"From... the moment I came in, you were already planning this move, weren't you?"
Amid the swirling sand and dust, Shang Jiu slowly raised his head to look at Xu Taiping. His voice sounded somewhat strained.
"To be precise, it was from the moment I learned you were Shang Jiu."
Xu Taiping tucked the Spring Tiger Saber into the crook of his arm and forcefully wiped the blood from it.
"Oh? It seems the Old Man spoke plenty of ill of me."
Shang Jiu smiled.
As he spoke, he also took off his long robe, carefully folded it just as Xu Taiping had, and put it into his Storage Ring.
"Elder Duan never spoke ill of you."
Xu Taiping shook his head, then continued as he wrapped strips of blood spider silk cloth around his hands, "You threw the remains of your own master and Senior Sister into the Yunmeng Marsh Ruins and left them to turn into ghost corpses. In my eyes, no amount of caution is excessive against someone capable of that."
At those words, Shang Jiu's brows suddenly knitted.
But they immediately relaxed again, and he regained his air of calm indifference.
"Uncle Shang, I'll help you."
Just then, the Little Girl with Pigtails ran up behind Shang Jiu on her short little legs, hugged his thigh, and stole a look at Xu Taiping.
"Xiao Yuan, stay off to the side. This won't take long."
Shang Jiu patted the Little Girl with Pigtails on the head.
Hearing that, the little girl glared fiercely at Xu Taiping before turning to leave.
"I must say, that old bastard's judgment of people is as poor as ever."
Having stripped off his upper garments, Shang Jiu raised his saber just as Xu Taiping had and looked at him with the faintest