Keeping Watch

The three bigwigs gathered around the fire to grill their food. Liu Xiaolou neither dared ask questions nor speak, and could only wait on them silently at the side—sprinkling Xianglan Seeds, turning the cooked chicken, adding or pulling out firewood. He even went down to the creek to catch several fish and tossed them onto the bonfire to roast, making up for the shortage of ingredients.

Only gradually did he pick up bits and pieces of what they were saying. This proud, statuesque old woman was none other than Sect Master Luo of the Five Dragons Sect atop the cliff, a granddisciple of Chu Hou from the Yuan Chen Sect.

The three of them seemed to have known each other well in the past. Elder Lu and Sect Master Luo in particular were more than merely familiar; from Elder Bai's cold, sarcastic remarks, Elder Lu apparently had been one of Sect Master Luo's suitors in her youth.

Liu Xiaolou's ears perked up even farther—when it came to this sort of thing, few people could keep their ears from standing straight.

Then Liu Xiaolou slowly figured it out. Their plot against that "scoundrel Jiang" of Xiaowei Mountain was largely for Sect Master Luo's sake. There were, of course, all manner of tangled disputes that could neither be clearly explained nor properly named. In any case, scoundrel Jiang had kept hiding and refusing to show himself, which was why the two elders had come to seek Sect Master Luo's counsel.

So why the hell had those two Old Fellows sent me up to keep watch just now? Liu Xiaolou could not help grumbling inwardly.

But he soon received a perfect explanation. They had sent Liu Xiaolou to keep watch because they did not want this matter to get out. Sect Master Luo