"Grandmaster Shen, this way please."

The gatekeeper waved an idle hand, leading the way ahead. Apart from asking after a surname, he'd asked, of all things, nothing else at all.

Xu Wanyun stood with her hands behind her, a cobblestone hidden in her broad sleeve. "I feel something's off."

"Off where?" Aqing followed obediently behind.

"We came in the guise of rogue cultivators. If the Zheng family had any intention of recruiting, how could they not care in the least where we come from, and just let us in straightaway?"

Xu Wanyun walked slowly beside Shen Yi.

"Yet we still went in," Aqing said, looking all around.

"Who knows about him — looks silent and few of words, dull-witted, probably some fledgling green melon fresh from the nest."

Xu Wanyun voice-transmitted through the cobblestone even as she smiled at Shen Yi. Only, the young man merely shot her a bland glance.

"Tch, arrogant, too."

Xu Wanyun pursed her lips and withdrew her gaze, only to hear Aqing say warily, "Actually Big Brother Shen's temper is already very good."

"What do you mean?" Xu Wanyun's steps stalled slightly. As though recalling something, her expression suddenly went strange. "You gave him the voice-transmission stone too?"

"I did..."

Hearing Aqing's reply, Xu Wanyun at once went taut all over in embarrassment. "That's not what I meant."

But Shen Yi had already followed the gatekeeper into a side hall.

Only three people sat within. Discovering someone had entered, they didn't even make to rise in welcome. The eldest among them wore a dark-green long coat, faint black spots on his withered neck, both hands hidden in his broad sleeves, looking utterly deathly-still.

"This is my Zheng family's Second Granduncle, the family head's own younger brother."

The gatekeeper introduced him respectfully, then added, "This is Grandmaster Shen, come from outside."

"Please, sit."

The Zheng family's Second Granduncle lifted his eyes calmly, and the other two likewise looked toward the young man together.

Shen Yi nodded slightly, then took his seat quietly. Observing his manner, the several exchanged a glance, something odd flickering in their eyes.