Vibration Blade, Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada (Sixth Update)

Li Xiang hurried forward, his eyes brimming with delight.

"Daoist Xuan Shu! I hope you've been well!"

The newcomer was none other than the Maoshan Daoist, Lin Xuanshu.

Since parting aboard the Blackwater, they had gone their separate ways. Li Xiang had never expected to meet him again so far from home.

Li Xiang glanced behind Lin Xuanshu. The snow-covered street was empty, and he could not help asking, "Daoist Xuan Shu, why are you alone? Didn't Xuan Guang and Daoist Lin come back with you?"

Back then, Lin Shouzhen had taken his two disciples upriver along the Jin River, saying they were headed for Tianjin, the martial arts capital of the South.

Nearly a month had passed. If they were returning, Li Xiang would have expected them to return together.

At the mention of his master and junior fellow disciple, the smile in Lin Xuanshu's eyes faded a little.

"My master can't come back for now."

Lin Xuanshu explained, "Tianjin is preparing for next year's World Martial Arts Tournament. Orthodox Taoism needed someone to hold the fort, so my master was chosen as one of the judges. He's run off his feet right now. I'm afraid he won't be free until the tournament ends."

"A judge? That's a fine job that'll put him in the spotlight," Qin Zhong praised. "Daoist Lin truly lives up to his reputation as a grandmaster of the Daoist School."

Li Xiang nodded, then asked, "What about Xuan Guang? He loves a commotion more than anyone. Why didn't he come with you?"

Lin Xuanshu gave a couple of rueful chuckles, as if he did not know where to begin.

"What? Did something happen to Xuan Guang?" Li Xiang's heart tightened.

He had grown quite fond of the young Daoist. Xuan Guang was a little hotheaded,