The three paid no heed to the Yin Household members around them and strode brazenly toward the stone platform.
"A spirit bird! Could they be from the Four Symbols Sect?"
Someone on the stone platform immediately cried out in surprise.
The elders seated in their chairs exchanged glances, seemingly caught entirely off guard.
"Come, honored guests have arrived. Let's all go greet them."
Yin Linglong also looked puzzled, but after a moment's thought, she rose decisively and led Wang Yu forward to meet them.
The other elders exchanged a glance, then silently followed.
Of the three approaching men, two walked in front, conversing in low voices, while the third followed behind with a smile.
"Household Head Yu, this fellow cultivator is...?" Once Yin Linglong stepped down from the platform and saw the faces of the two men in front, she nodded to the middle-aged man in black robes on the right, then gave a slight bow to the fair-faced man in his thirties on the left.
"I am Shi Hai, an outer sect steward of the Four Symbols Sect. I hope Household Head Yin will forgive my uninvited arrival." The fair-faced man swept his gaze over Yin Linglong's stunning beauty, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes before he cupped his fists and spoke.
"So you truly are a steward of our superior sect. Forgive the Yin Household's inadequate reception. Please, take a seat." Although she had already expected as much, Yin Linglong's heart still sank slightly. She stepped aside, and all the Yin Household members behind her bowed respectfully.
As Wang Yu bowed, his gaze unconsciously fell on the last man.
He was a young man of twenty-five or twenty-six, dressed in blue robes, with ordinary features and a mild expression that gave him an air of steadiness and