Hu Shao Mountain

With Song Dayou's backing and Li Sheng, the commander, giving his approval, joining the expedition was no trouble. Zheng Zetian stopped hanging around, waiting for Yin Qinglan to finish bathing. He heard they would be setting out after noon, so he took the opportunity to leave and said he would go prepare a few things. First, he headed back to the dormitory to let Chanjuan and the other woman know.

But as soon as he reached the dormitory entrance, he saw Tu Lou gnawing on a corpse.

Oh, for fuck's sake! Do you really need to be locked up in the Demon-Locking Tower for a while?

Zheng Zetian sprang forward and grabbed Tu Lou by the ears, twisting them twice. It let out a pained "Baa—!" so loud that it woke the bloodied "corpse."

It was Teacher Qian.

"Ze Tian..."

"Teacher? What happened to you...?"

Zheng Zetian frowned and immediately took out the Thunderfire Banner. He hid behind Tu Lou and looked around, checking for anyone lying in ambush.

Teacher Qian was covered in blood, his body slashed all over. Broken ribs jutted out, and bloody gashes crisscrossed his skin. He looked as if he had just fought his way out of a battlefield.

And he had fought his way out. He had a Life-Prolonging Pill clenched in his mouth. It seemed he had been waiting here for Zheng Zetian, but his injuries were so severe that he had passed out. Now that he had been woken, he braced himself against the railing and staggered to his feet. With his blood-covered left hand, he pulled a purple-black robe from his breast and held it out.

"Return this to the Giant."

The Gui Xu Dao Yi...

Sensing the Dao power and laws within the robe, Zheng Zetian took it with a