Not long after Nan Fenglan left, ripples spread across the calm little lake. Wave after wave of water patterns rose, splashes burst forth, and at last formed a whirlpool from which a tall figure slowly emerged.
His chainmail gleamed, black chains wound around him with eerie menace, and his tall frame was broad and imposing, his full beard fierce. It was Tiger King Yi Feixuan, who had received the Green Steel Sword from the Demon Sword. His feet stood upon the flowing waves, like Hebo, the river god of ancient myth.
"Do you think she will really agree to help us plot against Xiang Yang?"
"My spies reported that this woman's feelings for Xiang Yang are anything but ordinary. She once defied her own father for the Human Demon Sect Master. Why would she not abandon General Nan now for her new lover?"
Tiger King watched the direction in which Nan Fenglan had departed, somewhat doubtful. He was even worried that Di Jiang's plan would startle the snake in the grass. If Xiang Yang discovered them in advance and fled far away, or laid an ambush for them instead, that would be far from ideal.
Killing Xiang Yang was something Tiger King had to accomplish. To that end, he had secretly conspired with the Human Demon Sect Master, gone to seek aid at the Demon Sword's secluded cultivation site, and ultimately joined forces with Di Jiang. The goal was to strike once and hit true, leaving nothing to chance.
"Rest easy. It is precisely because she once defied Nan Kai that she will not make the same choice she made before.
"Women—I do not understand them, and neither do you, but the Human Demon Sect Master certainly does.
"He said that even if Nan Fenglan truly loves Xiang Yang, when