The stone door opened.
Chen Qing steadied himself and stepped inside.
The furnishings remained simple. An oil lamp cast a halo of light across the stone walls.
Master Qiku sat cross-legged on the cattail mat at the center, draped in that familiar black kasaya, his face exceptionally calm.
His eyes were half-closed, his aura barely perceptible.
"Master, I did not fail your trust." Suppressing the doubts churning in his heart, Chen Qing cupped his hands and spoke evenly.
He was naturally referring to placing the Relic inside. Though both the process and outcome had far exceeded expectations, they might even have brought about a great calamity.
Qiku slowly opened his eyes.
Those eyes were as clear as ever, yet somehow deeper than before. Looking into them was like gazing into a bottomless abyss, reflecting only the faint glimmer of the oil lamp.
He nodded slightly, his voice calm and unruffled. "You have my thanks, Benefactor."
Chen Qing hesitated for a moment.
He knew that directly asking about the mysterious person beneath Thousand Lotus Lake, demanding the truth behind his schemes, would very likely alert him—especially when Chen Qing could not determine whether Qiku was currently good or evil.
Still, he decided to begin from the edges of the matter and test Qiku's response.
"Master... you also went to the Buddhist Kingdom?" Chen Qing asked, his gaze locked tightly on Qiku's face.
Qiku did not evade the question. He did not show even a trace of surprise, as though he had long expected it.
He nodded, his tone as bland as ever. "That is correct."
He admitted it.
So readily.
Chen Qing looked at the old monk before him and quietly pondered.
*Could it be that this Qiku before me is truly dominated by evil intent, with his good intent suppressed