"Xu Zheng."
"At your service."
"Show Fellow Daoist Lin that intelligence report."
"Yes."
Xu Zheng slung his long saber behind his back and summoned a letter into his palm. His dark eyes fixed on Lin Qiao as he walked slowly toward her.
He had taken only a few steps when Ming Fang stepped into his path with a smile. "Sorry for the trouble, Fellow Daoist. You can give it to me."
Xu Zheng turned his gaze to the Buddhist cultivator from Kudhan Temple. Not a trace of emotion showed on his stern face.
After a brief exchange of looks, Xu Zheng said nothing more and handed over the envelope.
Ming Fang accepted it without betraying a thing. In that single handoff, the two completed their first test of each other.
Xu Zheng shattered a slender ray of Buddhist light that had pierced his body with his saber intent, then returned to Bai Yu's side.
With a turn of his hand, Ming Fang wiped the keen edge from the envelope and passed it to Lin Qiao.
Their brief exchange had left them evenly matched.
"How was he?"
Once Xu Zheng was back behind him, Bai Yu asked through Thought Transmission.
Xu Zheng's manner of speaking was as cold as his unsmiling face. To Bai Yu's question, he gave only two words: "Can kill."
"Come now. We're allies against a common enemy. That's an unlucky thing to say."
Bai Yu offered the reminder, then asked, "If you held back from killing him, could you handle him?"
This time, Xu Zheng did not answer at once. After a moment's thought, he said one word: "Difficult."
"Oh? If even you would find it difficult, that little monk must have some ability. No wonder Lin Qiao keeps him by her side."
With that, Bai Yu