(An extra chapter to make up for the delay. Another 4,000-word chapter tonight.)
The woman who entered lowered her head and spoke softly.
"I'm sorry... I failed."
Beside her, Yan Feidie trembled.
After everything she had experienced lately, she knew all too well what the woman they called "Master" did to those who failed her.
It was not simply violence. It struck deep into the soul, blending pleasure, despair, joy, grief... every emotion together.
Yan Feidie had endured it only once. That single time had left her bedridden for three full days. Ever since, the woman had been her worst nightmare, frightening her awake even in her sleep.
But this time, to her surprise, Master did not blame the woman. She merely raised her brows and asked,
"How did you fail?"
The woman who had entered answered with her head bowed.
"I'm not sure. All the information coming back from this group of human pupae was cut off. Something must have gone wrong... Could the Eight-Treasure Arhat have turned back?"
Master lounged there, utterly at ease, as though she were not in a shabby storeroom at the Inn but in a lavish private chamber, lying not on a dry, yellowed straw mat but on a soft silk bed. "Impossible. The human pupae watching Eastward Temple are still reporting in. Not one of them has come out since they returned..."
"Then could it be..."
"It doesn't matter who it was. This was only a trial. A success would have been nice, but failure changes nothing. We'll have plenty of chances during the Tianyuan Conference..."
Only then did the woman nod. But just as she was about to say something else, footsteps sounded behind her.
Almost by reflex, Yan Feidie tried to retreat into a corner. Before she could, a stiff, wooden