While the people of the Jianghu fought a bloody battle over Zhang Hu, Huang Xiao was still on the outskirts, following Dong Yan and Hu Qiao toward the Heavenly Mountain Pavilion's gathering place.
Along the way, Huang Xiao learned quite a bit about Zhao Xin'er from Dong Yan and Hu Qiao's conversation, much to his delight. Before this, all he had known was Zhao Xin'er's name and that she was a disciple of the Heavenly Mountain Pavilion. He had known nothing else.
"Senior Sister, look!" Hu Qiao suddenly approached a large tree beside them and pointed excitedly at a scratch near its roots.
Curious, Huang Xiao went over to take a look as well. The scratch appeared to have been left recently and was shaped like a flower. If his guess was right, it was a secret sign of the Heavenly Mountain Pavilion. Such signs were actually common in the Jianghu. Every sect had its own distinctive signs, and not just one-there could be many symbols representing different meanings.
"Brother Huang, this is our Heavenly Mountain Pavilion's secret sign. Our martial aunts and senior sisters are just ahead," Dong Yan said happily.
"Then let's hurry over!" Huang Xiao said with a smile.
Sure enough, after the three of them walked for a little over a quarter of an hour, Huang Xiao spotted quite a few people sitting in a clearing ahead. They were all women, and every one of them was beautiful. Even the older ones looked only thirty or so, their mature charms giving them a different air from women like Dong Yan. However, only two of them seemed to be dressed as married women. As for those two women's actual ages, Huang Xiao felt certain they were older than thirty. The rest were around Dong Yan's age and