My Journey to Immortality Begins with Hunting-Chapter 099 – The Outcome Is Decided - Part 1

His boots splashed against the stone-paved streets, rainwater spraying up around him. Umbrella in hand, Li Yuan walked briskly toward the demon enclosure.

Before long, he arrived at the enclosure entrance. The night watchman, who’d been personally appointed by Tie Sha, was dozing under the eaves,. A brazier’s flames flickered unsteadily in the autumn wind.

Hearing footsteps, the guard tensed, gripping his blade. “Who goes there?”

“It’s Li Yuan.”

“Ah, Young Master Li. You’re here at the demon enclosure so late?”

“I suddenly had an idea and came to check something.”

“You really are dedicated, the Blood Blade Sect’s rising star.”

“You flatter me,” Li Yuan said with a smile. He slipped past the guard and quickly entered, passing through the dim corridor into the underground holding cells.

In the darkness, pairs of eerie green eyes snapped open to observe him. Li Yuan took the key from its hiding place, unlocking each cage door in turn, then used his spiritual link to give an order, “Stay here and wait for my signal.”

The demon dogs sat obediently, even the one unruly blackrock mastiff flopped down on its haunches.

“Wait for my word,” Li Yuan repeated. Then he slipped out of the chamber.

As soon as the hidden entrance was sealed and the corridor lights went dark, the unbonded mastiff’s eyes gleamed. It lifted its head, ready to bolt up the stairs. It knew the stone slab wouldn’t be much of an obstacle if it rammed it enough.

But no sooner had it risen onto all fours than a massive paw pressed down on its head. One of the hulking ebony marquises bared its fangs in a low growl, “Master told us to stay put. Nobody goes anywhere.”

The mastiff whimpered twice, shrinking back and lowering its body. Defeated, it slunk back to its unlocked cage and curled up inside.

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Outside, the guard gave a start when he saw Li Yuan come back so soon. “That was quick.”

“Just a quick test. It worked.”

“So you can already control several ninth rank demonic beasts?”

“Something like that.”

Still holding his oil-paper umbrella, Li Yuan stepped back into the empty streets. If anything unexpected happened, he could summon the demon dogs with a single thought. If not, he’d return to lock them up once Tie Sha got back. He had no idea if there really would be trouble tonight.

Before long, he arrived at the inner district gate. Under the eaves, a brazier’s red glow faintly illuminated several figures standing guard. They weren’t typical servants or hired guards—they neither took pay nor appeared to have families, and they rarely left their posts. People in the sect called them district wardens, though few knew who or what they really were.

Li Yuan glanced at the tall, iron-gray gate, still tightly shut, then headed home. He undressed and slipped back into bed, pulling the petite Yan Yu close against him—her body was so small he could practically hug her like a pillow—while Xue Ning simply nestled against him from behind.

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Time slipped by. Late night flowed into early morning. Yet the rain persisted, a gray haze wrapping the inner district in a muted cloak.

The district wardens slowly opened the gate. A small figure leading five cloaked men in straw raincoats stood at the threshold.

One of the wardens recognized the newcomer and bowed. “Enforcer Gongshu, you’ve returned.”

“Mhm.” Gongshu Yang gave a curt nod, striding inside with his five companions in tow.

Inside the inner district, there was a standing rule. If a local resident were to bring guests in, they could bypass the usual entry pass and come and go freely.

Not only was Gongshu Yang a resident, he was also one of the sect’s enforcers. Bringing people in with him was perfectly normal.

As the six of them passed through the gate and moved away from the walls, Gongshu Yang glanced over at one of the taller, cloaked figures and gave a small nod.

Understanding immediately, the cloaked man led the other four off in a different direction.

Moments later, those four split up again, each heading swiftly toward either the demon enclosure or puppet pavilion.

In a defensive stronghold, mechanical puppets and captive demonic beasts were what made it so difficult to breach.

Puppets lacked agility, so they were not particularly useful on offense unless someone had already taken them to the battlefield and set their patrol routes. But in a defensive situation, puppets were practically unbeatable. So whenever an enemy launched an attack, neutralizing the puppet pavilion was always a top priority.

Meanwhile, the demon enclosure was like a live bomb that could go off at any time. The Blood Blade Sect once attacked the Wei Family by surprise, only to be met by two formidable seventh rank demonic beasts. Had it not been for those beasts, the Blood Blade Sect might have wiped out even more of the Wei Family’s elites.

After dispatching his men, Gongshu Yang surveyed his surroundings, then quickly produced a red liquid from his coat—a mix of cinnabar and blood. He dabbed it onto his chin, making himself look wounded, and hurried toward Elder Liu’s residence.

He staggered right up to the gate. The Liu residence’s servants, who had been preparing breakfast, froze in alarm when they heard the commotion at the door. One of them rushed out to check and recognized Gongshu Yang immediately.

“E-enforcer Gongshu, what happened?” the two servants cried out.

Gongshu Yang gasped, “E-Elder Liu...urgent...so urgent...”

“Come with me!” one servant exclaimed, while the other supported Gongshu Yang’s arm.

They led him through the covered corridor and around a small garden, eventually reaching the inner hall.

Inside, Elder Liu was leafing through a heavy ledger—a record of who had left and entered the inner district recently. She was trying to piece together why so many disciples had apparently gone missing since last night, despite everything being normal the night before.

Her suspicion was that this so-called underground market had lured all those inner disciples away under some pretense. But how? Veteran disciples wouldn’t have been so easily tricked. Even if someone had ambushed them with poison or hidden weapons, it wouldn’t necessarily have worked on such a wary group. And why would they all go outside the county in the first place?

Furthermore, if the enemy truly had enough seventh rank fighters to subdue 16 skilled inner disciples at once, it had to be a powerful force. What was their real motive? Were they really strong enough to topple the Blood Blade Sect’s best fighters—Tie Sha and four others at seventh rank, plus Old Ding?

Dark thoughts churned in her mind. Just then, a servant’s voice came from outside.