The gates of the Ancient Realm did not remain shut as long as Xiao Fan had expected.
News of the attack on the Yao Clan had arrived before him.
Gu Xun'er stood outside the realm gates, the Black Annihilation Army arrayed behind her. She saw Zi Yan, then the bloodstains still lingering on Xiao Fan's cuffs, and the greeting she had prepared died on her lips.
"Is everyone all right?"
"Alive," Xiao Fan said.
She nodded gently and stepped aside.
"Father is waiting."
Gu Yuan did not meet him in the Council Hall.
They met in a stone pavilion beside the water, with only a few elders in charge and representatives from Danta present. The box holding the sealed Ancient Jade rested on the stone table. Every gaze was heavy.
The scouts the Gu Clan had sent to the Spirit Realm and the Stone Realm had already returned.
Both realms were empty.
Only in remote medicine caves and at the bottom of mineral veins had they rescued a handful of people trapped by turbulent currents. Those survivors could not say who the invaders were. They only remembered how quickly the sky had darkened, and how people had cried out their families' names in the darkness.
Gu Yuan's fingers slowly tightened.
"We have examined the formation traces left at the Yao Clan."
"They share the same origin as the remnants in the two realms."
An elder looked at Xiao Fan.
"Since you know what the Soul Clan is plotting, that piece of jade belonging to the Xiao Clan..."
Zi Yan raised her eyes.
Before the elder could finish, Gu Yuan lifted a hand to stop him.
"Today, we discuss how to protect people. Put away any talk of forcing someone to surrender their jade."
Xiao Fan did not seize the opportunity