The atmosphere inside the Song Clan's Council Hall was suffocating as Patriarch Song Tianming sat slouched in his ironwood chair with a solemn expression, while every single surrounding clan elder sat in dead silence without daring to speak a word.
The tense quiet stretched on for what felt like hours since no one wanted to be the first to address the elephant in the room.
Finally Song Tianyu decided to speak first. He brushed the dust off his silver robes and finally broke the silence.
"Father, is Elder Song Kui going to visit us before he returns back to the White Bone Hall?" Song Tianyu asked calmly, his polite voice echoing across the stone hall as he looked at the Patriarch.
"Do not hold your breath for that man, Tianyu," Song Tianming sighed while rubbing his temples, "Elder Song Kui has severed his mortal ties to this clan decades ago to pursue the martial Dao."
"He does not care about his bloodline anymore, his allegiance to this clan."
