Eternal Life from the Golden Needle Technique

Chapter 334: Chapter 331: Unexpected Encounter

Inside a temporary encampment.

The surrounding Protective Array was shattered, the ground was cracked, and the makeshift wooden fort had mostly collapsed.

Not far away, several bodies lay scattered about.

Blood trickled from some of the wounds, staining the nearby puddles red.

Without a doubt,

a sizable battle had taken place here not long ago.

But at this moment,

Wu Tianhao, who had stormed the temporary camp and won a decisive victory,

was staring dumbfounded at the figure before him:

”Senior Brother Hong, what are you doing here?”

The man before them

was dressed in ragged clothes, his hair a matted mess like a beggar’s nest.

But his face

was undoubtedly that of Hong Yang, the Hall Master of the External Affairs Hall!

”Senior Brother Hong, didn’t the people at the External Affairs Hall say you were out on a mission?”

”You have the nerve to ask?!”

The very mention of it sent him into a rage.

Hong Yang immediately jabbed a finger at the two of them, looking like he wanted nothing more than to poke them full of holes.

He roared:

”Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to infiltrate their group?!”

”A month! I pretended to be a beggar for a whole damn month!”

”I was just about to find their lair, and then you two hotheads had to show up and ruin everything!”

”Ahem, Senior Brother, Senior Brother, calm down, calm down...”

”Junior Shen and I had no idea it was you, did we? After all, you were in disguise. We couldn’t recognize you...”

Wu Tianhao quickly waved his hands, forcing a ’friendly’ smile as he hastily tried to explain.

Though he said that,

he was secretly sneering inside.

’Everyone knows that among Master’s Direct Disciples, you’re the biggest slacker.’

’A whole month to infiltrate? Sounds more like you were using it as an excuse to goof off and skip your duties, doesn’t it?’

”So you’re saying this is my fault?”

As if sensing Wu Tianhao’s thoughts,

Hong Yang’s face seemed to fall into shadow, transforming into that of a terrifying demon king as a boundless killing intent locked onto Wu Tianhao.

GULP!

Wu Tianhao swallowed hard.

’It’s over!’

’Senior Brother Hong holds a serious grudge!’

In that instant, Wu Tianhao could already imagine the miserable fate that awaited him...

”No, no, no, not at all!”

”It’s all my fault and my junior brother’s! We didn’t do proper reconnaissance before barging in and ruining your good work, Senior Brother!”

”Please forgive us, Senior Brother!”

Wearing a fawning, apologetic smile, Wu Tianhao carefully walked up behind Hong Yang.

He began to massage his shoulders in a placating manner, trying to loosen him up.

Meanwhile,

Shen Changchuan watched this scene, somewhat dumbfounded.

’So those two are actually that close?’

”Forget it!”

”I was probably close to finding their lair anyway. A small mishap, no big deal.”

”Right, what are you two doing here anyway?”

Hong Yang slapped Wu Tianhao’s hands away and stopped messing around, getting straight to the point.

He usually just enjoyed teasing his adorable junior brothers.

When it came to serious business, he was all business.

”Senior Brother, it’s like this...”

Wu Tianhao quickly explained the situation.

There wasn’t much to hide.

They had accepted a mission to find someone, but after more than half a month with no results, they were about to give up and return. Then, they noticed this group of people acting strangely. Since Shen Changchuan recognized someone among them, they decided to follow.

When they saw the group enter this temporary encampment and not come back out,

and seeing that their Blood Talismans weren’t reacting,

they decided to just raid the camp directly. Even if they couldn’t find any clues, they could at least rescue the person.

”Is that so...”

After hearing the whole story, a thoughtful expression appeared on Hong Yang’s face.

”In that case, you two will join me from now on. It’s perfect, actually. With two more Soul Emergence combatants, the next phase of the operation should be no problem.”

”Besides, your target might very well be in there...”

”Uh, Senior Brother Hong, what do you mean by that?”

”Did you really think I spent the last month just to slack off and avoid my duties at the External Affairs Hall?”

Hong Yang shot Wu Tianhao a look.

”I came here this time because I got a lead on the Demon Dao...”

Hong Yang didn’t hide anything,

and explained the mission and purpose of his trip.

As it turned out, it was actually somewhat related to Shen Changchuan and Wu Tianhao’s mission.

Over the past six months,

some Immortal Cultivation Forces living in the Border Desolate Forest had noticed their people mysteriously disappearing, seemingly abducted by an unknown power. This drew the attention of the small and medium-sized forces that had pledged allegiance to the Dragon Cloud Sect.

However, because the number of missing Cultivators was still small,

it hadn’t attracted much attention from the outside world.

But not long ago, a surviving witness reported that the mysterious forces seemed to be using Demon Dao techniques. The report reached Hong Yang, and only then did he realize something was wrong.

So he came to investigate personally.

Through some analysis, he eventually managed to infiltrate this escort group.

He planned to use this opportunity to follow them into their lair and investigate the motives of the Demon Cultivators hiding in the shadows.

But he never expected

to run into Wu Tianhao and the others along the way, causing his plan to be completely derailed.

”Demon Cultivators... What are they doing here?”

Shen Changchuan couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

He’d had his own run-ins with Demon Cultivators.

Back in Dawan Village, he had encountered Demon Cultivators from the Nanyue Kingdom and had even fought them.

Even during the great upheaval in Wu Family Town, when he was only at the Ninth Layer, he was attacked by a Soul Emergence Realm Demon Cultivator. Later, that same Demon Cultivator, now heavily injured, attacked Dawan Village, and Shen Changchuan managed to kill him against all odds...

Come to think of it,

before the Dragon Cloud Sect was founded,

when the Grotto Heaven Ruins opened,

he recalled that Master Wandering Dragon had fought a Demon Cultivator from the Nanyue Kingdom called the Seven Extremes Old Demon.

’Wasn’t that Seven Extremes Old Demon already injured and driven back by Master Wandering Dragon?’

’Could there be something in this Border Desolate Land so important’

’that they’re determined to get it at any cost?’

He mused inwardly,

but his face remained impassive.

’I hear Senior Brother Hong is at the Soul Emergence Eighth Layer.’

’And as one of Master Wandering Dragon’s Direct Disciples, he must have some trump cards up his sleeve. There shouldn’t be any problem.’

And then,

Shen Changchuan thought of the Jade Talisman in his Storage Bag, a gift from Zhou Lingyun that sealed a single strike at the Divine Travel Peak Realm.

His heart settled slightly at the thought.

”It’s just a pity. With what happened here, their lair probably already knows...”

As he spoke,

Hong Yang casually picked up a stick and pried open the hand of a black-clothed corpse, revealing a shattered warning Jade Talisman.

Before dying, the man had already sent the warning.

This made Hong Yang’s expression turn grim.

”Let’s move out now, before they get away.”

”Yes!”