Returning from the Immortal World

The first wisp of sunlight was rising from the East horizon as Tang Xiu woke up from his sleep. He looked at Zhang Xinya who was still soundly asleep with a rosy complexion before he reached over to grab his mobile phone on the bedside counter and looked at the dozens of unanswered calls on it.

“Huh? Long Zhengyu?”

Brows wrinkled, Tang Xiu put on clean clothes with a puzzled expression. He didn’t even take the time to shower and just headed to the living room instead to call back.

His call just rang twice before it got picked up, followed by Long Zhengyu’s hushed voice, “We got an accident here on Nine Dragons Island, Tang Xiu.”

The news made Tang Xiu’s expression change and he asked in a deep voice, “What happened?”

“Two black-robed old men landed on the island last night. They said that they had buried something here and must dig it out,” said Long Zhengyu. “They claimed that it’s buried in the center of the island where we’ve built the houses. We’ll have to demolish them if they want to dig it up.”

“Do you know who are they?” asked Tang Xiu.

“I dunno their identity… but they are… just dreadful. The island has quite a number of experts on guard, yet those two black-robed old men were able to injure tens of them. If it wasn’t for the help from six very powerful mysterious people, those two black geezers would’ve succeeded.”

“There were other six other people?” asked Tang Xiu again, “You know those six?”

“I dare say that I’ve never seen them.” Long Zhengyu shook his head and said, “These six look very young, seemingly around seventeen years old, yet their combat force is nothing to scoff at. Their magic spells are still shocking even though they didn’t summon wind or call for rain.”

‘They are cultivators?’ Tang Xiu’s expression changed and he asked in a heavy voice, “What’s the current situation now?”

“Those two black-robed old men are now battling these six teenagers and they seem to be in a deadlock. No one has the upper hand,” said Long Zhengyu with a wry voice.

“I’ll be there tonight at the latest,” said Tang Xiu with a deep voice, “Zhengyu, remember to pay attention to safety first and don’t enter any conflict with them if possible. Demolishing the buildings is not an option—prevent them in doing do so. And do anything you can to buy some time until I arrive.”

“Got it!” answered Long Zhengyu.

Tang Xiu took a deep breath. After hanging up, he dialed Mo Awu’s number and learned that he had arrived in Thailand along with Jin Shi, Xue Sha, and Hei Xiong. They were expected to come over in a few hours, so Tang Xiu immediately ordered Mo Awu to immediately depart to Saipan and they’d meet there.

It had been a longtime plan of Tang Xiu to make Nine Dragons Island an important site of cultivation in the future. He had literally burned so much money to buy it and even invested 20 billion yuan for the construction project there. Additionally, he still had to invest a lot of jade there to arrange a large array. With such a problem occurring there, it was a must for him to rush over and deal with it personally.

He couldn’t guesstimate who those two black-robed old men were, but he had a faint hunch that the other six youths were definitely cultivators. He had assigned quite a number of experts to guard the island, save for Wolf Head’s team, including some Everlasting Feast Hall experts just like Mo Awu.

“These people should be very formidable.”

Tang Xiu woke Zhang Xinya up and slightly felt sorry for her after seeing her sleepy face. Nevertheless, he still spoke to her, “Xinya, I’m sorry, but I can’t escort you back to the mainland. You have to hurry to take a shower and leave Bangkok with me. I’m going to take you somewhere else.”

With her spirit aroused, Zhang Xinya’s face was the epitome of joy as she asked, “You won’t escort me back to China? That’s great. But where are we going, though?”

“We’ll head to Saipan and then leave for Nine Dragons Island,” answered Tang Xiu.

“Nine Dragons Island?” Zhang Xinya was confused and asked again, “Where is this island located?”

“It’s an island I bought in the Pacific Ocean. I set it up as our future base,” answered Tang Xiu. “Something just happened there, so I have to rush over and deal with it.”

Even though Zhang Xinya didn’t understand why Tang Xiu must leave for the island he bought in the Pacific Ocean, nor what he meant as a ‘base’ later, she immediately understood and quickly got up to wash and rinse out her mouth. She then got everything packed up.

Ten minutes later, they came out of the suite. Tang Xiu then saw Spectre, Gu Tao, and Zhang Jue outside. There was also Singluen with them and the latter quickly greeted him, “You’ve woken up, Mr. Tang!”

“Something important came up, so I must leave Thailand right away,” said Tang Xiu. “Singluen, I’ll have to put our plan on hold for now, but I’ll be back here to find you once I’ve dealt with the problem in that place.”

The words made Singluen let out a forced, wry smile, “Can’t you put that matter on hold first, Mr. Tang? My brother has already returned. I’ve sent my men to keep an eye on him, but he just mysteriously vanished. I suspect he’s already sniffed out that we’re going to carry out the scheme against him. If we don’t rush to deal with him now, I’m afraid…”

Tang Xiu frowned and he fell silent for a while before he answered, “Singluen, we really need to leave and hurry over to deal with this urgent matter. I know we can deal with your brother first while I’m here. But just think about it. If we were to carry it out now and then I leave after killing your brother, your father will be furious. Besides, I think assassinating him is a much better option than killing him in the open since you two are brothers.”

Singlue was silent as he knew that Tang Xiu was correct. Their previous agreement and plan also said that they would set up the preparations to secretly assassinate his big brother before taking over the position of Patriarch from his father, nominally making him the new Head of his Dark Shaman Family. If he were to resort to killing directly, many other issues would come up.

“I understand! Then I’ll be waiting for you,” concurred Singluen with a wry smile.

Tang Xiu patted his shoulder and smilingly said, “You’ve been enduring it for many years, so waiting a few more days is nothing, right? Anyway, there’s no need to worry about it. So long as I solve the issue over there, what I’m gonna do first is to come back here.”

****

Bangkok Airport.

Tang Xiu’s group of five had just arrived and hadn’t yet boarded their flight as two middle-aged men in black suits and black sunglasses rushed over. The one who had a scar on his mouth asked, “Are you Mr. Tang Xiu?”

“And who are you?” asked Tang Xiu with a frown.

“You’ll soon know who we are, Mr. Tang,” said the man. “We were ordered by our Young Master to ask Mr. Tang to wait about ten minutes or so. He will rush over here to see you.”

It was still half an hour until their flight, so Tang Xiu immediately said, “I can wait for him, but I won’t entertain you longer than 10 minutes.”

In less than 10 minutes, a young man with a burly figure, though only 170cm tall, came striding over along with a group of black-suited big men. As he came in front of Tang Xiu, he shot a fast glance to Spectre, Gu Tao, and Zhang Jue around Tang Xiu before he gently nodded and said, “Are you, Mr. Tang?”

Tang Xiu had seen this man and knew his identity.

This man was Singkuo! The oldest prince of the Dark Shaman clan and Singluen’s older brother. The moment he saw him, Tang Xiu immediately concluded that his plan with Singluen may have been exposed, and thus, there was likely a traitor around Singluen.

“I am,” said Tang Xiu indifferently.

“There’s something between us which I think is a bit of a misunderstanding, Mr. Tang,” Singkuo smiled and said, “However, since you have some matters to tend to and are going to leave Bangkok, it’s rather inconvenient for me to speak about it. But still, I’d like to present you with these two gifts which I hope are to your liking.”

“Accepting gifts without any merits? I don’t think there’s any need for you to give me anything,” said Tang Xiu with a frown.

Singkuo received two gift boxes from two of his men and handed them over to Tang Xiu, “Don’t you want to see what I wish to gift you, Mr. Tang? I guarantee that you’ll like this gift.”

After being silent for a short while, Tang Xiu motioned for Spectre to receive a box. Tang Xiu personally opened the first gift box, and to his surprise, inside he found a glittering crimson crystal in the shape of a diamond which emitted out faint energy fluctuations.

“A Flame Crystal?”Tang Xiu shot a strange look at Singkuo and questioned, “This is quite a gift. I wouldn’t have expected that you’d have it in your collection.”

“Ah, it turns out you also know about this precious mineral, Mr. Tang,” said Singkuo with a smile. “However, I think you’ll agree that you’ll like the other gift as it’s much better than this one.”

Tang Xiu continued to open the second gift box by himself and his expression slightly changed after he clearly saw the object. He shot out a deep yet meaningful look at Singkuo and smilingly said, “You see, I can still get these two items soon even if you don’t give them to me today.”

“If memory serves, the Chinese have an old saying that it’s much better to cast away enmity than to keep it alive,” said Singkuo with a faint smile. “You and I have neither a grudge nor enmity. You just want to get this jade carving; hence, I hope you can drop your cooperation with my little brother.”

Taking out the scarlet lifelike jade pig from the gift box, Tang Xiu then asked, “Well, Singluen should have a traitor around him, shouldn’t he?”

“Frankly, my father has been wanting me to be the heir of the clan ever since I was small. I don’t think I’ve ever disappointed him. I am not the crème de la crème perhaps, but I think I’m competent enough to be an heir of my Dark Shaman clan. Besides, I don’t think my brother knows yet that most of my clan’s power is under my control and it was my father who passed it to me silently.”

“Since you have that much power under your control, then why did you bother to send this zodiac jade carving personally?” asked Tang Xiu. “Besides, I only took these few men with me now, so don’t tell me you want to play with me in another way, eh?”

“No. It is not my wish to become your enemy.” Singkuo shook his head and said, “The Dark Shaman clan’s way is to never annoy others unless outsiders provoke us first. Even if outsiders are to provoke us, we’ll try to resolve the discord and strive to become friends with them.”

Tang Xiu observed Singkuo in front of him who was not too humble nor servile. He suddenly let out a smile and said, “I have to admit that you’re indeed stronger than your little brother. It’s just…”