Inside a rather grandly furnished hall at Lu Family Manor.
Lu Hou'er wore a light blue single-layer robe, his eyes lowered and his manner submissive as he sat in an armchair with twin handles.
Opposite him sat Tan Cai'er, dressed in brilliant red, lovely as a rose.
The two waited in the hall. On the square table beside Lu Hou'er lay the items seized from Beitang Xing's room, mostly useless things. As for the substitute used for the False Form Art, once the Three Treasures Exquisite Creation Pagoda had exhausted its power, it had turned into a wisp of green smoke and dispersed.
They had waited for several hours before Meng Zhao finally entered from outside.
Though both rose at once upon seeing him, neither spoke. Instead, both looked troubled.
For Meng Zhao, approaching them, did not wear the joyous, delighted expression they had expected. Rather, there was a trace of gloom upon his face.
Naturally, they feared that Meng Zhao's trip had not gone smoothly and that Beitang Xing had escaped.
And if Beitang Xing had gotten away, what awaited them would surely be a devastating blow. Lu Hou'er even felt the despair of impending calamity.
Tan Cai'er was more resilient. Suppressing the unease in her heart, she stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Meng Zhao's right arm, and asked softly,
"What is it? Did things not go smoothly? Did Beitang Xing get away? Did someone else intervene?"
The entire plan had, in fact, been devised by Meng Zhao alone.
He had first used the Heaven-Illuminating Divine Mirror to assist the Mind-Reading Great Law, gleaning Beitang Xing's two Trump Cards from Old Daoist Liu. Thus forewarned, he had been wary of failing to kill the snake, only to suffer its bite in return.
Unexpectedly, Beitang Xing himself had pulled