Oh No, I've Been Branded with the Way of Seeking Death (Testing the Waters, Please Keep Reading)

Having personally witnessed the birth of a genius, Su Yuntao and the others felt honored as well.

He stepped forward and patted Lin Nuo on the shoulder, his tone noticeably warmer.

"Brother Lin Nuo, once we get out, come back with us to the Spirit Hall branch and register.

We can test your exact Soul Power, and while we're at it, handle your Soul Master paperwork.

Now that you're a one-ring Soul Master, you can collect one Gold Soul Coin in Soul Master subsidies from Spirit Hall every month."

For such a terrifyingly gifted prodigy, it was enough to forge a good connection. Trying to forcefully recruit him would only be beneath them.

"Understood. Thanks, Brother Tao."

Lin Nuo smiled and nodded.

After a brief rest, the four of them followed their original path and retreated toward the forest's edge.

This area was, after all, Soul Beast territory. No one wanted unnecessary trouble.

Just then, a pig-slaughtering scream suddenly rang out from deep within the nearby woods—

"Ahhhhhh—"

Along with the scream came a somewhat childish yet vicious curse.

"Damned beast, how dare you hurt my teacher! You have the Way of Seeking Death!"

Hm?

That little bastard Tang San and Master Yu?

The familiar line made Lin Nuo pause slightly.

Those two had actually screwed up while hunting a Datura Snake?

They had set out so much later and still ran into them. Interesting.

Lin Nuo snarked to himself. The fact that this absurd master-disciple pair had not yet been eaten as dessert by the Datura Snake was practically proof that the ancestors of the Clear Sky Sect and Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan were watching over them from heaven.

"Yuntao, something's happening. Should we go take a look?"

Si Si stopped warily and cast him an inquiring glance.

In principle, Spirit Hall had jurisdiction over the Soul Hunting Forest, and protecting the personal safety of low-level Soul Masters was part of their duty.

But they had just gone through a major battle, and none of them were in peak condition.

"Lin Nuo, what do you think?"

Su Yuntao turned to ask him.

At that, Lin Nuo shook his head like a rattle drum.

Are you kidding?

Go save Tang San?

Leaving aside the fact that a Child of Fortune like him would not be so easy to kill.

Third Brother's reputation in the original story alone was already quite authoritative.

Did they understand the value of repaying a gushing spring of kindness with a single drop of water?

Lin Nuo felt that if he saved that little bastard, not only would Tang San fail to thank him, he would probably blame their group for arriving too late.

For nearly causing the master and disciple to fall into a life-or-death crisis?

Then, right after that, he would silently brand their entire group with the Way of Seeking Death.

Either way, it was the Way of Seeking Death. Not even a dog would meddle in this business.

"Brother Tao, something sounds off about that commotion.

Let's get out of here quickly, so we don't invite more trouble."

Seeing Lin Nuo put it that way, Su Yuntao and the others immediately decided to stop meddling. They protected him as they swiftly retreated from the forest.

However, none of them noticed that, in the direction the screams had come from, a pair of eyes glowing with an eerie purple light was fixed firmly on their retreating backs.

Behind a thicket a hundred meters away, Tang San panted heavily.

With the range of his Purple Demon Eye, he could see Lin Nuo's departing figure with perfect clarity.

After all, that head of eerie reddish-purple hair was simply far too conspicuous in the Soul Hunting Forest.

"Damn it! That figure just now looked like Lin Nuo?!"

"He clearly heard my cries for help, so why wouldn't he even come over to take a look? He just ran away?!"

"He really is an innately evil wretch! Unforgivable!"

"Back at Nuoding Academy, Teacher even wanted to take him as a disciple and pursue the great path alongside me!"

"Now it seems that this child stood by and watched us die. He has the Way of Seeking Death!"

Tang San's heart burned with fury, and he even came to resent Yu Xiaogang, who had just been swallowed alive.

He had boasted so extravagantly when Tang San became his disciple. Tang San had thought he was a hidden expert, but not only was his martial soul a pig that could do nothing but fart, he did not possess even the slightest combat ability.

At the very first encounter, he had been swallowed by the Datura Snake!

"Never mind..." Tang San gritted his teeth, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes. "No matter what, Gangzi and I have become master and disciple.

On the Douluo Continent, a person can only take one master in their lifetime. I have remained pure and spotless through two lives; if I abandon him now, I will surely bear a lifetime of infamy."

What was more, that Datura Snake with its bulging belly was currently flicking its tongue, its cold triangular eyes already locked firmly onto him.

Today, they had to fight!

"Beast, die!"

Tang San no longer hid himself. His hands instantly turned the warm, lustrous color of cold jade, and with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track beneath his feet, his body became an afterimage as he rushed straight at the Datura Snake.

Since Master Yu had only been swallowed moments ago and the snake's belly was still writhing, that meant he was not entirely dead yet.

The Datura Snake reacted quickly. A foul wind rushed at him as its bloody maw opened again, attempting to repeat the same trick and swallow this human cub as well.

Clang—

The crisp ring of metal striking metal echoed through the woods.

A human-like flicker of surprise flashed through the Datura Snake's vertical pupils. Its certain bite had actually been forcibly stopped by Tang San's jade-colored hands, which locked its upper and lower jaws apart!

Then, an unbearable stench hit him head-on.

Tang San fought back the urge to vomit and pricked up his ears. He could vaguely still hear Yu Xiaogang's weak whimpers coming from inside the snake's belly.

"Now!"

Tang San's gaze sharpened. He decisively pulled out the killing weapon he had crafted from the storage belt Gangzi had given him—the Zhuge Crossbow!

As the mechanism of the Hidden Weapon in his hands cocked into place, Tang San decisively unleashed it at point-blank range!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

In an instant, more than a dozen refined steel bolts gleaming with cold light poured into the Datura Snake's gaping mouth from zero range, burying themselves deep inside its body.

"Shhhhaaa—!"

The severe internal wounds drove the Datura Snake completely mad. Its bucket-thick body rolled and writhed wildly across the clearing.

This made things miserable for Master Yu, who was still inside the snake's stomach.

Gangzi only felt the gastric fluid churning like a storm. His internal organs were practically about to shift out of place, as though he could see his great-grandmother beckoning to him.

Then, an exceptionally absurd scene unfolded.

As the Datura Snake painfully contracted and convulsed, Yu Xiaogang inside its belly was squeezed along toward its tail like toothpaste being pressed from a tube.

Under Tang San's dumbfounded stare, a huge bulge suddenly swelled at the Datura Snake's tail.

With a muffled squelch, Yu Xiaogang's sexy Flat-top was forcibly squeezed out from the Datura Snake's tail!

A strand of indescribable sticky filth sat atop his Flat-top, giving off waves of suffocating stench.

At that moment, the Datura Snake seemed to have exhausted its last shred of strength as well. It collapsed stiffly onto the ground, unable to move.

Then, a yellow Soul Ring slowly emerged.

"Tea... Teacher?"

Tang San was completely dumbstruck. There was actually such an expert?

He prided himself on having lived two lives and seen much of the world, yet he had never witnessed such an earth-shattering entrance.