After chatting and laughing for a few moments, Niu Dali led Meng Zhao along the man-made stone steps toward the manor that flickered in and out of view on the western side of Flower Valley.
Looking down from above, they could see that the manor's perimeter formed an irregular polygon. Walls of wind-fire bricks several zhang high cut the estate off from the outside world, its layout intricate and precise.
Taking the opportunity, Niu Dali introduced it to Meng Zhao.
"This manor cost a fortune to build. Layered walls and narrow lanes, thick gates and iron locks, hidden chambers and secret passages—it has everything. Its interior is a tangled maze, with seven main gates, sixteen courtyards, and more than a hundred vacant rooms. There are also two paired gates left within it: one leads to the Flower Valley we see now, while the other leads to Worm Valley, the place Yuan Bin keeps most secret and values most highly..."
Inside Taoyun Residence, a group had already arrived ahead of Meng Zhao and Niu Dali and seated themselves safely in the main reception hall.
Two rough-handed servant women cautiously served fine tea grown in the mountains, along with pastries prepared by the kitchen, before withdrawing.
Among the visitors was a bald monk with a face full of heavy flesh and a fiendish visage. He stood eight chi tall, broad and powerfully built. Though seated in an obviously spacious grandmaster's chair, he still seemed squeezed tight within it.
Beneath his great blood-basin mouth grew jagged, uneven sharklike teeth. He said impatiently, "This Yuan Bin certainly puts on airs. Our cult's Heavenly Maiden and Dharma King have arrived, yet he sends only two servants to receive us while he himself is nowhere to be seen. Is he deliberately slighting us?"
From the manner