The white cloud scattered.

The Clear-Moon treasure ship set Shen Yi and Li Qingfeng down at the Nanyang Sect.

Liu Qianyun cupped her hands in farewell,

then turned the ship and shot away toward the Clear-Moon Sect.

The outing was supposed to have broadened Shen Yi's horizons. In the end it was hers that had been opened.

Even at parting he had never once brought up the reason for any of it.

That could mean only one thing.

Shen Yi had a keen sense of where the lines lay. He had no intention of loading his own quarrels onto the Clear-Moon Sect on the strength of an alliance; nor, for all her father's goodwill, had he volunteered a single request.

If killing the Bihai toad had proved his strength,

then holding the doorkeeper deer in advance proved how meticulous he was, and that his work was watertight.

Still…

Liu Qianyun put the ship away, entered the Clear-Moon inner gate, and came to the bamboo house.

With a slight headache coming on.

She knocked, went in, came up beside her father and said quietly, "Elder Liu. I'm back."

The stern middle-aged man stood straight-backed, one hand behind him, tracing a crescent moon on paper with the tip of his brush. "Well? Is he settling in?"

Young men who rose out of nothing like that took the outside world badly, as a rule. The fall in standing could be enormous.

Once the strong man everyone crowded around; suddenly no different from anybody else — and one careless moment could see the Dao-heart give way.

Remembering how Shen Yi had conducted himself, Liu Qianyun smacked her lips. "Rather better than the elder imagines, perhaps…"

"Oh?"

Elder Liu set down the brush and pointed at the chair in front of the desk, with some interest. "Sit down and tell it slowly."

"……"

Liu Qianyun knew the rigid old man's temper well. That gesture meant what followed was no longer official business, so she relaxed a good deal — went straight to the desk, sat down, picked up his teapot, poured herself a cup of…