Looking at Song Chi, who seemed to have been struck by lightning, and the grave faces of Xie Changsheng and the others, Si Chen sighed softly to himself.
He knew that, in the end, this could not be kept hidden.
He gently waved his sleeve.
Several simple wooden chairs appeared out of thin air in the courtyard.
An antique tea table also appeared beside the recliner, with tea bubbling away on the little stove atop it.
"Don't just stand there. Sit."
Everyone exchanged glances. Though they had a thousand things to say, they knew they could not rush him now. They could only suppress their agitation and each find a seat in the courtyard as he asked.
Si Chen straightened slightly and reached for the teapot to pour everyone some tea.
But before his hand had even made it halfway, two figures stood up ahead of him.
"I'll do it!"
"Brother in the Dao, let me."
Luo Hongyi and Murong Li reached out almost simultaneously, taking the teapot and teacups respectively.
The only two women in the little group from Undying Mountain carefully poured Si Chen a cup of hot tea.
Si Chen paused slightly, then looked at the cup offered to him and broke into a helpless smile.
"All right. You do it."
He did not insist. He took the cup and sipped lightly.
The warm tea seemed to ease this mortal shell a little as it entered his mouth, and he settled back against the recliner.
The two women then filled everyone else's cups with spirit tea. Accompanied by the gentle trickle of pouring tea, its fragrance gradually spread through the courtyard.
Setting down his cup, Si Chen finally came to the point.
"I know you have many questions."
"You guessed correctly. Something has indeed gone terribly wrong