Tie Ming stared at the distant hole torn through the poison miasma, then suddenly turned, a probing look in his eyes.
"Second Brother, are you truly not a member of the Qing Household?"
Qing Chen chuckled at that, though his voice remained cool. "Do you not know, Big Brother? The Qing Household and I have long been as incompatible as fire and water."
"True, true."
Tie Ming seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, as though speaking to himself. "If you were one of their own, they would never have done anything so foolish."
Tie Ming recalled what his eldest uncle had once told him:
The Qing Household's higher-ups at Heavenly Abyss Pass had actually dared to whisper slander before Xiao Canglan, the "Dinghai Shenzhen" who commanded two paths.
Overtly and covertly, they had sought to suppress Qing Chen.
Moreover, these were all overt schemes. Even if Xiao Canglan and the others said nothing, they would surely have their own thoughts on the matter.
Once certain seeds of discord were planted, they grew wildly like weeds, difficult to root out.
Tie Ming abruptly changed the subject, lowering his voice with a hint of mystery. "May I ask, Second Brother... are you married?"
Qing Chen was slightly surprised, then answered honestly, "Well... not yet. In earlier years, I devoted myself entirely to the Dao and had no time for anything else. I never gave any thought to taking a Dao companion."
He thought of the Dao companion who had died before marrying him.
That should count as never having married a Dao companion.
"Excellent! Excellent!" Tie Ming clapped his hands and laughed, his expression turning earnest.
"Second Brother, there is something you do not know. I have a younger sister in the Iron Household's direct line, and she is still unwed.