"Fang Han! It's you! How dare you trespass in the Xiao Family Forbidden Grounds!"
Seeing the ancestor suddenly attack, Xiao Ran paled in shock and hurried out of the stone chamber after him.
His voice echoed through the passage, charged with incredulous fury. Even the torches on the stone walls swayed under the force of his roar.
Then he saw the face of the young figure beside the stone wall—it was Fang Han!
Xiao Ran's expression changed sharply, his eyes filled with shock and anger.
How was this possible?
The Xiao Family Forbidden Grounds were where the ancestor cultivated in seclusion. Deep within the Rockery, security was tight. Even the family's direct descendants were forbidden to enter without permission.
How had Fang Han, a mud-legged nobody from the Outer City, found this place?
How had he gotten in?
And how had he escaped the ancestor's notice?
Countless thoughts exploded in Xiao Ran's mind.
"My dear grandson, do you know this man?"
The Xiao family ancestor stood in the middle of the passage, his withered hands clasped behind his back.
He turned to Xiao Ran, his tone calm, as though that claw strike had merely been a casual swipe at a flying insect.
Having missed with his first strike, he was in no hurry to attack again.
Instead, he seemed unruffled as drifting clouds in a gentle breeze, with the bearing of a master removed from worldly affairs.
Torchlight fell across his face, which appeared to be in its sixties. There was not a trace of anger on it, only a hint of intriguing composure.
"Ancestor, this is Fang Han, the Outer City martial artist I told you about!"
Xiao Ran cupped his fists and bowed, his tone respectful, though he could not suppress the anger in his voice.
He had