Chapter 1185: They Came, Then They Left!

"Help you, Senior Brother?" Yan Li gave a miserable laugh.

He knew the matter could no longer be reversed. The others would never agree. Even his senior brother had no way to overturn the decision now, nor the authority to change it. His senior brother's power in Zijin Cave did not allow him to do whatever he pleased. Everything still had to follow the rules.

The hall remained quiet for a while before Gong Lince sighed. "Junior Brother, go back and settle your mind first. Come see me before you depart. I have some things to instruct you about. It may not be as dangerous as you imagine."

In truth, after deciding to send Yan Li into the Sacred Realm, Gong Lince had also begun worrying about Yan Li's safety. At the very least, he did not want Yan Li to die early.

Niu Youdao had, after all, remained inside the Sacred Realm for so long and even managed to steal the Wuliang Fruits. That alone said something about his ability. Gong Lince had therefore specially asked him for advice on how to survive there.

There were methods, but there was no fixed method. Everything depended on circumstances, decisions made on the spot, and long-term planning.

Given Yan Li's ability, Niu Youdao did not expect him to possess that sort of skill. He had offered only one piece of advice: stick together with the other seven sects, advance and retreat as one, and he would probably live longer.

Gong Lince intended to tell Yan Li this.

But this "method" that was hardly a method was something Yan Li, in his current state of mind, probably would not be able to hear. Bringing it up now might only lead to another argument.

Better to wait until Yan Li had begun seriously thinking about his own safety.

Yan Li left like a man who had lost his soul.

Once he was alone in the hall, Gong Lince flipped over the bamboo cylinder.

Another broken half of a chopstick slid out of it and into his palm.

No matter which chopstick Yan Li had drawn, and no matter when he drew it, the one he pulled would have been the broken one.

If it had been anyone else, drawing the broken chopstick might have led them, in their unwillingness to accept the result, to demand that the cylinder be inspected. Then the method would not have worked.

Yan Li, however, would never do that.

No matter what happened, Yan Li would never suspect that his Sect Leader senior brother would deliberately harm him in a matter like this. He would only believe his own luck had been bad.

And the others, having escaped disaster by chance, naturally would not create fresh complications. Nor would they think to inspect anything afterward.

Niu Youdao had calculated every part of it to death.

A method tossed out almost casually had left Yan Li with nowhere to turn, while at the same time winning Gong Lince unanimous praise for being fair and impartial.

"No wonder that fellow dared run wild inside the Sacred Realm. Without this kind of ability, he couldn't have gotten his hands on those things either..." Gong Lince muttered.

The broken chopstick crumbled to powder in his hand.

Then he raised his face and let out a long sigh...

Yan Li's state of mind could easily be imagined.

Meanwhile, the Elders who had escaped calamity returned to their own quarters and immediately gave strict orders to their disciples: everyone beneath them was to be kept under control, and absolutely no trouble was to be caused at this time.

They warned them over and over not to provoke anyone from Yan Li's faction.

Even if Yan Li's people deliberately provoked them, they were to endure it.

In short, no one was to give Yan Li any excuse to create trouble and reopen the decision made by the draw.

If Yan Li somehow escaped the assignment, then it would be their turn to suffer.

Everything could wait until Yan Li had actually entered the Sacred Realm.

Besides, Gong Lince stood behind Yan Li, and as Sect Leader he still inspired considerable caution in them.

Those who had to leave would still have to leave.

Before Yan Li departed for the Sacred Realm, the people of Maolu Annex would leave first.

Withdraw as quickly as possible, even if it meant abandoning some possessions.

That was Niu Youdao's decision.

For the moment, Yan Li did not go make trouble for Maolu Annex either.

He had no mood for it.

Once he calmed down enough to face reality, he began considering practical matters and arranging what would happen after his departure.

Before leaving, he wanted to secure good positions for his own disciples.

Such a fine opportunity would be wasted if he did not use it. This was precisely the moment to bargain.

Back when Niu Youdao was preparing to enter the Sacred Realm, had he not bargained with the sect in exactly the same way?

After another conversation between Yan Li and Gong Lince, it was Gong Lince himself who encouraged him to do so.

Partly, it was compensation for Yan Li.

More importantly, once Yan Li left, Gong Lince's own voice within the sect would weaken.

He wanted to use the opportunity to place Yan Li's people in several important positions so that he could continue controlling the overall internal situation of Zijin Cave.

First, Yan Li was effectively going into the Sacred Realm to risk his life for the sect. Emotionally and logically, everyone else had to yield something.

Second, none of the other Elders wanted to provoke Yan Li at a time like this. With Gong Lince watching closely, they were afraid any conflict might create fresh complications.

And so the people of Yan Li's faction found themselves both worried and delighted.

They worried because their master was going into the Sacred Realm and might never return.

They were delighted because several of Yan Li's disciples were promoted at the same time, each taking a steward position of some importance.

Their master's journey into danger had bought their advancement. How could they not be pleased?

Gong Lince, meanwhile, became extraordinarily busy.

He had to arrange everything surrounding Yan Li's departure for the Sacred Realm.

He also had to make arrangements for Zhong Guzi.

Zhong Guzi had received a Wuliang Fruit and was already preparing to attempt his breakthrough. Certain resources had to be supplied, and Gong Lince had to arrange all of it in secret.

Then there was the war among the Western Three States and the effects it was having on Yan.

Wei's requests for aid, for example, all required Gong Lince, as Sect Leader, to make decisions.

Zijin Cave now possessed enormous influence in Yan.

If Zijin Cave refused, then no matter whom Wei begged in Yan, it would accomplish nothing.

Wei could only cling to Zijin Cave and plead.

For the time being, even though Gong Lince had obtained a Wuliang Fruit himself, he had no time to settle down and use it safely...

At the foot of Zijin Cave's mountain, beside the official road, Ju An and Wen Mo'er came down together to see off the departing people of Maolu Annex.

Ju An could be considered a representative of Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion.

Wen Mo'er represented Gong Lince.

As his adopted daughter, if she represented Gong Lince, then she also represented Zijin Cave in seeing them off.

Whether Gong Lince was truly too busy was another matter.

Niu Youdao was gone. These people were no longer important enough for Gong Lince to lower himself and come personally.

Sending his adopted daughter was already sufficient.

At least it preserved appearances.

The others in Zijin Cave had little interest in dealing with the people of Maolu Annex either.

"Where will you go from here?" Ju An finally asked.

He knew that even if he asked, he probably could not help.

Guan Fangyi gave a faintly sorrowful smile. "We'll go wherever circumstances take us."

In truth, she was not sorrowful at all.

Inside, she was delighted.

Master Dao was back. That was far better than having him trapped inside the Sacred Realm, where no one knew when disaster might strike.

And Guan Fangyi loved the bustle and prosperity of cities.

They were heading to Nanzhou's provincial capital.

Under Shang Chaozong's governance, Nanzhou had been managed well and expanded several times. In terms of prosperity, it was second only to the Yan capital within the entire state.

It was far better than staying in these remote mountains.

How could she not be pleased?

But for now, she still had to wear a grieving face in front of others.

As for where they were going, she would not reveal it.

Apart from the handful of people who knew because they had been involved in the decision, no one else knew their destination.

"Ah!" Wen Mo'er sighed softly.

"Move out!" Yuan Gang called from nearby after finishing an inspection of the departing column.

"Then this is farewell. If fate permits, we'll meet again." Guan Fangyi cupped her hands to Ju An and Wen Mo'er.

The husband and wife replied, "Take care on the road!"

Guan Fangyi lingered no longer.

With a strained smile, she turned, swung into the saddle, and waved the people of Fufang Garden forward to ride ahead and clear the way.

The great column officially set out.

There were large numbers of horses and many wagons, all provided by Zijin Cave.

For the moment, those flying mounts could be considered Zijin Cave's.

Even now, Niu Youdao could not simply say he wanted them back and take them away.

The key problem was that Gong Lince could not do it.

If he forcibly returned the mounts, he would have no way to explain himself to everyone above and below in Zijin Cave.

Worse, it could easily make people suspicious.

Besides, those flying mounts could not carry so many people and so much property away all at once.

Niu Youdao therefore had no reason to rush.

Allocating a batch of horses, however, was no problem.

Whether Zijin Cave ought to appear humane or heartless, whether it ought to provide those animals or not, ultimately depended on a single sentence from Gong Lince.

No one would quarrel with the Sect Leader over such a trivial matter.

Gong Lince said to give them the horses, so Zijin Cave gave them horses.

Along with the horses came a batch of wagons, some for transporting goods and some for carrying people.

Fire Phoenix, Hui Qingping, and the others who should not show themselves publicly rode inside the wagons.

So did the half-dead Yuan Fang.

He lay inside one wagon barely conscious, while the monks of Nanshan Temple took turns climbing aboard to tend him along the road.

Nearly every disciple of Wuliang Mountain carried a Goldenwing cage on his back.

A great number of messenger Goldenwings were being moved with the group.

Watching this, Sect Leader Gongsun Bu could only sigh inwardly.

With Niu Youdao dead, where Wuliang Mountain should go had become something he could no longer avoid considering.

For now, he could only follow the group and first see where the people of Maolu Villa settled.

Zijin Cave had sent several disciples to ride ahead and escort the column.

Niu Youdao was among them, leaving with the group.

Hidden within the column, hidden beneath Heaven, he vanished from the sight of countless people.

To many, the man called Niu Youdao already belonged to the past.

With Guan Fangyi and Yuan Gang cooperating to cover for him, the Zijin Cave disciples did not know Niu Youdao was one of Maolu Annex's people.

Meanwhile, the people of Maolu Annex assumed he was one of Zijin Cave's disciples.

Nearly everyone in the column carried parcels large and small.

This truly was a household moving away.

They had come, and now they left.

The people of Maolu Villa had officially departed Zijin Cave.

Many among them worried about the future.

Ju An and Wen Mo'er watched until the column disappeared around a bend in the road before finally turning to look at each other.

Neither knew where the people of Maolu Villa were going.

Neither knew what their future would be.

They had been like temporary guests passing through Zijin Cave.

Whether they had changed anything else, the husband and wife did not know.

They knew only that because those people had once come here, the two of them had found the marriage that bound them for life.

"Niu Youdao appeared out of nowhere and swept across both the cultivation world and the secular world. He was so dazzling. While he lived, who among his generation dared call himself supreme? The outstanding talents of his age all paled beside him. At such a young age he left a story behind in the cultivation world, and then at such a young age he hurried away. The clouds and smoke he stirred have dispersed just like that." Wen Mo'er gave a melancholy sigh.

When it came to Niu Youdao, she had gone from unwillingness at first, to willingness later, only to have matters ultimately pass beyond her control.

Now her life was settled.

She would think no more of other possibilities and would honor the duties of a wife.

Yet that man had, in the end, left something behind in her heart.

Perhaps it was only the regret of something that had never come to pass.

In the final accounting, what he had left in her heart was a faint thread of wistfulness.

It was something her husband could never give her.

Different people could give different things, different feelings.

She understood that now.

She had seen clearly.

She had only ever been one among the many different kinds of people surrounding Niu Youdao, occupying a different role and nothing more.

Many men in Zijin Cave had admired her.

But a man like Niu Youdao would never have cared about that.

Perhaps he had never cared about her at all.

In truth, she had probably only ever been indulging her own one-sided feelings.

Ju An knew none of this.

He reached out and took her soft hand. "We couldn't help them. All we can do is wish them well. Let's go back."

Wen Mo'er smiled gently.

Hand in hand, the two turned away and returned to their own home...

As the people of Maolu Villa traveled along the road, news that Niu Youdao had died inside the Sacred Realm also spread without wings.

Before long, it was circulating among powers throughout the world.

[End of Chapter 1185]