The sudden attack and Blood Butcher's violent death caught everyone off guard.
The courtyard instantly fell silent. Ouyang Changhe slowly raised his gaze, following the direction from which that Astral Qi had shot, until it landed on Xiahou Yuan.
"Commander Xiahou!"
He spoke slowly, his voice betraying neither joy nor anger, though it carried a trace of questioning. "What do you mean by this?"
As his words fell, everyone's eyes turned in unison toward Xiahou Yuan.
Blood Butcher had clearly mentioned Xiahou Yuan's name just now. Could this have been murder to silence him?
Faced with everyone's stares, Xiahou Yuan showed no fear. His expression remained calm.
He flicked his sleeve and said unhurriedly, "I have dealt with the Demonic Sect many times. They are sly by nature, with one trick after another!
"Just now, I saw that demon's aura strangely settle somewhat. I intended only to test whether he was playing some trick, but I used too much force..."
As he spoke, a timely look of apology appeared on his face. He cupped his hands toward the crowd. "I truly apologize for failing to capture him alive!"
Zhou Muyun, seated cross-legged nearby as he regulated his breathing, gave a disdainful laugh inwardly upon hearing this.
He understood Xiahou Yuan's intentions better than anyone.
It was clearly murder to silence someone, yet Xiahou Yuan insisted on dressing it up in such grand and righteous words!
If Blood Butcher had survived, Zhou Muyun could still have testified against him. Now that Blood Butcher was dead and Zhou Muyun had no evidence, there was no need to stir up trouble at such a time.
Still, he would remember this debt!
"Heh."
A scoff rang out. Xiao Beiluo stood with his hands behind his back in a crimson robe, his gaze carrying several