"Guannan? Ji Guannan? I heard he was one of Longcloud County's five great talents, and that he died here several years ago..."
"Yes. Lord Guannan was a direct-line prodigy of the Ji Family. He entered the Sinew-Training Realm at such a young age; his future should have been boundless."
Deng Shan's face filled with grief as he let out a long sigh.
"But two years ago, Sunken Sword Dock joined forces with the Giant Whale Gang and Water Dragon Stockade to launch a massive nighttime raid on Cloud Ripple Island. With Lord Guannan's movement technique and cultivation, he could have broken through and withdrawn..."
"But to cover the brothers on the island, he did not retreat half a step. He and three patrol envoys held the trestle bridge to the death. In the end, all three patrol envoys exhausted themselves and fell in battle, while Lord Guannan was jointly besieged by Sunken Sword Dock's three chiefs. He suffered dozens of blade wounds, his blood staining Cloudwater Lake..."
He had actually been surrounded and killed by three forces working together!
Shen Xiuhan was deeply shaken.
Earlier, after hearing Luo Zhan at the appointment meeting, he had assumed that Ji Guannan had failed to escape and been captured alive and executed by Sunken Sword Dock's second chief.
Only now did he learn that this prodigy had voluntarily stayed behind to cover the retreat, fighting until his death.
Shen Xiuhan could not help but feel admiration.
Such courage and loyalty, such a spirit of facing death without flinching, truly commanded respect.
When he left the office, Shen Xiuhan had an ebony uniform with silver trim bearing the Ji Family insignia in hand, along with three black-lacquered bamboo tubes the length of short flutes.
Deng Xiaoshan pointed at the bamboo tubes.
"Patrol Envoy, these