Otherworldly Affairs Office-Chapter 681: Meeting an Old Friend in a Foreign Land (Seeking Subscription)
No matter what secret collusion exists between the Underworld's Eighteen Courts and the Immortal Palace, on the surface, Li Songtao is after all a Demon Cultivator and cannot swagger into the Heroes Pavilion, which is filled with prestigious righteous sects, to kill people. However, ever since the upheaval that day, the entire Investigation Hall, due to Pei Yan's cultivation, has been extremely vigilant and staying behind closed doors.
Left with no choice, Li Songtao had to monitor the periphery of Chongren Square, looking for an opportunity to strike. It wasn't until today that Pei Yan and others went out for a stroll that he followed them, and it was only at this point that he discovered that the young man who had once sat on him beating him up was named Pei Yan!
Although the anger and murderous intent in his heart made Li Songtao wish he could immediately take action to end the lives of these people, the remaining rationality told him he couldn't do that. Even he could see that today's Pei Yan was not the same Wu Xia A Meng, yet even so, he still did not regard this group of people as a threat. What truly made him wary was the people from the Six Mansions of the Immortal Palace.
The ants in the Investigation Hall are useless in everything else but have high vigilance. They travel in groups and always look for busy places to hide. Even though Li Songtao considers his abilities unparalleled,, it's impossible to kill all these people on the street in one go. Once the battle is stalemated and the other side escapes, attracting the Immortal Palace Law Enforcement Team, what awaits him is endless pursuit. After much consideration, Li Songtao ultimately valued the bigger picture over his impulsions, followed them for an entire day, and watched them return to their residence.
After he roughly explained his tracks for the day, Li Songtao sneered and said, "Don't think I'm someone who cannot tell right from wrong. I know the importance and urgency of things. If the timing isn't right, even if my enemies are right in front of me, I will restrain myself. Those juniors didn't discover my tracks, and no one followed me back. You people are just needlessly worrying yourself."
Suhabaru, hearing what Li Songtao said, relaxed his tense emotions a bit but still said with dissatisfaction, "No matter what, what you did violated the rules of this mission. Today, you didn't get a chance to strike. If you really got the chance and killed Pei Yan, don't you think it would alarm the Immortal Palace? A search of the entire city would be unavoidable and we would lose several hiding spots…"
"Enough!" Li Songtao interrupted the other's reprimand with a wave of his large sleeve, his triangular eyes glaring fiercely at Suhabaru with disdain, "Seeing as the Sect Leader commanded us to work closely together, I granted you some face, yet you keep pushing your limits! You ignorant junior, I dare to act because I have my own countermeasures. I will handle the matter cleanly without causing trouble. There's no need for you to be here yelling about how to conduct this matter!"
"Hehehe!" Before Suhabaru could retort, a cold laugh emerged from a black-robed person under the corridor. Seeing this, Li Songtao shouted angrily, "Do you find what I said amusing? What are you laughing at!"
"No, no, no, venerable elder, you are right in everything, but you made one mistake!"
"What mistake did I make?"
The black-robed man lifted his hood, walked to the center of the courtyard, looked around, and coldly smiled, "You shouldn't have underestimated the strength of that Pei Yan. I advise you, no, I mean we should hurry up and change places! And you'd better stay away from us because, venerable elder, you will definitely lead the enemies here."
Hearing the young man deliberately emphasize the words "venerable elder" with contempt and a mocking attitude, Li Songtao could tolerate it no longer and was about to explode, but then he saw the other person shake their head helplessly, sigh, and say, "Apologies, just forget what I said before. It's too late; they've already found their way here."
"You are rambling nonsense…"
"Oh dear, I didn't check the calendar today, yet it turns out to be a great day! I get to see so many familiar faces here, hahaha! Li Songtao, you've really gifted me with a grand present! I must thank you properly!"
Li Songtao was about to refute the young man when he suddenly heard a burst of wild laughter behind him. He quickly turned around and saw a man at an unknown time standing on the wall, fanning himself with a folding fan and looking at him with a smile.
"Pei Yan!" The young man's mouth curled up as he unconsciously placed his hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist.
"Shitang Longsi! It truly is a pleasure to meet an old acquaintance in a foreign land; it has been a while since we last met, and I indeed missed you a bit!" Upon being named, Pei Yan simply leaped down from the wall, landed on the ground, and, ignoring the look of hatred from Li Songtao that seemed to wish to cut him into a thousand pieces, shook his fan as he leisurely strolled around the courtyard, saying, "So it seems your Divine Desire has indeed colluded with these people and have some scheme in this city, which means I was being too cautious; this wasn't a trap aimed exclusively at me, but rather Li Songtao's personal wish."
"Heh, kid, do we really need a trap to deal with you? Since you've found my tracks and still dare to come to my door, I think you are tired of living. Just as well, I will kill you today to vent my heart's grievance, but before killing you, you better tell me how you managed to trail me to this place!"
Li Songtao unleashed his aura but only then sensed the presence of several hidden figures outside the wall. After calculating the number and strength of the opponents, he felt he could break through them and turned to Pei Yan to question him.
"It's just some trivial tricks, not worth mentioning to someone of your elder caliber." Pei Yan said this while clasping the folding fan in his hand and storing it back into his storage ring, smiling slightly at him, "Just now, you mentioned that after killing me, you would have a contingency plan. If I'm not mistaken, you would falsify the scene, letting a sect I have grievances with take the blame secretly, right? Is it the Celestial Secret Pavilion or Celestial Sword Manor?"
"Kid, you are clever, but this is just trivial intelligence. If your brain were really sharp, you shouldn't have come courting death!"
Seeing Li Songtao finish speaking, he was about to make a move, but Pei Yan waved at him, smiling, "Wait! Wait! Why the rush in meeting an old friend? I dare to come to find you because I won't escape. You needn't worry about the Immortal Palace. I estimate they will take some time to react. I'm just curious, knowing the enmity between me, the Celestial Secret Pavilion, and Celestial Sword Manor, how do you dare to come here alone?"
Upon hearing Pei Yan's question, Li Songtao was initially stunned. Pei Yan's battle in the Heroes Pavilion indeed spread some rumors these days. However, as this matter was indeed not something glorious for the Daoist Realm, and the other two parties involved were even less likely to deliberately propagate their family scandal, the general plot spread to the outside world was merely the Celestial Secret Pavilion deliberately making things difficult, the foundation-bearing plane erupting and injuring people, finally the avatar of the Supreme Lord appeared to quell the incident. The story's course was indeed so, but the specific details of the fight were vaguely and briefly mentioned, so Li Songtao did not know what role Pei Yan had played in this incident. Even if he knew, he would not believe it, considering it just exaggeration from those who spread the story.
This is what one means by not shedding tears until seeing the coffin, and Li Songtao was the epitome of such a person. Hearing Pei Yan say this, he instead believed it was a sign of insecurity from Pei Yan, intending to use the identity of the original body to intimidate him, causing him to sneer inwardly with even more contempt.
