"I've been doing that all along, senior. Over these years, within the limits of my abilities, I dare say no Anhe Daoist has done more than I have!"
Hou Niao had every right to say this, because it was the truth. Whether he liked it or not, he had spent all these years entangled with the Wu Sect, and reconciliation was already impossible.
Xiao True Person smiled. "I know. I know it all. From the Southwest Dao Discussion to wiping out the pirate forces backed by the Wu Sect in the Lizhi Sea, no Heaven-Connecting Realm cultivator has done better than you.
"That's precisely why I didn't contact you. Since you were doing so well, why burden you further? Why leave you living in constant dread?"
He held out a hand. "Where's the tea?"
Hou Niao gave a sheepish smile. "No tea, only wine..."
Xiao True Person shook his head. "So you still want to raise your sword and hack me down. But that's fair enough. Without that temperament of yours, you couldn't have accomplished these great deeds. Troubled times are the stage for people like you."
He accepted the wine and took a sip. "Originally, I was thinking of leaving things as they were, pretending I knew nothing and letting you become the Wu Sect's bane. With Shanmen Quanzhen backing you, the higher you climbed, the more the Wu Sect would suffer, while I could sit behind the scenes and enjoy the fruits of your labor...
"But I never expected to run into you here. Was this heaven's will?"
Hou Niao listened quietly. He needed to make an accurate judgment of everything before him. He knew very well what sort of person sat opposite him: an old monster several hundred years old, someone who could not simply be classified