Chapter 381: Chapter 378: Meeting
However, Shen Changchuan didn’t end up cultivating for many days after all.
Because just a few days later,
Wu Tianhao returned!
"Brother, you don’t seem to be in good spirits. Have you run into some trouble? If you need anything, just say the word."
Not long after Wu Tianhao returned,
Shen Changchuan paid him a visit.
The two of them were good friends,
so seeing Wu Tianhao’s grim expression, Shen Changchuan skipped the formalities and asked directly.
"Sigh... It is a huge problem..."
At Shen Changchuan’s offer of help, the exhaustion on Wu Tianhao’s face eased slightly, and a flicker of gratitude appeared.
Still, he shook his head.
"You’ve come a long way, Junior Shen. You must be tired from the journey. There’s no need for you to get involved."
He knew Shen Changchuan hadn’t traveled here alone.
Instead, he had spent the whole trip escorting Cultivators from the Sect, as well as some hired hands in the Qi Introduction Realm.
The journey had taken over half a month,
so he was bound to be mentally exhausted.
That was why he didn’t want to trouble him further.
"It’s fine. Go on and tell me, Brother. There’s no harm in just talking about it."
"If it’s beyond my abilities, though, don’t blame me for not pulling my weight, ha!"
Shen Changchuan said with a smile.
Hearing this, Wu Tianhao thought for a moment.
He supposed that was true.
He was feeling frustrated anyway, so he went ahead and explained the trouble he was in.
Even if he couldn’t help,
getting it off his chest would at least relieve some of the pressure.
"Sigh... You might not know this, Junior Shen, but I recently received intelligence that a notorious Demon Cultivator from the Nanyue Kingdom plans to sneak past Barbaric City and attack our transport fleets."
"This man is powerful. If he succeeds, it will be a massive blow to morale on the front lines."
"At the same time, the man is exceptionally cunning. I’ve been searching for clues day and night, but I haven’t found a single trace of him!"
As he spoke,
Wu Tianhao’s face was filled with worry.
Barbaric City was newly established by several major factions, including theirs.
All of its resources, logistics, and reinforcements,
had to be dispatched from the Tian Nan Domain, over a hundred thousand li away.
This was exactly why,
after the supply route was attacked a year ago,
his senior brother, Hong Yang, had personally hunted down the attacking Demon Cultivator for over ten thousand li, killed him, and hung his head from the gates of Barbaric City!
The reason was simple:
Barbaric City was, for all intents and purposes, the main base of operations for the Cultivators from the Tian Nan Domain on this conquest!
And now,
the situation was even more troublesome!
Because his master, Master Wandering Dragon, along with the old ancestor of the Tian Nan Shen Clan and other Divine Travel Realm experts,
were leading the majority of their forces to attack a crucial Spirit Stone Vein.
They were at a critical juncture!
The last time a Demon Cultivator succeeded, it had already caused unrest and shaken their morale.
If another one succeeded this time,
the trouble would be immense!
It could even cause the front lines to collapse from the instability!
Yet, to make matters worse,
because of the offensive, even High Tier Soul Emergence Cultivators like his senior brother Hong Yang were all tied up fighting on the front lines.
The remaining experts had to stay and guard Barbaric City, lest their main base be sneak-attacked,
which meant there was no way to strengthen the escort details.
This whole affair,
had recently left Wu Tianhao completely overwhelmed and stressed out!
"Oh? And who is this person planning to launch a surprise attack?"
Hearing this, Shen Changchuan was slightly taken aback,
a vague sense of strangeness washing over him.
He hesitated for a moment,
and couldn’t help but ask.
’It’s almost as if...’
’I was ambushed on my way here...’
"His name is Kong Yuan, nicknamed Hundred Strategies, and he’s every bit as crafty as the name implies."
"A year ago, when the White Bone Sect succeeded in their surprise attack, it’s said they were using one of Hundred Strategies’ plans!"
"What’s more, he’s not weak in the slightest. I’ve heard his Cultivation has already reached the Soul Emergence Fifth Layer, and he has a junior brother who is at the Soul Emergence Fourth Layer."
"To be honest, I have absolutely no confidence in facing an enemy like that."
"But the situation is urgent. With my master fighting on the front lines at such a critical moment, I have no choice but to bite the bullet and take this on."
"Sigh... I just hope I can handle it. I can’t be the reason we lose this war on the front lines..."
Wu Tianhao said to Shen Changchuan with a bitter smile.
You could see
the immense pressure he was shouldering.
Just standing across from him,
Shen Changchuan could feel the waves of exhaustion coming off him.
"PHEW!"
"I feel so much better after getting all that out!"
"Junior Shen, thank you!"
Wu Tianhao nodded at Shen Changchuan, a relieved smile finally appearing on his face.
Then, as if speaking to Shen Changchuan and also to himself, he said:
"But rest assured, Junior Brother. I’ll do everything in my power to handle this."
"I definitely won’t let that Demon Cultivator bastard affect you!"
Wu Tianhao’s expression was firm,
as he made his promise.
On the other side,
Shen Changchuan opened his mouth, then closed it, looking at his friend’s expression.
"Uh, Brother, you might not have to worry about that anymore..."
After carefully choosing his words,
Shen Changchuan finally spoke.
.....
"What? That Hundred Strategies Kong Yuan attacked you? And you killed him?!"
Inside the cave residence,
Wu Tianhao slammed the table.
He shot to his feet with a CLATTER, his eyes wide,
staring at Shen Changchuan with a look of utter disbelief!
"Ahem, if I heard him right at the time, then yes, it should have been him..."
Then,
Shen Changchuan briefly recounted how, when they were still several thousand li from Barbaric City, they were ambushed.
He quickly explained how they ended up turning the tables and killing their attackers.
By now,
having heard the whole story,
Wu Tianhao had sunk back into his seat.
He had composed himself.
But even so,
his eyes were still filled with disbelief!
"It has to be him. A scheme like that... nine times out of ten, it was that guy!"
"Hiding in plain sight... the most dangerous place is the best place for an ambush. That’s exactly how he thinks!"
"And his scheme was probably more complex than what he announced..."
"That fiend probably calculated that with my master and the other experts from the Tian Nan Domain fighting on the front lines, Barbaric City’s defenses would be drastically weakened. He figured that even if we detected the shockwaves of battle or received a call for help from outside the city, we wouldn’t dare to act rashly, fearing a ploy to lure the tiger from the mountain... That would certainly have bought them more time."
"And that rumor I heard a few days ago was most likely leaked by him on purpose. It was meant to send me on a wild goose chase while they made their move ahead of schedule, catching us completely by surprise..."
Wu Tianhao muttered to himself.
Then he looked at Shen Changchuan with a complicated expression.
"It’s a pity for him. He calculated a thousand different possibilities, but he never calculated you into the equation!"
"You, at the peak of the Soul Emergence Third Layer, effortlessly cut down a master of the Soul Emergence Fifth Layer!"
"That one oversight rendered all his brilliant calculations useless, and he even lost his life at your hands!"
At this very moment,
Wu Tianhao’s feelings were too complicated for words.
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