Chapter 1172: When the Man Is Gone, the Tea Grows Cold

"Dead?" Hui Qingping sat cross-legged on her couch, visibly shocked and unable to remain calm. She pressed, "How did he die?"

Guan Fangyi shook her head bleakly. "I don't know. Misty Pavilion came and told Zijin Cave to send replacements in. They only said Master Dao was dead. They didn't say how."

She had come specifically to inform Hui Qingping.

Hui Qingping almost never interacted with anyone else. She remained shut away in quiet cultivation, so Guan Fangyi had come to tell her in time for her to leave with everyone else.

"Dead..." Hui Qingping murmured.

Yet perhaps it was not entirely unexpected. The Sacred Realm was what it was. Meeting with danger there was hardly beyond imagination.

A look of hollow loss appeared on her face. "Where could I even go? You should leave. Don't worry about me."

She had once been a disciple of Tiannü Sect and had served as one of its Elders.

She had been the wife of a rebel general.

She had even been Empress of Song.

Now she was a traitor to Tiannü Sect and the deposed Empress of Song.

If Niu Youdao had not rescued her and obtained Zijin Cave's protection for her, she would probably have died long ago.

Now they were telling her to leave.

The world was vast, yet she truly had no idea where she could go.

Guan Fangyi said, "Come with us. If Master Dao were here, he wouldn't want to see anything happen to his sworn elder sister."

"Before he left, he prepared for the possibility that he might not return. He was worried you'd be in danger once he was gone, so he made arrangements for you in advance."

Hui Qingping had never expected Niu Youdao to have prepared for his own death before leaving, much less that he would still have considered her safety afterward.

That was true loyalty and righteousness.

Her face filled with bitterness. "That brother of mine... I can never repay what I owe him in this life. I have failed him in this life. If there is another life, then I will repay him in the next."

"You should go. I can't travel with you. The moment Tiannü Sect hears the news, they won't let me off. They'll certainly send people to kill me. If I stay with you, I'll only drag all of you down."

Guan Fangyi said, "Sister Hui is worrying too much. If we leave quickly, Tiannü Sect shouldn't know yet. As long as we reach our destination soon enough, Tiannü Sect won't dare act recklessly there."

"So you can relax. We wouldn't gamble with our own lives either."

Hui Qingping fell silent.

She truly did not know where else she could go.

If she remained here, Zijin Cave might very well seize her and use her in a transaction with Tiannü Sect.

In the end, she could only nod silently and agree to leave with them.

Dong... dong... dong...

Deep and magnificent bell tolls suddenly reverberated through Maolu Annex.

Hui Qingping and Guan Fangyi both turned their heads in surprise, not knowing what had happened.

Outside the pavilion where the great bell hung, the monks of Nanshan Temple had assembled in a group. Palms pressed together, they murmured prayers.

Several monks in the front row struck wooden fish in perfect unison.

Tok. Tok. Tok.

Inside the pavilion, Yuan Fang held the suspended striker with both hands and personally swung it into the bell.

Every toll came from him.

"How could he die... how did he just die..."

"Master Dao, it isn't that this poor monk refuses to leave with you, nor that this poor monk wants to split from everyone. It's only that the monks of Nanshan Temple are all ordinary mortals. Hongniang also said taking them along would be inconvenient."

"Master Dao, this poor monk can only see you off on your final journey from here. May you swiftly reach the Pure Land..."

With every strike of the bell, he muttered another sentence to himself.

As he rang it, Yuan Fang kept talking under his breath and shaking his head with sigh after sigh.

Guan Fangyi, who had hurried over to see what the commotion was, was stopped again on the way.

Gongsun Bu, Sect Leader of Wuliang Mountain, intercepted her and asked the same question everyone else had.

Once he confirmed that Niu Youdao truly was dead, Gongsun Bu could only sigh helplessly and lament the loss.

Inside, he was equally lost.

Wuliang Mountain possessed no territory of its own. Without Niu Youdao's support, where were they supposed to go?

There were so many people still relying on him to feed them.

Guan Fangyi understood his concerns. "Sect Leader Gongsun, don't worry. Wuliang Mountain is an intelligence network Master Dao spent enormous sums building and operating over many years. Wherever you go, that's capital in your hands. Plenty of people will be willing to take you in. You won't lack a place to go."

Gongsun Bu sighed. "I understand the principle, but with only half a day, how are we supposed to manage it?"

"There are more than a thousand messenger Goldenwings on the rear mountain alone. Never mind all the other miscellaneous things. Just sorting through the intelligence we've accumulated over the years—deciding what cannot be left behind and must be destroyed, and what can be kept and taken away—will consume no small amount of time."

"We can't simply burn years of painstaking work to ashes, can we?"

"Wuliang Mountain disciples are scattered all across the realm. We don't have many people here. In half a day, we have to move more than a thousand Goldenwings and an enormous quantity of accumulated intelligence. We simply don't have enough hands!"

Guan Fangyi said, "Do everything as quickly as you can. I'll try to coordinate some people to help you."

"Ah!" Gongsun Bu cupped his hands.

There was no other way.

Time was tight, so he left first.

He had barely gone when Lei Zongkang arrived with an urgent report. "Hongniang, Yan Li took people to the rear mountain. He's detained all of our flying mounts."

Guan Fangyi exploded in anger. "On what grounds does he detain them? Is he trying to rob us?"

Lei Zongkang said, "Yan Li claims he's worried that when we leave, our hands may not be clean. He's holding the flying mounts as collateral first. Once they confirm we didn't take anything we shouldn't on the way out, they'll naturally return them."

"Bullshit!" Guan Fangyi cursed outright. "Once they seize them, we'll probably never even be allowed back through Zijin Cave's gates afterward. How are we supposed to get them back?"

Lei Zongkang said, "It's obvious what's happening. Those flying mounts are worth a great deal. Zijin Cave sees that we're powerless to do anything and wants to swallow them while it has the chance."

In a rage, Guan Fangyi started off to find Yan Li and argue the matter.

After only a few steps, however, she stopped.

A moment of rational thought was enough for her to understand that this could not possibly be Yan Li's personal decision.

Zijin Cave had coveted Maolu Annex's flying mounts for a long time.

Before, Master Dao had been there to hold the line, so the sect had scruples and did not dare reach out casually.

For Yan Li to act now, he had to have Zijin Cave's approval behind him.

They were openly using power to bully the weak, measuring right and wrong by whose fist was larger. Reasoning with them would be utterly useless. She would only humiliate herself, and might even suffer for it.

An innocent man incurs guilt by possessing jade.

With matters having reached this point, if the people of Maolu Annex wanted to get away safely, they would probably have to pay a price.

She turned back. "Does Monkey know? Did anyone ask what he thinks?"

Lei Zongkang was Yuan Gang's man. She assumed he should have reported to Yuan Gang first.

Sure enough, Lei Zongkang said helplessly, "Master Yuan knows. He said he wants to be alone for a while. He told me to report to you and let you handle it."

"So now he's hiding in his room and playing dead? Where did all that energy go when he used to oppose this old lady?" Guan Fangyi stamped her foot and cursed.

After thinking for a moment, she waved a hand. "Come. We're going to find Gong Lince. I want to see whether the dignified Sect Leader of Zijin Cave is truly shameless enough to abandon every last bit of reason!"

The two quickly left Maolu Annex to find Gong Lince and argue their case.

They could not even see his face.

They were not permitted to enter the place where Gong Lince lived.

The disciples blocking them said the Sect Leader had matters to handle and had left the sect.

Whether he was truly absent, they did not know.

But nine chances out of ten, it was merely an excuse.

Zijin Cave was in the middle of discussing who would be sent into the Sacred Realm as replacements. How could Gong Lince leave at a time like this?

There was nothing they could do.

They could hardly force their way inside.

Trying that now would only be asking to suffer.

This confirmed it for Guan Fangyi.

Yan Li's seizure of the flying mounts absolutely represented Zijin Cave's will.

Such a large piece of fat had been placed before them. Zijin Cave genuinely intended to swallow it while it had the opportunity.

Guan Fangyi refused to give up.

So many large flying mounts were worth an enormous sum. How could she simply abandon them?

She hurried toward Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion, intending to ask Master Dao's master, Zhong Guzi, to step forward and uphold justice.

She hoped Zhong Guzi, for Master Dao's sake, might persuade Zijin Cave to show mercy.

The result chilled her heart.

Forget seeing Zhong Guzi.

She could not even approach the mountain where Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion stood.

Zijin Cave had plainly anticipated this possibility. Disciples had already been stationed there to stop anyone from disturbing Zhong Guzi's secluded cultivation.

"Venerable Elder! Venerable Elder Zhong..."

Guan Fangyi shouted from below the mountain in grief and anger.

Yet the doors of Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion above remained tightly shut, without the slightest sign of opening.

Her shouting and crying out there only drew stern warnings from the Zijin Cave disciples.

They ordered her away and made it clear that refusal would bring consequences.

Helpless, Guan Fangyi left with hatred in her heart.

Only after she had gone did Wen Mo'er, who had been hiding nearby, reveal herself.

She tried to climb toward Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion, but the guarding disciples stopped her as well.

Even she was not allowed through.

As long as someone had come from Maolu Annex, no one would be permitted to pass.

Wen Mo'er could only wave from below the mountain.

Ju An, who saw her from above, came down.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ju An demanded of the guards.

One guard replied, "Senior Brother Ju, some things are understood by everyone. Don't ask me. Even if you ask, I won't say anything. In short, don't make things difficult for us."

Ju An understood.

He asked no more questions and stepped outside the guarded perimeter, where he spoke quietly with Wen Mo'er for a while.

Wen Mo'er departed.

Ju An returned to Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion.

He stood silently outside the pavilion for some time.

In the end, he opened the tightly shut doors and entered with light steps.

Approaching Zhong Guzi, who sat cross-legged with eyes closed like a stone statue, Ju An slowly lowered himself to his knees before him.

"Grandmaster, another complication has arisen at Maolu Annex. The sect appears to intend to seize all of Maolu Annex's flying mounts. Hongniang and the others came just now, but the sect's people stopped them outside."

"This disciple asks Grandmaster to decide."

Zhong Guzi slowly opened his eyes. "Why is the sect detaining their flying mounts?"

Ju An was silent for a moment. "Maolu Annex possesses quite a few flying mounts. They are worth a great deal."

Zhong Guzi said, "Since you know they are worth a great deal, then you already understand. Why ask me to say more?"

Ju An's jaw tightened. "Grandmaster, Martial Uncle died in the Sacred Realm for the sake of the sect. I ask Grandmaster to speak for Maolu Annex on Martial Uncle's account."

Zhong Guzi said, "Your Martial Uncle is gone. Does personal favor still mean anything?"

Ju An said, "For the sect to do this seems a little excessive."

"Excessive?" Zhong Guzi replied. "I told you. Your Martial Uncle is gone. When the man is gone, the tea grows cold. It is the same everywhere."

"It is so for Maolu Annex. After I die, it will be the same for all of you at Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion."

"That batch of flying mounts is worth no small sum. In the end, they all belonged to your Martial Uncle. Your Martial Uncle was an Elder of Zijin Cave. How could the sect allow outsiders to carry them away?"

"And even if they did carry them away, could they keep them?"

"Rather than let them fall into someone else's hands, it is better to leave them to the sect."

"Emotionally, perhaps it is difficult to accept. But the sect is doing this for the interests of the sect as a whole. If it failed to act this way, that would be foolish."

"You ask me to plead on behalf of Maolu Annex. Do you think I, as a Supreme Elder of Zijin Cave, can open my mouth and say such a thing?"

Ju An fell silent.

He understood now.

His grandmaster had his own difficulties as well.

"Go." Zhong Guzi sighed and slowly closed his eyes again.

Ju An knew his grandmaster rarely spoke this much.

He had already explained the matter completely. There was no point saying anything further.

Ju An kowtowed, rose, and left.

[End of Chapter 1172]