"Xiao Ling had no sect or affiliation. He had come here alone."
Faced with the Taiqing Palace Master's questioning, Xiao Ling merely nodded slightly. His expression remained as naturally indifferent and distant as ever, his tone light and calm, without the slightest ripple as he replied:
It was only a brief sentence, impossible to hear any emotion in it. There was neither evasive concealment nor deliberate arrogance. Instead, it made the Taiqing Palace Master's heart grow even heavier, and for a moment, she could not determine his true strength.
She knitted her brows tightly, her gaze repeatedly sizing up Xiao Ling. Doubts surged in her heart, and she truly could not tell whether his words were true.
Yet just now, she had exhausted all her perception to investigate him and still could not see through even the slightest hint of the man's cultivation. He seemed to be one with heaven and earth, the aura around him ethereal and traceless. That unfathomable depth sent the wariness in her heart straight to its peak, leaving her afraid to relax in the slightest.
However, she had no mind to continue probing and circling around the man. Her gaze unconsciously swept toward the giant bluestone beside Xiao Ling. Seeing Ling Qingzhu and the sect elder sleeping peacefully atop it, she could not put her suspended heart at ease.
After a brief moment of thought, she suppressed the wariness and doubt in her heart and looked at Xiao Ling. Though her tone still carried some distance, it had lost some of its initial sharpness and now held a hint of probing and entreaty.
"Your Excellency, the two people on this stone are disciples and an elder of my Taiqing Palace. They encountered an unexpected disaster and fell unconscious earlier. Thanks to your intervention and care,