All Flash, No Substance

In that strange silence,

the girl at the center of everyone's attention suddenly moved.

She took a seemingly casual step forward.

Her figure blurred, and she swept straight to Chu Duanliu's side.

Chu Duanliu's eyelid twitched violently. Instinctively, he tried to retreat.

But before he could move, a slender arm had already reached over in an almost affectionate gesture and hooked around his neck.

"You people... why are you being so polite? You came right in and gave me such a grand gift... I don't have much to offer you, so let's talk outside."

Her cool voice drifted through the night breeze.

"..."

Not only were the Great Tang's people, who had been standing on guard, dumbfounded; even the Blackwater Pool demons who had charged in menacingly stared in utter disbelief.

What?

What was going on?

Hadn't they made their intentions clear enough?!

But what frightened Chu Zhenshan even more was this:

His younger brother, who had always been hot-tempered, was now actually keeping quiet and obediently following the girl's steps, walking toward the city gates.

"Chu Duanliu, you fucking traitor?!"

Countless thoughts flashed through Chu Zhenshan's mind.

No wonder that bastard had urged him so insistently to come to Listening Wind River from the Cave Abode...

So this was what he'd been waiting for?!

"I... I didn't..."

Chu Duanliu's face flushed purple as he looked helplessly back.

Who could have guessed... that a mere Flowing Cinnabar Realm cultivator could be this terrifying?!

Her seemingly frail arm rested around his neck, yet it bore down with an immovable weight.

He didn't have the slightest chance to resist!

He could only be dragged forward, helplessly.

Thinking of this,

he tried desperately to open his mouth and explain, but the next instant, the arm around his neck tightened sharply.

"You..."

Chu Duanliu