Near the City of Slaughter, Shangguan Li and the others continued deeper into the area, yet they still found nothing of major consequence.
"Little Pear, did you really discover something?"
Shangguan Li felt somewhat suspicious, for there were no abnormalities left nearby. Why did Little Pear still claim there was an ominous aura?
Little Pear showed not the slightest awkwardness at having her falsehood exposed, merely offering a slight smile. "Perhaps I sensed wrongly. How about we return to Heaven Dou City first?"
"Then I shall head back to Spirit City first. An undercover agent is returning today, and I must go back to gather some intelligence."
"An undercover agent?" Shangguan Li asked in disbelief. Spirit Hall had actually planted undercover agents within the major sects? Yet it was hardly surprising, seeing as the current leader of the Heaven Dou Empire was himself a man of Spirit Hall.
Qian Renxue nodded. "Back when Bibi Dong ascended to the papal throne, we of Spirit Hall already harbored the ambition to unify the Douluo Continent. However, apart from Spirit Hall, the continent also holds sects and empires."
"Setting empires aside for a moment, the major sects are also a thorny enemy. To dismantle these enemies from within, we sought out children who held grudges against these sects or factions, and brought them back to be raised as undercover agents."
Shangguan Li glanced at Qian Renxue at her side, as the woman seemingly intended to continue. You don't need to tell me Spirit Hall's plans. The undercover agents have already returned anyway, doesn't that just prove the undercover plan succeeded?
Qian Renxue coughed twice. "This matter is a secret of our Spirit Hall. Even if you are an ally, I will naturally not tell you."
"Naturally, nor do I wish to hear anything I ought not to."
With those words, Shangguan Li turned and walked away, leaving a sorrowful Qian Renxue standing alone in place.
As long as you stay with me, you will no longer be considered an outsider. Why, why won't you understand my meaning?
Meanwhile, Little Pear also turned and shot Qian Renxue a disdainful look, while Qian Renxue returned Little Pear's gaze with an eye-roll of her own.
Upon returning to the Tang Sect, Tang San changed into night-walker attire and rushed out toward the Sunset Forest near Heaven Dou City.
He looked upon the weak soul beasts of the Sunset Forest. Originally, this place was hardly a significant spirit beast forest to begin with, and coupled with the previous two hunts by Wuxie and Tang San, the maximum age of the soul beasts currently in the Sunset Forest barely reached a thousand years.
Yet Tang San showed them no pity whatsoever, hunting down these slightly higher-level soul beasts without the slightest hesitation. Just as Tang San intended to set off for the Star Dou Great Forest, he ran into a long-unseen old classmate.
"You're Oscar?"
Tang San was quite pleasantly surprised to catch sight of Oscar. In his impression, although Oscar was an idle and somewhat lecherous man, one must not forget his other identity: a talented Food-type Soul Master.
Oscar had spent these past years training through travels, making him exceptionally sensitive to sounds. Hearing someone call his name, he reflexively turned his head back. "Who are you?"
"I am Tang San, Oscar. Could it be that you don't remember me? Boss Dai is in Heaven Dou City right now, why don't we go meet up with him?"
"Tang San? Are you truly Tang San? The Tang San in my memory does not wear a face like yours."
Oscar's vigilance was exceedingly high, which was the very reason he had survived among numerous adventurous parties.
Tang San grew somewhat impatient upon seeing Oscar's refusal, but the person who broke their standoff was none other than someone they both knew well: Ma Hongjun.
Ma Hongjun, unseen for many years, remained just as corpulent, and the aura about him grew increasingly greasy. "Alright, Third Brother, Little Ao, you two don't need to keep confronting each other. We're all classmates, aren't we?"
"You're really Tang San?" Hearing Ma Hongjun's voice, Oscar also looked toward Tang San in shock, never expecting that after so many years apart, Tang San would change to such a degree.
Tang San let out a breath as well. "That's right, with such a long time apart, you even forgot about me. Did you two come here to hunt spirit beasts as well?"
"The business we had to do is already finished, and we're currently on our way back to Heaven Dou City. I heard you built a sect-how about taking in your brother here?"
Oscar had returned to Heaven Dou City during the period when the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect members and Tang San went out to search for Ning Rongrong. The very first people Oscar saw upon returning to Heaven Dou City were Flender and his disciple, Ma Hongjun.
"Then I am naturally more than welcome. Boss Dai is in the city too; how about we have a long-overdue gathering?"
Whoever looked at it, this gathering unquestionably harbored a conspiracy. Yet Oscar and Ma Hongjun harbored impure motives of their own, and so the group cheerfully decided on the venue for this reunion.
The few of them chose a private partitioned room, seeing as both Tang San and Dai Mubai's identities were relatively sensitive now.
"Xiao Ao, welcome back to Heaven Dou City. How long has it been since we last met? Must be five or six years."
The bond between Dai Mubai and Oscar was unlike the one with Tang San; friendship between the two of them was pure and unwatered, so long as the interests of both parties remained safeguarded.
Oscar also rubbed his head modestly. "Where is that the case? But it really has been a long time. Boss Dai, you've gone and become an emperor now."
"Not at all, not at all. This is all thanks to the cooperation between Xiaosan and me that I managed to sit in this position, otherwise the throne would've been snatched away by Dai Weisi."
"That truly was an arduous path. Boss Dai, I've already heard that you formed an alliance with the Heaven Dou Empire, and together you're attacking Spirit Hall."
Mentioning the war, Dai Mubai's expression grew solemn as well. "Spirit Hall has already established the Spirit Hall Empire and declared war on our Two Empires. Because the soul masters of Spirit Hall possess overwhelming strength, if we fail to unite, sooner or later we will all be wiped out by the Spirit Hall Empire."
"Xiao Ao, why don't you join me in taking part in the war as well? Dean Flender and the others are right at the Tang Sect." Ma Hongjun spoke in a mumbled, indistinct voice, his mouth stuffed full of food as though he had not tasted meat in ages.
Dai Mubai wore a look of utter disgust. "Fatty, finish chewing before you speak."
"Apologies, Boss Dai, I haven't eaten meat in so long. Forgive me this time."
The hell I'll believe you. Who on earth was the one stuffing themselves with fish and meat every single day while continuously frequenting those kinds of places?
"Then I shall tag along with Dean Flender and the rest as well, seeing as they are the ones who raised me. This debt of gratitude, I cannot fail to repay it."
Both Dai Mubai and Tang San were quite satisfied; what satisfied Dai Mubai was Oscar's heart of gratitude, while what satisfied Tang San was that Oscar had chosen the right camp.
Yet right as the few of them were chatting, they noticed spatial distortion phenomena occurring in the surrounding area. Curious, the group probed closer and discovered a magical array that had suddenly appeared upon a patch of land, the space all around this array twisting and warping.
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