At their head stood a gaunt old man clad in the robes of a Zhou Clan Grand Supreme Elder.
His white hair resembled withered grass, and his skin clung tightly to his cheekbones, yet his eyes were astonishingly bright, like two ghostly flames lodged in a deep well. Those behind him carried differing auras. Some still had living flesh; half of others' faces had turned an ashen gray, as though corroded by something. Without exception, they exuded an utterly bizarre aura in which "living" and "dead" overlapped.
They seemed like revenants who had clawed their way back from the road to the underworld.
When the Zhou Emperor saw them appear, not a trace of surprise crossed his face. Instead, he slowly bowed his head and stepped aside.
That single move stripped away Great Zhou's last veneer of "innocence."
"The Ji Clan's Grand Supreme Elder..." Jiang Shouzhuo's pupils contracted as he stared at the old man in the lead, his voice sinking lower. "Ji Shouhui. You old ghost, you're still not dead?"
At those words, the gaunt old man slowly lifted his eyelids, his lips stretching into a spine-chilling smile.
"Dead?" His voice was hoarse and grating, like two iron plates scraping against each other. "If I were dead, who would welcome the Ji Clan's former lord back to his rightful place today?"
As he spoke the words "former lord," he slowly raised his head, looking past the churning blood mist and sword light that filled the sky, straight at the white-robed figure seated high upon the imperial seat.
An almost pathological fanaticism rose in his eyes.
"Ji Huang."
"Long time no see."
The entire gathering fell silent.
Sure, sure, the Immortal Emperor was indeed tied down at the moment, but wasn't this old bastard a little too bold?!
That was