Thinking of this, Gu Yuan looked at the boy and asked, "What exactly happened?"
The boy's expression darkened slightly. "After we entered the sect, we were assigned as miscellaneous attendants. We've always worked diligently, doing all kinds of odd jobs without complaint. But Ma Yuan—because his cousin is an outer sect disciple—has been shoving all his duties onto us. We endured it because, well, it was just extra work.
"But these past two days, Ma Yuan has gotten even worse. Not only does he make us do his own chores, he's also having us do the work of his lackeys. Gu Xinghe finally couldn't take it anymore and argued back a little. After that, the supervisor of the miscellaneous duties office assigned him to guard the graves at Hounan Mountain."
Gu Yuan frowned. Whether it was Ma Yuan—who had a cousin in the outer sect—or the supervisor of the miscellaneous duties office, neither was someone he, a mere spiritual farmer, could afford to provoke.
But leaving his nephew to suffer alone at Hounan Mountain wasn't an option either. With that in mind, Gu Yuan said to the boy, "You go back for now. I'll go to the outer sect and speak to a senior brother who might be able to help resolve this."
The boy nodded. "Thank you, Uncle Gu. I'll wait for your good news. I have to get going—I snuck out, and if they find me, I'll get beaten again."
After the boy left, Gu Yuan also exited his cave. Across the entire Cangxuan Sect, the only person he could think of who might be willing to help him was Hu Yi.
Making his way toward the outer sect of the Cangxuan Sect, Gu Yuan wondered whether Hu Yi was still in the sect. He could only take his chances and hope for the best.
Following the path northward along Qinglin Mountain, Gu Yuan made his way familiarly along the bluestone trail to Hu Yi's cave abode in the Cangxuan Sect's outer sect.
This cave was far from the crude one he had dug out on Qinglin Mountain. In front of the entrance was a warning array formation.
Gu Yuan gently tapped a few times on the warning array. From inside the cave, a voice called out, "Who is it?"
Hearing Hu Yi's voice, Gu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. At least he was still inside the sect.
"Senior Brother Hu, it's me—Gu Yuan."
Upon hearing Gu Yuan's voice, Hu Yi stepped out of the cave.
"Junior Brother Gu, what brings you here?" Hu Yi asked with a hearty smile on his face.
"Senior Brother Hu, one of my nephews was assigned by the supervisor of the miscellaneous duties office to guard the graves at Hounan Mountain. I was wondering if you could help me get him transferred out?"
Gu Yuan got straight to the point.
Hearing this, Hu Yi looked at him in surprise and asked, "You have a nephew?"
"That must be the child my elder brother had in the secular world. I've never met him, but if he managed to find me, it must be true."
Hu Yi's smile didn't waver. "Well, that's a convenient coincidence. If you'd brought this up a few months ago, I wouldn't have been able to help you—but now, the supervisor of the Miscellaneous Duties Office happens to be the cousin of a good friend of mine. Just last month, I saved his life. If I go speak to him, he should be able to get your nephew out of there."
Hearing this, Gu Yuan felt a wave of relief. "As long as you have the connections, that's all I need. Don't worry—I'm not stingy when it comes to the necessary arrangements."
"You actually have savings left over?" Hu Yi teased. He knew very well that every time Gu Yuan finished turning in his spiritual rice, he would exchange all the resulting spirit stones for pills.
Gu Yuan gave an awkward chuckle. "I still have about thirty spirit stones in reserve. Should that be enough?"
"It's more than enough," Hu Yi said with a grin. "It'll buy us a great meal at the tavern down the mountain. There's nothing that a good drink can't fix."
He flashed a wide smile, then immediately got down to business. Without delay, he led Gu Yuan to go and speak with his friend.
Two hours later, Gu Yuan, Hu Yi, his friend Zhang Yuncai, and the supervisor of the miscellaneous duties office, Zhang Yundong, all arrived together at the Cui Xianglou Restaurant located at the foot of the Cangxuan Sect mountain.
"Come on, today's on Junior Brother Gu. We're going to have a proper feast," Hu Yi declared heartily as he led the group into a private room and directed them to sit down.
Zhang Yuncai and his brother Zhang Yundong didn't hold back either, quickly ordering a table full of fine dishes and good wine.
"It's all just a misunderstanding," Zhang Yundong said with a placating smile. "As for Ma Yuan—that cousin of his—I don't really care about him, but his cousin's maternal cousin is an inner sect disciple. We have to give her some face, right? We're all friends here, after all. Let's just let this matter drop. From now on, I'll personally look after your nephew in the Miscellaneous Duties Office and do my best to help him enter the outer sect as soon as possible."
Seeing how deferentially his clansman treated Hu Yi, Zhang Yundong immediately agreed to the arrangement.
"Then I must thank Supervisor Zhang," Gu Yuan said, cupping his fists in gratitude. He knew full well that the other party was only speaking so kindly because of Hu Yi's influence—but no matter what, the issue had been resolved, and that was what mattered.
After the meal, Gu Yuan didn't hold back either. The Cui Xianglou not only served food but also provided dancing girls to accompany the guests. He arranged for one such girl to accompany each of the three men.
After several rounds of drinks, none of them used their spiritual power to dispel the alcohol's effects, and soon, all of them were quite tipsy.
Seeing this, Gu Yuan smiled and said, "It's getting late. Why don't the three Senior Brothers stay the night here?"
The three men, each with a dancing girl in their arms and deep in their cups, readily agreed. Then, they led the girls upstairs.
Just as the girl beside Gu Yuan was about to pull him upstairs as well, Gu Yuan quickly declined. "Miss, you go on ahead. Don't worry, you'll still get your payment—I have some matters to attend to and need to head back."
Gu Yuan went downstairs to settle the bill. The entire meal, along with the four accompanying dancing girls, cost him a total of twenty-four spirit stones.
After leaving the Cui Xianglou, Gu Yuan thought to himself, "Going through the trouble of asking for a favor sure is expensive. If these spirit stones were turned into pills, they could've..."
Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought. "Money comes and goes. I've been in this cultivation world for too long—I'm becoming stingy."
The next day, Gu Xinghe brought the young boy to Gu Yuan's cave abode. Gu Yuan invited them both inside.
It was the first time Gu Yuan had met his nephew.
Looking at the boy's features, Gu Yuan couldn't tell for certain whether he was the child of his elder brother or his second brother—the boy bore a slight resemblance to both.
"Xinghe pays his respects to his uncle," the boy said.
Gu Xinghe, who looked to be around thirteen or fourteen, was somewhat thin and frail. His respectful address of "uncle" snapped Gu Yuan back to the moment.
"Who is your father?" Gu Yuan asked.
"My father is Gu Cun. Before I entered the sect, Father told me that my uncle lived in Cave 76, Area Bing, on Qinglin Mountain. He said I should visit you when I had the chance. But I've been in the sect for nearly two months now and never found the opportunity. I hope Uncle won't blame me."
"It's my second brother's child," Gu Yuan said softly. The moment he heard the name, the image of his second brother's reluctant and sorrowful expression before he left for the secular world slowly surfaced in his mind.
"How have my second brother and the others been doing?" Gu Yuan asked.
Gu Xinghe's expression turned bitter. "After Father and Uncle arrived in the secular world, it seems Grandfather gave them a mission. Each of them married multiple wives. I'm Father's twelfth son, and I have three younger sisters and four younger brothers below me.
"Uncle passed away a few years ago due to poor health. His household also left behind more than ten siblings of my generation, but none of them had spiritual roots. I'm the only one who passed the Cangxuan Sect's entrance test."
Gu Yuan's gaze froze. He had never imagined that his two elder brothers, after being sent to the secular world, would end up living such... vigorous lives. The Gu family had already grown to dozens of members.
"So it seems that although Father sent them to the secular world, he didn't just abandon them entirely. Otherwise, how would my two brothers have been able to support such a large family?" Thinking of this, the worry that had weighed on Gu Yuan for years finally lifted.
"It's my eldest brother who had it tough—he passed away so young," Gu Yuan sighed with emotion.
Gu Xinghe added, "I don't know much about Auntie's situation. I once heard Father mention in passing that after she arrived in the secular world, she married into a martial arts family, and after that, we lost contact."
Gu Yuan nodded. Since Gu Shan had been able to make proper arrangements for his two elder brothers, he would have taken care of his daughter—his elder sister—as well. There was no need for Gu Yuan to worry about her.
After catching up on family matters, Gu Yuan reached into his storage pouch and took out two Spirit-Gathering Pills. He handed them to the two youths and said, "I'm not particularly talented myself, so don't mind the humble gift. These two Spirit-Gathering Pills are meant as a welcome present. Taking them during cultivation can help you advance to the Qi Refining stage more quickly."