As Li Chen put "He Ran" into his Storage Ring, then spurred his Fang Tiger onward and rode off with Wu Ding, Qian Wanli, Wu Lu, and the others stood rooted to the spot for a long time, struck speechless.
Li Chen raced several dozen li to the place he had arranged to meet He Ran. Sure enough, on a steep slope beside the Imperial Road, Old He sat on the ground in a cloak, leaning sideways against a rock.
He had something resembling a pipe clenched between his lips and was puffing clouds of smoke. Its glow, like a pouch of fireflies, flickered in the moonlit night.
Everything around him was pitch-black. The forest seemed draped in a heavy curtain, gloomy in the extreme, and even the trees hidden within it looked like monsters baring their fangs and brandishing their claws. Yet He Ran remained perfectly at ease, displaying all the composure of a seasoned rogue cultivator.
Seeing Li Chen arrive, He Ran stood, took the pipe from his mouth, and called out, "Everything settled?"
"Settled," Li Chen said. "How long have you been waiting here?"
He Ran smiled, seemingly unsurprised that Li Chen had resolved the matter so easily. "I set a fine blaze. I only just arrived myself. Look, I've barely lit this."
He tapped his pipe as he spoke, then sprang up and jumped down from the slope.
He walked onto the Imperial Road and summoned his Mechanism Beast, the Flower Leopard. "Then let's go, before a long night breeds more nightmares."
As he spoke, however, his gaze fell on the man behind Li Chen, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Old Wu, how come you're here too?"
Wu Ding gave a bitter smile. "I can't make a living here anymore. Might as well leave with you."