Kou Zhong had been right in his initial guess. The great lady Shi Qingxuan, who had rescued him and Wanwan, really was closely connected to their little master, Annie!
But he had gotten most of it wrong.
Because...
Shi Qingxuan and their little master Annie were neither master and disciple, nor was she, as he had naturally assumed at first, "another wife Master found for one of the two of us brothers."
She had simply met their Master Annie by chance, gotten to know her and found they got along well. Then she had been fortunate enough to receive guidance and learn the "Sonic Kill" technique, a unique art suited to her that used the xiao to enter the Dao. In a short time, she had risen to become the renowned "Lingering Notes of the Ancient Xiao," the great lady Shi Qingxuan. That was all?
He only found out when he and Wanwan returned to Yuhang a few days later. That evening, while chatting with their little Master Annie, he had casually asked about it—and was quite surprised by the answer!
At the same time, he and Wanwan finally learned what that enormous water wyrm was, the one that had stirred up enormous waves on the river and brazenly attacked them that day.
It turned out it was no monster at all. It was merely a technique Shi Qingxuan, the "Lingering Notes of the Ancient Xiao," had learned from their Master Annie. It was somewhat like Wanwan's "Heavenly Demon Art," allowing her to create illusions and clones, but its range and ability to imitate objects were much greater. In other words, it was an extremely profound martial art—almost like "immortal arts"—that used the xiao's music, inner strength, the forces of nature, illusions, the elements of heaven and earth, and some