Free Web NovelChapter 103: Chapter 103
The Ancestral Hall of the Leopard Sect had not seen such tension in over three thousand years.
Wang sat calmly upon the high throne, his broad shoulders framed by the massive, carved stone leopards that guarded the seat of power. He wore nothing but a simple, loose black robe provided by the attendants, yet the raw majesty radiating from his posture made the golden hall feel incredibly small.
Below the throne steps, the power dynamic of the entire sect had shifted completely within an hour.
Bai Feng, the supreme Clan Leader who had ruled the tribe with an iron fist, had willingly stepped down to the right-hand position at the base of the dais.
He stood straight, his hands tucked into his golden sleeves, completely accepting his new role as his son’s prime minister and enforcer.
To Bai Feng, the revival of the first Patriarch was the greatest honor his lineage could achieve; he had no desire to contest the throne against his own flesh and blood.
"From what I’ve seen so far, since my time here, The laws of the inner sect have become soft," Wang spoke, his low voice carrying a clear, smooth tone that cut through the nervous breathing of the gathered leaders. "The resources meant for the cultivation of the younger generation have been diverted into the private courtyards of some elders and Heads From this day forward, all private distributions are cancelled. Everything returns to the central treasury."
The third and fifth elders felt their hearts bleed, but looking at Bai Feng’s supportive stance and Wang’s cold crimson eyes, they could only bow their heads and stammer, "We... we obey the Patriarch’s decree."
As the internal restructuring continued, Elder Shen stepped out from the left line of officials. He had forced his face into a smooth, perfectly submissive smile, though the cold sweat on the back of his neck betrayed his inner panic.
Behind him, Shen Mao followed with graceful, deliberate steps, her long silver hair swaying perfectly over a tight, lavender silk dress that highlighted her striking resemblance to her grandfather’s descriptions of the lower-realm female.
"Reporting to the Patriarch," Elder Shen said, his voice smooth and dripping with artificial concern. "The Patriarch has just emerged from the ancestral pond, and his divine core is undoubtedly experiencing the turbulent heat of the awakening. My granddaughter, Shen Mao, has been trained in the pure water-spirit arts since childhood. She is perfectly suited to act as a close personal attendant in your private quarters, to help soothe the residual flames of the bloodline." freewёbnoνel.com
Shen Mao stepped forward, lowering her long eyelashes as she offered a flawless, slow bow.
She intentionally let her collar slip slightly, exposing the smooth, pale skin of her neck, her face wearing a soft, submissive expression that she knew no beastman could resist.
Wang turned his head slightly, his crimson gaze landing squarely on Shen Mao’s face.
The moment his eyes registered her features, a sudden, violent spasm tore through his chest. It felt as if a heavy iron spike had been driven directly into his heart, a wave of familiar, suffocating emotion rising so fast that his breath hitched for a fraction of a second.
The facial structure, the slope of her nose, the very shape of her jaw, it was almost an exact replica of the blurry shadow that haunted his sealed memories.
For a single heartbeat, the icy expression on Wang’s face almost cracked.
Shen Mao noticed the sudden stillness in his gaze and her heart soared with vanity. ’I knew it,’ she thought triumphantly. ’No matter how powerful he is, he is still a man. One look at my face is all it takes.’
But before she could even raise her head to offer a smile, Wang’s instincts, the unyielding intuition of an ancient primordial beast, instantly came to life.
His eyes narrowed. As he looked past the physical skin, his instincts easily detected the true nature of the soul beneath the surface.
Subconsciously he searched for that deep, profound warmth, the sharp intelligence, or the protective, soft love that his soul secretly craved. Instead, all he felt from the woman standing before him was a shallow, arrogant mind filled with venom, cheap vanity, and an underlying scent of filth from her interactions with countless male toys.
The sudden realization that this woman was a cheap imitation of his missing treasure filled Wang with a wave of intense, unyielding disgust.
The air inside the golden hall dropped by twenty degrees in an instant. Wang didn’t just look away; his face settled into an expression of pure, glacial contempt that made Shen Mao’s triumphant smile freeze directly on her lips.
"Get out," Wang uttered, his voice dropping into a flat, deadly whisper that echoed with the weight of an impending mountain collapse.
Elder Shen’s smile shattered entirely. He took a hasty step back, his old knees trembling as the cold pressure locked onto his grandfather and granddaughter pair. "Patriarch... she... she only wishes to serve "
"A second word will cost her life," Wang cut him off smoothly, his hand resting casually on the armrest of the throne. "Take your trash and leave my sight before I cleanse this hall with your blood."
Shen Mao’s beautiful face went completely, utterly pale. The utter humiliation of being called "trash" in front of the entire council of elders, combined with the terrifying death intent locking onto her throat, made her legs turn to water.
She didn’t dare to look at Wang again; she simply grabbed her grandfather’s sleeve, her teeth chattering in pure fright as they both retreated into the shadows of the columns, completely disgraced.
As the heavy, frantic footsteps of Elder Shen and his granddaughter faded down the long gold-trimmed corridors, the remaining council elders sat in absolute, breathless silence.
Not a single one of them dared to lift their eyes past the lowest step of the dais.
Wang’s fingers tapped slowly against the stone armrest, the rhythmic ’thud... thud... thud...’ sounding like a steady death march to the corrupt officials below.
His mind was not on the internal resources he had just seized, nor was he thinking about the upcoming border reports.
The physical visual of Shen Mao’s face had left a lingering, burning taste of heart venom in his chest
He knew she was a cheap, hollow imitation. The disgust he felt wasn’t just a mental reaction; his very bloodline had rejected her essence with a violent, physical hostility.
But the fact that his heart had experienced that severe, agonizing spasm the moment she walked in proved a vital point: the silhouette within his sealed memories possessed that exact same physical face.
’Who are you?’ Wang thought, his jaw tightening slightly as a wave of intense, dark frustration threatened to leak past his mask of glacial indifference. ’Why is it that I can remember the ancient laws of the high heavens, yet your name leaves nothing but blood in my mouth when I try to speak it?’
Bai Feng noticed the slight, nearly unnoticeable tightening of his son’s shoulders.
As the Clan Leader, he had spent centuries navigating the cold politics of the Upper Realm, but he had never seen an expression of such raw, silent agony on his son’s face before his disappearance.
He stepped a fraction closer to the throne, his majestic golden robes rustling softly as his voice dropped into a low, private frequency meant only for Wang’s ears.
Once the hall was quiet again, Wang turned his gaze to his father, Bai Feng.
"Clear the room," Wang commanded softly. "I require a private audience with the Clan Leader."
The remaining elders didn’t need to be told twice. They scrambled out of the Ancestral Gold Hall like frightened mice, leaving the massive stone doors to slam shut with a heavy, resonating boom.
Wang leaned forward, his crimson eyes locking onto his father’s face. The harshness in his voice faded, replaced by a deep, serious gravity. "Father, during the years my physical body was missing from the Upper Realm, who was the elder responsible for monitoring the lower-realm arrays?"
Bai Feng’s expression sharpened, his eyes narrowing as he realized his son was digging into the past. "It was Elder Shen. He claimed he was searching for your lost tracks. Why do you ask, Wang?"
Wang looked at his own palms, where the crimson spiritual energy was slowly humming. "The records in the soul hall have been tampered with. A massive portion of my recent memory has been cleanly extracted and sealed. I do not know who the person is... but someone important to my life is still down there. And Elder Shen knows exactly who she is."
Bai Feng’s hand tightened into a fist inside his sleeve, a dark, dangerous look crossing his majestic face. "If that old fox dared to touch your destiny while you were weakened, I will personally tear his soul from his body."
"No," Wang said coldly, his eyes flashing with a dangerous light. "Do not move him yet. If we strike now, the person behind him will destroy the clues. We will watch him, find out who he speaks to, and when the time is right... I will personally descend and tear the heavens apart to bring her back."
