"They're here?"
At Yang Chao's words, Ma Ming and the others immediately fell silent and looked toward the distant mountain road. Two figures were galloping toward them, kicking up clouds of dust along the way.
Luo Tong frowned. "Why are there only Xu Yang and Sun Tao? Where are Li Qiang and Gu Haoming?"
The information he had received clearly stated that four men had gone to Qingyuan County, yet only Xu Yang and Sun Tao had appeared. Li Qiang and Gu Haoming were nowhere to be seen. Without one opponent at astral qi mastery and another at astral qi minor accomplishment, their merits would be considerably smaller.
"Perhaps the information was wrong. Or perhaps those two stayed in Qingyuan County after the Martial Examination Metropolitan Examination instead of returning to the Violet Sun Gate with Xu Yang and Sun Tao."
Ma Ming analyzed the situation. "You all know those beasts at the Violet Sun Gate don't let their disciples go home without permission. They rarely get a chance to visit home, so it's perfectly normal for them to want to stay a few extra days."
It never occurred to him that the four Violet Sun Gate disciples had turned on one another midway through their journey, and that Gu Haoming and Li Qiang were both dead.
Luo Tong nodded. "Never mind. Let's slaughter Xu Yang and Sun Tao first. If we can take one alive, we'll question him about what happened."
Ma Ming barked, "Spread out to your assigned positions. Let him enter the encirclement before attacking."
As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Tong, Yang Chao, and Ma Ming drifted down from the treetops like ghosts, slipping into the grass on either side of the road and stopping both their breathing and their heartbeats.
Ma Ming also drifted