White light flickered, then gradually dimmed. It was no longer so blinding, so dazzling. At last, it faded completely, and darkness took its place.
Yet it was not pitch-black. Light still shone through.
Qin Hao appeared out of thin air, suspended in midair.
"This is..."
"The Mysterious Feather Great World."
Qin Hao recognized it at once. This was unmistakably the Mysterious Feather Great World. Relief washed over him. What he had feared most had not come to pass; he had made it back.
"Inspector Qin! It's Inspector Qin!"
"Thank goodness, Inspector Qin is alive!"
"We pay our respects to Inspector Qin!"
"Greetings, Inspector Qin!"
Cheers rose from every direction. Qin Hao turned and saw that he was hovering above the Mysterious Feather Holy Hall Plaza, in the Mysterious Feather Clan's Holy City, beneath the dim night sky.
Around the Plaza stood Elders of the Mysterious Feather Holy Hall and members of the Mysterious Feather Clan.
At their head was an Elder whose aura marked him as a Three Tribulations Peak Sovereign.
Joy filled the Elder's face. He seemed overcome to see Qin Hao alive.
"Congratulations on your return, Inspector Qin. This old man is the Chunhua Sovereign, Second Elder of the Mysterious Feather Holy Hall." The stooped Elder stepped forward and addressed Qin Hao respectfully, though an odd look flashed through his eyes.
Several days earlier,
everyone had seen Qin Hao and the Celestial Pivot Daoist fall into the Mysterious Feather Spirit Spring together, sealed within it. Yet now...
Qin Hao had returned, but the Celestial Pivot Daoist had not. What that meant went without saying.
"Chunhua Sovereign?"
Qin Hao looked at him, his expression darkening. "May I ask where your Mysterious Feather Clan's Third Elder, the Chunyuan Sovereign, is?"
It was the Chunyuan Sovereign who had sealed him and