Seeing the Huashan Sect hurriedly packing up and preparing to leave, Abbess Dingyi of the Hengshan Sect was puzzled by how rushed they seemed. Still, she immediately ordered her own disciples to pack as well, so they could set out with the Huashan Sect.
The Hengshan Sect had already been in Hengzhou City for many days. Now that Liu Zhengfeng's golden basin ceremony and retirement from the jianghu had concluded perfectly, without any complications, and the Huashan Sect—who shared their inn—was checking out and heading home, there was no reason for her to stay. She naturally didn't mind traveling with the Huashan Sect, with whom they had always been on good terms.
After all, she had said before that once they returned, she would visit Huashan with her senior sister, the Sect Leader Dingxian, to pay a call on Feng Qingyang, the venerable elder. Now they could travel together and strengthen the friendship between their sects. It couldn't have worked out better.
Especially since Hengshan lay north of Huashan, and most of the two sects' routes home overlapped. They could leave Hengzhou City together, travel by water through Changsha Prefecture and into Dongting Lake, disembark at Wuchang Prefecture and head north, then follow the official road all the way to Luoyang. Traveling together and looking out for each other along the way would be much safer. It couldn't have worked out better.
Yue Buqun hadn't expected Abbess Dingyi of the Hengshan Sect to set out with them. At first, he hesitated, worried that they might get her into trouble.
But then he considered how traveling in a larger group would offer more protection—and might even make anyone with ill intentions think twice. In the end, he agreed.
And so!
The Huashan Sect's party, which had set out with two carriages