Donghua Mountain Market Ward.
Dressed in white mourning garments, Meng Wanjun accepted a blue-green token from the market ward administrator.
Her movements were distracted. A closer look revealed tears swimming in her bloodshot eyes, as though she had only recently finished crying.
Her tear-streaked beauty, like pear blossoms washed by rain, stirred sympathy in the administrator's heart.
He said gently, "Fellow Daoist Meng, according to the arrangements your master made before entering seclusion, we were to notify you as soon as she activated the formation inside her cave abode. Her cave abode is number A-26. You..."
When he finished, Meng Wanjun nodded woodenly and walked toward her master's secluded cave abode like a soulless husk.
In truth, she had cried countless times since learning that her master had passed away.
Meng Wanjun's parents had died in a beast tide long ago. Her master had raised her.
She still remembered the smile with which her master had comforted her as a little girl. The earnest teachings of the past twenty-odd years echoed endlessly in her mind, her master's voice and face still vivid before her...
Meng Wanjun stared blankly at the cave abode shrouded in emerald light. She clutched its token tightly, unable to bring herself to open the formation, terrified of seeing her master's lifeless body.
After a long while, when she finally emerged from her memories, tears were streaming down her face.
"Ah!"
An unconscious murmur escaped her lips, as though it had taken every ounce of her strength.
The next moment, she gathered her courage and poured magical power into the token.
Pop.
The cave abode's formation opened. Meng Wanjun stumbled inside and immediately saw the withered, silver-haired figure seated cross-legged in the center of the secluded chamber.
Though the figure looked vastly different from when they had