The screaming got louder.
Then the outer palace wall exploded inward.
Not from an army. Not from siege weapons. From one man walking through it like it was paper.
Shen Bao was not what Xin expected.
He had imagined something monstrous. Something obviously dangerous. Instead the White Wolf was lean and calm, perhaps fifty years old, with close-cropped white hair and the unhurried movement of someone who had never needed to rush in his life. His grey robes were spotless despite having just walked through a stone wall. He carried no visible weapon.
The spiritual pressure that preceded him was another matter entirely.
It hit the courtyard like a physical force. Three palace guards dropped to their knees involuntarily, bodies simply unable to remain standing. The contained Kang straighten
