Chapter 5115: Gratitude Editor: Misty Cloud Translations "Qingcheng has returned, brought back by Sage Hun Yuan and Zhuo Junyue. The Phoenix Guards say she’s injured. Come with me to check on her first. We’ll report to the Master later." Qi Kang whispered. Hearing this, the two men were slightly surprised and immediately followed him out. Du Fan remarked as they walked, "How could Qingcheng have been injured? She went to the Pan family in the Mortal Realm—no one there should be able to harm her!" The Pan family, who had been promised protection by the Master for three generations, had encountered trouble. Since both of them were occupied and unable to leave, they had sent Qingcheng to handle it. They had assumed her abilities would be more than sufficient for matters in the mortal realm, yet now they heard she had returned injured. "Naturally, no one in the mortal realm could harm her—unless they were cultivators, and even then, only those with cultivation levels surpassing hers." Fan Lin spoke as he walked forward, adding with some surprise, "But how did she encounter Sage Hun Yuan and Zhuo Junyue?" Zhuo Junyue was the descendant of the Master’s former teacher. Thanks to the Master’s influence, the Zhuo family had risen to become a first-rate noble house. Zhuo Junyue himself possessed formidable strength and cultivation, a powerful figure in his own right. He rarely interacted with them otherwise—could it be he’d heard news of the Master’s return and come to see for himself? 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶 "We’ll know once we meet him." Qi Kang spoke as he strode into the front courtyard. There, Sage Hun Yuan sat with his legs crossed, nibbling pastries and sipping tea. Zhuo Junyue stood nearby, still carrying Bai Qingcheng on his back—no one had helped him down. "Ah, there you are!" Hun Yuanzi took a sip of tea and swallowed a pastry. Spotting the three of them but not Feng Jiu, he hurried forward. "Why just you lot? Where’s that girl Feng Jiu? I heard she’d returned and came especially for her." "Senior," the three bowed with clasped hands, a faint smile touching their lips. "Our Master is in the rear courtyard. We came to check on things before reporting to Master." Their gaze shifted to Zhuo Junyue, who still carried Bai Qingcheng on his back. "What’s going on? How did you end up with Qingcheng?" As they spoke, Fan Lin stepped forward and took Bai Qingcheng’s pulse. His expression shifted slightly as he probed. He turned her palm upward, noticing a faint red line extending from her wrist toward her arm. Rolling up her sleeve a bit, he saw the crimson trail of blood on her pale skin. His brow furrowed. "She’s been poisoned, and her internal injuries are quite severe." Noticing a faint scent of blood lingering on her, he inquired, "Has she sustained other injuries?" "You bet. That girl was lucky to run into us. Otherwise, she’d be dead as a doornail by now." Sage Hun Yuan stroked his beard as he looked at the three of them and said, " When this old curmudgeon and I heard Feng Jiu had returned, we thought it’d been years since we last saw her and decided to come visit. Little did we know we’d stumble upon an ambush targeting this white-clad girl en route. Thankfully, we’d crossed paths with her once or twice before—otherwise, this old man wouldn’t have meddled in such affairs, especially since the attacker was a Monarch." Hearing this, Du Fan, Qi Kang, and Fan Lin exchanged glances. A monarch? Which monarch would dare attack them? Could it be... For a moment, their hearts stirred, faint suspicions taking root. "Brother Zhuo, hand her over to me! I’ll have someone escort her back to her quarters. That curse on her likely requires the Master to lift it." Fan Lin spoke, then bowed his hands in gratitude toward the two. "It’s fortunate Qincheng encountered you two. I thank you on her behalf."