Li Xingyun was stunned as he looked at the mysterious man before him.
"The Bad People Commander? Yuan Tiangang? Could you be the sorcerer Yuan Tiangang? But how could anyone live for over three hundred years without dying? I don't believe it!"
Yuan Tiangang turned around and removed the mask from his face in front of Li Xingyun.
"This?"
Though Li Xingyun was usually carefree, the sight of that fleshless face, as ghastly as a demon's, still frightened him into stumbling back several steps.
"Back then, I took an immortality pill and suffered qi deviation. My meridians fell into complete disarray, turning me into neither man nor ghost. That was why the Tang Emperor refused to take the longevity medicine."
"So that was it."
"That's right. That is also why I have shown my face only behind a mask for over two hundred years."
At that, the Bad People Commander turned around, his back facing Li Xingyun.
"Back then, Huang Chao led his rebels beneath the imperial city walls, yet the court had no soldiers it could use. At that time, I foresaw the fall of Great Tang.
"Huang Chao's rebel army was too powerful. In order to preserve our strength, I disbanded the Bad People.
"I had them scatter among the martial world, the imperial court, and the various sects, lying in wait for the day we could rise again.
"But the human heart is unfathomable. When some of the Bad People saw Great Tang fall, they revealed their ugliest sides.
"Some, like your master Yang Shuzi, retired into the mountains and stopped involving themselves in worldly affairs. Others, like Shangguan Yunque, wavered back and forth. Some even completely defected to treacherous ministers and rebels."
With that, Yuan Tiangang turned to face Li Xingyun and fell to one knee.