The companions beside the blue-robed young man froze at his expression, then asked, "Brother Li, we already know he's the Young Demon King, but there's no need to be this terrified, is there? We haven't made an enemy of him."
"N-No... impossible!" The blue-robed young man had yet to recover from his shock and still spoke in a startled, flustered manner.
"What's impossible?" His companions found this increasingly strange.
Only then did the blue-robed young man turn to them, his face incomparably grave. "Three years ago, I met Chen Fan. Everyone said he was dead, yet I never expected to see him again today."
The blue-robed young man's palm trembled slightly from sheer agitation. He knew that this news would bring an earth-shaking upheaval to the entire Central Lands, alarming people in every direction. The heavens were about to change!
"What? You saw Chen Fan today? Where... wait, you mean..." Halfway through speaking, several of his companions suddenly understood. Their eyes flew wide open as they looked in the direction Chen Fan had vanished, then turned questioning gazes toward the blue-robed young man. At the same time, they involuntarily held their breaths.
Only after the blue-robed young man nodded in tacit confirmation did they exhale blankly. Yet they remained rooted where they stood for a long while, unable to leave.
Several passing mortals found this strange but did not meddle. As they passed by, though, they heard the group murmuring to themselves.
"The Young Demon King... is Chen Fan?"
By now, Chen Fan and Bald Bird had long since left the Ancient City. They had overheard much of what those cultivators said earlier, but Chen Fan's expression did not change in the slightest, and he paid it no heed.
"Kid, those people have probably recognized who you are. If