After thinking for a moment, Zhou Xingchuan nodded and said to Lan Qin, "This is the only way. I'll send someone to tell Tianhao to go up the mountain as soon as possible!"

Lanqin nodded and said, "Then I will stay by the Daoist's side. We might as well try to find out what's going on with our senior brother. If he can help us, that would be even better."

Zhou Xingchuan arranged for Lanqin to live with Xiuzhu. When Xiuzhu saw Lanqin, his eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Grandmaster, this is, this is!" Xiuzhu was taken by Zhou Xingchuan's side and asked to help him organize the books.

"It's good that you know." Zhou Xingchuan stopped him from saying anything more with a look.

"Rest here in Xiuzhu for a while. After lunch, I'll take you to see him," Zhou Xingchuan said.

When Lanqin heard the word "him," she felt inexplicably excited. Lanqin hadn't seen Fourth Master for ten whole days, which felt like an eternity. She wondered how he, Su Peisheng, Shuiling, and Sihua were doing.

Lanqin suppressed the bitterness in her heart and nodded, saying, "Daoist Master, is he, and the others, alright?"

Lanqin means that you've been holding them captive for so long without doing anything to them, right? These Taoist priests wouldn't have tortured them, would they?

"Because the one from Jin Ding has been in seclusion, after capturing them, they've been kept locked up while waiting for his instructions. Don't worry." Zhou Xingchuan also saw through Lan Qin's thoughts.

Lanqin felt relieved; after hearing his words, she felt much more at ease.

After Zhou Xingchuan left, Xiuzhu was finally able to speak with Lanqin. He quickly asked, "Sister, you've finally arrived. Did my master send you?"

“Your master is pretending not to recognize me!” Lanqin flicked Xiuzhu’s forehead with her hand.

"What? Master doesn't recognize my sister?" Xiuzhu asked doubtfully, clearly not believing it.

Lanqin smiled, seeing that he kept calling her "sister," and said, "Your master has his reasons, but that's not important now. I've already brought your grandmaster over here."

Xiuzhu looked at Lanqin with curious eyes and said, "Can I go back down the mountain now?"

“Not yet, Xiuzhu, your master is coming up the mountain soon,” Lanqin said.

When it was time for lunch, all the Taoists at Taizipo, like those at Wulongtai, went to a fixed place to eat. Lanqin followed Xiuzhu to the dining area.

When they entered the house, everyone else had already arrived, and the room was packed with people. Lanqin was surprised that a mere second-in-command had taken in so many people. Should all of these people be considered the second-in-command's disciples?

"Are all these people your grandmaster's disciples?" Lanqin asked Xiuzhu in a low voice.

“Not entirely. There are also disciples of disciples. My grandmaster had a total of five disciples. My master was the eldest disciple. However, my master is not in the mountains, and he has not taken any more disciples besides me. These should all be disciples taken in by my four senior uncles, and then there are some Taoists who were assigned to Taizipo,” Xiuzhu said to Lanqin.

Lanqin and Xiuzhu found a place to sit down, where they saw the Taoist priests gathered in small groups, talking. After a while, Zhou Xingchuan entered with four Taoist priests of similar age to Zhou Tianhao, and then everyone fell silent.

Lan Qin glanced at the four Taoist priests following Zhou Xingchuan; they appeared to be his other four disciples. Zhou Xingchuan spotted Lan Qin in the crowd and nodded slightly to her.

Why is he nodding at me? Could it be that Fourth Master and the others have been found and released? Lanqin couldn't help but think this, looking back at him, trying to find the answer on his face.

Just then, several more "Taoist priests" walked in from outside. However, they were of different heights and builds, looking rather strange. Lanqin glanced at them and immediately widened her eyes. Those "Taoist priests" were actually Su Peisheng, Si Hua, Shui Ling, and Gesang. They had all changed into Taoist robes and, like Lanqin, dressed up as Taoist priests.

Lanqin couldn't help but stretch out her arm and wave to them. They saw Lanqin too, but dared not show anything in front of so many Taoists, so they could only suppress their excitement and glance at Zhou Xingchuan. Only when he nodded to them, indicating that they could go sit over there, did they walk towards Lanqin in a slightly chaotic manner.

After they sat down with Lanqin and Xiuzhu, they all stared at Lanqin, eager to say what they wanted to say, but with so many people sitting around them, they had to hold back.

After lunch, Lanqin, Xiuzhu, and Shuiling Sihua returned to Xiuzhu's library together.

"Master! Why are you here too?" Si Hua couldn't help but ask.

“If I hadn’t come, how would you have gotten out? Listen, now Master Zhou is on our side,” Lanqin said. “Where’s Master? Isn’t he locked up with you?”

"Consort, this servant also wants to ask about the whereabouts of your master. This servant hasn't seen him for ten days," Su Peisheng said with a mournful face.

"Grandpa has also been arrested, but I guess he's being held in a different place than you guys," Lanqin said.

“Master, we’ve been locked up here. Just now, that Taoist priest came to us and told us to pretend to be Taoists, and then he brought us to see you,” Shui Ling said.

Lanqin then briefly explained to them how she got here, how she persuaded Zhou Xingchuan, and what she needed to do next.

"Sister, are you saying that my great-grandfather is a fake?" Xiuzhu asked in surprise after hearing this.

"Xiuzhu, don't make a sound. You all stay here. I'm going to find your grandmaster now. I'm going to see your grandmaster's senior brother this afternoon," Lanqin said to him. Then she instructed Su Peisheng and the others to stay where they were and not to wander around and arouse suspicion.

Lanqin then went alone to the house where Zhou Xingchuan had met her that morning, only to find several solemn-looking Taoist priests standing at the door. Her intuition told her they weren't from Taizipo.

Lanqin stopped in her tracks, turned around and walked away, then turned a corner and arrived at the back door of the house.

After waiting for quite a while, Lanqin saw them leave and then turned around through the back door, where she found Zhou Xingchuan standing at the door.

"You're here?" Zhou Xingchuan asked, somewhat surprised, when he saw Lan Qin turn the corner from that direction.

"Daoist Master, did someone just arrive?" Lanqin asked, staring directly into Zhou Xingchuan's eyes.

“That’s right, it was ‘Master’s’ man just now. He sent someone to deliver a message. We need to go to the Golden Cauldron for a meeting first thing tomorrow morning,” Zhou Xingchuan said.

A hint of surprise flashed in Lanqin's eyes, but she quickly suppressed it.

"Taoist Master, it seems we need to speed things up!" she said with a smile.