"Qiu Ling?" Zhangsun Xun Yi knocked on the door and waited for a response but nothing could be heard from inside the bamboo hut. He raised his brows but still waited in front of the door. He was sure that he wasn't wrong. The spiritual energy of his disciple and that boy could be felt from inside so they were definitely in.
Speaking of which … Zhangsun Xun Yi narrowed his eyes and focused on the spiritual energy emanating from Jing Yi. That was … the energy of somebody at the peak of the fourth stage?
How could that be? Hadn't the boy just advanced to the third stage when he was trapped in the secret realm in the Leyuan region? Only a few months had gone by since then. How come he had not only managed to ascend to the fourth stage but even almost reached the fifth stage in such a short amount of time?!
It seemed that the disciple they had originally put in the outer sect had either heaven-defying luck or was a peerless genius that they hadn't been able to detect. Whatever it was, the Yun Zou Sect could count itself lucky that this person was one of their people.
Zhangsun Xun Yi gave a light sigh and then knocked again. "Zhong Jing Yi." This time, he didn't bother to call out to his own disciple. Obviously, Qiu Ling wouldn't react. If he wanted to, he would have long done that. There was no way a dragon wouldn't be able to hear him in such proximity. No, his disciple very likely had no interest in responding to him.
Inside the house, Jing Yi stopped taking in spiritual energy and blinked his eyes. He felt that he had heard the Grandmaster's voice just now? He looked over at the person sitting next to him and wondered if he should reach out. But then again, Qiu Ling looked as if he was cultivating himself so maybe that wouldn't be a good idea? He remembered hearing that that could have negative consequences.
Just when he hesitated if he should get up himself and open the door, Qiu Ling's eyes also cracked open.
"I thought you wanted to cultivate until your ascension." Qiu Ling gave a smile that already seemed quite a bit lighter than before.
Jing Yi almost heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed Qiu Ling's previous strange behavior had really only been because of his fear of losing him. After he had calmed down, he was back to his usual self. "Maybe I would but I think your Master is in front of the door. So shouldn't you go and open?"
Qiu Ling glanced over. He didn't really have any desire to see him but since his beloved already said so, he would do so. After all, he had decided not to do anything drastic and just let the situation with Jing Yi play out. That also meant he had to continue to treat Jing Yi just like he would treat Jing He. And if Jing He asked him to do something, then there was no way he would do something else.
Thus Qiu Ling got up and walked over to the door, opening it with pursed lips. "Master, why did you come here?" He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? Hadn't they seen each other just shortly before when he went to see his old man? Nothing should have been able to happen in that short amount of time.
Zhangsun Xun Yi furrowed his brows. Even though his disciple didn't need him as his Master, was it really asking too much to be a little more accommodating? Well, there was no use in arguing with him. "There's a mission for you and your fiance."
Qiu Ling blinked his eyes. "A mission for Jing Yi and me? What is it about?"
Inside the bamboo hut, Jing Yi facepalmed. He hurriedly got off the bed and rushed over, tugging at Qiu Ling's sleeve before he cupped his fists and bowed to Grandmaster Zhangsun. "Greetings, Grandmaster Zhangsun. Why don't you come in first before you explain to us?"
Zhangsun Xun Yi nodded and then stepped in after Jing Yi pulled Qiu Ling aside. He could probably count himself lucky that his disciple had found a partner that was this sensible. He didn't even want to imagine how things would have turned out if he had found somebody that was just as difficult to deal with as he himself.
Zhangsun Xun Yi cleared his throat and then looked from one person to the other, finally stopping at Jing Yi. Obviously, it was much better to instruct his disciple's fiance and let him keep an eye on things.
He could definitely depend on his disciple to make the Yang Huo Sect return home, but he would still need this boy to make his disciple work in the first place. "I don't know if you've noticed already but a few weeks ago, I created another dimension for our Yun Zou Sect. A lot of other sects have noticed this and have come over under the guise of different excuses. They want to use this opportunity to sniff around, finding out some secrets of our sect and gaining a hold on us that will allow them to overtake us in the ranking or make sure that they stay on the ranking of the first-tier sects above us. Naturally, the Yun Zou Sect can't stand for that."
Jing Yi nodded. He wasn't sure if he had really understood since he didn't know too much about the politics of the sects but at the very least, he could gather that this was very important.
The Grandmaster was satisfied when he saw that Jing Yi understood. "Well, even though this matter is grave, the Sect Master has already come up with a solution. Each of the sects will be accompanied by one of our disciples over the next few days. That will enable us to keep an eye on them and make sure that they don't find anything they shouldn't find.
"The two of you are also supposed to accompany one of them. We've decided that the Yang Huo Sect might be a good candidate for that. The Elder leading their disciples is Elder Gongxi. You might remember that you've already seen him back at the Gathering of Practitioners that Qiu Ling took part in after he entered the sect."
Qiu Ling raised his brows. He knew that person? He couldn't remember anyone like that. He turned to look at his beloved, trying to see if he knew something. After all, the Gathering of Practitioners was where he had proposed to him. His beloved should remember very well, shouldn't he? Well, then again, he might only remember his beautiful proposal …
Jing Yi also raised his brows. "Elder Gongxi from the Yang Huo Sect? Wasn't that the person that …" He glanced at Qiu Ling and fell quiet. There was no way he could say that.
Zhangsun Xun Yi raised his brows. "The person that?" There was no way he would let this chance slip by.
Jing Yi smiled wryly but there was no way he would dare not to answer when the Grandmaster asked directly. "I remember that that was the person who denounced Qiu Ling, saying that he was a demon."
Qiu Ling's eyes widened. "That guy?!" He suddenly remembered. That guy, he had almost ruined his beautiful proposal! And now he was supposed to play the guide for him for a few days? Where did he take that sense of entitlement from?! That guy deserved to be beaten up, not treated like a guest!