Return-to-One Furnace

After the Profound Ice Tower Ship returned to the sect, Zhou Yan followed Vast Sea True Person back to the Zhou Family. The others also returned to their respective abodes.

After briefly sharing a tender moment with him, Su Yu too left reluctantly.

Shen Qingzhou landed at his own Green Reed Cave Abode. The familiar young Daoist attendant at the entrance was nowhere to be seen, though the abode itself had been cleaned quite thoroughly.

With Zhou Yan making such a grand spectacle of things over there, Shen Qingzhou was happy to enjoy some peace and idleness.

Hearing someone arrive, a small stir came from within the abode. Two gray-robed youths emerged, knelt, and saluted. "Greetings, Senior Brother Shen."

"Oh? Who are you two? And where did the little Daoist attendant from this abode go?" Shen Qingzhou asked curiously.

The two youths looked at each other, swallowed, and said, "We are servants assigned by the sect to clean the cave abode. As for the former Daoist attendant, he seemed to have heard that Senior Brother Shen had not emerged from the Blessed Land, so after collecting his stipend, he left the sect and went down the mountain."

So that was it.

Shen Qingzhou nodded faintly.

Ahu must have seen that he had not returned for so long and assumed that he had perished outside. Thus, he had gone down the mountain early, lest he be swept into the conflicts among sect disciples and implicated by Shen Qingzhou's grudges.

It was neither right nor wrong, merely a way of preserving himself wisely.

Shen Qingzhou had no intention of calling him back. Everyone had their own fate; since the bond between master and servant had run its course, there was no need to hold on.

"Fine. Since the task is complete, you