By the time Zhang Xiaohua appeared again, he was already in a secluded spot at the foot of Yao Mountain. He turned back to look at the distant mountain, a smile playing on his lips. With another pinch of his fingers into a hand seal, his body drifted away and gradually vanished without a trace.
Meanwhile, after Abbess Jingyi of the Incense-Passing Cult and Master Changsheng of the Great Forest Temple left the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, they looked at one another and sighed, then followed the stairs back down to the foot of Yao Mountain.
"Go. Pick one of the corpses up ahead at random and examine it!" Abbess Jingyi ordered, then looked toward Abbess Shuqing.
Abbess Shuqing wore an equally unwilling expression. Looking back at the immortal mansion on Yao Mountain, radiating light in every direction, she said softly, "Immortal fate, immortal fate... Such an immortal mansion... actually fell into the hands of a brat whose milk hair has not even dried! And my junior sister Shujie lost her life for nothing, dying such a wrongful death!"
"Oh, right. Chen Chen, tell this old woman every last detail of Ren Xiaoyao's background and history!"
"Yes, Grand Elder!" Chen Chen seemed not yet to have recovered from the shock of seeing Zhang Xiaohua inside the immortal mansion, and was clearly somewhat absentminded.
"Allow this disciple to explain!" Seeing this, Peacock bowed and said, "This disciple first met Ren Xiaoyao in Hui Chun Valley..."
Just then, another thunderous Rumble! erupted atop Yao Mountain. Everyone looked up to see the stairs extending down from the immortal mansion disappear step by step. Once the stairs had completely vanished, the enormous palace gates on the mountain slowly closed. Immediately afterward, the boundless radiance shining from the immortal mansion gradually faded, and the entire mansion