"Elder, may I ask."
"During the year or more that I was 'in seclusion', have you heard of the Ghost Mother Cult? Or any bandit organization?"
"Ghost Mother Cult?" Lao Yingtian was surprised; isn't this the remnant organization from the elder's story? How did it end up here? "I haven't heard of any Ghost Mother Cult, bandits...
This, though, there are some. I've heard that in the northwest, the bandit problem has been quite severe for the past year, several sects' treasure houses have been robbed, the bandits are formidable, and even the bloodstone tax collected by the higher sects can't be gathered. They're sending people to deal with it, and if it continues, it might affect the Third Grade Sect."
"Understood, you may go."
He left the cave residence, his shadow growing long and slanted.
Fresh grass stubbornly sprouting from beneath the stones, standing tall and crooked.
