Jiang Silin's expression finally lost its earlier air of leisurely composure. The shock in his eyes quickly faded, replaced in an instant by seething fury. "You didn't go missing?!"
Jiang Yanchuan wore a suit of silver armor. As though finding it too cumbersome, he began taking it off as he walked forward. "You've grown even fonder of wasting words."
The taunt left Jiang Silin choking on his words, but he had no leisure to argue. Beneath his broad sleeves, his hands clenched into fists. He was just about to order the soldiers he had brought to attack when something suddenly occurred to him, and he whipped his head around.
Day had fully broken. His gaze swept past the soldiers Jiang Yi'an had brought and searched farther into the distance. After a long moment, he finally caught a flash of light reflected off armor behind the shadows of trees whose leaves had begun to yellow.
"Since you've spotted them," Jiang Yanchuan said, casually tossing the armor he had removed onto the ground, "there's no need for me to keep hiding them."
At his words, Xu Jiu, who had slipped among the Imperial Guards wearing a Human-Skin Mask, brought his thumb and forefinger together, put them into his mouth, and blew a piercing whistle.
As the whistle faded, the soldiers concealed behind layer upon layer of cover in the distance emerged together.
When their leader finally stepped out of the shadows and into the sunlight, Jiang Silin's pupils trembled violently at the sight of his face.
It was Zhu Qian!!
It was the Cloud-Brandishing General, Zhu Qian!!
In the distance, Zhu Qian led his soldiers swiftly toward Chongyun Hall. Their synchronized footsteps were like powerful drumbeats, pounding against everyone's hearts, one beat after another.
Someone in the hall murmured, "I must be