"Senior Shouye, you're far too polite. How could you possibly have frightened us? Your presence graces the City Lord's Manor with splendor; it is truly our greatest honor!"
Fu Xing hurried two steps forward and welcomed the red-robed elder down.
"If your City Lord's Manor can still be called a 'humble thatched hut,' then what should everywhere else be called?" the elder scoffed.
He swept his gaze around, his eyes seeming to pierce straight through the thick walls as a trace of reminiscence surfaced on his face.
"It's been a long time since I came here. Where's your old man? Vanished without a trace?"
Fu Xing smiled ingratiatingly. "He's still in seclusion, isn't he? Otherwise, it wouldn't be this little brat welcoming you."
The guards around them all stiffened at those words.
Even though many of them had served in the City Lord's Manor for years, they seemed never to have seen this visitor before.
Yet this old man had Fu Xing—who normally looked down on all of Tiansang Commandery—speaking and acting with such deference. Just how terrifying was his background? Those standing guard here tonight were all elites among elites.
The elder's aura had sent many of them reeling earlier, leaving their faces unsightly. Now, beyond their anger, there was a touch of fear.
To avoid disgracing the City Lord's Manor, the thirty-six guards stood ramrod straight, their previously shattered bearing suddenly surging back up.
"Heh, a bunch of little brats. If you can't stand steady, then you can't stand steady. I haven't even said anything, yet you're already competing among yourselves."
The elder glanced at them, having completely forgotten his earlier "apology." Without the slightest courtesy, he openly teased them.
The guards were ashamed and furious, but they did not dare retort.
Fu Xing was not embarrassed either,