Deep within a side hall of Star Luo Palace, the four walls were cold as iron.
The air still carried the solemn oppression brought all the way from Heaven Dou City.
Tang San stepped through the hall doors with incomparably heavy feet.
Dai Mubai had originally been sprawled across an enormous stone chair.
The moment he saw that travel-worn figure, he rose to his feet in an uncharacteristic move.
"Little San!"
Dai Mubai was a full size broader than before.
His trademark evil eyes were webbed with crimson bloodshot veins.
Ma Hongjun and Oscar could not even speak as they charged straight at him.
"Third Brother!"
The three of them threw themselves into a fierce embrace without restraint.
"Third Brother, you finally made it."
Ma Hongjun's voice was hoarse, like sand scraping across an iron plate.
Oscar viciously slammed his fist into Tang San's back.
"We've been on edge every day."
"Heaven Dou City fell too disastrously. We truly thought you'd been left there too."
Tang San did not speak.
He patted their backs with his broad palms, his hands icy cold.
Then his gaze passed over his two brothers' shoulders and fixed on the darkest corner of the hall.
A wooden wheelchair stood there in silence.
Yu Xiaogang slumped in the middle of the wheelchair, his face ashen and utterly devoid of the color of life.
The right leg of his trousers hung empty.
The torn wound where his leg had been severed had only been crudely bandaged in Heaven Dou City, blackish-purple blood seeping through it.
The instant he saw Tang San, Yu Xiaogang's aged lips struggled to curve upward.
"It's good that you're back."
Those simple words were dry and shriveled, like weathered deadwood.
Tang San's throat tightened violently.
Tears churned fiercely in his eyes, but he