A young Daoist came running in a panic from the distance. In his haste, he tripped over a stone underfoot and stumbled several steps before regaining his balance.
He dropped straight to his knees before Zhang Zhiwei, trembling all over, his voice thick with tears.
"Grandmaster, Second Grandmaster, he... he..."
Zhang Zhiwei's gaze flickered slightly.
He looked at the young Daoist kneeling on the ground, his eyes as still as stagnant water, his voice devoid of any inflection:
"What happened to Old Tian?"
"Second Grandmaster, Second Grandmaster, he... he was murdered!"
Tears spilled from the young Daoist's eyes. He prostrated himself, pressing his forehead to the ground, not daring to look up.
Zhang Zhiwei said nothing.
He stood there, the night wind whipping his loose Daoist robes. He gave an almost imperceptible sigh.
"Take me there."
By then, quite a few people had gathered outside Tian Jinzhong's room. Many disciples of the Celestial Master Mansion were wiping away tears and sobbing. The air seemed to have frozen.
Xu San and Xu Si from Nadou Tong stood farther out. Zhang Chulan walked through the doorway and saw Tian Jinzhong with his head hanging down. That grandmaster of his...
Had gone to sleep forever.
Zhang Chulan's heart sank.
An indescribable tangle of emotions congealed in his throat, choking him, his eyes filled with sorrow.
Tian Jinzhong, a senior ritual elder of Mount Longhu, the Old Celestial Master's junior brother and his grandfather's senior brother, had also taken good care of him during his days on Mount Longhu.
Although Zhang Chulan had only met him a few times, he knew that his crippling had definitely been connected to his own grandfather.
Behind him, Feng Baobao still held the string of Precious Beads Lu You had given her. She tilted her head at