The Treasure-Evolving Sect group naturally knew their Martial Uncle was lying through his teeth. His reasons were easy enough to guess: sharing hardship, or letting fellow cultivators die rather than their own people. In any case, strength lay in numbers, and they could not scare everyone off.
Besides, the earlier lightning had ruined so many Magical Treasures belonging to the various sects. Could they admit that? They could never afford the compensation.
Their Martial Uncle meant well and was doing this for everyone's sake, so naturally they kept their mouths shut rather than expose him, quietly watching the other sects' people.
But Li Hongjiu's bedraggled appearance was impossible to explain away. None of them were blind. Zuo Zisheng pointed at him and asked, "Then, Mr. Li, what happened to you?"
"Ah." Li Hongjiu sighed, a rare occurrence for him, and a lie rolled straight off his tongue. "I ran into a ferocious monster. I couldn't tell what it was. We fought, but fortunately, I managed to drive it off in the end."
The Treasure-Evolving Sect group grew even quieter.
Gu Liani asked, "Where is he? Where's that Masked Man?"
"You'll have to find a way to track him down yourselves." Li Hongjiu shook his head. "I don't know where he ran off to either."
If he could have found the man easily, he would never have needed to cooperate with these people in the first place. He would have acted alone from the outset.
Yin Tianlu spoke with a mocking edge. "Didn't Brother Li say earlier that not a single one would escape? Now it seems they've all run off without leaving a soul behind."
That single form of address lowered Guang Haoyou and the others by a generation. Hostility instantly showed in the eyes of the Treasure-Evolving Sect group.