Chapter 972: Detaining Yuan Gang

After hearing his master say all this, Guan Qingya truly began to feel afraid.

There were indeed some things he did not know. It was not that his master and the sect deliberately refused to be honest with the disciples below. Some matters could only be known by the sect's upper ranks. For example, after the Tiandu Secret Realm affair, everyone had guessed that Zijin Cave and Niu Youdao had joined forces. But exactly what unspeakable things Zijin Cave had done together with Niu Youdao was not something they would advertise to every disciple.

The same applied to the contingencies Niu Youdao had arranged before leaving, what exchange of interests he had made with Zijin Cave, and what compromises Zijin Cave's senior leadership had accepted. None of that would be explained to ordinary disciples.

But the matter had already happened, and Guan Qingya refused to soften his words. Instead, he stubbornly insisted, "This disciple was foolish and ignorant, but I do not regret it. So long as I could vent Master's anger, this disciple would not begrudge even death."

"Fool!" Yan Li barked angrily. Even so, his disciple's words were pleasing to hear. Afterward, he glanced around, lowered his voice, and said, "The matter has already reached this point. Keep the mouths of those two witnesses under control. If anything goes wrong, don't blame your master for refusing to protect you. Understand?"

He had made himself perfectly clear. How could Guan Qingya not understand? They were to insist to the death that Guan Fangyi had been in the wrong first, and the two witnesses were not to change their story.

Delight rose in his heart when he saw his master's attitude, though his face remained solemn. "This disciple understands. Master, rest assured. I will give them proper instructions. They won't dare speak carelessly."

Yan Li warned him again, "From now on, don't keep charging to the front and shouting about this matter. The sect will handle the rest."

Guan Qingya respectfully cupped his hands. "Yes. This disciple understands."

Yan Li looked toward the Maolu Annex. He had no intention of approaching Guan Fangyi and the others again and was just about to turn away when a man sent by Gong Lince found him. "Elder Yan, Sect Leader orders you and the other Elders to the council hall for deliberations. Junior Brother Guan and the others who caused this incident are to come as well."

After notifying this side, the disciple went to Mo Lingxue, who was still personally holding the situation under control, and delivered the order for her to attend the council hall too.

A short while later, the Elders currently within the sect gathered in the council hall. At a time like this, naturally the matter under discussion was how to resolve the conflict with the Maolu Annex.

To solve a problem, one first had to understand what had happened. Guan Qingya and the other two men who had caused the disturbance were therefore summoned into the hall and ordered to recount the course of events before everyone.

Needless to say, Guan Qingya continued insisting that Guan Fangyi had acted outrageously first. As a disciple of Zijin Cave, he could not stand by and watch, so he had merely taught her a small lesson. The matter should have ended there, only for Yuan Gang to suddenly charge out and try to kill someone with his saber the moment he appeared. His conduct had been utterly lawless, and he had even injured several Zijin Cave disciples.

Naturally, the two Zijin Cave disciples who had accompanied Guan Qingya continued firmly corroborating his story.

After hearing the account from those involved, Gong Lince gave no clear indication of his attitude. He waved his sleeve and dismissed Guan Qingya and the others. Only then did he stroke his beard and muse aloud, "This Yuan Gang, relying only on an external hardening art, actually managed to injure several disciples of Zijin Cave?"

Mo Lingxue said, "I questioned the disciples who fought him at the scene. His external hardening art truly is formidable, almost to the point of making him impervious to blades and spears. Even lethal sword qi could only wound him superficially and was insufficient to take his life. Otherwise, he would already have died. Nor is it merely his bodily defense that is terrifying. His strength is enormous, and his attacks are swift and ferocious. Relying purely on brute force, he can actually clash head-on with Golden Core cultivators of our sect. A group surrounded him and still could not take him down. They did not even dare approach him carelessly, and could only attack from a distance. Otherwise, he probably would have injured more than just several disciples. This man seems to possess inexhaustible strength. Even after being covered in wounds, his stamina showed no sign of failing through a prolonged battle. It was truly astonishing!"

Gong Lince said hesitantly, "There is actually such a tyrannical external hardening art in this world? Have any of you heard of one?"

Everyone silently thought it over, then gradually shook their heads, indicating that none had.

Fu Junrang said, "Sect Leader, the issue now is that the commotion was not small. The disciples below are all watching. How should we deal with it?"

Gong Lince did not rush to settle the matter conclusively, leaving himself room to maneuver. Instead, he asked, "What are your opinions?"

Yuan An said, "Guan Qingya says Guan Fangyi was discourteous first, while Guan Fangyi says she did nothing of the kind. Who is right and who is wrong still requires verification. We cannot simply accept Guan Qingya's one-sided account."

Yan Li had not intended to say much, but he was displeased the moment he heard this.

The various Elders each had their own interests, and conflicting interests meant true harmony was impossible. Yan Li's personal faction within the sect was not especially powerful to begin with. He could not allow responsibility to fall on his disciple. Once Guan Qingya was formally held at fault, the branch of authority he administered would almost certainly be stripped from him. Yan Li's own voice within the sect would then weaken further.

He immediately spoke. "Elder Yuan, from the sound of that, you'd rather believe an outsider than disciples of our own sect?"

Yuan An replied mildly, "Elder Yan, that is not what I mean. Zijin Cave is, after all, an upright and reputable sect. We cannot wrong a good person, nor can we allow a wrongdoer to escape by luck. Wouldn't you agree?"

Yan Li shot back, "Who is the wrongdoer? We have two disciples of our own sect serving as witnesses. Is that still not enough to prove Guan Qingya's words?"

Fu Junrang slowly inserted a remark. "As far as I know, those two disciples obey Guan Qingya in everything. It is not impossible that they saw some matters incorrectly." His words carried another meaning beneath the surface.

"Enough. Stop arguing." Gong Lince saw that someone intended to extend the matter in another direction and decisively cut off the dispute. "Guan Qingya and Guan Fangyi each have their own account. I will not favor either side. Either could be lying, but neither is likely to admit it. Before we can determine the truth, we are disciples of Zijin Cave. First and foremost, we must still trust our own people."

Once he put it that way, and not without reason, the others found it difficult to object. More importantly, Gong Lince's faction was powerful within the sect. Without confidence in victory, no one wanted to clash with him openly. The position of Sect Leader was not ornamental.

Yan Li raised his head slightly and looked toward the roof, inwardly pleased.

Fu Junrang said, "Sect Leader means to punish the people of the Maolu Annex?"

Gong Lince said, "There are no outsiders here, so none of us need speak in circles. Niu Youdao is still inside Sacred Realm undergoing tempering on behalf of Zijin Cave. We do not yet know what that tempering actually involves. Acting rashly now could leave future consequences. Then there are the forces under Niu Youdao's control. If we move against them carelessly and truly provoke some incident, I doubt any of you wish to see the result. Both sides have only suffered some injuries. It has not yet reached the point where we must do something extreme. Wouldn't you agree?" He wanted to reduce a major matter to a minor one, and a minor one to nothing.

Yuan An said, "Sect Leader, to the disciples below, the people of the Maolu Annex are outsiders. Since we have decided that we must first trust Zijin Cave's own disciples, that means Guan Qingya and the others did nothing wrong. Our own disciples did nothing wrong, yet several of them were injured by outsiders. If the sect gives no explanation at all, I'm afraid that will be difficult to justify."

Gong Lince glanced sideways at him. The disciples below were easy enough to pacify, so long as the people present cooperated in calming them. The problem was that these people might not cooperate wholeheartedly. Secretly fanning the flames and inciting the ordinary disciples to make noise was entirely possible. Yuan An's words sounded reasonable on the surface, but in truth his motives were not pure. He was deliberately posing a difficult problem for Gong Lince.

A major responsibility of Gong Lince as Sect Leader was precisely to balance the competing interests within the sect. After a brief silence, he said slowly, "Overall, the people of the Maolu Annex still showed restraint. One matter is one matter. Whoever injured disciples of this sect will bear responsibility. There is no need to implicate the innocent. Elder Niu is, after all, risking himself in Sacred Realm for the sect. Those of us behind him cannot do something that chills a man's heart. It was that man Yuan Gang who struck first, correct? Detain Yuan Gang. Lock him in the rear-mountain prison, and warn the others of the Maolu Annex not to cause further trouble!"

Fu Junrang frowned. "He injured so many of our disciples, and we're merely going to lock him up for a while. How are the disciples supposed to accept that?"

Gong Lince's expression turned cold. He stared at him and said icily, "Elder Fu, I already said it. Elder Niu is currently risking himself for the sect inside Sacred Realm, perhaps even risking his life. Before we see how matters there turn out, some things should not be handled rashly. Yuan Gang will be detained first. As for when he is released, that will depend on how Elder Niu's tempering in Sacred Realm proceeds. Do I really need to spell out my meaning word by word?" His tone had become openly unfriendly. Fu Junrang's pressing had clearly angered him.

There was no need to spell it out. Everyone present understood.

Yuan Gang's detention would only be temporary for now. Whether he was eventually released would depend on Niu Youdao's situation. If Niu Youdao failed to return alive, then this side could naturally punish Yuan Gang severely. At that point, whether Yuan Gang lived or died would be entirely for them to decide.

Once Gong Lince lost his temper and put matters this plainly, while the method itself also preserved both sides reasonably well, the others could hardly continue arguing.

Yan Li offered a flattering remark. "Sect Leader is wise!"

Fu Junrang swept him with a cold look. "The Maolu Annex is still in a standoff with disciples of our sect. If ordinary disciples go to seize the man, another conflict may erupt. It would be better for someone capable to go personally and oversee the arrest. This matter was caused by Elder Yan's disciple. In my view, Elder Yan should personally lead people over and detain Yuan Gang!"

Anyone who understood the background immediately recognized the malice hidden inside those words. Yan Li's disciple had struck one of Niu Youdao's people. Now Fu Junrang wanted Yan Li himself to go arrest another of Niu Youdao's people. He wanted to push the relationship between Yan Li and Niu Youdao completely into the fire, making the two sides utterly irreconcilable. If Niu Youdao returned, how could he possibly let Yan Li off?

To some extent, Fu Junrang was already planning for the possibility that Niu Youdao might return. He wanted to borrow Niu Youdao's power to suppress the Sect Leader's faction, creating room from which his own side could profit.

Yan Li snapped angrily, "What do you mean, this was caused by my disciple? Elder Fu, get this straight. It was the people of the Maolu Annex who behaved discourteously. Any disciple of Zijin Cave would refuse to tolerate outsiders acting wantonly inside our own sect!"

"All of you, shut up!" Gong Lince once again interrupted. "Precisely because the matter involves Elder Yan's disciple, Elder Yan must avoid suspicion. Otherwise someone may say Zijin Cave handled the matter unfairly or used public authority to settle a private grudge."

The reasoning was sound enough that no one could object.

Gong Lince then turned toward Mo Lingxue. "Elder Mo, it's easier for women to talk to one another. You handle this matter."

"I..." Mo Lingxue was left speechless.

With Gong Lince backing him, and with Gong Lince long accustomed to handling situations like this, every attempt by the others to use the matter against Yan Li was dissolved one by one.

In the end, Mo Lingxue came forward personally. Leading a group of Zijin Cave experts to the Maolu Annex, she demanded that the Maolu Annex hand Yuan Gang over.

[End of Chapter 972]