Chapter 7: Whispers in the Bloodline
Zhou Clan's Inner Domain – Ancestral Mountain, North of the Imperial Province
Atop the cloud-covered Ancestral Mountain stood the thousand-year-old stronghold of the Zhou Clan—an elite family whose reach extended across royal courts, sects, and merchant guilds. Behind its revered legacy, however, was a growing sickness—one that even the mighty dared not speak of openly.
For seventeen years, they had erased a name from their records.
Today, that name returned in a whisper.
Great Assembly Hall
The Elder Council of the Zhou Clan gathered under the mountain's stone vault, where jade pillars rose like spears holding up the sky. Elder robes of silver and red flowed like tides as Zhou Jinhai, the Fifth Elder and head of External Affairs, entered the center of the hall.
He held a scroll bound in black demon silk.
"This was intercepted from a Bloodshade Pavilion informant," he said, unsealing the wax.
Name: Zhuo Fan
Origin: Low servant of the decaying Zhuo Clan
Status: Soul Awakening Detected
Power Signature Match: 86% confirmed match with Zhou Bloodline - Branch ID: Exiled.
Potential Risk: Reincarnation Event.
Recommendation: Observation no longer sufficient. Eliminate before full system integration occurs.
The hall stirred like a nest of serpents.
Zhou Lin, Third Elder and one of the most conservative hardliners, slammed his staff on the ground. "This is madness! That cursed blood was purged long ago!"
"Apparently not," Jinhai replied. "And now he wields the Hollow Flame. He unlocked a Seal from the Nine Secrets."
A hush fell.
Even Zhou Yuanhong, the Patriarch, stiffened at the mention of that name.
Flashback – The Cursed Birth
He had been born under a blood moon, his umbilical cord tangled with black spiritual threads. The healers cried out. The sky itself dimmed.
The elders whispered: "Demon seed."
But the Patriarch saw something else—potential.
He had considered using the boy—Zhou Fan—as a weapon. Until the Nine Secrets responded to his soul… unbidden and untamed.
Then, the fear outweighed the ambition.
And the exile was ordered.
Present – Zhou Yuanhong's Private Chambers
Nightfall painted the mountains in blue-gray hues. The Patriarch stood alone at the edge of a lotus pond, watching the moonlight reflect off still water.
Behind him, a figure in plain robes bowed silently—Zhou Mei, the silent strategist and youngest daughter.
"You knew he would return," she said softly.
"I suspected," Yuanhong murmured. "But not so soon."
"Then what now?"
"…Now, we must decide," he said. "Do we bury the past—permanently—or accept that it's coming back to claim its inheritance?"
Zhou Mei's eyes narrowed. "Even if he's grown strong, the system that guards him can be dissected. The Pavilion has methods."
"No," the Patriarch replied. "The Pavilion wants chaos. But I want… closure."
Zhou Family Disciples – Outer Training Grounds
While the elders debated, the younger generation whispered in the dark.
"Did you hear?" a youth whispered. "A servant from the Zhuo family—he crushed a Pavilion assassin using flame that devoured spirit."
"You mean the Hollow Flame?"
"Impossible," said another. "That's just a legend. A Demon Emperor technique. No one in our generation could…"
"But what if it's him? The bastard heir they exiled?"
Eyes shifted uneasily.
Even the mention of the name "Zhou Fan" brought chills—like speaking a ghost into being.
Elsewhere – Hidden Cave, Zhou Territory Border
Far from the central stronghold, deep beneath a forgotten temple, a frail old man tended a sealed coffin.
Cracks were forming in the runes along its lid.
He touched the surface and whispered, "The blood is calling you again, young master…"
And from within the coffin, something stirred.
End of Chapter 7