Chapter 153: A Sudden Summon

While Zhang Pu was pondering his grand blueprint for this mountain forest, he suddenly felt as though someone else had arrived.

Furthermore, it was not just one person.

When Zhang Pu stepped out of his house, he saw Uncle Fu looking somewhat startled by a group of masked men. Yet the moment Zhang Pu appeared, those masked men respectfully walked toward him.

At a single glance, Zhang Pu recognized the leader among the masked men—it was none other than the masked brute.

"Out on another robbing spree?" Zhang Pu joked with him.

"I wouldn't dare—" The masked brute looked instantly embarrassed.

He knew all too well that attempting to rob Zhang Pu was nothing short of seeking his own death.

Nearby, watching the masked brute and his gang display such profound respect and fear toward Zhang Pu, Uncle Fu felt once more as though he were dreaming.

However, Zhang Pu did not offer Uncle Fu an explanation right away, acting as if he lacked the time, for the masked brute had come to escort Zhang Pu to a specific location.

Without a second thought, Zhang Pu agreed immediately.

Uncle Fu watched the scene play out like a movie, like a theatrical performance. In the end, he wanted to hold Zhang Pu back, but Zhang Pu told him he would be right back.

With those words, Zhang Pu strode forward.

Uncle Fu wanted to follow, but the masked brute turned around and glared fiercely at Uncle Fu. Uncle Fu immediately recognized him as the one who had roughly pushed him to the ground the other day, and a sudden wave of terror chilled his heart.

Yet Uncle Fu quickly reined in his fear. Comparing this to the time Zhang Pu was forcibly abducted, he paused in his steps, plagued by an unanswerable puzzle.

Even if these people were still forcibly abducting Zhang Pu this time, what could he possibly do about it?

While Uncle Fu stood there in a daze, Zhang Pu and the masked men vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Recovering his wits, Uncle Fu was suddenly struck by a realization: Zhang Pu's speed had been astonishingly fast!

Recalling how imposing and magnificent Zhang Pu had been earlier that morning in front of that large crowd, his mind began to spin like a top—Uncle Fu felt as though this young lad had become entirely a stranger to him.

In truth, they were already somewhat estranged, as he had barely seen Zhang Pu at all since the boy left for high school in Qingwu City.

However, this estrangement now carried a deeper significance—Uncle Fu felt that Zhang Pu was no longer the student he thought he knew.

"He truly seems like a completely different person! Is he really Zhang Pu? Why do I feel more and more that he isn't—" Uncle Fu muttered to himself. He felt as though he wanted to shout out toward the vast mountains.

Meanwhile, Zhang Pu and the masked brute were heading toward the cave that served as the branch stronghold of the Three Halls—the very place the masked brute had abducted him to that fateful night.

"My name is Ye Hui, Senior," the masked brute told Zhang Pu along the way.

He then explained the reason for this summons: the master of the Three Halls had heard of Zhang Pu's breathtaking martial prowess that night and felt that the humble little county was truly a hidden dragon crouching among talented tigers. Having personally arrived in the county this time, the master wished to meet Zhang Pu.

Wonderful! Zhang Pu remembered that last time he had wanted to slap this very person who condoned his subordinates' misdeeds!

From the incident on the passenger bus to the affair in the mountain cave that night, Zhang Pu had concluded that the master of the Three Halls was no good man.

Ah, the incident on the passenger bus... As Zhang Pu recalled the first event connected with the Three Halls, he suddenly remembered that the criminal had given him a strange ring in exchange for sparing his hands.

At the time, Zhang Pu could sense that although the ring was not a spatial storage ring from the immortal cultivation realm, it was nonetheless different from ordinary rings on Earth.

Even without the criminal's solemn oaths that the ring was linked to immense wealth, Zhang Pu knew it held secrets.

Naturally, the ring was still with him.

He merely brushed his fingers against it and continued his journey with Ye Hui and the masked men.

This branch stronghold of the Three Halls was, truth be told, very close to the mountain forest leased by Zhang Pu's parents, but it was concealed deep within the mountains and could only be reached via specific pathways. Zhang Pu doubted his parents or Uncle Fu even knew of its existence; even if told, they might not be able to find it, not to mention that the Three Halls had posted scouts and traps along the routes to deter outsiders.

The previous night, he had been guided by the masked brute Ye Hui, who was thoroughly familiar with the terrain, so those so-called scouts and traps naturally posed no obstruction. His smooth and unimpeded return journey earlier was simply due to the fact that he was an immortal cultivator whose current prowess rivaled that of some martial arts grandmasters on Earth. To him, the scouts and traps of a mere Three Halls branch were completely nonexistent.

As Zhang Pu's mind wandered, he heard Ye Hui say, "We have arrived."

Was Ye Hui intentionally reminding him?

Raising his gaze, Zhang Pu saw a group of people already waiting for him at the cave entrance.

Among them was the skinny elderly man he had seen that night—the branch master of the Three Halls.

Just as Zhang Pu was wondering why this group had removed their masks today, a flash of alertness hit him, and he noticed that Ye Hui and his companions beside him had also unmasked.

What was the meaning of this? A trace of puzzlement flickered in Zhang Pu's heart, but he felt it inconvenient to question them about it directly.

After all, his mindset was far from that of an ordinary, naive high school student.

Later on, Ye Hui confided in him secretly: the hall master had declared that he regarded Zhang Pu as a friend and one of their own, so this branch, which normally required masking in front of outsiders, would never wear masks before him again.

For a branch of the Three Halls to have such a custom struck Zhang Pu as utterly amusing, though he didn't bother inquiring into the reasons. The boundless universe was full of wonders, and having traveled through various starry realms in the immortal cultivation world, he had long grown accustomed to the bizarre.

Duan Jinhuan, the master of the Three Halls, was a tall, robust man. Although less handsome than Ye Hui, he was actually younger than him.

He must have been in his early thirties! If the Three Halls truly possessed a certain scale of influence, this man could be considered young and accomplished, Zhang Pu thought to himself.

Yet, for some reason, Zhang Pu still felt a stronger personal affinity toward Ye Hui.

Duan Jinhuan greeted Zhang Pu with profuse warmth. Seeing that Zhang Pu looked no older than a high school student, he was inwardly amazed. Although branch master Gao Yun and the masked brute Ye Hui had briefed him in advance, witnessing Zhang Pu's youth with his own eyes still made it hard for him to believe.

Noticing Zhang Pu's student appearance, he had almost blurted out "little friend," but managed to swallow the words just in time.

Besides, if it ever leaked out that a group of grown men had treated a teenage student with such respectful deference as an honored guest, Duan Jinhuan feared he would be the laughingstock of his peers in the underworld.

Fortunately, today they were only hosting Zhang Pu alone, Duan Jinhuan thought with a sense of relief.

He even entertained a dark thought: if Gao Yun and Ye Hui had deliberately deceived him about anything, he had plenty of ways to make them both suffer.