Chapter 403: Prying Eyes
"Noah…" Standing in the middle of the empty room, Noah felt the wind caressing his face as they carried Wuhan's heavy words to him.
He felt a cold grip around his heart, aware of what Wuhan was going to ask.
"What happened to them?" Even though he knew what the man wanted to ask, even though he knew what he should answer, the bitter feeling in his heart did not go away.
"They are all at home." Looking straight into Wuhan's eyes, Noah answered him. "The Long Tian boy is close to breaking through to the next realm!"
Wuhan's eyes widened, and the heaviness in his heart vanished as he heard the good news he had been dreaming of hearing.
"How did that happen?" After he snapped out from the happiness of having his disciples back unharmed, Wuhan expressed his shock regarding Long Tian's rapid advance.
"He found some treasure under the magma pond." Noah stopped speaking, noticing the cold look in Wuhan's eyes. He could more or less guess the next question he was going to ask.
"Did you find who was behind this? Where were they hiding?"
"It was 'them,' as we had guessed before." Wuhan clenched his fists but waited for Noah to continue. "It was at the deserted volcanic ends of the regions under the supervision of that phoenix Alchemy Pavilion."
"Not only that, but the whole area was covered in an illusion array. Unlike before, they were hiding in plain sight."
"Then most likely it's that redhead's sect that has been infiltrated." Wuhan speculated after hearing Noah's intel.
'Redhead?' Noah thought, catching an annoyed expression on Wuhan's face.
"Did you face any troubles?" Wuhan shook his head and asked Noah as he saw him take out the token he had given him before.
"Trouble?" Noah's mind flashed with the image of two women he met on the way back. Shaking his head, he replied, "Not worth mentioning."
Wuhan took the token and stored it inside his storage ring. "About what you said before…"
"...Do you think it's a mistake to gather all the forces in one place?" Wuhan asked.
"Before pointing at others, you should make sure no one else can question your own." Noah calmly expressed his opinion. "I know that you want to get back at those people for what they did, but don't make any hasty decisions that can give away our plan to them."
"But they went after someone I care about." Wuhan clenched his fists in anger, deep hatred blazing in his eyes.
"They will always be in this kingdom, and when the right time comes, I will send the people responsible straight to you." Seeing the look on Wuhan's face, Noah patted his back to comfort him. "I am here to help you with the problem inside the kingdom."
"You know that people will question what happened after the huge commotion you caused outside. How is that helping me?" Wuhan deadpanned, recalling his actions.
"I did that for the same reason you are planning to gather all the clans in one place." Noah rolled his eyes in return. Wuhan tensed hearing his reply, but before he could say anything, Noah added, "Fortunately all of them are safe for now."
Noah's words brought a wave of relief to Wuhan's heart. Even after knowing that, he couldn't completely calm himself.
"As long as they are alive, things like this will continue to happen."
"So what are you going to do to make sure that does not happen?"
"I will start with the opportunity you gave me," Wuhan replied to Noah with a smile on his face. Noah raised his eyebrows with a smile, wondering what the man had in mind.
Wuhan then started to explain the plan he had in mind to Noah. After he finished listening to Wuhan's plan, Noah commented, "Even though it's crude, I must say it could work."
Wuhan's eyes twitched as he tried his best to maintain his serious face. He couldn't help but wonder what he had done to get a friend like that.
"Oh, by the way, I saw you copying my moves before." Wuhan froze when Noah suddenly changed the topic.
He turned back only to see a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.
With a hand on his lips, Noah started teasing Wuhan. "Is the Emperor of the Feng Empire trying to act cool?"
"Ahem! Let's go, we have things to take care of before returning to the sect." Wuhan coughed to hide his embarrassment and stiffly walked past Noah's piercing eyes.
"Oh, I don't mind you learning things like that from me." Noah snapped his fingers and the array around the room cracked before vanishing. Then he walked out of the room behind Wuhan.
As soon as he walked out of the room, Noah was back to his previous disguise as Nuo Yan. He suddenly stopped walking and lowered his head.
"Why did you stop?" Wuhan stopped and turned around only to see the boy looking down in a daze. Hearing his call, Noah raised his head, his face etched with a grin.
"Nothing! I was just thinking about something, so where are we going?" Noah shrugged it off without explaining anything to him. Wuhan narrowed his eyes but did not pursue him for an explanation.
"I will get a maid to lead you to your room." Wuhan turned around and walked in the direction of a side pathway that led to the living quarters. "And I will take care of things we talked about."
"And one more thing, don't do anything inappropriate to the maids or ask them to do it. Else I would be obliged to tell someone." Noah rolled his eyes, hearing the elated tone of Wuhan's voice. Continue your journey with empire
While they were making their way around the castle, somewhere in the depths of the castle on the second floor, behind the door of one of the most protected rooms, the air shook slightly.
"Who is that man?" a distorted voice echoed in the room with a coffin chained in the middle of the air. "I cannot see through him. Is he with them or not… I cannot tell. But why did it feel like he knew when I tried to look at him…?"
"Whatever… that is all up to Wuhan to handle. But things would only get difficult for him from here on out." The room returned to its usual silence and a small pulse of energy came from the coffin.
The energy was almost untraceable, and it spread throughout the chain attached to the coffin before disappearing.