Daoist Xuan Shu and Xuan Guang weren't lying. Daoist Lin really might have been replaced by something?!
Li Xiang's breathing stopped almost imperceptibly for an instant. His eyes never shifted, reflecting Lin Shouzhen's face.
To his eyes, the Lin Shouzhen before him was a living, breathing human, without the slightest flaw or any outward trace of possession or mutation.
"You must be joking, Daoist Lin." Li Xiang looked him straight in the eye. "As far as I can see, you're human. How could you be anything else?"
"Is that so?"
After hearing his answer, Lin Shouzhen smiled as though a great weight had lifted from him, then reached out and patted Li Xiang's shoulder.
"It seems I'm still human."
"Thank you, young friend Li."
That firm pat landed on Li Xiang's shoulder, but every muscle in his body tensed to its limit. Ice Skin, Jade Bones nearly erupted beneath his skin, as he feared that hand might turn into a claw and tear him apart.
But nothing happened. It really was an ordinary pat from an elder to a junior, carrying the warmth of a human being.
"I'll go see my two good-for-nothing disciples. I won't disturb you any longer."
Lin Shouzhen withdrew his hand, seemingly oblivious to Li Xiang's tension, and turned toward the cabins.
Li Xiang remained where he stood, his taut muscles not immediately relaxing. He watched Lin Shouzhen's retreating figure until it vanished around a corner of the deck.
At the very moment Lin Shouzhen disappeared, a rotund figure emerged from the shadows of the cabins.
It was Hong Tianbao.
He happened to pass the departing Lin Shouzhen.
Neither stopped as they crossed paths, nor did either utter a word.
They simply gave each other a slight nod in perfect tacit understanding.
Their eyes met, and