In another part of the Hei Dian Sect, Elder Shan was pacing up and down in his room. Grandmaster Shen hadn’t given him a task officially but he still felt like he was supposed to find out more about that new disciple and his lover. After all, the Grandmaster had seemed quite interested in this person but the amount of information he had been able to provide him with was pitiful. He had to make up for that!

He called his youngest disciple over and sat down, trying to look like a dignified Elder. "Li’er, I have a mission for you. It’s not that hard but very important to our Hei Dian Sect. Yesterday, two new disciples arrived here. We need as much information about them as possible, preferably without them knowing."

There wasn’t the slightest ripple in Xiao Li’s eyes when he inclined his head as if this task was nothing in his eyes. He still sounded respectful when he answered though. "Yes. I’ll take care of it, Master."

"Good. I know I can count on you. The only information I can give you is that they are lovers and one of them seems to be called Qiu Ling. You’ll have to find out everything else by yourself."

"Qiu Ling?" The disciple tilted his head and frowned. It couldn’t be … No, this had to be a coincidence.

Elder Shan raised his brows. "Oh? Have you heard of him?"

"No, probably not. I just felt that … this name sounded a bit familiar."

Elder Shan frowned. The Grandmaster had said the same thing. That certainly wasn’t a coincidence. "Then maybe you should start from there."

"Mn." The disciple nodded. "Then I’ll take my leave."

"Do that." Elder Shan waved him away and continued to ponder. There had to be something special about that person if two people felt like they had heard the name before. Could it be that he had been a famous wandering practitioner before? Ah, no, he probably wasn’t just a practitioner but also a cultivator. After all, he had used his spiritual energy to attack him back in the hall.

Yes, a double practitioner would naturally become famous. They were rare after all. No matter what stage they reached in the end, people would start paying attention to them early on. And if the person’s skills were as high as those of this disciple, it wasn’t a surprise that even the Grandmaster had heard about that person. Thinking of it this way, Elder Shan couldn’t say that he was surprised anymore.

Meanwhile, his disciple Xiao Li had already gone to the Hei Dian Sect’s entrance to inquire about Qiu Ling and Jing Yi. Since Elder Shan had said that the two had arrived yesterday, he figured that this was the first place where he could find some information even if it was only a description of them so he could look for them.

He hadn’t expected much but upon hearing what the disciples standing guard there had to say, he raised a brow in surprise. "So, he actually attacked you?" Xiao Li examined the two disciples in front of him. He didn’t look particularly worried about the fact that someone had attacked the guarding disciples right after asking to become a disciple himself. In fact, it could be said that he looked somewhat intrigued by the idea.

The two disciples didn’t notice though and just started venting their anger. "Yes! He actually chained us to the fucking ground. We were only freed when the others came to take over in the morning. What if there had been an attack that day?"

"Yeah! That guy is too irresponsible! How could they make him a disciple? He’ll just bring bad luck."

Xiao Li didn’t seem to hear their anger. "Is there anything else you noticed?"

The disciples grumbled when they noticed that Xiao Li didn’t care about their plight. "What’s there to notice? We hadn’t seen them before. They just came up to us, attacked us, and marched right in. Both were wearing black robes and the taller guy seemed quite strong."

"Oh. It seems like they were lovers."

"I see." Xiao Li ignored the two, turned around, and searched for the disciples that had been guarding on the inside. Unfortunately, those two also couldn’t tell him anything. Now, how was he supposed to find this guy?

Yes, while he wouldn’t mind finding out a bit about his lover, he was mostly interested in Qiu Ling. He stepped to the side and crossed his arms, pondering.

At the very least, he had to find out if that new disciple 'Qiu Ling' was indeed the person he was thinking of it. If he was … Xiao Li’s face lit up when he thought of that as if he could already see a splendid future for himself.

Ah, if I provide His Majesty with this information, then he would certainly let me leave this god-forsaken place. Returning home wouldn’t be impossible anymore, even being rewarded past that might not be far-fetched if I can tell him more than that.

But how to find out? There weren’t any leads he could follow and just a guess wasn’t enough to report to his king. Xiao Li frowned. He knew next to nothing. If he turned out to be wrong after he had reported, he would never get another chance. His king wasn’t that forgiving. No, he had to make sure that it was indeed the right person. Seeing him might be enough to make sure. But where to find him?

Xiao Li suddenly jerked. Right! That so-called Master of his wouldn’t have given him the task of finding out more if the sect wasn’t valuing that person’s talent. Thus, they would certainly provide him and his lover with the best accommodation. The most likely ones were those buildings not far from Elder Shan’s own house. They would sooner or later return there. So, if he just waited close by then he would be able to see him with his own eyes.