As of this moment, he was no longer himself. Instead, he had become a clone of Patriarch Reliance. He began to walk forward, eyeing Meng Hao and shivering a bit. Then he turned toward the Zhang Wenfang and Nan’er.
“Are you the Zhang Clan from the Outer Sea?” asked the Patriarch Reliance-controlled Footloose Sect disciple. His voice was cheerful as he stepped forward to examine Zhang Wenfang and the other members of the Zhang Clan.
Zhang Wenfang was taken aback, as were the other Clan members around her. In fact, the members of other Clans that were lined up ahead of them couldn’t help but turn around to look.
“Yes, we’re the Zhang Clan,” replied Zhang Wenfang as quickly as she could.
“Wonderful, wonderful. The descendant of an old friend is here!”
The Footloose Sect disciple sighed emotionally. “Years ago, I used to be very close to your husband, and even owed him a favor. To be able to see all of you here today is nothing less than fate. Come, let me escort up to the front.” With that, he quickly grabbed Nan’er and began to walk forward.
Zhang Wenfang stared in shock, wracking her brain to try to remember what past incident the man must be referring to. The other Clan members were also astonished. Even after thinking for some time, they truly couldn’t recall their previous Clan Leader having a close relationship with any Footloose Sect disciples.
“This….” Zhang Wenfang hesitated for a moment, but seeing that the disciple had already begun to pull her son away, she quickly followed. The other members of the Zhang Clan also went along. Meng Hao watched everything happening, and then joined them.
The group made their way from the very back of the line toward the front, which instantly attracted the attention of everyone who was waiting. That was especially true of the Xu Clan, who watched on in astonishment as everything happened.
Immediately, people began to call out questions.
“Fellow Daoist of the Footloose Clan, dare I ask why they get to go from the back of the line to the front?”
“Yeah! They were in the back! They can’t just randomly cut in line! How come they can so brazenly go all the way to the front!?”
Now even more people were paying attention. As soon as they saw what was happening, they were shocked, and couldn’t understand why the Footloose Sect, which normally paid such close attention to rules and regulations, would allow something like this to happen.
Meanwhile, there were other Footloose Sect disciples who saw what was happening. One of them happened to be a Core Formation Cultivator who was in charge of maintaining order in the area. When he saw what was happening, he frowned.
“Zhao Han!” he shouted, a dignified expression on his face. That was the name of the Footloose Sect disciple who Patriarch Reliance was controlling with his Divine Sense. “What are you doing? It doesn’t matter if you’re longtime friends with these Zhang people, you…” Before the Core Formation Cultivator could finish speaking, Patriarch Reliance up in the palace gave a cold snort, and sent out more Divine Sense.
A virtually imperceptible tremor ran through the Core Formation Cultivator, and then his eyes glittered brightly.
“Wait, these guests are the Zhang Clan from the Outer Sea?” His expression one of excitement, he immediately stepped forward to glance over the group from the Zhang Clan.
This scene caused all the surrounding Footloose Sect disciples as well as the visiting Clan members to exchange astonished looks.
“The Heavens finally take notice, and allow me to see you members of the Zhang Clan!” said the Core Formation Cultivator, looking very excited. “The descendant of an old friend is here….
“Years ago, I was close friends with your Zhang Clan, and even benefited from a great kindness on the part of the Clan. Come come, I’ll take you to the first place in line!” With that, he took gaping Nan’er from Zhao Han without any further explanation, and headed off toward the front of the line.