"Sis!"
"What took you so long?"
"Hey!"
"I've been waiting forever!"
In the main hall of the Cloudrise Palace, the tallest and grandest building in the Flame God Cult on Green Screen Mountain, Jin Xiaoli had been pacing impatiently. The hall was gilded and magnificent, but empty and lifeless at the moment. When she saw Mo Caihuan, veiled, finally descend from the sky and enter through the doors, she hurried over with a cry, then reproachfully demanded,
"I..."
At the moment she came in, Mo Caihuan looked a little glum. It was hard to tell what was on her mind.
But when she saw her junior sister Xiaoli in the hall, coming to meet her, she quickly rallied and pretended nothing was wrong, casually explaining,
"I went to check on the disciples Hall Master Li Huayuan brought back early this morning."
"You know them, too."
"They're Liu Jing, Song Meng, Wu Xuan, and Wei Niang—the ones who helped us deal with the Black Fiend Cult in Xujing."
"Thankfully,"
"their characters and aptitude are both decent. They all passed the test without a hitch."
With a faint, forced smile, Mo Caihuan explained what she'd been doing that morning.
Actually, when she'd heard that morning that Hall Master Li Huayuan had returned safely with his disciples, she'd been thrilled. She'd even set aside her morning cultivation and taken the time to dress up before going to welcome them.
But in the end...
The person she most wanted to see wasn't there, leaving her disappointed and miserable. Still, she had no choice but to force herself to stay until the assessment ceremony was over before returning dejectedly.
"Is that so?"
Jin Xiaoli never believed in lies people told, and she wasn't much more inclined to believe the ones told to fish.
"Mm..."
"I