CHAPTER 126: 126- CLAN MEETING [1]

The phoenix soul pavilion thrummed with a suffocating tension, thick enough to choke on.

Torches guttered in wall sconces, casting long, dancing shadows that made the stern faces of the assembled elders look even more severe, etched with exhaustion and apprehension.

The air was cold, smelling of old stone and the lingering scent of hastily brewed, bitter tea.

They’d been roused from their beds, Fang Mei still adjusting her hastily pinned hair, Fang Sun stifling a yawn behind a weathered hand, Fang Chen rubbing sleep-grit from his eyes.

Even Fang Yin had been recalled with urgent haste from overseeing Tushar Village.

She stood stiffly by the door, dust still clinging to her boots, her expression grim.

Fang Yuan stood at the head of the heavy obsidian table.

His own weariness was a deep bruise beneath his eyes.

"I am profoundly sorry," he began, his voice rough but carrying clearly in the hushed hall.

"To have disturbed your rest, dear Elders, at such an hour... it is not done lightly. The matter demands our immediate counsel."

Fang Chen leaned back in his chair, dark smudges like bruises beneath his eyes.

"It’s... acceptable, Nephew," he rasped, the words sounding dragged over gravel.

"These old bones... can handle... more task." He added, almost too low to hear, "...Probably."

A weak ripple of strained acknowledgement passed through the room, quickly swallowed by the oppressive silence.

Fang Yuan felt the sting of their fatigue, the unspoken questions hanging heavy.

The guilt was a cold stone in his gut, but the urgency was a blade at his throat.

He couldn’t falter.

Taking a deep, steadying breath that did little to calm the tremor in his hands, he met the collective gaze, his own filled with a dread that mirrored theirs.

"Dear Elders," he started, the formality a brittle shield. "I am... deeply grieved... to report this. The situation is grave beyond measure."

He paused, the words catching.

"My... my dear younger brother, Fang Tian..." He forced the name out. "...has committed an unspeakable offense against the Kingdom."

A collective intake of breath.

Eyes widened.

Fang Jingyi, Fang Yuan’s aunt, swayed in her seat, her hand flying to her chest as if struck.

"Offense? What offense?" she whispered, her voice thin with dawning horror.

Fang Yuan pressed on, the sentence a death knell. "...He has kidnapped the Third Princess. And is currently... on the run."

Silence.

Not the quiet of contemplation, but the stunned, airless silence of a tomb after the final seal is closed.

Fang Jingyi gasped, a sharp, wounded sound. Her knuckles whitened on the armrests, her face draining of all color.

For a terrifying second, she seemed to list sideways, nearly toppling from her chair before catching herself, trembling violently.

Around the table, reactions were visceral, each reflecting a unique shade of terror:

Fang Mei had her hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide with utter disbelief, shaking her head minutely as if denying the words themselves.

The other elders, too, shared that same stunned expression, wide-eyed, motionless, silent.

And amongst them, elder Joshua, known for his gentle nature and frayed nerves, lurched to his feet.

His chair scraped harshly against the stone floor.

"Clan Head!" His voice was a desperate, trembling plea, cracking on the edge of hysteria.

"Please! This... this is too late an hour for such... such dark jests!"

Tears welled in his eyes, unshed but glistening. "You’re... you’re jesting to lighten our spirits, yes? After this rude awakening? Right? Tell us it’s a jest! You will make for an amazing clown, clan head. Please!"

Fang Yuan couldn’t bear to look at Joshua’s pleading face, nor at the collective devastation mirrored around the table.

He stared fixedly at the obsidian surface before him, seeing not the stone, but the yawning abyss Fang Tian had plunged them into.

He had expected disbelief, denial, panic.

The reality was worse.

It was the raw, unvarnished terror of people realizing their entire world, their legacy, their lives, were balanced on the edge of a royal executioner’s blade.

Who in their right mind? The thought echoed in his skull, a silent scream clawing through disbelief. Who courts annihilation so casually?

Why would anyone challenge them?

The Tharz Kingdom was not some idle power, it boasted one of the most formidable lineups in the entire continent, let alone the kingdom.

Their strength was evident in how they had subdued not one, but all three of the great sects within their domain.

The first sect being the Divine Ice Sect, a sect renowned for its cold-blooded discipline and spiritual power.

Rumors claimed they housed no fewer than six Nascent Soul realm cultivators.

Their Sect Leader, known simply as the Frost Sovereign, had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul realm over a century ago.

Even today, her strength was whispered about with awe.

The second sect was the Verdant Dragon Sect, a sect deeply rooted in beast taming and spiritual arts.

Their roster included at least four Nascent Soul cultivators, with their Sect Master standing at the high stage of Nascent Soul, wielding a spiritual beast said to rival even an initial nascent soul expert.

And the third was the Astral Blade Monastery, a martial order famed for their ascetic sword doctrine and brutal cultivation trials.

They too had five confirmed Nascent Soul realm cultivators, and their Abbot, while only at the mid-stage was a feared battle-hardened monk with a body honed like star-metal.

For the Tharz Kingdom to have not only subdued these sects but bent them into loyal vassals, that alone spoke volumes.

Their royal cultivation lineup had to be monstrous.

Any force that could tame such titans wasn’t merely powerful... they were terrifying.

No sane man would provoke them lightly.

They were terrifying.

Fang Yuan exhaled slowly, a tired breath threading through clenched teeth.

He realised he didn’t understand his younger brother anymore. Fang Tian, what are you thinking? What path are you walking now?

Before the silence could settle, a voice suddenly tore through the hall—

"Quick! Someone call Doctor Mu!"

It was Fang Chen, his voice sharp with urgency.

"Fang Mei has fainted!"