Qin Zhong did not immediately answer Li Xiang's pointed question.
His eyes, stripped of most of their mortal color and steeped in the Netherworld Laws, swept over everyone present before he finally sighed.
Rather than look at the imperial robe he wore, that symbol of supreme authority, he spoke in a voice that seemed to have weathered endless ages.
"Junior brother."
"How long did you actually spend in the Two-Lakes Martial Alliance's Azure Dragon Cavern?"
The question came so abruptly that all six people inside the Bone House froze.
"How long?"
Guo Kai, the most impatient of them, frowned and instinctively blurted out, "How long could it have been? Even counting every last moment, from fighting our way through the Outer Cavern to the Inner Cavern and then coming to the Netherworld, it couldn't have been even half a month."
As soon as Guo Kai finished, a bitter smile tugged at Qin Zhong's lips.
He looked at Guo Kai, then at Li Xiang, and slowly shook his head.
"Half a month?"
Qin Zhong lightly tapped a finger against the dusty stone table, producing a dull knock.
"Junior brother, Senior Brother Guo, do you know?"
"Since the day you vanished into thin air in the Spirit Ruins Blessed Land, at the border of the Two Lakes..."
Qin Zhong's voice was quiet, yet it struck their ears like thunder out of a clear sky.
"A full six months have passed."
"What?!"
"Wait, senior brother, how long did you say?!"
Li Xiang's body, previously steady as a rock, jolted violently. He sprang to his feet, his eyes fixed on Qin Zhong, his voice betraying an unprecedented loss of composure.
"Six months?!"
Everyone else in the Bone House—Tang Hua'an, Lin Xuanshu, Chu Tian, and Miao Xiyue—stood dumbstruck, as though struck by lightning.
"Impossible!" Guo