The crowd that arrived this time was far from ordinary.
A young man dressed in brocade robes and fine silks came charging toward them amid a throng of powerhouses, attended on all sides — a yellow hound in one hand, a grey falcon perched on the other. The whole procession swept forward in a whirlwind of dust and clamor.
The leading young man looked no older than twenty. His features were quite handsome, but the subtle twitch of those thin lips carried a hint of something sinister, lending his youthful face a touch of frivolous, predatory air.
"Young Clan Lord, it should be around this area." Beside the young man walked a hunched-back elder with a broad forehead and eyes sharp as a hawk's, scanning the surroundings with practiced ease. His effortless authority marked him as an Imperial Realm powerhouse — the sort who commanded respect without anger.
"Uncle Hunchback, where are Old Hong and the others?" The young man frowned.
The hunched-back elder was also somewhat puzzled. He searched around but found no clue. "The location they signaled from should be right around here. But there's no trace of their presence anywhere. Curious indeed. Young Clan Lord, there seem to be some people over there — let's go ask!"
"I can't be bothered to walk. Uncle Hunchback, go fetch them and wring the truth out of them." The Young Clan Lord's tone was supremely casual, making it abundantly clear he was the sort of dandy who regarded other people's lives as utterly worthless.
The hunched-back elder obeyed without question. He let out a rasping cackle, nodded, and addressed the surrounding guards: "Protect the Young Clan Lord. I'll be back shortly."
The hunched-back elder's figure blurred like a gust of wind, instantly closing the distance to the hillside. He came to a halt roughly three hundred meters from Jiang Chen and his group.
"Boy, come here." The elder's voice was like a cracked gong — harsh and grating. The moment it reached one's ears, it set the nerves on edge.
Jiang Chen merely smiled coldly, paying him no heed.
It was Commander Zhang who shot to his feet at the elder's insolence. "Who are you? This is the forbidden territory of the Panlong Great Clan. You've got some nerve, trespassing here!"
The hunched-back elder paused. The forbidden territory of the Panlong Great Clan?
This place looked nothing like forbidden territory.
Unlike the brutish one-eyed man from before, the hunched-back elder was no rash fool. He was cunning and seasoned. Upon hearing "Panlong Great Clan," he briefly faltered, then smiled thinly. "And who might you be, using the Panlong Great Clan's name to try and frighten this old man? Does this look like forbidden territory to you?"
Commander Zhang barked, "Wherever the Panlong Great Clan holds dominion, if the Panlong Great Clan declares it forbidden ground, then forbidden ground it is. Your party has already encroached upon the boundary. Withdraw at once!"
The more the hunched-back elder listened, the angrier he became. Who did this person think he was? A mere Earth Saint Realm nobody putting on airs before him?
The Young Clan Lord had sent him to seize people, not to stand here listening to nonsense.
With a savage grin, his figure blurred and he lunged at Commander Zhang like a diving hawk, clawed hand reaching out.
Jiang Chen saw it all with perfect clarity and quickly flicked the Flying Feather Mirror.
Whoosh!
An invisible beam lanced from the mirror and struck the hunched-back elder, immediately sapping his speed.
The hunched-back elder was no ordinary figure — a fifth-level Imperial Realm powerhouse, one of the finest fighters in the Young Clan Lord's retinue, and the chief bodyguard steward. He had weathered countless brutal battles in his lifetime. This unexplained deceleration sent his alarm spiking, and he aborted the dive mid-lunge.
His figure shifted, and he touched back down on the ground.
"Who goes there?" The older one grew, the sharper the vigilance.
Jiang Chen slowly rose to his feet. "Sir, how many times must I repeat myself? This is the Panlong Great Clan's territory. Do not trespass."
Though he was facing a fifth-level Imperial Realm powerhouse, the Jiang Chen of today was no longer the Jiang Chen of old. While there was some pressure, it was nothing he couldn't handle.
"And who might you be?" The hunched-back elder narrowed his eyes, sizing Jiang Chen up.
Commander Zhang called out, "This is Pill King Zhen, an honored guest of our Clan Lord. Who exactly are you people, daring to cause trouble on the Panlong Great Clan's land?"
Commander Zhang was an honest man, but no fool. Though he had some idea of who these newcomers were, he deliberately pretended ignorance.
However, when the hunched-back elder heard "Pill King Zhen," his brow arched and a sharp gleam flashed through his eyes. "The Pill King Zhen from the Taiyuan Pavilion?"
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. Though he detected a hint of something beneath the old man's words, he couldn't be bothered to deny anything. He had never intended to reveal his name, but Commander Zhang's tongue had been faster than his wits.
Now that the truth was out, there was no sense denying it.
"So you're not denying it? Then I'll take that as confirmation." The hunched-back elder cackled.
"And if I am?" Jiang Chen's tone was flat. "Don't tell me you're a lackey of the Royal Court Great Clan? You don't quite look the part."
He, too, could hear the hostility woven through the elder's laughter, so his own words shed whatever courtesy they might have had.
He had hoped to avoid a fight, but judging by the scene before him, that was looking increasingly unlikely.
The hunched-back elder threw back his head and roared with laughter. "This old man serves no one in the Royal Court Great Clan. However, the Royal Court Great Clan does happen to be related to our Young Clan Lord."
He turned to the young man and said, "Young Master, something interesting has come up. Do you know who we've found here?"
"I don't care to know. Uncle Hunchback, did you find out — where did Old Hong go? And that pretty girl he mentioned, where is she? That fellow Old Hong was exaggerating like mad, calling her the most breathtaking beauty in all the land, someone beyond anything I'd ever laid eyes on... I'd very much like to see for myself what sort of beauty could make Old Hong spout such outrageous praise."