The battle between Feng Xuanzhi and the Wild Spirit Beasts that day had long since robbed the area around Hidden God Valley of its former peace and quiet.
Boulders had collapsed, trees had been sheared in half, and craters blasted out by powerful spiritual energy had filled with rainwater.
When Ling Xiaoxiao led everyone there, they had not yet had time to search for the entrance near the Lightning-Struck Wood when a cool voice suddenly rang out. "Heh. You're finally here? I've been waiting for you for quite a while."
At those words, everyone's expressions changed dramatically. Shocked and wary, they scanned their surroundings, but the valley remained empty and quiet, as though what they had just heard had been nothing but an illusion.
Ling Xiaoxiao narrowed her eyes slightly, but her expression was unusually calm and cold. Even before returning here, she had sensed something was amiss. Sure enough, what she feared had come to pass.
"Since you're here, why hide instead of showing yourself?" She lifted her chin and called out in her clear voice.
"You don't seem very surprised," the voice said, sounding a little puzzled. Then it chuckled again and remarked, as if in admiration, "As expected of a descendant of the Ancestor Spirit Bird clan. Your keen insight and steady composure are both quite unlike other people."
As he spoke, Situ Yunshan slowly emerged from the mountainside. Everyone's eyes, however, fixed on the ethereal figure above his head, visible from the waist up. He was a handsome, refined young man with an air of nobility. His gaze swept over Tang Yunting, Xi Jing, and the others, and he smiled. "All familiar faces. What a pity a few are missing."
Clearly, he meant Bi Fan, Feng Xuanzhi, and the others.
"Who are you? You seem to