The two no longer spoke. Apart from their footsteps, only the rustling of wind through the leaves could be heard.
After they had walked more than four thousand zhang through the woods, a thatched cottage appeared before Li Yan.
The lower half of the cottage was built from horizontal logs, while a thick layer of thatch covered its roof, with a few banana leaves scattered over it.
From the outside, the cottage appeared to be only a dozen or so zhang across. It stood alone and silent amid the woods.
Aside from a few insect calls, there was nothing around it but the stone path Li Yan and his companion had followed here. It resembled a solitary grave in the night.
The stone path ended abruptly at the door, as though this were the final stop for those paying their respects...
Li Yan had already seen all this with his divine sense. That was why he had found Donglin Tingyue's younger male cousin somewhat strange, though such things were hardly unusual among cultivators.
He was merely a little surprised. He also noticed that there were no formations or restrictions in the surrounding area; only the thatched cottage itself gave off fluctuations from a layer of formation restrictions.
When they were still a short distance from the cottage, Donglin Tingyue stopped and turned to look at Li Yan solemnly.
In the moonlight filtering through the trees, his silver mask gleamed with a rich metallic sheen, making him look all the more mysterious and otherworldly.
"Fellow Daoist Li, from this moment until we leave these woods, you must not reveal a single thing you see here!"
Seeing his solemn expression, Li Yan nodded silently.
Donglin Tingyue strode toward the cottage again on his long legs. Soon reaching its entrance, he gently raised