While Jiang Yan, Fairy Furong, Yulan, and Qinger were in the Far North treating the four patriarchs of the Four Great Families, Daming, Xiao Qin, and Gang Qiang, who were away in closed-door cultivation at the Qiyun Mountain sect, suddenly learned that morning from their fellow disciples that Brother Jiang Yan, Fairy Furong, Yulan, and Qinger had gone to the Far North. Since the three of them had always been inseparable from Jiang Yan and his companions, ready to live and die together, this sudden departure filled them with anguish and torment. They each persuaded their masters, who finally relented under their endless pestering and reluctantly agreed to their request, merely warning them to be careful in everything, not to act rashly, and to follow Jiang Yan's arrangements. Returning to their respective quarters within the sect, they settled the four girls—Momotani Hueriang, Baichuan Shizi, Sakurai Riya, and Fujisawa Miu—and immediately used the thousand-li sound transmission technique to send a message to Jiang Yan, who was still at the Shenhe Manor of the Murong Family in the Far North.
"Brother Jiang Yan! You're really too heartless! You sneaked off to the Far North all by yourselves without even letting us know!"
"Because it all happened so suddenly, and you were all in closed-door cultivation at the time, we didn't inform you. I'm truly sorry."
Chapter 40