The Human Stalk (22)
I knew those two had a special relationship!
The situation had changed again. Though she hadn't caught it on the spot, Lady Jining had already left a tracking mark.
Such a dramatic reversal was truly shocking. In my field of vision, Aiko's sanity—which had only just recovered a little—was already teetering again.
As for Lui beside her, he seemed to have all but given up thinking.
This was where the benefits of exercising your brain showed. Fu Qian, who'd been offering advice all along, remained composed in the face of this turn of events. He seemed to accept it quite readily—more readily than anyone else, in fact.
The others might not have known, but in Fu Qian's view, it was highly unlikely that Lady Jining's follow-up attack had failed to accomplish anything.
Old friends meeting at a banquet and shedding tears of joy was common enough, but that was still worlds away from exchanging hostile looks.
Judging by the way she and Li He interacted, their relationship was probably far beyond merely knowing each other inside out.
When Li He's hidden follow-up attack finally landed, Jining had struck immediately, as if she'd expected it. That alone proved as much.
And with a pair who knew each other so well, why would Old Master Li have gone to such lengths to seize an opportunity, only for them to cooperate halfheartedly and do no more than try their best?
In Fu Qian's view, Lady Jining had given up far too readily.
There was another, even more important point: why insist on killing the Tree Infant?
Now that the Tree Infant could almost certainly be identified as a minion, what would killing it accomplish? Make it into soup?
Its greatest value was obviously as a lead to follow, helping