"General Chao, what do you mean by that?"
Lin Feng called out the young martial artist's true identity.
She rested a hand on the hilt of her sword, her gaze shifting from the blood on the flagstones to Chao Lian's face. At the sound of her voice, the soldiers confronting the household guards parted like a receding tide. Lin Feng and the other three walked forward at an unhurried pace. The young martial artist stared at Lin Feng in confusion.
Then he lowered his weapon. "Lin Woman Sovereign?"
Lin Feng stepped forward and clasped her hands in greeting. Chao Lian quickly returned the salute. A faint smile touched her lips. "Thank you for showing restraint just now, General Chao. Otherwise, this situation would have been much harder to resolve."
Chao Lian looked ill at ease. "I wouldn't dare take credit."
After parting ways with Sixth Brother and Thirteenth, he had set out on the journey back. The situation on the Northwest Continent had changed drastically in the meantime. He hadn't expected Lord Shen and Wu Zhaode to be the ones left standing. Huang Lie had been defeated and killed, leaving no one for him to take revenge on. He had been worried the whole time about his elder brother's family. When he passed through Lin Si Shu's hometown, he thought delivering a letter would take little time, so he decided to stop by first.
It had been the middle of the night when he arrived, but, to his surprise, the master of the Lin residence was still awake, worry etched across his brow. Chao Lian had explained who he was and why he had come, then told him a little about Lin Si Shu's recent circumstances. The master of the residence had grown emotional and begged Chao Lian to wait