The sky gradually darkened.
Inside Green Lotus Manor near Jiangan Wharf, the atmosphere was solemn.
Between white walls and blue-tiled roofs, dozens of Green Lotus Gang enforcers stood silently, listening to a grief-stricken voice from within:
"Heaven and earth bear witness, I haven't the tiniest connection to Young Master Ye of Skywater Bridge! He's the one who cut up both my arms. Even if Sect Leader Cheng beats me to death, he won't come. What kind of nonsense is this...?"
No lamps had been lit in the main hall, leaving it rather dim.
Yang Guan sat properly in a chair to one side, both arms suspended from his neck. The grievance and indignation on his face could probably have filled several pages.
The central wall, which Ye Jingtang had slashed apart last month, had only just been repaired. A long-handled bronze hammer leaned against it.
The bronze hammer resembled a golden melon and stood as tall as a man, its long black handle gleaming.
A powerfully built man sat in the redwood armchair beside it. He wore a brocade robe, yet showed neither refinement nor a merchant's calculating air. His massive shoulders and back made him look like a tiger-bear sitting in a chair.
The man was Cheng Shilu, the sect leader who had established his own sect at Iron Buddha Ridge in Yunzhou. Like his younger brother, he was bald, but he was a full size larger, seemingly a match for Tu Jiuji of Ox-Head Horse-Face. Rather than holding his teacup normally, he pinched it between two fingers and slowly blew across it:
"Hooo..."
The sound resembled the breathing of an ox or horse.
In the martial world, a large physique did not necessarily mean strength, but with that sheer bulk, there was no need to wonder how much