Lu Hou'er and Meng Zhao had never crossed paths. It was only because Lu Hou'er, acting under Mr. Yue's orders, had instructed Pai Gang to seal off the mountain and offended quite a few people. Meng Zhao, who had wanted to enter Lishou Mountain, was naturally among them. That was the offense he meant.
Of course, saying so was one thing; taking it seriously would be rather ungrateful. Meng Zhao pretended not to understand. "Offended me? This is our first meeting. When did you ever offend me, Senior Lu?"
Picking up on that, Lu Hou'er recounted how he had been pressured by the Grandmaster Mr. Yue and left with no choice but to have Pai Gang seal the mountain. Deliberately or not, he complained that he too had acted against his will; if he had not followed the other man's wishes, he would not have fared well either.
In fact, Min Tao and the other three had previously wanted to use Lu Hou'er's connections to slip into Lishou Mountain through the back door, only to be turned away. That had caused a rift in their relationship. Lu Hou'er was now indirectly explaining to the other three that his decision at the time had truly been forced upon him.
Meng Zhao naturally responded with another round of understanding and reasonable remarks. After exchanging pleasantries for quite a while, they finally straightened things out, gaining a preliminary understanding of one another.
At this point, Wu Chen interrupted the pair's insincere exchange again and asked, "Little Meng, you know how strange the situation in these mountains is. The other three and I only arrived recently, while you came before us. Have you encountered anything bizarre, and have you gained anything worthwhile?"
That question somewhat overstepped the bounds. What someone had experienced and what