The familiar voice rang out behind him. Chen Qiu turned around almost immediately and saw the old man, his expression neither sorrowful nor joyful, standing behind them with that tattered Black Trait banner raised in his hand, looking over the wreckage strewn across Heaven-Question Market.
It was none other than—
The old Daoist fortune-teller who had warned him about the excessive number of Wraiths on his body.
"You knew Heaven-Question Market would suffer this disaster?"
Scholar, sitting cross-legged on the bearded brute's shoulder, asked curiously, "Then why didn't you tell everyone beforehand? That way, they wouldn't have died here, and so many people in Windward City wouldn't have died either."
"How was I supposed to say it?"
The silver-haired old man glanced at Scholar and said casually, "Even if the people of Heaven-Question Market and Windward City listened and were willing to flee, what then? The Devil Invasion would still have to descend somewhere else."
"To save one little fish, only to kill another little fish."
"That could hardly be called a good deed."
"Don't debate the Dao with me. This old man has his own path to walk. What I hate most in this life is hearing people say that a disaster could clearly have been avoided, so why didn't I speak up and stop it?"
"The only reason I was willing to shoulder a little karma and warn this little fellow was because I found him pleasing to the eye."
"Unfortunately, he wasn't very willing to heed advice."
Then the old man shook his head, waved the Black Trait banner in his hand, turned around, and gazed into the distant sky as he murmured, "Troubled times are approaching. Who can remain outside the fray forever?"
"Even the Heaven-Avoiding Sect has begun showing signs of activity in the world."