Gu Shan sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere around him.
Inside the hall, the other elders, who had been silent with their gazes flickering just moments ago, were now all looking behind him in unison.
Their faces even carried a hint of detached indifference and-schadenfreude?
An icy chill instantly crawled up his spine like a venomous snake.
The smug smile on his face froze, becoming impossibly stiff.
Little by little, he turned his neck with agonizing slowness to look behind him, only to discover that a figure had appeared there at some unknown point.
Clad in purple-and-gold robes, the newcomer stood tall with his back to him and his hands clasped behind him, studying an ancient mural on the hall wall with interest, as though he had heard none of the argument.
Yet this seemingly casual figure instantly plunged Gu Shan into an ice cellar, cold sweat soaking through the back of his robes.
He could even smell a faint aura of lightning and destruction spreading through the air, suffocating his very soul.
Wait.
When did he get here?
And he had appeared here without a sound, right after I said all that!
How much did he hear? Didn't that mean he'd heard everything I just said about trying to seize those slots?!
Gulp-
Gu Shan swallowed with difficulty, his face turning deathly pale at a speed visible to the naked eye.
He swiftly changed his expression and said in a solemn, utterly earnest voice, "Xun'er, the fact that you've thought this through and even proposed it yourself strikes me as perfectly reasonable. The Xiao Clan's slots absolutely must be returned to them. That is only right and proper, and I support it."
As he spoke, he frantically signaled the other elders with his eyes, hoping they would