As for Lin Fan's group, they just stood there as if they were thinking things over.
Finally Wang Jian was the one who broke the silence by turning to Lin Fan and saying, "Brother Lin, it seems like this is where we part. I have to return to our Myriad Sword Hall to report in. I will remember your kindness and hope that we can meet again in the future."
Lin Fan nodded and said with a smile, "Same to you, brother Wang."
Wang Jian gave a bow to Lin Fan before heading to the gate as well.
Lin Fan turned to Mo Ze Chen and asked, "Where did you say that you were heading again?"
Mo Ze Chen casually replied, "I was in Whiterun before coming here, so I'll probably head back there since I have some things to take care of. After that, I'll come to Harmony City to find you. It won't take more than a month before I can head over."
Lin Fan nodded since he needed some time to set up his store too, so he wouldn't need Mo Ze Chen for anything just yet. Then he casually asked, "What were you doing in Whiterun anyway? That's such a remote place."
Mo Ze Chen gave a shrug and said, "There was a Dragon Race ruin that was discovered there, so I was helping out with the excavation."
Lin Fan just gave an "oh" sound since it didn't really mean anything to him.
Old man Qiao also came over and asked Lin Fan, "Kid, are you heading back to Harmony City?"
Lin Fan turned to see who it was before saying in a respectful voice, "Yes, senior, I'm heading back now."
Old man Qiao nodded and said, "Alright, I'll call Yi Fei and have her wait for you."
Lin Fan quickly waved his hands and said, "Senior, there's no need for that."
Old man Qiao revealed a smile and said, "Don't worry about it, you're one of us now."
It was at this moment that old woman Qiao also cut in by saying, "That's a coincidence, Xiao Tao was also heading back to Harmony City as well. How about you let her accompany you as well?"
When Mao Tao heard this, she gave a slight tremble and a slight blush came over her face, but she wasn't against it.
Lin Fan wanted to reject this, but seeing as how this would affect his relationship with the higher level members of the Hunters Organization, Lin Fan could only give a nod in the end.
The three of them headed off to the gate as the two elderly watched, but when they disappeared through the gate, the smiles on the face of the two elderly disappeared.
They turned back to the group of other hunters who were waiting for them and the old woman asked the woman in the red duster, "What are the results?"
The woman in the red duster shook her head and said, "It's as we thought, there's several of those snakes in our Hunters Organization and it seems that Shi Yan is the one leading them."
The old woman asked, "Then how many have you found?"
The woman in the red duster shook her head again and said, "Too few. They're just too deeply hidden in the organization that we can't dig them out. The only ones that we have identified were ones that were already linked to Shi Yan, so there's no other clues for us to follow to find the rest. They have a secret communication network that we don't know about, so we haven't been able to intercept anything." As she said this, there was a bitter smile that appeared on her face.
When the old woman heard this, she stroked her chin as she said, "So it's all related to Shi Yan in the end?"
Then she suddenly revealed a smile and said, "I saw something interesting while I was picking up the kids from the second round. It seems that Shi Yan is quite interested in the kid that Old Qiao brought in and it seems like it isn't a normal level of interest."
The woman in the red duster said in a hesitant voice, "Then you mean…"
The old woman nodded and said with a smile, "That's right, as long as we wait long enough, he'll make his move. There's no need for us to do anything except tighten up security around that kid."
But when this was said, old man Qiao immediately knitted his brows and said, "Isn't this too dangerous? Who knows what will happen? We're just supposed to trust that we'll be able to stop them?"
The old woman turned to old man Qiao and said with the same smile, "What's wrong, Old Qiao? You don't trust my abilities?"
Old man Qiao revealed a bitter smile and said, "It's because it's you that I'm not assured."
The old woman gave a fierce look and said, "You, you, you, you're getting much bolder now that you're older? Your face is getting thicker as you age?"
Old man Qiao spread his hands and said, "It can't get thinner when I'm around you."
The old woman didn't get angry, rather she burst out in laughter again before saying, "Alright, alright, I know you care about that kid since you're the one who brought him in. Besides, it's not me that's taking care of it, it'll be Xiao Hong. You can at least trust Xiao Hong, can't you?"
The woman in the red duster revealed a faint blush at being praised directly.
Old man Qiao looked at the woman called Xiao Hong and said, "Of course, I trust Xiao Hong much more than I trust you."
The old woman pretended to be angry as she pointed her finger in old man Qiao's face and said, "You, you, you, if I give you an inch, you take a mile."
She turned to everyone and said, "Who still remembers that time when Old Qiao set his own apron on fire?"
Old man Qiao immediately came forward to say, "You said that you wouldn't mention that anymore. Or do you want me to bring up the time that you kicked that person you gave the love letter to off a cliff just because he rejected you?"
The old woman turned once again and pointed her finger in old man Qiao's face as she said, "You, you, you!"
Just like that, the two of them continued to bicker like two kids, but of course there was no real anger in their voices. This was just how these two friends interacted, they always liked to argue.
Rather, it felt much weirder if they didn't argue with each other at all.
But even with them arguing, they had set up their plan to use Lin Fan as bait. If Lin Fan were to know about this plan, he definitely would have wanted to slap them all in the face, but he didn't know about it in the end.
…
On the other side, after bidding farewell to Mo Ze Chen, Lin Fan went through the gate with Mao Tao.
Neither of them said a thing during this entire time which made it even more awkward.
Mao Tao had been walking alongside Lin Fan, with her head down and sneaking peeks at his face from time to time.
As for Lin Fan, he tried to keep his expression as calm as possible because he knew that if he showed any signs, he would be dead later.
After they came out of the portal, they arrived back in the Harmony City Hunters Organization branch, not the main Hunters Organization building that Qiao Yi Fei had brought Lin Fan to earlier.
Speaking of Qiao Yi Fei, she was waiting for them the moment that they came out of the portal.
Old man Qiao had said that he would send a message to Qiao Yi Fei and he had. Qiao Yi Fei had been waiting at the Hunters Organization branch the whole time since she didn't know how long it would take, but that didn't mean that it was an uncomfortable wait.
As one of the elders of the Hunters Organization, naturally her grandfather had her own space in the Hunters Organization which was fully loaded out, so it was quite a comfortable stay for her. It was even better than being at home since there was full service here, service that was better than what they had at their own house since the Hunters Organization had much more resources than just the Qiao Family.
But when she saw the two that came out, she immediately knitted her brows.
Likewise, when Mao Tao came out of the portal, she had sensed the person in front of her and immediately looked up with knitted brows.
When their gazes met, they both revealed snide looks.
Qiao Yi Fei was the first one to speak as she said, "Oh, what is a little child doing here?"
Mao Tao gave a cold snort and said, "Who built this large pole here? It really is blocking my view."
Since Mao Tao and Qiao Yi Fei were both the grandchildren of high level members of the Hunters Organization, not to mention close friends like old man Qiao and old woman Mao were, they naturally knew each other since they were young. Then as they were both part of the Five Flowers of Harmony City, they naturally had more than enough of each other.
In fact, they had been quite close when they were younger, but as they grew older, they started drifting apart…