The next day, just after morning practice, the second Patrol returned.
Yinling was not particularly large. Even crossing it on horseback would take no more than a few days. The only things keeping the Patrols from returning swiftly were the urgent matters they had in hand.
This cultivator was named Li Jingxi. He was tall and at the Grain Avoidance Realm.
His arrival gave the two junior Foundation Cultivation cultivators someone to look to. He was their senior brother, after all, so of course they would follow his lead in everything. Yet Hou Niao saw no sign of this senior brother taking any action. Yao He had at least known to get some medicinal herbs for their fellow disciples at the Town Office. This senior brother, however, had started drinking with Yao He as soon as he returned. In his words:
"Those people? Better off dead!"
That was the Patrols' attitude. They utterly despised these fellow disciples who stayed holed up like turtles in Fang Family Fort. Coupled with their own bluntness and lack of social graces, such an attitude was perfectly normal-and was also why they had been sent here.
Another day passed. That evening, all seven Patrols besides Hou Niao were present. Surprisingly, the last to return was Patrol Envoy Xiang Zhiwen. His leisurely manner made it easy to understand the indifferent behavior of the Patrols under him.
The rift was stark, which was hardly a good thing for a sect. But perhaps it was simply most obvious here in Yinling? After all, it was a fact that this place had more than its share of troublemakers.
Xiang Zhiwen went off to see Town Office Guo, while Yao He introduced Hou Niao to everyone downstairs. The reception was somewhat cool, without the warmth he might have imagined. Hou