"Look at him. He looks like a person, but I think he's more like a dog."
"Exactly. I think he looks like a stray dog, wandering outside with a home he can't return to."
The middle-aged disciple said nothing, while the other young men whispered among themselves.
"Enough. Keep your mouths shut, all of you. Watch out-disaster comes from the mouth."
"Some are born to drive the beasts of burden, and some are born to be beasts of burden. Yu Xiaogang may be useless when it comes to talent, but his status is far above ours."
Seeing those around him grow increasingly brazen, the middle-aged disciple spoke in a low, stern voice.
He was not trying to defend Yu Xiaogang. He was simply worried that these loose-tongued youngsters would stir up trouble and bring the flames down on themselves.
"Yes."
Once he finished speaking, the others immediately shut their mouths, not daring to say anything more.
Elsewhere.
Yu Xiaogang had already entered the clan grounds.
"Father used to bring me here to play..."
"Over there, I used to play with Big Brother..."
"And that pine grove. Those saplings had only just been planted when I left. Now they're lush enough to offer shade and shelter from the heat..."
As Yu Xiaogang looked at one familiar sight after another, scenes from the past rose in his heart.
Before he knew it, his eyes had reddened.
"Nothing has changed. Decades have passed, but it's just as it was when I left."
Yu Xiaogang murmured softly, then headed in the direction he remembered.
That was where the Sect Hall stood. His father, Yu Yuanzhen, should have been handling affairs there at this hour.
Inside the Sect Hall.
Yu Yuanzhen was concentrating on the letter in his hands.
When footsteps tapped against