Chapter 102

Xiao Ling's eyes lit up when he saw Ke Xingzhou.

Ke Xingzhou still had that lazy, carefree look, but in Xiao Ling's eyes, he looked more and more like someone with an otherworldly aura.

Ke Xingzhou wasn’t surprised by his arrival. He nodded at him and said, "Did you get your opportunity in Jiangcheng?"

Xiao Ling immediately sat up straighter, thinking to himself that Ke Xingzhou was truly remarkable. He hadn't even spoken yet, but already knew what had happened. He expressed his gratitude, "I must thank Master Ke for your guidance, or I wouldn't have such a good job opportunity!"

Because he had helped Peng Jingshan earlier, Xiao Ling's activities in Jiangcheng had unfortunately fallen through.

He had originally planned to spend two more days there and then return to the capital, but unexpectedly, Peng Jingshan contacted him, saying there was an event lacking participants, and he could join in, so he was introduced to it.

Getting a job with the Wanli Group made Xiao Ling extremely happy!

Moreover, as always, the Wanli Group was very wealthy and generous. Not only were the audience’s prizes lavish, but the treatment for the temporary actors they had brought in was also excellent—high wages, reimbursed travel expenses, and even staying at a five-star hotel.

Looking at it, the job was much easier and more lucrative than the one his agent had found for him!

"My agent heard that Peng-senior introduced me to this job, and they didn’t even mention any penalty fees. They told me to perform well in the upcoming program!" Xiao Ling said cheerfully, "If it weren't for your help, I'd probably be running errands to pay off my debts by now."

Ke Xingzhou didn’t feel like he had helped much: "You have good talent, and luck and career prospects are in your favor. You just lacked an opportunity. It has nothing to do with me."

He genuinely felt it wasn’t much.

After all, he had simply given Xiao Ling a suggestion to not get involved in the commotion. If Xiao Ling had really just been a bystander as Ke Xingzhou said, he wouldn’t have been able to save Peng Jingshan, let alone be recognized and introduced to a job afterward.

But Xiao Ling thought Ke Xingzhou was being humble and not taking credit. He was even more convinced of his respect for him.

He immediately took out half of his newly received salary and gave it as a red envelope to Ke Xingzhou, thanking him again.

Ke Xingzhou had become somewhat immune to these inexplicable gratitude and praise directed at him. Moreover, he couldn’t resist the allure of money, so when Xiao Ling insisted on giving the red envelope, he stopped refusing and accepted it.

Then Xiao Ling said, "By the way, Master Ke, this is my new friend, Yan Xingwei."

Yan Xingwei looked like a young man in his early twenties, with a cold and refined demeanor. Judging by his appearance alone, it was hard to imagine this person performing in front of a large audience.

Ke Xingzhou looked at Yan Xingwei without much expression on his face: "Do you need something from me?"

Yan Xingwei smiled harmlessly at him: "I was hoping to find someone."

Ke Xingzhou stared at him quietly for a moment. Just then, Assistant Liu approached, saying that the eight dragon gods who had just switched sides had become key witnesses, identifying several potential hiding spots for the Six-Armed Dragon God, and they had to rush over now.

Xiao Ling, like the other clueless followers, had no idea what was going on and couldn’t understand what they were talking about.Upon hearing the words "key witness," Xiao Ling was surprised and said, "Master Ke, are you assisting the police with the case? Are we disturbing you?"

He looked worried and was about to pull his newly met friend away to avoid disturbing Ke Xingzhou and the others from their work.

But he saw Ke Xingzhou staring at Yan Xingwei for a moment before standing up and saying to them, "Let's go."

Xiao Ling was taken aback and thought, "Is this how casual it is? Ke Xingzhou is working with the police, and he's bringing outsiders along to watch?"

He hesitated a bit, but Yan Xingwei had already followed Ke Xingzhou’s lead.

After a moment of hesitation, Xiao Ling thought that since Yan Xingwei was introduced to Ke Xingzhou by him, it wouldn’t be good if anything happened while he wasn’t there. So, he followed them as well.

Along the way, they met with a group of Taoist priests, who were also dragging along a young man with yellow hair.

Xiao Ling glanced at the young man with yellow hair and saw that his face was ashen, looking completely hopeless. He immediately assumed this was the key witness Assistant Liu had mentioned.

This was his first time encountering such a situation, and he couldn’t help but feel nervous. He started chatting with Assistant Zhu, "Assistant Zhu, what exactly is going on here? First, we’re performing at the Taoist temple, and now we have a key witness..."

Assistant Zhu didn’t hide anything from him. He waved his hand and briefly explained the situation.

Now, Xiao Ling could be considered somewhat of a professional and knew what could be said and what couldn’t. Anything involving ghosts and evil gods was glossed over.

Even so, the process sounded quite dangerous, and Xiao Ling couldn’t help but think that being a Taoist wasn’t as easy as it seemed on the surface. They had to fight against dark forces with both intelligence and courage.

The young man with yellow hair was being dragged by the Taoist priest, his head hanging low, following behind the group, completely defeated.

His master’s soul was already gone, and the beautiful memories he once had were shattered. He was now lost and confused, and he wasn’t well at all.

Assistant Zhu actually thought of him as a talented person, with ideals that were compatible with their Xianyao Sect, so he was thinking about recruiting him. He slipped back to walk behind.

Seeing the yellow-haired young man looking like a fish out of water, Assistant Zhu became furious, "You’re still thinking about that scumbag master of yours? What’s so good about him? He’s so inhumane, exploiting you and your friends, and didn’t even think about taking you when he ran away."

The yellow-haired young man wasn’t happy and retorted, "Don’t speak ill of my master."

Assistant Zhu clicked his tongue, "He treated you like this, and you’re still defending him? Are you dumb or what? I think you’ve been pua’d badly and don’t even know what a normal master-disciple relationship is. Look at my master, how good he is to me and my junior brother! Now that’s what a normal master-disciple relationship should be like!"

As he spoke, he pointed to Ke Xingzhou and Nie Chen in front of them, indicating the yellow-haired young man should look.

The yellow-haired young man rolled his eyes at him but couldn’t help but look in the direction he was pointing. What caught his eye were two tall figures walking side by side.

Nie Chen was already tall, and Ke Xingzhou was slightly shorter but still considered tall among regular people. The two of them, walking among a group of Taoist priests over fifty years old, stood out like cranes among chickens, almost a head taller than anyone else around them, looking especially eye-catching.

...And they seemed quite well-matched.

The yellow-haired young man looked suspiciously at Assistant Zhu, "Are you sure they’re just master and disciple?"

Assistant Zhu was momentarily stunned, but then he realized what the yellow-haired young man meant and became angry, "What’s wrong with your brain? There’s nothing untoward between us and our master! Just because you can’t get your master’s love, you’re trying to spread rumors and slander about my master and junior brother!"

The yellow-haired young man also realized his thoughts were a bit off.

Although Ke Xingzhou and Nie Chen did seem like a handsome master-disciple pair, he couldn’t help but bring in his own experience with his master. He instantly felt a chill down his spine.

He gave a dry laugh, "I’ve probably been reading too many novels recently, I think I got a little too carried away. Sorry about that."

Assistant Zhu was angry for a moment but held back, still wanting to recruit talent. He then continued talking about the benefits of joining the Xianyao Sect and how their philosophies aligned with the yellow-haired young man’s.Huang Mao was stunned, never having imagined that one day he would be so highly regarded and recruited. For a moment, he couldn’t help but take it seriously, temporarily setting aside the sadness of being betrayed by his master.

“If only you weren’t from the evil sect,” Zhu Chu sighed. “I just heard the police talking. People from the evil sect get at least three to five years in prison. Even as a tainted witness, you can't escape jail time, and you won't be able to get a certificate of no criminal record in the future. Otherwise, I would really want Master to take you in too. We could be companions.”

Zhu Chu looked sourly at the backs of Master and his junior, thinking that Master must be showing more care for his junior because of him. If he recruited another junior, Mr. Nie would surely lose favor, just like how Zhu Chu himself did before.

Unfortunately, the only person with similar ideas, Huang Mao, was from the evil sect.

Even for the reputation of their sect, Zhu Chu couldn't allow a criminal to be a key member.

Huang Mao, hearing this, couldn't help but feel regretful.

The accomplishments of the Xianyao Sect did seem similar to those of the Jiulong Temple, but the atmosphere here was far better, much more so than in Jiulong Temple. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t envious.

Watching Ke Xingzhou and Nie Chen occasionally bump into each other ahead, Huang Mao's eyes gradually showed signs of longing.

If he hadn’t been brought into the Jiutou Long sect by his master at birth, a small sect raised by an evil master, perhaps he would have had the chance to become a disciple of the Xianyao Sect…

For a moment, Huang Mao felt somewhat despondent. His gaze swept across the crowd, but suddenly he paused at a certain spot.

“Huh?”

Did he just see someone familiar?

The Six-Armed Dragon God's methods were indeed mysterious and unpredictable. Whether it was Xiang Ting or Lu Li, they had used all their methods but still couldn’t find his whereabouts.

However, fortunately, there were still the other eight Dragon Gods around, so finding the Six-Armed Dragon God was not difficult.

Under the guidance of the eight Dragon Gods, the group soon entered the southwestern border, deep into the mountains, and into a rarely visited dense forest.

The dense forests in the southwestern border were notorious for being dangerous, and the mountains here had a reputation for devouring people. Even the Taoist priests couldn’t help but feel a chill down their spines as they entered, always feeling as though something in the darkness was watching them.

But when they turned to look in that direction, they saw nothing.

The Six-Armed Dragon God probably never thought that his former brothers would betray him. After entering the forest, he stopped trying to hide his traces, leaving his scent everywhere.

Following the scent left by the Six-Armed Dragon God, the group eventually reached a valley and finally understood why Xiang Ting had lost track of the target earlier—

A gigantic array, based on the dense forest and spanning tens of miles, enveloped the entire valley.

From above the valley, they could barely make out the shape of the array. Had they entered from the ground earlier, they would have likely gotten lost within this enormous array.

The Taoist priests’ expressions changed slightly. “How could there be such a large array here?”

Previously, when their country had assisted a small southwestern nation in cracking down on the Jiutou Long sect, the Jiutou Long sect had been left on the brink of destruction, with only a few remnants remaining. In theory, even if they came back, they should have been careful to avoid detection by border patrols.

Such a huge array would require vast manpower and resources to set up. Not to mention the array itself was difficult to break. Without some innate talent, even entering the array would be impossible.

Where did the Jiutou Long sect get the resources and connections to set up such a grand array?

Zhu Chu turned to Huang Mao. “Is this where you lived when you were a child?”He thought this was the base of the Jiutou Long sect, but Huang Mao, looking at the valley below, also seemed confused and shook his head. "When I was young, Master and the others didn’t have a fixed residence. They would stay at old friends’ homes for a few days and then leave. There was never a fixed base."

He didn’t know what this place was either.

Ke Xingzhou suddenly fell silent. Nie Chen’s gaze shifted from the large array below to him, and with concern, he asked, "What’s wrong?"

Ke Xingzhou shook his head. Before leaving, however, he couldn’t help but glance back at the large array below.

Just like before at the Jiulong Temple, he also sensed some familiar aura from this array.

But this feeling was fleeting. He couldn’t capture it, and now, when trying to recall it carefully, he couldn’t remember anything.

The group descended into the valley, and the aura of the Six-Armed Dragon God disappeared at the edge of the array. Standing at the edge of the array and looking inside, they could only see dense, towering trees, and a mist that had gradually spread throughout the forest, though it was unclear when it had started.

A Taoist priest who was skilled in array formations spoke up, "This large array probably only has the ability to conceal traces, with no signs of attack. But there may be an ambush inside, so everyone should be cautious."

Huang Mao, who was also visiting here for the first time, wasn't fully confident in the Taoist priests’ judgment, given their earlier behavior. He couldn’t help but turn to Xiang Ting, "Is that so?"

It was then that the Taoist priests remembered that they had an ancient divine beast with them. Who else would be more proficient in array knowledge than an ancient divine beast?

Everyone turned their attention to Xiang Ting.

Xiang Ting fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a deep voice, "This is a sealing array left behind from the ancient battle between gods and demons. For humans, it doesn’t have any negative effects."

Nie Chen noticed that when Xiang Ting said this, for some reason, he briefly looked towards Ke Xingzhou.

Nie Chen couldn’t help but frown, a bad premonition rising in his heart.

Fortunately, Xiang Ting quickly shifted his gaze and, after warning Zhu Xi, "Be careful," he led the way into the array.