Amid the tense, sabers-drawn atmosphere, the loft door opened once more.

Every eye turned, and they saw a tall, slender young man in an ink-black robe stroll out.

He handed the jade box back to Lin Jingyi with an idle gesture and swept a calm gaze across the crowd of ugly faces. Then, without a word, he called out Red Cloud. His figure rose slowly into the air and, in no particular hurry, flew off toward the borders of Great Qian.

"..."

Hou Wanshan was briefly stunned, not quite understanding what Commander Shen was thinking.

He'd taken the treasure and, rather than hurrying back to the War Temple or staying in Lizhou a while longer, was drifting off in plain sight of this whole crowd... straight out of Great Qian? Wasn't this simply inviting people to rob him?!

Sure enough, once those few Mixed Origin Grandmasters had shaken off their surprise, they all instinctively reined in their expressions — like beasts before a hunt, doing their utmost to mask the greed in their eyes.

"Uh."

For no clear reason, Lin Jingyi found the scene oddly familiar. Then he shot the few Grandmasters a sympathetic glance.

The Red Cloud in the heavens seemed to be out for a stroll, terrified the others might not keep up — it even paused a moment in the sky, so the crowd could see clearly which way it had gone.

"I've matters to attend to. I'll take my leave first."

One short man, of an impatient temperament, turned to walk out of the crowd, only to be yanked back by the companion beside him, who murmured, "Can you use your head for once?"

Nothing else needed saying — the Lizhou General up in the sky hadn't so much as moved. It was plainly a trap, and paired with the ink-robed youth's clumsy playacting, did they really take everyone here for fools?

Beyond Great Qian.

Shen Yi stood on the Red Cloud, hands at his sides, Lady Qinghua beside him. He waited quietly for a while, then looked back and found the horizon still utterly empty.