Chapter 108

Chapter 108: Master, I almost didn’t get to see you!

When Rong Shu returned to the spot where the great ship had been moored, she saw that some elders and disciples were waiting there.

She looked around but did not see Jun Xiu Ran or Cheng Xiao Feng, who had gone to eliminate the demonic cultivators. They likely had not returned yet.

She chose not to call out and instead slipped into an inconspicuous corner.

Fu Yong Kang, who had come back early, hurried over the moment he saw her and asked: “Rong Shu, why are you back so late? Oh, and did you see those three senior brothers? I got separated from one of them.”

Rong Shu’s small face went a shade paler as she said: “I… forget it, let me report to Peak Master Cheng first, I will explain to you afterward.”

“Ah?” Fu Yong Kang took in her evasive look, and with the three senior brothers still nowhere in sight, he felt that something was wrong.

She did not reveal anything more.

After about four hours, disciples and elders from Maple Leaf City returned one after another, including the squad that had gone to eradicate the demonic cultivators.

The great ship manifested again. Elders and disciples boarded in turn and began a head count.

Seeing that Jun Xiu Ran and Cheng Xiao Feng had gone aside to discuss matters and no disciples were nearby, Rong Shu walked over.

On the way, she felt a shocked gaze fall on her. Without changing her expression, she glanced from the corner of her eye. [It was Feng Lin.] Her heart sank.

As she drew near Jun Xiu Ran and Cheng Xiao Feng, Rong Shu immediately put on a wronged, shaken expression and cried with a tremor in her voice: “Master, I almost didn’t get to see you!”

Jun Xiu Ran was faintly taken aback by the girl suddenly rushing up to him in tears, and he asked on reflex: “What happened?”

In his few impressions of Rong Shu, she had always been very quiet and reticent. This was the first time he had ever seen her so agitated and fearful.

Rong Shu sniffled, her eyes reddening as she said: “I… I almost died in Maple Leaf City. I nearly couldn’t make it back.”

Jun Xiu Ran frowned and said: “Tell me exactly what happened.”

“I ran into a demonic cultivator in Maple Leaf City.”

“What? A demonic cultivator?!” Jun Xiu Ran’s expression changed.

Cheng Xiao Feng raised a hand and set a soundproof barrier, then asked in a low voice: “Are you certain it was a demonic cultivator?”

Rong Shu nodded and said: “Yes. I went into the city with two senior brothers to purchase supplies, but we ran into one along the way. The two senior brothers were struck down one after another, and I…” She paused, then forced herself to continue: “Luckily I had the talisman and flying boat you gave me before, Master, or I would not have escaped.”

“After I fled far enough, that demonic cultivator must have worried about alerting nearby elders, so he stopped chasing me.”

She stumbled through the account, then as if recalling something, looked at Jun Xiu Ran with uneasy guilt and said: “Master, I… I did not mean to run back alone. It all happened too fast.”

“Maybe because the two senior brothers’ cultivation was higher than mine, the demonic cultivator struck them first, and because my cultivation is low, he relaxed his guard around me…”

Cheng Xiao Feng was the first to catch something amiss and asked: “What ‘purchasing supplies’?”

Rong Shu lifted innocent, bewildered eyes and replied: “Three senior brothers said the elders wanted us to buy supplies and to scout the Giant Spirit Sect outpost in Maple Leaf City, but we were short on hands, so Fu Yong Kang and I went along.”

“After entering the city, Fu Yong Kang and one senior brother went to purchase supplies first. I went with the other two toward the outpost, but before we got there, we ran into a demonic cultivator…”

At this, Cheng Xiao Feng’s expression cooled. He summoned several elders who had remained on guard and asked them one by one.

The result was that none of the elders had ever issued such an order.

Listening to the questioning from the side, Rong Shu appropriately showed surprise and said: “That cannot be… the three senior brothers had no reason to lie to me and Fu Yong Kang.”

Cheng Xiao Feng then sent someone to ask Fu Yong Kang for his account. A short while later, the messenger returned; the answer matched Rong Shu’s story exactly.

Since the order had not come from any elder, and if Rong Shu and Fu Yong Kang were not lying, then the problem lay with the three tenth-layer Qi Refining disciples, two dead and one missing.

Yet with no bodies, there was no way to prove anything. Cheng Xiao Feng could not make sense of the knot just now.

He turned to the silent Jun Xiu Ran and suggested: “Immortal Venerable, your little disciple has been badly frightened. Shall we let her go rest first? As for the demonic cultivator hidden in Maple Leaf City, we can send elders to investigate shortly.”

Jun Xiu Ran nodded slightly and said: “Very well.”

Seeing she was free to go, Rong Shu did not leave immediately. After two steps, she turned back, face tangled with hesitation, and looked at Jun Xiu Ran: “Master, thank you for the talisman you gave me before… but that talisman has already been used up.”

“And will there be demonic cultivators appearing in Cloud Link City too?”

Jun Xiu Ran looked at the small young lady shrinking with fear and comforted her with a helpless sigh: “How could that be? The sect grand competition is about to begin. No matter how bold they are, demonic cultivators would not risk sneaking into Cloud Link City at this time.”

“Oh, but what if…” Rong Shu had not finished when Jun Xiu Ran flicked out a brand-new talisman that drifted to hover before her eyes.

“Since the old talisman has been used, then this honored one will give you a new one for self-defense.”

Rong Shu brightened with delight and bowed repeatedly, saying: “Many thanks, Master!”

After thanking him, she left with the talisman, secretly pleased.

On the other side, upon learning that Rong Shu had returned safe and sound, Huo Yi Han, the one who had orchestrated all this, could hardly believe it. How had a fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivator escaped from three tenth-layer Qi Refining cultivators?

When Feng Lin came back from sounding out Jun Xiu Ran and relayed the details to Huo Yi Han, he said: “You miscalculated. At some point Master gave Rong Shu a defensive talisman, and she got lucky and slipped away.”