Before a row of quarters in the rear courtyard of Dangkang Temple.
The disciples had all withdrawn, leaving only the elders and those resting inside the quarters.
Zheng Zhuxi offered no excuses and headed straight for He Luo's room. Ding Songyan followed close behind, with Xie Fengchao and Xing Chang on either side. Liang Gan trailed a step behind, walking alongside Temple Host Zhu.
With a creak, the door opened on its own, and a figure in Dangkang Temple's brown ritual robes emerged.
He was twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with a pointed face like a venomous snake's head. Patches of blue-black fish scales covered the exposed parts of his body, including his neck and the backs of his hands. From Temple Host Zhu and Steward Hu's descriptions, this had to be He Luo, Dangkang Temple's Fourth Rank "Transcendent" guest elder.
"Foster Father, Steward Hu, what is this?" He Luo's gaze swept across Zheng Zhuxi's face before he questioned Temple Host Zhu and Steward Hu behind her in surprise.
Zheng Zhuxi kept walking until less than ten feet separated them.
Ding Songyan stood shoulder to shoulder with her, catching that faint citrus fragrance, and sternly barked at their target:
"He Luo, your crimes have come to light!"
He had wanted to try that line for ages.
He Luo froze, then roared back:
"Beneath this bright heaven and earth, this shining sun and moon, how dare you spit blood and slander me!"
At that moment, Liang Gan leaned toward the back of Ding Songyan's head and whispered so softly that only the two of them and Zheng Zhuxi could hear:
"He Luo is thinking, 'They must be bluffing. Even if they suspect me, they have no evidence.'"
Zheng Zhuxi's eyes shifted slightly. Lifting her chin, she said with a faint smile:
"Would the