The refined middle-aged man was sent flying outright. The old man's expression changed sharply, a fierce gleam flashing in his eyes as he shouted, "Who are you?"
After tumbling backward through the air, the refined middle-aged man landed before the old man and assumed a defensive stance. Yet the person before them remained completely motionless, as though he had felt nothing at all.
"Please do not be alarmed, sir. Martial Ancestor means no harm!" Xiao Xian had been jolted awake from cultivation by the commotion and promptly bowed with solemn propriety.
Only then did the two finally notice Xiao Xian's presence. But then again, both of their attentions had been drawn to Ye Xiwen, who had appeared so suddenly. Who would have noticed such a small presence tucked away in the corner?
"And who are you?" the refined middle-aged man demanded, prepared to strike at the slightest sign of trouble. Still, he was far less wary of Xiao Xian. Xiao Xian was merely at the acquired realm, far too far beneath him.
"This old man is Zhang Li. May I ask who you are, and why you have appeared in my Zhang Family's Ancestral Shrine?" the old man asked, his bright eyes fixed unwaveringly on Ye Xiwen's back.
"Zhang Li..."
Upon hearing that name, Ye Xiwen's back finally moved as he turned around.
What entered Zhang Li's sight was an excessively youthful face. Yet when he looked into Ye Xiwen's eyes, he saw only ash-gray ruin and deathly stillness, as though they had weathered a thousand or ten thousand years. They were like a stagnant pool, without the slightest ripple left.
For the past ten days, Ye Xiwen had been entirely immersed in deathly silence. Though he had prepared himself long ago, when he truly saw the memorial tablets of