Inside the silent, cavernous hall.
One incense stick ago, the Buddha Son had been alone here.
Now several hulking demons stood before him, hands at their sides, looking so uneasy they scarcely dared breathe.
Seated quietly on a cushion, the Buddha Son listened to their account, then said slowly, "So what you're saying is..."
"You ran into a female cultivator in the wilderness. Not only did she know the Buddhist Sect's secret arts, she claimed to serve another Arhat, then struck before your eyes and killed a venerable at the Myriad-Forms Heaven Initial Realm?"
His mouth twitched into a smile that never reached his eyes. "She said she served another Arhat, and you believed her?!"
"Uh..."
None of the demons dared speak.
Several breaths passed.
The Pig Demon steeled himself and stepped forward. "Buddha Son, please judge wisely. That cultivator's methods were overwhelming. We saw things turning against us and had no choice but to scatter. But... just before I fled, I looked back. When she pursued Venerable Wutian, she brought out a magic treasure."
"A golden ring."
The Pig Demon swallowed and lowered his voice. "It looked very much like the Subduing Tiger Seal Ring in the Subduing Tiger Arhat's possession."
At those words,
the Buddha Son fell completely silent.
If only one demon had said this, he could have dismissed it as an excuse for failure.
But every demon told the same story.
There were only two possibilities.
First, the demons had conspired to lie.
Second... it was true.
At that thought,
he suddenly raised his eyes and swept his gaze over them. "Where is Wutian? Why did only you return?!"
The demons exchanged glances, bitterness showing on their faces.
The answer was obvious.
Those at the Initial and Middle Realms had made it back, yet Venerable Wutian,