Ning Chen turned his head and looked at Zisu. "Your master and Tao Xiuwu know one another?"

Zisu lowered her voice. "I am not certain either... But I heard the name Tao Xiuwu from my master a long time ago."

"Years ago my master was roaming the four seas, and he helped Tao Xiuwu. That half prescription for the Nine Yang Decoction for Nourishing the Source that I have was a gift from Tao Xiuwu to my master."

"My master once said that Tao Xiuwu and the Elder Lingxuzi of the Daoist school are the same kind of man... Perhaps he understands the breathing arts."

Ning Chen's eyes lit slightly.

"But he does not seem to know you."

Zisu was speechless. "When my master met Tao Xiuwu, my master was not yet my master... I only heard about all this later."

Ning Chen's gaze flickered. "Are you certain the man your master helped was this Tao Xiuwu, and not somebody else of the same name?"

Zisu said quietly, "Ask and we will know, won't we? If it is, we stay. If it is not, we go."

Ning Chen inclined his head slightly, turned back to Tao Xiuwu and asked, "Does the venerable Tao know Shang Lu, the Physician Immortal?"

Tao Xiuwu was startled. "What is he to you?"

From Tao Xiuwu's reaction, Ning Chen had his answer.

"So you do know the Elder Shang Lu." Ning Chen stepped aside and pointed at Zisu. "Her name is Zisu. She is my woman, and she is the Elder Shang Lu's only disciple."

Shock filled Tao Xiuwu's face. He came forward a few steps and looked Zisu over.

Zisu made a graceful bow. "Zisu greets the venerable Tao."

The shock on Tao Xiuwu's face turned to excitement. "Good. Very good... I never thought he had left a successor behind him."

"Years ago your master saved this old man's life... Did your master ever speak of me to you?"

Zisu nodded. "The old gentleman spoke of you often."

Tao Xiuwu suddenly burst out laughing.

"You little thing, picking out nothing but the pleasant things…