Chapter 160: Encountering an Old Acquaintance in the Wilderness

“Senior Brother, how is my cooking?” He Li fixed her gaze on the long skewer in Bai Qingzhou’s hand, her eyes full of anticipation.

“Let me try.” Bai Qingzhou bit into a piece of meat, savoring it carefully. After a moment, he smiled and said, “Not bad! Tender and flavorful. Your barbecue skills have improved quite a bit!”

“Hehe!” He Li smiled happily.

“What about me?” He Zuo asked eagerly from the side.

Bai Qingzhou looked down at the skewer in He Zuo’s left hand, which was already burnt black, and said bluntly, “You still need to work harder! That looks completely unappetizing...”

“How could that be? I’ll eat it!” He Zuo picked up his charred meat skewer and bit into it stubbornly.

“Ptooey!” As soon as it entered his mouth, he immediately spat it out, rinsed his mouth with water, stuck out his tongue, and grimaced, “Terrible taste...”

“Hahaha... I told you, and you didn’t believe me!” Bai Qingzhou burst into laughter at the sight.

Laughter echoed continuously among the trees...

At this moment, the three of them were deep in the forest. Earlier today, when they came down to rest, they happened upon a first-rank beast, so they immediately took it down and started barbecuing in the primeval forest.

“Sizzle, sizzle...”

The flames roasted the beast meat incessantly, causing oil to drip and the aroma to waft irresistibly from the chunks.

The scent attracted many wild animals, who circled the three of them menacingly.

There were venomous snakes, tigers, lions, wild boars, brown bears, and a host of other creatures.

Yet Bai Qingzhou and the others chatted leisurely, eating their barbecue with a calmness that showed no concern for the beasts around them.

If any reckless animal charged forward, He Zuo and He Li would immediately strike with their knives, sending the beasts to their demise.

As if dealing with a trivial matter.

Before long, many animal carcasses lay scattered around them.

Fresh blood flowed freely, creating a gruesome scene.

“All right, we’ve eaten enough. Let’s get going,” Bai Qingzhou said, standing up and glancing at the scattered limbs and remains.

“Okay! Let’s leave then!” He Zuo and He Li immediately rose to their feet.

Living in the wild was troublesome. Although all three were cultivators unafraid of ordinary beasts, they could not simply drive them away. No matter how many they killed, there would always be fearless beasts charging forward relentlessly. This was the difficulty of sleeping outdoors.

They could never rest soundly.

Bai Qingzhou waved his hand, packing all the leftover beast meat into a Storage Bag.

Then, he summoned the Wind-Riding Immortal Crane. Once the two others mounted the artifact, he activated it, leaping into the sky.

They continued flying toward Gaoshifang.

After reaching a certain height, Bai Qingzhou adjusted the artifact to level flight. At that moment, he furrowed his brow and looked into the distance.

Ahead, he saw a cultivator rapidly approaching, piloting a flying artifact at great speed.

Several other cultivators followed behind him.

“Be careful! There are cultivators up ahead!” Bai Qingzhou immediately warned the others.

Encountering cultivators in the wild was never a good sign; it usually meant life-or-death conflict.

“Where? Where?” He Zuo asked excitedly.

Their eyesight was not as sharp as Bai Qingzhou’s. Even with his warning, they had not noticed anything unusual ahead.

Bai Qingzhou casually pointed, “Right there. It looks like those behind are chasing the one in front...”

As they drew closer, Bai Qingzhou noticed the two groups were in different states.

He Li grew concerned, “Senior Brother, maybe we should leave...”

“Hmm...” Bai Qingzhou nodded slowly. “Of course. This has nothing to do with us.”

Hearing this, He Zuo, eager to act, suddenly hesitated.

But Bai Qingzhou gave him no chance to speak, adjusting the artifact’s direction to distance themselves from the cultivators.

The two groups diverged.

Yet unexpectedly, the one being chased suddenly changed course and headed straight toward Bai Qingzhou!

“Senior Brother, that person is coming at us!” He Li exclaimed.

“Don’t rush!” Bai Qingzhou replied calmly.

As they neared, Bai Qingzhou realized these pursuers were only Qi Refining stage, not Foundation Establishment, so they posed no threat to him.

He stopped the flying artifact and waited silently in the air for the group to approach.

When he saw the front runner, however, he felt the man was somewhat familiar, though he couldn’t recall when they had met.

“Ah!” The pursued man suddenly shouted, “Senior Bai, please save me!”

Bai Qingzhou’s heart jolted. This person actually recognized him!

The man was about twenty years old, dressed in a blue robe, with well-defined features and a tall, upright figure. His flowing hair was somewhat disheveled, and his face bore a panicked expression as he shouted at Bai Qingzhou.

“Senior Bai, don’t you remember me?!” the man shouted, “I’m Wu Haoming from the Moonlight Hall!”

At once, Bai Qingzhou reacted. He knew this man!

Moonlight Hall was a member of the Infinite Alliance and maintained good relations with the Xuanyang Sect. When Bai Qingzhou had delivered a message in the past, he had visited the Moonlight Hall’s mountain gate and had a favorable impression of their outer sect steward.

He knew Wu Haoming because the latter had appeared at Bai Qingzhou’s Foundation Establishment feast, representing Moonlight Hall at the gathering. Bai Qingzhou had met him once then.

But with many guests present at the time, their acquaintance was brief, which was why Bai Qingzhou had not recognized him earlier.

“Brother Wu! What... what’s going on?” Bai Qingzhou immediately responded.

“Senior Bai, these are people from the Four Directions Alliance trying to kill me! Please help me drive them off!” Wu Haoming shouted anxiously.

Seeing that this man was an ally from the Infinite Alliance and that his pursuers were from the Four Directions Alliance, Bai Qingzhou no longer hesitated. He maneuvered his flying artifact to approach Wu Haoming.

The artifact cut through the air with a sharp whistle, scattering the clouds around them.

“Stop!” Bai Qingzhou halted in front of the pursuers, drew his White Sand Sword, and pointed it at them, shielding Wu Haoming behind him.

A fierce aura erupted from Bai Qingzhou like ripples, intimidating everyone present.

“Foundation Establishment cultivator!” the pursuers immediately stopped and shouted in unison.

There were seven or eight pursuers. Seeing Bai Qingzhou suddenly appear, they all turned their gazes to the middle-aged, thick-browed man among them.

“Brother, what do we do now?” one asked.

The thick-browed man stared intently at Bai Qingzhou. “Senior, what do you mean by this?”

“Are you people from the Four Directions Alliance?” Bai Qingzhou asked, his sword pointing at the thick-browed cultivator.

“Yes!” the man snapped back sternly, “I am an inner sect disciple of the Four Directions Sect!”

“Hmph!” Bai Qingzhou snorted coldly. “You dare to chase after someone from the Infinite Alliance—have you lost your senses?!”

(End of chapter)