Back in the palace, Grandmaster Shen turned toward Elder Shan who was standing in the doorway, shaking like a leaf.

In all his years as an Elder of the Hei Dian Sect, he had never seen such a disciple! No, it should be said that he had never seen such a daring person. Who had the guts to talk to the Grandmaster like that? Even seeing how the Grandmaster was looking at him right now elicited the urge to flee in Elder Shan.

"Elder Shan." The Grandmaster narrowed his eyes while looking at the doorway. He had to make sure that he didn’t miss out on this opportunity. "What do you know about this new disciple?"

"Uh, that … not … not much, Grandmaster."

"Mn?" Shen An De slightly arched his brows.

The Elder’s shaking got worse. As amicable as the Grandmaster looked, those who were old enough knew that he could be downright demonic if you got on his bad side. Elder Shan was old enough to have seen his fair share of how the Grandmaster paid back grudges. "Well, he only arrived yesterday. As I’ve said before I didn’t have the time to ask anything. He brought his lover with him and asked where they would stay almost immediately. I didn’t dare keep him back in case he really is as talented as he seemed."

"You said he was a practitioner?"

"Indeed and a highly-talented one at that. At least it seemed that way when he demonstrated his strength yesterday."

Grandmaster Shen nodded slowly and pensively tapped his knee. Although he hadn’t seen this disciple in action yet he had also thought that he was pretty good. At least he had had that aura about him that a lot of highly-talented practitioners shared.

Mn. Looking at it that way, it probably wasn’t surprising that this man might have something to do with his sister-in-law’s memory loss. At least he would have the power to erase her memory. Then again, he shouldn’t have any reason to. Moreover, he hadn’t seemed like he knew that Hong Bao had lost her memory. Instead, it seemed like he carried a grudge against her because she had tried to kill someone. That person … could it be the lover Elder Shan had mentioned?

Grandmaster Shen looked at the Elder again. "That lover of his, what do you know about him?"

Elder Shan shifted on the spot. Now that the Grandmaster seemed to have taken an interest in this matter, he really felt like kicking himself. Why hadn’t he tried to pry for more information yesterday or asked some simple questions on the way to the Grandmaster’s palace? "There isn’t much to say about him. He seemed to be about sixteen or seventeen years of age but he had only attained the seed stage. There was nothing remarkable about him."

"Then what did you think about their relationship? Did they seem close?"

Elder Shan nodded. "As I said the first thing he asked about after being admitted to the sect were the dwellings. I thought they would be preoccupied for a few hours so I didn’t bring him over yesterday. Who knew that they would still be busy with each other when I came by this morning?"

Grandmaster Shen raised his brows. If that was the case, this should really have to do with his lover. He couldn’t imagine why his sister-in-law would try to kill someone like that but that seemed to be the most likely case. "Was there anything else you noticed? Any details about them?"

Elder Shan pondered everything that had happened since Qiu Ling and Jing Yi arrived at the sect grounds. It didn’t seem like he had forgotten to tell the Grandmaster anything. There were just the details of what these two had done in the morning and the Grandmaster certainly wouldn’t want to know about that. "Ah! There is one thing! I don’t know if it will help though. His lover called him Qiu Ling."

"Qiu Ling?" Grandmaster Shen frowned. He felt like he had heard that name before. He just couldn’t remember where.

"Indeed. I’m sure that it was Qiu Ling." Elder Shan nervously stood in the doorway and looked up at the Grandmaster. He really didn’t know what to say more than that. That new disciple hadn’t been exactly forthcoming. In fact, it wouldn’t have been wrong to say that he had only mentioned what was required. This was probably the most difficult disciple he had ever encountered in his life.

Grandmaster Shen nodded. "I see. You may go now. If you see him again —"

Before he could finish, a black-robed figure dashed into the hall, the expression on his face just as grim as before. This time, he even held a sword in his hand and he looked like he was going to use it any moment now.

"Where did you bring him?!" Qiu Ling was fuming with anger. That bastard had actually managed to separate him and his beloved. He had to find him now before they could do anything to him. Rather than searching for Jing He himself, it would be much faster to just have this guy spill the beans directly.

Grandmaster Shen raised his brows once more and stood up. He was a patient man but he wouldn’t tolerate someone waving a sword in the palace where he lived with his family. "I don’t mind fighting you but wouldn’t you think it better to talk this through instead?"

"Hmph. What is there to talk about? You kidnapped my Jing He! You’d better tell me now where you brought him or I don’t mind trashing this whole place!" He stared at the Grandmaster and gripped his weapon tighter. He certainly wouldn’t allow anyone to harm his Jing He! This guy had chosen the wrong opponent.

Grandmaster Shen took out his own sword from his spatial bag. He didn’t see any reason to fight this disciple but he didn’t mind testing how talented he really was. "Well then, let’s see if you are strong enough to demand an answer from me."

Qiu Ling didn’t wait for his opponent to make a move. He dashed forward and brandished his sword while he called onto the wind at the same time. His thoughts were with his beloved though. Just wait for me, Jing He, your fiance will soon be at your side again!

He had no idea that his fiance was waiting for him on the other side of the chasm. Exactly like Jing Yi had no idea that his wish of Qiu Ling raising a fuss would be fulfilled in this way.