Blood bloomed, and battle cries thundered.
On this night just before dawn, with the special guest's late arrival and introduction, Miss Jian Wenlos's case review finally got underway in earnest.
And Jacques, the vampire serving as Expert Number Two, was the first invited to speak.
But it was clear that, with the opening remarks from the leaders skipped, he was still a little uncomfortable.
As he pondered, Jacques glanced around instinctively. Unfortunately, aside from the pool of blood and gore beneath the special guest's feet, no one was willing to take on that responsibility.
Even several usually venerable elders of the clan instinctively avoided his gaze.
"I don't have any leads yet, but by process of elimination, I suspect it's related to whatever's in the fog outside the city."
Faced with the response from everyone around him, Jacques somehow found himself a little more confident and gave a brief, rather feeble answer.
At least he had offered a possible lead.
Suspecting the outcasts were involved was a fairly natural, reasonable line of thought.
Fu Qian didn't criticize him too harshly. Instead, he gestured to the other experts in attendance.
"Share the case in detail, and let's hear what everyone thinks."
As with many meetings, it was clear that the experts weren't particularly interested in the topic itself. They were more inclined to use the opportunity to handle some interpersonal matters.
So when the person in the host's seat calmly and efficiently moved the discussion forward, the atmosphere inevitably sank into a strange, unspoken awkwardness.
Everyone wore the beautiful expression of someone being forcefully assaulted by the world's absurdity.
But in the end, no one rose up in rebellion.
In the long silence, most people instinctively cut off eye contact with the other attendees. At last, the first person emerged