"Where's Yuan Tou?"

Ye Xiaotian was obviously nearing his limit, yet the two portals didn't show any signs of wavering at all, even though he'd been holding them for quite a long time.

​​

Xu Xiaoshou saw everyone looking at him and simply shrugged indifferently. "How should I know? Maybe he's lost, that guy…"

He and Yuan Tou had never been on good terms to being with, and everyone knew that, so his response was expected.

Qiao Qianzhi glanced at him suspiciously, but said nothing else in the end.

There was no evidence confirming if Yuan Tou was truly dead, yet as one of the veterans from the Inner Yard, there was no way he hadn't sensed the changes inside the Tianxuan Gate.

His not having appeared at that moment itself already said that there was a problem.

"How about…"

"We'll wait a little longer." Ye Xiaotian cut Qiao Qianzhi off. He severed the portal linking the Slaughter Cape and devoted his powers to maintaining the other portal.

Xu Xiaoshou shrugged indifferently again. There was no way he would say more to that.

He had already given that fellow an opportunity, and it had nothing to do with him and that man had been unable to seize it.

It was rather unfortunate that the dean's efforts would definitely end up wasted, getting nothing in return.

"That, umm..."

Xu Xiaoshou wanted to say something, but hesitated.

He actually wanted to check on Zhou Tianshen's injuries, but the man was surrounded by those men in black at the pavilion. He could tell that Zhou Tianshen's injuries weren't fatal, but the man was still unconscious.

It became apparent that Jie's attack was something that no one without Master Physique would be able to withstand.

As for the pavilion…

Everyone else who'd been inside the Tianxuan Gate before and had already emerged were there but him.

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the pavilion and was able to tell with his Sense that the place was at the center of the peripheral vision of the hundreds of men in black.

If there was a reason for this, it had to be due to Luo Leilei being among them.

It was a given that there might be other spies hanging around.

"Seems like those old dudes in the spirit palace weren't blind after all," he thought. "They just couldn't let a spy do as they pleased in the Tianxuan Gate.

"I guess they've made a lot of preparations elsewhere, too, besides just this place."

Xu Xiaoshou couldn't help but recall that absurd counterattack back in his place at the Outer Yard that one night.

He'd jumped here and there right under the noses of hundreds of law enforcers out there, even though he thought he'd been clever enough with handling both Feng Kong and Shao Yi and that no one knew what he'd been doing.

"D*mn it…" he thought.

"Looking back on it now, that was as awkward as could be.

"Those old dudes sure know how to play the big game without alerting anyone…"

"If there's nothing else, I'll head back to my place to reinforce my training, then?" Xu Xiaoshou asked in a roundabout manner.

Shaking his head, Qiao Qianzhi unreservedly retorted, "Head to the pavilion, and stay put."

Despite being one of Elder Sang's disciples, it still wasn't the time for breaking rules. After all, he'd probably contributed to that ruckus happening in the Tianxuan Gate.

Anyone suspected of being a spy wasn't allowed to leave at that moment.

Xu Xiaoshou touched the metal ball before his chest. He didn't mind staying around. He was only concerned if Jie would get him busted for talking when it shouldn't talk.

If someone were to search him, they would find four world-stabilizing treasures on his person, and there would be a world of trouble for him if that happened.

He would be deemed the very culprit who had almost ended up collapsing the Tianxuan Gate.

While that had never been his intention, it would be impossible to clear his name if that happened.

He took a deep breath and, finding no other excuse he could use to slip away from the place with, simply said exasperatedly, "My stomach hurts…"

Doubted, Passive Points +472.

He was hoisted to the pavilion after racking up quite a bit of Passive Points.

…

There were four stone benches on the pavilion, and Zhou Tianshen alone took up an entire bench.

The rest of the spots were well-allocated. Mu Zixi and Mo Mo sat together, three people whose names he didn't know sat together, Luo Leilei was on the other side, and Zhao Qingteng, who was being rather restless, was sitting right across from her.

"Xu Xiaoshou." Mu Zixi patted the spot next to her, motioning for him to come and sit down.

Xu Xiaoshou went on to sit between Luo Leilei and Zhao Qingteng without a care instead.

Cursed, Passive Points +2.

Hmph! The girl flicked her pigtails, and, fuming, turned her head aside.

Xu Xiaoshou thought it was quite amusing. "Man, this brat really is too much. Is she really getting jealous over a seat here?"

He turned to look at Luo Leilei, who was sitting all prim and proper. While tension wasn't written all over her face, one could tell how tense she was by how tightly her hands were clenching her dress.

Xu Xiaoshou inched closer to her.

"What?" Luo Leilei tilted her head and glared at him.

"You're being rather obvious…" The young man smirked.

Luo Leilei followed his gaze to her hands, and casually loosened her grip.

She switched to telepathy: "The Black Scabbard isn't on me. You should be worried about yourself instead."

"I'm not buying that you didn't do anything else during the day after that," Xu Xiaoshou retorted, feeling amused.

Luo Leilei's eyes darted about, and she was feeling rather flustered as she said in an angry tone of voice, "Don't you know how to do telepathy? What are you doing being so loud? Do you have a death wish or something?"

"I don't know telepathy."

Luo Leilei was speechless.

Cursed, Passive Points +1.

She then threw a jade scroll at him. He grabbed hold of it and took a look at it before putting it away, feeling a headache coming on.

"This is rather difficult."

"…"

Luo Leilei couldn't believe her ears.

That man before her, who was capable of developing Innate Sword Will, was actually finding telepathy, which everyone knew how to do, "rather difficult."

Doubted, Passive Points +1.

She was silent.

Since he was incapable of telepathy, and given how many pairs of ears there were around them, she saw no need to continue talking to him.

The pavilion was all quiet after the two of them stopped talking.

It was even more so outside. Hundreds of people were around, and yet the only thing that could be heard was the sound of breathing. Everyone was paying attention to the sweat dripping from Ye Xiaotian's chin.

They wondered if the tenth person would emerge.

Xu Xiaoshou took a look at the jade scroll again but found that he was still incapable of learning it. Troubled, he looked into the distance.

The old pagoda tree was right ahead. The tree stayed lush throughout the seasons.

There was a nest of mystic sparrows on the tree. All the perceptive ones had left, leaving only one with a broken leg behind. That bird wanted to fly, yet was unable to do so under such a tense atmosphere.

"A caged bird unable to fly anymore."

Xu Xiaoshou watched for quite a while, a rather dazed expression on his face.

Luo Leilei was stunned. She followed his gaze, and, seeing the struggling bird, smirked.

The kid was incapable of telepathy, which meant there was no stopping him from yapping away.

"What do you mean 'caged'?" she asked exasperatedly.

"That tree's crown with lots of openings might as well be airtight to that bird now."

Luo Leilei rolled her eyes. She knew exactly what he meant with that line.

"If the bird really wanted to leave, it could simply spread its wings to do so," he said. "When push comes to shove, it could at least leave the crown by hopping on just one leg."

Xu Xiaoshou paused for quite a while before adding, "The mantis preys on the cicada, not knowing that the sparrow is right behind it. The sparrow's leg is broken, and it's the hunter's turn to salivate."

Luo Leilei was aghast.

Cursed, Passive Points +1.

The girl was already as flustered as she could be, and what Xu Xiaoshou just said was tantamount to pushing her over the edge, and she decided not to talk to him anymore.

Luo Leilei knew how much of a blabbermouth Xu Xiaoshou could be from back in the Tianxuan Gate. Her last psychological defense would crumble if she kept talking to him.

It was all silent again, and the young man by her side eventually turned his gaze from the tree back to her before sighing and lowering his head.

The pavilion was apparently rather old. There were cracks in the flooring, and several ants were seen dragging a dead body of a mosquito several times their size as they went on their way.

"It's probably gonna rain tomorrow…"

Luo Leilei was stunned again, and looked down, yet she was unable to tell where the voice had come from.

"What?"

"Haven't you heard that before? When the ants rush to move their lair, a heavy rain comes the next day that follows."

Luo Leilei's eyelids twitched. "What's all that nonsense?"

Sigh…

Xu Xiaoshou sighed all of a sudden and shook his head as he watched the exceptionally strong insects gradually disappear inside the cracks.

"It's a pity. Regardless of how strong the ants are, there's no way for them to fly, and they'll

eventually head into darkness all the same."

"The h*ll…" Luo Leilei thought. She was so furious she felt as if her veins were popping out of her skin and that her liver was about to explode.

"Xu Xiaoshou, could you just stop yapping for a moment!" she yelled.

Requested, Passive Points +1.

The girl by his side immediately stood up as he opened his mouth, then walked with great strides to Mu Zixi and sat by her side.

"Umm…"

"Shut up!"

Luo Lei glared at him so intensely that she felt like her eyeballs were going to pop out.

Xu Xiaoshou was flabbergasted.

"What?" he thought. "Couldn't we just have a nice chat, eh? It's not like you have long to live. I was just worried you'd be lonely!

"Gosh, this is what you do to people who are nice to you, eh…"

Crack!

Ye Xiaotian had finally reached his limit. The portal cracked and eventually shattered into specks of light.

Xu Xiaoshou smirked. That meant that Yuan Tou had succeeded in getting himself lost.

Dejection was seen in everyone's eyes, yet all of them moved at the same time, inadvertently scanning the pavilion as if they were expecting something.

Xu Xiaoshou shook his head a little and grinned.

"The show's about to start."