(˙o˙) Facing Each Other Honestly
While certain groups in Jiangnan were living in constant fear because of the horrific assassinations, ordinary people were treating them as juicy gossip to savor over tea, and countless forces, both overt and covert, were conducting widespread searches, Lin Daiyu and Tanchun—the "instigators" of it all—showed little reaction or concern, even as the sky seemed ready to fall.
That was because almost every town and village in Jiangnan was searching and questioning outsiders on a massive scale. The local powers here were far stronger and more deeply rooted than they had imagined.
As outsiders, cultivators like them were liable to attract attention as soon as they entered a town—or even a village—and then be questioned or arrested!
It wasn't that they were afraid, but to avoid being discovered or caught, they naturally had to keep out of sight as much as possible, being the "true culprits" behind everything.
So sleeping rough, traveling by night and hiding by day, and sheltering in secluded natural caves out in the wilderness had become one of the few options available to them.
And so?
In a remote mountain outside Yangzhou stood a little-visited valley. Towering trees and thick vines filled it. Ordinary cultivators flying past on swords or in vessels would have taken it for just another barren stretch of wilderness. Yet deep in the pool at the bottom of the valley, a waterfall plunged down—and behind its curtain of water lay a hidden world.
There was a naturally formed stone cave inside, large and well concealed, with a spring of spiritual water pooled within. Steam rose from its surface; it was a rare natural hot spring.
Of course, it was only a secluded hot spring and cave, not some blessed paradise.
But for that very reason, Lin Daiyu,