The speaker lacked confidence in those words, and the listener thought he had misheard.
Huyan Dao stared in disbelief. "Gone? Didn't you say you were watching them the whole time?"
Jin Zaogong did not know how to explain. He knew any explanation would sound feeble, but he had to steel himself and speak anyway. "I was watching them the whole time. I don't know when they slipped away. The only possibility I can think of is that Lao Changhai of the Purple Cloud Sect had something to do with it..."
He recounted how Lao Changhai had approached him earlier and said he suspected there was a mole.
Huyan Dao's scalp prickled as he listened. If that was true, why had Lao Changhai cooperated with them? He did not dare follow that thought any further. In a low voice, he asked, "Where's Lao Changhai? Is he still here?"
Jin Zaogong said, "I don't know. I haven't had time to check."
Huyan Dao stamped his foot. "Then why aren't you checking?"
"Right." Jin Zaogong hurried off at once, running like the wind.
Huyan Dao paced in anxious circles. If things really took the worst possible turn, he had no idea how he would explain himself to Mulan Qingqing. And how would he face all the consequences that followed?
Jin Zaogong had left quickly, but he was slow to return, leaving Huyan Dao waiting in mounting anxiety.
Only after a long while did Jin Zaogong dart back in. His voice was dry. "Senior brother, Lao Changhai is gone. Everyone from the Purple Cloud Sect is gone. I searched all over the camp and couldn't find a trace of them. I'm afraid they've run off too."
"How were you watching them..." Huyan Dao grabbed him by the collar, momentarily losing control of his temper.