Deadly Scheme, Perilous Predicament

"Nothing will happen? A year ago, I saw Wang Su and Zen Master Shanfa of the Golden Cicada Temple fight a Three-Headed Black Demonic Flood Dragon with my own eyes. They were both gravely wounded, then killed by someone else."

Duanmu Kuanglong continued with a cold sneer, embellishing his account of how he had happened upon Su Shi'er and Zen Master Shanfa when they were badly injured.

As he spoke, his gaze swept quickly toward another nearby peak.

The moment his words fell, a burst of Buddha light appeared, revealing more than a dozen monks from the Golden Cicada Temple.

What? Senior Brother Shanfa was killed?

How could that be? With Senior Brother Shanfa's cultivation, how could anything happen to him?

But... it's true that we haven't heard a word from Senior Brother Shanfa in over a year!

The monks of the Golden Cicada Temple exchanged hurried glances, worry written across every face.

Venerable Tianhong trembled sharply at the sight and once again looked to Shen Miaoyin for an answer.

Within the mist, Shen Miaoyin showed no intention of speaking.

She merely held a tracking artifact in her hand, her delicate brows drawing together.

She could sense that Su Shi'er's tracking compass was approaching rapidly.

But the artifact could only locate the compass. Whether whoever carried it was the person she awaited, she had no way of knowing.

She had every confidence in Su Shi'er's abilities.

The trouble was that Duanmu Kuanglong's account mixed truth with lies. Of one thing she was certain: he really had seen Su Shi'er and Zen Master Shanfa.

Faced with an injured Su Shi'er and Zen Master Shanfa, how could Duanmu Kuanglong have done nothing, even if no one else had attacked?

Ripples rose in Shen Miaoyin's once-still heart. Deep down, she could not