After Zhao Zhen left, the little courtyard fell quiet again.
Li Yun sat across from Gu Yin. Dragon Soul lay coiled on the stone table, lazily flicking his tail as two points of ghostly light brightened and dimmed between them.
"Hall Master Gu, what do you make of the Xing Lineage?" Li Yun asked first.
Gu Yin pondered for a moment, then said slowly, "A lineage that once produced a Martial Saint is extraordinary. It's hard to imagine how glorious the Xing Lineage must once have been.
"But that only makes things stranger. Even if they've declined, they shouldn't have fallen so far that they have only one Grandmaster."
"That was a Martial Saint. Even a little of what he left behind would be enough to turn an ordinary lineage into a colossus. But the Xing Lineage... seems far too ordinary."
"Unless they're hiding it deliberately."
Li Yun nodded. "That's what I think too. No matter how far a lineage that produced a Martial Saint has declined, it shouldn't have lost every trace of its foundations."
"There's definitely something strange about the Xing Lineage. At the very least, they must be hiding secrets no one knows about. So I intend to take a look myself."
Gu Yin looked at him. "Why don't... I go instead?"
Li Yun smiled and shook his head. "I should go myself. If the Xing Lineage really is hiding something, we won't know whether they're friend or foe. It'll be safer if I go."
"Stay here and hold down Crouching Dragon Mountain. You can tend to your injuries while you're at it."
"I'll go alone and be back soon. Even if the Xing Lineage is hiding a dragon's pool and a tiger's den, I'm confident I can get out in one piece."
Gu Yin nodded and