That evening.
In the same room at the inn.
Xu Taiping handed a jade slip to Fairy Lingyue and said in a low voice, his expression grave:
"There's news from Elder Chu."
Fairy Lingyue took the jade slip and glanced at it.
The jade slip read:
"Young friend Ping'an, everything happened just as that senior of yours predicted. Someone laid a deadly trap in the Golden Hall to surround and kill me. Fortunately, your senior warned me beforehand, allowing this old man to escape this calamity with the Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell technique."
"As for the assassin, even though I took precautions beforehand, I failed to detect any trace of them."
"Young friend Ping'an, what should this old man do next? I hope you will ask that senior of yours to offer me some guidance."
After reading the words on the jade slip, Fairy Lingyue's lips curved slightly as she said:
"Just as Lotus Eye Divination predicted, those people did make a move against Chu Qiuyai."
As she spoke, she handed the jade slip back to Xu Taiping.
Xu Taiping took the jade slip and nodded.
"Fortunately, we persuaded Elder Chu during yesterday's hunt. Otherwise, what we heard today would likely have been news of his actual death."
Fairy Lingyue glanced at the jade slip in Xu Taiping's hand, then asked with some curiosity:
"What do you intend to have Elder Chu do next?"
"Have him report this to the Nine Prefectures?"
After thinking it over carefully, Xu Taiping shook his head.
"Sister Lingyue, I sense something extremely familiar about this assassination attempt on Elder Chu."
Fairy Lingyue asked:
"Su Chan?"
Xu Taiping nodded.
"That's right."
Fairy Lingyue asked with some curiosity:
"Why are you so certain it was Su Chan?"
After giving it some serious thought, Xu Taiping