Zhong Xuanyin poked his lean face out from the second floor of Knife-and-Brush Pavilion. "Zhongli Yan? Didn't you refuse to join the Pavilion? You didn't even attend the last meeting."
"What do you mean, refuse?! Absurd! Slander!" Zhongli Yan flew into a rage. "How could I, Zhongli, shrink back from serving the common people of All-Under-Heaven? I merely told you all to wait. Offering Valley's millennium-long foundation now rests upon this Pavilion alone—wouldn't the transfer of affairs take time? I was packing my luggage, preparing to devote myself wholeheartedly to the cause of Great Void Pavilion!"
There were not many Pavilion members remaining within Great Void Mountain Gate.
Apart from Huang Sheli, who was quietly comprehending Reverse Journey; Zhong Xuanyin, who had shut himself away to write books; and Ju Kui, who was revising regulations concerning the Great Void Illusion Realm.
At that moment, iron grilles slowly rose at the tip of Five Punishments Tower, pushing open the high window. Ju Kui sat ramrod-straight before his desk. Raising his head from the mountain of legal statutes, he looked across at Zhongli Yan. "Has the Chu court finalized its decision?"
"Wasn't this settled long ago?" Zhongli Yan cared not a whit for historians or the Legalist School, sparing no one his temper as he shoved the state letter forward. "Can you read?"
Smack!
His vision suddenly blurred, and the state letter slipped from his grasp.
Zhongli Yan gripped his greatsword and glared furiously. He saw a figure in crimson martial robes trimmed with gold standing amid the sea of clouds, gradually solidifying from illusion into reality.
"Ha~~~choo." The man gave a lazy yawn, covering his mouth with the state letter, utterly careless. "It's broad noon, and I was still taking my nap! Why is there barking in Great Void Mountain Gate?"