In the Great Desert, Lin Qianyan piloted the Spiritual Ship for hundreds of miles. Once she confirmed they were safe, she raised her hand to deploy an array to conceal their tracks and spoke softly to the two young women behind her:
"Yueqiu, Miss Ji, you two wait here. I'm going to get Brother Pei back."
Qing Yueqiu gripped the hilt of Luminous and said urgently, "Sister Lin, please let me go with you!"
Lin Qianyan shook her head, her voice—usually as gentle as a big sister's—growing uncharacteristically stern.
"No. The only reason Brother Pei went out there was to let you escape safely, Yueqiu. If you go back now, why would he have bothered compromising with those Demon Cultivators in the first place?"
Qing Yueqiu bit her lower lip and ultimately said no more.
Seeing that Yueqiu had finally relented, Lin Qianyan prepared to head back toward the Northern Desert Boundary Stele.
