Jiang Chen waved. “Sectmistress, take care.”

Han Shuang watched him disappear from her view, a myriad of emotions flashing through her eyes. A touch of soft fragility eventually broke through her usual stubbornness. She gently bit down on her lip, reining in her tears.

She stomped her foot to motivate herself. “I, Han Shuang, will accomplish my grand goal. I will prove it to him!”

Burning with ironclad resolve, she shot forward and entered the tunnel without a backward glance.

Jiang Chen’s emotions also threatened to get the better of him. It wasn’t until he reached solid ground again that he finally regained his composure.

“Fair winds, Sectmistress Han! When my father sees the Measure of Heaven in your possession, he’ll certainly look after you.”

Grabbing ahold of himself, he returned to Fiendstar.

The entire sect was upside down. Beside themselves with dismay, Elder Ge and Elder Xu were anxiously hunting for their sectmistress. They’d been shocked senseless to find her missing on the eve of departure.

How could they not be? What a gathering was the grand godking conference? What an honor it was to meet the celestial emperor?

How could their sectmistress have gone missing at such a crucial moment??

Like madmen, the two elders and other core sect members left no stone unturned in their search.

But after pooling together all the available information, they realized with astonishment it’d been months since she’d been last spotted.

In other words, she’d gone dark a long time ago so that her vanishing act wouldn’t be immediately noticed.

Elder Xu asked with a grim expression, “Old Ge, I hear Elder Zhen Junior’s also missing?”

“Did you check?” Elder Xu inquired.

“I went to his quarters while looking for the sectmistress, but no one answered me.”

“What about Elder Zhen Senior? Is he also away?” asked Elder Xu.

“Him? When has he ever been here?” Elder Ge grumbled, jeering, “Other than the competition, I’ve never once spotted his shadow after he joined!”

Elder Xu suddenly lowered his voice. “Say, don’t you think the sectmistress might have... eloped with Elder Zhen Junior?”

“Can’t be... would she give up on our sect’s abundant riches? Or turn her nose up at an audience with His Majesty?” Elder Ge sounded skeptical.

“Who knows? What do they call it? Fornication! When the fires of passion burn, nothing else matters.” Elder Xu pronounced, as if well versed in that domain.

Elder Ge shook his head. “Unlikely, if you ask me. Let’s say there’s a dalliance between them. Why do they need to give us the slip? Who’d oppose them?”

Elder Xu couldn’t argue against that implacable logic. His theory was to be stillborn, it seemed.

“True, but I smell something between them regardless. I’ve seen her visit his place more than once. And often late at night at that.” Elder Xu sounded a little sullen.

“Hehe, Old Xu, is that jealousy I hear?” Elder Ge cackled.

“Me, jealous? What the hell! She’s the previous sectmaster’s widow. To be involved with her would be cuckolding him.”

“Err, in that cas—” All of a sudden, Elder Ge’s face turned quite queer. His tune snapped snapped to righteousness. “Old Xu, cease your slander this instant! Elder Zhen is a man of principle. You can tell from his upstanding bearing. While our sectmistress looks brash on the surface, she’s in fact very conservative. I assure you there’s nothing between them. Sect dignitaries like us shouldn’t be talking out of turn and fling around baseless accusations.”

Elder Xu froze. What’s come over him out of the blue? His mind’s always in the gutter, since when did he start preaching about morality?

But he quickly came to his senses. Something fishy was up.

He turned on a hunch, and saw Elder Zhen Junior about eight meters behind them, staring at them with a supercilious smile. Cold sweat immediately drenched his back.

What goes around really comes around.

He hadn’t expected to be overheard as soon as he’d started wagging his tongue. Damn Old Ge, he’s posing as the good guy while tossing all the dirt my way!

The two disaffected elders might have been gossiping just moments prior, but they were in fact deathly afraid of Jiang Chen and his uncle.

The pair was too strong to keep in check and the sectmistress held them in high esteem. They weren’t to be trifled with, yet Elder Xu had been caught red-handed. Someone just kill me already.

“Heh, Elder Zhen Junior, long time no see,” Elder Ge welcomed with a warm smile.

Elder Xu was a little more awkward in his greeting. “Elder Zhen Junior, we were merely joking, please don’t take it to heart. You’re an honorable man and the sectmistress a noble and chaste lady.”

Under ordinary circumstances, Jiang Chen would’ve sent the duo flying with a slap each, but with the godking conference soon upon them, it was wiser to cut them some slack.

“Do you know how late it is? What’s all this commotion?” he admonished with a frown.

“Err, Elder Zhen Junior, do you know where the sectmistress is? We’re setting off tomorrow, so she should be convening us tonight and delegating duties to those left. But she’s nowhere to be seen,” Elder Xu hurried out.

“The sectmistress?” Jiang Chen smiled indifferently. “She met a setback in her cultivation a few months ago, so she left to seclude herself somewhere. She probably won’t make it back in time.”

“Ah? In that case, what are we supposed to do about tomorrow?” The two elders blinked.

“Before she left, she insisted I take charge of our contingent. Other than her, we’ll be taking the same people with us. Alright, it’s the dead of the night, so all of you go to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

No one to waste his breath, the young lord stalked away without further ado, leaving them to stare after him.

The two elders looked at one another. They hadn’t fully processed the information yet. Sectmistress Han had gone into seclusion? Why at such an important time? Couldn’t she have waited a little longer?

Both of them were full of questions, but they couldn’t pester Jiang Chen and question him like a criminal. They could only swallow their doubts. Fortunately, Han Shuang’s absence had little impact on their participation in the conference.