Azure Snake Domain, Bitter Profound City.
The sun sank westward, its great disk nearing the horizon.
Zhao Hu quietly circled back outside Chen Long's courtyard.
He huddled in the shadow of an old locust tree across the way, half his body hidden behind its thick trunk, his eyes fixed on the tightly shut courtyard gate.
The wooden sign hanging above the gate, reading "In seclusion to recover from injuries," swayed gently in the stiff wind, like a palm slapping his face again and again.
He had already discreetly questioned three or four fellow disciples. Every one of them said they had personally seen Chen Long enter this courtyard, wounded in the chest. Though his face had been white as paper, he had unquestionably been alive.
"How is that possible..."
Zhao Hu gritted his teeth, his jaw muscles rigid, his fingers clenched tight.
Back in the wilderness, he had watched the Odd-Eyed Leopard's claws pierce Chen Long's chest, watched him collapse with his eyes staring blankly.
How could someone who had been dead through and through return alive?
He had finally found an opportunity to get rid of Chen Long. Not only had he stolen the credit for the Odd-Eyed Leopard and exchanged it for a Bloodthirst Pill, he had also latched onto Wang Yi's powerful thigh. He had been on the verge of finally getting somewhere in the sect.
With Chen Long back, everything was ruined.
Chen Long's revenge was the lesser concern. The real problem was that Wang Yi hated people who botched their work above all else. If Zhao Hu could not dispose of Chen Long, never mind climbing higher-whether he could even remain in the Crimson Blood Sect was uncertain.
"No... absolutely not..."
Zhao Hu muttered under his breath, the venom in his eyes deepening as he