By now, Yun Huanling had probably realized that Su Jiu could not see him at all from inside.
The hand he had been slapping against the red curtain of light had quietly clenched into a fist at some point.
Whenever he thought he was strong enough, the heavens would set one obstacle after another before him, as though all his efforts were doomed to be in vain.
For a moment, helplessness engulfed him.
In the end, could he not even save A Jiu?
Dejected, Yun Huanling started walking toward the foot of the altar.
Suddenly, as though sensing something, he whipped his head around, only to meet Mask Man's gaze head-on.
Yun Huanling saw mockery in his eyes.
Mask Man chuckled softly. "A Heavenly Secret Sect disciple who clings to convention is useless in the end. This is the worthless fool Hongguang raised. Forget saving anyone else-if I hadn't spared your life, you couldn't even save yourself.
"Still, your root bone seems decent enough. How about taking a different master?"
Yun Huanling gritted his teeth in fury. "Who exactly are you?!"
Mask Man slowly lowered the mask in his hand.
That half of his face, hideous as a ghost's, was instantly revealed to everyone, frightening the others into retreating several feet away.
Even the normally composed Shui Rao'er showed a trace of panic, let alone the other disciples, whose faces blanched in terror.
Yun Huanling's pupils contracted briefly at the sight of that face. Then he cried out, "You're Martial Uncle Hong Ming?!"
Yun Huanling had actually met very few of the Heavenly Secret Sect's reclusive seniors. Even those he recognized, he mostly knew through his master's accounts and the sect's portraits.
Long ago, whenever Hongguang mentioned Hong Ming to Yun Huanling, his expression had been filled with helplessness and