"Tieya, you..." Zheng Shanggong shook his head repeatedly. "You insist on wasting your effort."
"Elder, I still feel this is more reliable. What clues are there?"
Zheng Shanggong looked at Zhou Jionming.
Zhou Jionming said irritably, "Since he's willing to give it a try, let him try."
Zheng Shanggong beckoned. "Come with me."
They left the main hall, descended the steps at an unhurried pace, crossed the level plaza, and entered one courtyard after another, eventually arriving outside a courtyard in the northwest corner.
Zheng Shanggong pushed the door open and walked in.
The Great Heavenly Demon Palace stood high in the air, far above the dust layer, so almost no dust settled there.
One could tell at a glance that this courtyard had been unoccupied for a long time. It was elegant yet cold and desolate, without a trace of life.
Dead leaves and withered flowers lay piled in a thick layer, covering the soil in the flowerbeds.
The stream remained crystal clear, flowing down from beneath the eastern wall, babbling around the small pavilion, through the flowerbeds, and out beneath the western wall.
Several fish drifted leisurely through the stream.
"This was Senior Brother He's residence."
Zheng Shanggong's gaze burned as he showed a wistful expression, as though he had sunk into memories of the past.
Leng Tieya said, "Elder, were you acquainted with this senior?"
"I entered the palace a thousand years after Senior Brother He. When I first entered, Senior Brother He took great care of me." Zheng Shanggong sighed and shook his head. "Without Senior Brother He's help, there would be no me today."
Leng Tieya nodded solemnly.
Zheng Shanggong said, "Senior Brother He possessed peerless talent, but he always sought the strange and the perilous in his actions. He was bold and unrestrained, free