Burning Flowers, Swaying Moon, Asking About the Past - Food and Drink Offered, Murderous Intent Stirred Beneath the Trees

As the first streak of fish-belly white appeared in the eastern sky, the Zhurong Gate's Yangshan County branch was already in an uproar.

With their sect's survival and the clash of their faiths at stake, everyone in the branch was unsettled. Early that morning, without waiting for the branch shaman Zou Yanzhao to summon them, all the disciples who worshipped the great god Zhurong had risen to make their assigned preparations for the day's contest.

Before long, the other small sects in Yangshan County facing absorption had also turned out almost in their entirety, gathering at the Zhurong Gate's hall.

The followers of these different sects seldom gathered together, but their shared predicament swept aside their sectarian differences. After exchanging a few greetings, these unfamiliar men and women soon grew friendly. It was still shortly after five in the morning. Seated in the hall or squatting beside courtyard walls, they anxiously discussed just how skilled the three young people championing their cause might be.

Compared with the tension in the front and middle courtyards, the small courtyard behind the Zhurong Gate's hall remained peaceful and quiet. Since the appointed hour had not arrived, nobody dared disturb their honored guests' sleep. Xing Yan, however, was already awake, drawing cool water from the courtyard spring pool to wash. A little later, a door stirred, and Kou Xueyi led the sleepy-eyed little Qiong Rong out to wash beside the pool as well.

Watching the half-awake little girl vigorously rub her eyes, Xing Yan could not help pondering the day's contest. Faced with this unknown challenge, he too was nervous and uncertain. After his thoughts wandered for a while, he began recalling the fights he had personally experienced, hoping to glean something useful from them.

As he thought, the boy suddenly noticed something he