"Exactly, Zhu'er. Look at this earthfire again—it seems... as though someone has been using it!" He Senior Brother exclaimed, pointing at the earthfire as well.
"Indeed. I was wondering why the sulfur smell around the forbidden grounds had grown so much fainter lately. So this was the reason!" Fu Zhu said happily. "If I report this news to the Family Head, I will certainly..."
"Certainly what? Certainly be punished, I imagine!" He Senior Brother sneered. "You trespassed into the alchemy chamber within the forbidden grounds. That is something Fu Yunbo would absolutely never permit!"
"But I am responsible for patrolling the mountain. I am allowed to enter and leave the forbidden grounds!" Fu Zhu could not help retorting.
"Hehe, you may pass through the air above it, but I fear you are not permitted to set foot on the ground," He Senior Brother said softly.
Fu Zhu fell silent for a moment, then walked over and sat where Xiao Hua usually sat. In a faint voice, she said, "Since you know I cannot land here as I please, then... then why did you ask me to meet you within the forbidden grounds?"
"Zhu'er... let us talk after we leave. If some senior is refining pills here and we run into them, things will surely go badly!" He Senior Brother nervously looked around and urged her.
"Do not panic, He Junior Brother. Though this earthfire has been used, it may not necessarily have been for pill refinement. If someone truly was refining pills, then since the pill furnace is absent, that senior must have gone out and will not return anytime soon. We are only sitting here for a while—how could something happen by such a coincidence?" Fu Zhu said unhurriedly. "Besides, it is currently patrol time outside. The senior brothers