Seeing that her verbal persuasion had not only failed but might even backfire, Shi Feixuan quickly and decisively took her leave.
But...
She returned before long, arriving right on time—not early or late, but precisely as the watchman's cry of "Third watch of the midnight hour; all is well" rang out.
Tonight, however, the midnight hour in Luoyang was destined to be anything but "all well."
That was because Shi Feixuan had not returned alone. Accompanying her were Ning Daoqi, the "Scattered Man," the foremost master of the Daoist school in the Central Plains; Master Liaokong, abbot of the Pure Thought Monastery; and the Four Vajra Protectors, Bu-Chen, Bu-Tan, Bu-Yi, and Bu-Ju.
Naturally, besides those experts, there were also nearly a hundred martial monks from the Pure Thought Monastery. They formed an imposing Arhat Formation in the courtyard of the separate residence where Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, and their little master lived, completely surrounding the hall where the four of them were. They clearly had no intention of giving any of the four a chance to escape.
Just then, as Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling came out, intending to say something mocking, the people Shi Feixuan had brought began to move without a word.
First, Ning Daoqi—the foremost Daoist master in the Central Plains, once one of the world's three great grandmasters and now one of its four—entered the hall and faced off against the troublesome little girl, who had been ready to enjoy the show but now wore a thoroughly bewildered expression.
Next, Shi Feixuan of Cihang Jingzhai naturally blocked her fated nemesis, the demonic woman Wanwan of the Yin Kui Sect, in the corridor outside the hall. She forcibly prevented Wanwan from going to support the Twin Dragons.
Finally, Master Liaokong of the Pure Thought Monastery and the