room 6033 without saying anything else.
The cleaner was smart. She picked up a duster cloth and rang the doorbell. Soon, the door was opened from inside. A woman opened the door and asked, "What's up?"
The cleaner smiled and said, "Hello, room service. Didn't you call the reception desk just now for a cleaner? Here I am."
With a deep frown, Noreen said, "I think there's been a misunderstanding. I never called for a room service and I don't need a cleaner!"
"What? No?" The cleaner took a step back and looked at the door number. "Oh, I'm really sorry. I knocked the wrong door. It's 6303. I'm sorry for disturbing you!"
Nothing was going her way. Since the red mark on her face hadn't completely disappeared, Noreen decided to spend the rest of the vacation inside the hotel.
The cleaner trotted back to the safe passage and told Erica in a low voice, "Yes, half of her face is swollen. If I'm not mistaken, it's a slap mark!"
'It was indeed Noreen!' Erica was certain now.
She casually stuffed the money into the cleaner's hand and said, "Thank you. We're leaving now."
The cleaner received the money and said happily, "Okay, bye!"
Since Noreen was the leader of the Immortal Killer Sect, it could only mean that Michel was probably the mastermind behind Kirk. The trip to K Country was supposed to take four days, but it was delayed due to some disputes.
A week had passed, since Erica finished cleaning up the mess of the Violet Eagles. She was also able to find some time to visit the old granny.