Blazing Black Hand

"You!"

His voice was low and hoarse, as though squeezed out from the depths of his throat. His fingers clenched the edge of the stone table, spiderweb cracks spreading across its surface as shattered stone chips trickled through his fingers.

The voice ignored his rage and instead grew even more arrogant.

"What the hell do you mean, 'you'? Fuck!"

There was an almost crazed delight in that voice, as if it were savoring this moment of humiliation.

"You really think your Qiangu Family is anything special? Don't fucking provoke me. I'm not one of those cowardly idiots who hesitate at every turn. Push me too far, and I'll tie you up with Shrek Academy and beat you all together!"

As the words fell, the runes on the array plate flickered several times, as if their energy had run out, before going completely dark. That faint glow vanished, leaving behind nothing but a cold fragment devoid of any presence.

The courtyard fell silent once more.

But this silence differed from the one before. The previous silence had been the tranquil serenity of a deep bamboo grove beneath warm sunlight; this silence was a dead stillness shrouded in fury and fear.

Qiangu Zhangting's legs went weak. His knees trembled faintly, and his body involuntarily slid downward. Only by bracing both hands against the stone table behind him did he avoid collapsing to the ground. His lips quivered. He wanted to say something, but no sound came out. He had never seen his grandfather wear such an expression. It was like magma before a volcanic eruption, restrained beneath a thin crust and ready to burst forth at any moment.

That subordinate was sprawled on the ground, not even daring to lift his head. His body trembled slightly, as though an invisible pressure had