"Fine then. The Illusory Sky Sea Market is about to end as well. Qiu is leaving too."
"Why not travel together, Fellow Daoist Long?"
"Qiu bought several life-saving items here. Though the Sea Market has many treasures, my purse is empty and my sleeves are stretched thin. I cannot compare to those Fellow Daoists from the great sects."
Qiu Xiao Zi let out a long sigh, a smile hanging on his face without the slightest hint of anything amiss.
Qin Ming immediately frowned at this. He had planned to return to the Spirit Mist Sect. If he left with the other man, would that not expose him?
Thus, he directly declined. "Long still has important matters to attend to. I fear I cannot travel the same road as Fellow Daoist Qiu."
"Since that is the case, mountains and rivers will bring us together again. Let us part here." Qiu Xiao Zi froze briefly before offering a cupped fist salute.
Qin Ming nodded and returned the salute, then immediately left the Illusory Sky Market. He did not fly in the direction of the sect. Instead, he headed for a nearby immortal cultivation city, intending to purchase some supplementary materials for pill refinement.
He had previously thought Qiu Xiao Zi rather warm and hospitable, answering all sorts of his questions along the way.
Yet after what had just happened, the man's enthusiasm seemed a little excessive.
He had even wanted to travel alongside him in the end, which clearly exceeded the friendship of chance acquaintances.
It made Qin Ming sense that something was wrong, so he did not hurry back to the Spirit Mist Sect.
Just after Qin Ming left.
The bustling Illusory Sky Sea Market came to an end, and the heavenly phenomena above the lake's central island vanished with it.