"Hard as this is to accept, it's the truth..."
Xuan Zi's voice sounded terribly dry, like two pieces of old tree bark scraping together.
"Huff, huff."
Yan Shaozhe felt his blood pressure soar, blood surging straight to his head.
But he was no ordinary man. His chest heaved like a bellows as he took deep, ragged breaths to steady his emotions.
There was no time to ask for all the details. Something else concerned him even more.
"But... but didn't you say three were severely injured? Why are only Dai Yueheng and Ling Luochеn here?
What about Xiaotao? How is she..."
In truth, his heart was already pounding like a drum as he asked.
He was terrified that Ma Xiaotao was among those who had met an untimely end.
He treated Ma Xiaotao as his own daughter. If something had happened to her, he truly had no idea what would become of him...
"Yan Shaozhe, don't get so worked up. Xiaotao is the third severely injured person I mentioned."
"Then why didn't you bring Xiaotao back?"
"Because Xiaotao's condition is rather unusual. The severe damage wasn't to her body, but to her mind."
Xuan Zi explained Ma Xiaotao's condition to Yan Shaozhe. "That's why I planned to use the Soul Master Tournament to stimulate Xiaotao and see whether it could help her recover."
Hearing this, Yan Shaozhe flew into a rage. "After everything that's happened to Xiaotao, you still want to stimulate her?
Do you really hate seeing her well that much?!"
At that moment, Yan Shaozhe no longer saw a respected elder in Xuan Zi. Before him stood a drunkard who spent his days lost in an alcoholic stupor.
A rotten man who acted recklessly, did whatever he pleased, and recognized no laws or limits.
"I didn't want this