The Scorpion hummed in agreement, and extended a leg to kick a box out from under the desk, the bottom of it scraping the floor as it slid towards and stopped in front of the masked man. The man lifted the lid of the box with the tip of his shoe. In it was a human head. Despite some decay, the blood-red birthmark over his cheek was still visible. The masked man heaved a sigh of relief, and smiled as he said, "It's good that we've gotten rid of one, the others will be easy to deal with too. Haha, the Delighted Mourning Ghost…while others didn't care when Zhao Jing spread false news about Xue Fang, this fool took the bait, and allowed me to destroy him in one fell swoop."

When the Scorpion had caught the words ‘the others will be easy to deal with too’, a look--easily missed--flashed in his eyes. He smiled, and said meaningfully, “Yes, there is no need to rush for the others. Problems will be sorted out eventually, one by one.”

Abruptly, he set the wine cup down onto the table. His gaze focused, and he said, "Let's jump straight to it--where is the real Xue Fang and your supposed ‘key’? Have you collected any clues by now?"

The masked man shook his head, and returned the question, “You neither?”

The Scorpion frowned. “How strange, how odd…this person seems to have evaporated from the living world. Where can he possibly go?”

The masked man was silent for a beat, before he said, "There's no hurry to find him, we'll discuss it further after we get our hands on the Lapis Armour. Zhao Jing is growing more and more ambitious. He seems to be absolutely sure that I'm the one who has hidden the ‘key’--I predict that his next move is to shift the blame of the missing Lapis Armour onto the Ghost Valley, follow it with a covert attack, then take the chance to consolidate his power. At present, the pugilist world of the Central Plains is a mess. No one knows what’s going on, and are just following suit, adding fuel to the fire. If they hear him spurring people to action, it is very unlikely that they do not follow his directions. This is him starting with the Ghost Valley in his operation.”

The masked man humphed coldly, and said, "I knew that such a day would come, working with Zhao Jing. Nothing much, just that…"

The Scorpion quirked an eyebrow and looked at him. He asked, "What, are you planning to make use of your own Valley Master?”