When Clouds saw who had come, the taut string in her heart loosened slightly.
She released Bixiao from the Nahaipot. When Bixiao appeared, she was still a little dazed;
but when she saw the scene before her, and Qiongxiao and Zhao Gongming gravely wounded, rage immediately surged up in her—only for Clouds to stop her.
Clouds stepped forward and cupped one fist in salute to Suyao:
"Fellow Daoist Suyao, it has been many years since we last met, and your bearing surpasses even the past. I did not expect that we would meet again in this killing-ground of calamity."
The positions of the two sects were now delicate, even faintly hostile. This was not the time to reminisce and exchange pleasantries.
Some bonds needed only a tacit understanding; saying too much would instead add needless awkwardness and make things difficult for both sides.
Suyao looked at Clouds and asked directly, "Clouds, have you and your two Younger sisters come to Changping this time because you wish to make yourselves enemies of my Literary Sect?"
"No." Clouds shook her head, her words sincere.
"We sisters came only to bring back our elder brother Zhao Gongming. We have absolutely no intention of intervening in the war between Qin and Zhao, nor of becoming enemies with the Literary Sect.
The truth is that Elder Brother and Fellow Daoist Yun Biao were debating the Dao in an exchange of ideas. It was originally fair between them, but he was suddenly plotted against by a villain, struck by a strange curse; his mind and spirit were injured, and his life may be in danger.
We siblings share a deep bond. When we heard the news, we were burning with anxiety, and only then had no choice but to violate our master's teachings and leave the