On the First Day of the Fourth Month, at Fang Qianyuan's lodgings outside Tower City.
At the first glimmer of dawn that day, some of the more impatient prominent figures from the various factions had already arrived in person.
The gates of the Separate Courtyard remained tightly shut, however. The time Fang Qianyuan had appointed had yet to arrive, and no one dared force their way in. They could only wait obediently outside.
Of course, they understood that his word carried the weight of nine bronze cauldrons. He would not meet them ahead of time to discuss anything privately. Even so, they had chosen to wait here, not to flatter or curry favor, but simply to observe how the situation developed.
The matter concerned the warrior path. Most likely, he intended to investigate the recent cases involving the demonic path in his capacity as an envoy of the righteous path. These aristocratic clans and prominent figures needed to distinguish friend from foe and identify those who shared their course.
They all had some degree of private connection with one another, but their dealings with the demonic path, or even their secret collusion with Wu Lianyi's subordinates, were secrets within secrets. No one would carelessly let such things slip.
Thus, after arriving, they merely greeted one another before beginning to chat, sounding each other out with tacit understanding.
During the preceding days of waiting, they had also met privately. But with so many eyes and ears about, who met whom and who held secret talks with whom might all be discovered by the Azure Cloud Sect's informants. Sending subordinates or exchanging letters from afar made it even easier to leave evidence others could seize upon. A public occasion like this was a better place to communicate.
Before long, as the sky