"You opened it?" Gu Yue Bo frowned deeply.
"That's right, at this point, I shall not hide it any further!" Fang Yuan acted as if he was risking everything, speaking urgently, "I bought six pieces of purple gold rock at the gambling den, but because I did not have enough primeval essence, I only opened five on the spot. The last one, I brought back to the hostel and after opening it, I found a Liquor worm inside. I was overjoyed as I had searched up information on it before, and knew that the Liquor worm is a rare Gu worm that could supplement my lack of talent, thus I refined it on the spot."
"Wait, you said that you bought six gambling rocks and opened a mudskin toad as well as another Liquor worm?" The clan elders upon hearing this, could not help but ask in an unbelievable tone.
"So what?" Fang Yuan answered as a matter of fact, then pointed at the female Gu Master, shouting, "She can be my witness!"
Everyone on the scene were momentarily stunned before turning to look at the female Gu Master.
The female Gu Master felt the pressure from all the gaze and did not dare to lie, so she honestly said, "It is indeed true, Fang Yuan bought six rocks and opened the mudskin toad on the fifth. He brought the sixth piece away, but I do not know what he opened inside."
"Buying six purple gold rocks and getting two Gu worms consecutively, isn't this luck way too good?" The clan elders mumbled.
"What's so hard to understand? It's luck, who knows, heh, back in the days when I gambled rocks I also…"
"Wait, Gu worms are hard to refine, why did it sound like Fang Yuan easily refined it?" Some of the family elders asked suspiciously.
"You're muddled. Don't you know that when a Gu is extracted from a fossil, they're extremely weak, tittering on the brink of death? Even refining then from a lower Rank is possible. What's so peculiar about him refining the Liquor worm?" Someone immediately answered.
Fang Yuan continued, "I refined the Liquor worm and went to the stores on the second day, I indeed went to a wine shop in the afternoon and bought a cup of monkey wine. At night, I went again and witnessed a scamming scene, Jia Jin Sheng was selling a smelly fart fat worm as a Black Boar Gu to someone in my clan. Next, Sir Jia Fu appeared and resolved the dispute."
"I went to the wine shop again, but I did not expect to see Jia Jin Sheng drinking wine in a poor mood. I had just obtained the Liquor worm and was extremely happy, so I asked him how many primeval stones I could sell it for. Who knew that Jia Jin Sheng upon hearing my Liquor worm, wanted to forcefully buy it. I obviously rejected him, I had no intentions to sell it, only wanting to know its value. Even if I wanted to sell it, that would have to be after I am Rank two, thus I left on the spot."
Fang Yuan's words had brought out the matter of Jia Jin Sheng and Jia Fu's conflict, causing the clan elders to see Jia Fu in a different light.
Under these pressuring gazes, Jia Fu coughed and asked Fang Yuan with shining eyes, "Then did my brother chase after you?"
Fang Yuan nodded, half lying, "He not only chased me, but also added an extra fifty primeval stones. But I did not want to sell it, so he was furious, claiming that the Gu Yue clan was no big deal, asking me to watch out. After saying that, he walked away. I never saw him again."
Jia Fu nodded internally. With his understanding of Jia Jin Sheng, he definitely would have chased after Fang Yuan and gave threats as that was his style.
If Fang Yuan said he did not chase after him, that would be a lie.
But since Fang Yuan said so, this led Jia Fu to a predicament. His investigations led up only to this clue. Did Jia Jin Sheng really not search for Fang Yuan after that? Maybe he found Fang Yuan again afterwards, and as the two could not agree on the matter, he was killed by Fang Yuan —— This is entirely possible.
'Speak, was Jia Jin Sheng killed by you!" Thinking of this, Jia Fu interrogated fiercely, attempting to pressurize Fang Yuan with his aura.
Fang Yuan denied once again, claiming that he did not see Jia Jin Sheng anymore.
Jia Fu had no other evidence, and while one side questioned intensely, the other denied. At this point, it had become a stalemate.
As Gu Yue Bo listened to their conversation, he turned displeased. That Jia Jin Sheng actually dared to threaten the Gu Yue clan on Qing Mao mountain, this was not giving the Gu Yue clan any respect! Now this Jia Fu dared to interrogate a Gu Yue clan member so intensely in front of all the Gu Yue clan higher-ups. Nevermind if he had evidence, but now that he has no evidence or proof, if this matter spread out, what would happen to the Gu Yue clan's honour?
"Brother Jia, it's not that I want to speak out of turn." The clan leader interrupted his interrogation and continued, " Jia Jin Sheng has gone missing for so many days, hope is bleak. The culprit who caused this crime definitely left behind some traces. Did brother find anything yet?"
Jia Fu stared fiercely at Fang Yuan before raising his head and sighed, "I understand brother's words! If there were any traces, I would not have come here to find the culprit. That criminal is obviously experienced with vile methods and meticulous handling. To speak the truth, all the clues are at a dead end, and on the day we left, there was a huge rain that could have washed away all the possible blood traces."
Gu Yue Bo smiled faintly. "Brother Jia, I heard that your Jia family has a tracing Gu worm called the Underworld Path Butterfly. It can emit soul fragrance and be implanted on Gu worms. The scent is colourless and odourless, and never fades. Your Jia family member's Gu worms all have this scent. As long as you use the Underworld Path Butterfly, following the fragrance, you'll be able to find the Gu worms and thus your brother."
Jia Fu solemnly said, "I used the Underworld Path Butterfly long ago, but there was no effect. I'm sure you've heard that once the Gu worm dies, the fragrance dissipates. Evidently the murderer killed all of the Gu worms in my brother's possession.
Gu Yue Bo's words turned, "That's strange. The murderer harmed your brother, but he did not go for the Gu worms, or for extortion to get primeval stones. The murderer killed this tiny Rank one Gu Master, what was the motive?"
Indeed, what was the motive?
Regardless of whether Jia Jin Sheng was dead, there had to be a motive, right?
If not for Gu worms nor primeval stones, then was it for love?
But if it was a crime of passion, it had to be a long term process, and Jia Fu would not have come to the Gu Yue clan. The caravan members and clansmen would fall under greater suspicion as they have a long relationship with him.
At once, the hall fell into silence.
Fang Yuan followed everyone's gazes, and suddenly said to Jia Fu, "Maybe Jia Jin Sheng was killed by you. I heard before that your family is splitting assets, now that one brother is dead, wouldn't you get more inheritance?"
"Shut up!"
"Baseless accusation, do not slander Sir Jia Fu."
Immediately the family elders erupted.
Fang Yuan kept quiet immediately, his gaze shining obscurely, but his objective had been reached.
His earlier words were like a pebble that was thrown into the elders' sea of thoughts, causing waves of ripples.
The clan elders followed this train of thought, and started to think, "Jia Fu cannot kill Jia Jin Sheng, this causes more harm to him than reward. Wait, even if he won't do it, that does not mean others won't…"
"The Jia family's internal dispute!" A certain elder had a flash of inspiration and lightly muttered.
His volume was not high, but in the silent hall it could be heard clearly.
At once, the elders' gaze shone.
"Finally, they have thought of this." Fang Yuan's mouth twitched, his eyelids drooping, hiding away his cold gaze.
The Jia family's clan leader wants to split the assets and impart the role of clan leader, and because of this his children underwent intense competition, especially Jia Fu and Jia Gui, both being Rank four Gu Masters and having their own supporters.
In these few years, the Jia family situation is somewhat known by many of the mountain villages.
Jia Jin Sheng's misfortune was too strange. Currently there was no evidence showing that Fang Yuan was the killer. It was obvious that the motivation for murder was not enough just based on the theory of killing just because of a Liquor worm. At the same time, the murderer's actions and methods would not be so meticulous and secretive.
But if Jia Gui was the one acting in the shadows, then it could be explained.
Everyone present was a higher-up, and as someone in a position of power, there had to be something capable about them. At least for political schemes, they had great intuition and perception.
The Jia family dispute, this gave everyone's imaginations a pair of wings.
The Jia family clan leader had arranged Jia Jin Sheng to join the caravan. One reason was to test Jia Fu's nature, to see if he was a good brother, and only suppressed but not bully his brother.
Now that Jia Jin Sheng was in trouble, Jia Fu would be implicated, and who is the true winner?
Obviously Jia Fu's greatest competitor — Jia Gui!
The criminal's actions were so fluid, causing all clues to come to a dead end, this showed how experienced the criminal was. How could this be done by a fifteen year old like Fang Yuan?
All the answers were revealed at once!
The discussion hall was still silent, but the elders exchanged gazes full of meaning.
"To make someone believe in something wholeheartedly, it is not through convincing, but directing." Fang Yuan's keen observation allowed him to see these glances, and he laughed coldly in his heart, but his face still showed an expression of indignance and stubbornness.
Jia Fu's face was so dark and gloomy it could drip water.
The matter of the Jia family internal dispute caused him to think of Jia Gui.
At that moment, his soul shook!
Who else had a greater motivation than Jia Gui?
No one!
"I understand now, I understand everything." The academy elder stood behind Fang Yuan, looking at him. His eyes shone, "Fang Yuan is both lucky and unfortunate, meeting Jia Jin Sheng at the last moment. With his age of just starting to attend school, how can he get rid of all the evidence? If he had such scheming abilities, how can he show this expression of indomitability. He denied it earlier just to hide the existence of the Liquor worm."
At this point, everyone had dispelled their suspicious towards Fang Yuan!
"Getting rid of the suspicions on me is just the first step, what happens next is crucial." Fang Yuan was in grasp of the situation, and at this point, everything was going according to plan. He sighed internally and looked at Jia Fu.
Jia Fu looked at him too, the unfriendliness in his eyes growing obviously more intense.
Jia Fu was conflicted.
He had dispelled his suspicions of Fang Yuan and was certain that Jia Gui was the mastermind.
"But yet, so what if I know the truth?" Jia Fu felt anger and sadness surging, "I have no evidence at hand, so if I accused Jia Gui in front of father without any proof, father might even think I am trying to frame him!"
Jia Fu was smart, and he looked at Fang Yuan, a light flashing in his eyes.
Jia Jin Sheng had journeyed with him together, and now that he was missing, it was Jia Fu's fault for not taking care of him! Since he could not accuse Jia Gui, he had to give his father some answer.
And this answer was in front of him!
"That's right, if Fang Yuan is the scapegoat, it would at least help me get through this crisis. Once I get over it, I can get back at Jia Gui with twice the payback." Jia Fu thought deviously.
He raised his pitch, interrogating Fang Yuan, "Fang Yuan, how do you prove that you did not harm Jia Jin Sheng?"
The clan elders were stunned. This is obviously your internal dispute, why are you still grabbing onto my clansman?
Only the Gu Yue clan leader looked grim, his expression turning sharp as he stared at Jia Fu.
"Fang Yuan, what proof do you have to show that you were not present at the time and did not harm Jia Jin Sheng? If you can't prove it, you are the murderer!" Jia Fu pointed at Fang Yuan, his gaze furious as he threatened with his aura.
"He's trying to push our clan's Fang Yuan into being the scapegoat. How atrocious!" At this point, the clan elders had reacted and their expressions all turned unkind.
They had been fighting and scheming against each other for a long time, so if they thought about it, they would know easily about Jia Fu's standpoint and intentions.
"Witness? Of course I do! I prepared it long ago." Fang Yuan smiled internally, but showed an expression of shock, as if he wanted to speak but couldn't.
"No need for others, just tell me if you do or not!" Jia Fu raised his voice again, forcing Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan showed an indignant expression, but finally gritted his teeth and said helplessly, "No."
"Haha. Then you are —"" Jia Fu was about to declare his verdict but at that point.
"Halt!" The academy elder took a step forward and stood in front of Fang Yuan with a solemn expression, "Of course he has a witness, that would be me!"
"You?" Jia Fu asked in shock.
"That's right, me." The academy elder, facing Rank four Jia Fu, was slightly overpowered. But seeing Gu Yue Bo's encouraging gaze, he gathered his courage and raised his head, "These days when Fang Yuan unexpectedly became the first to break through the middle stage, I sent my men to investigate him. His everyday activities and actions are recorded down, there was no time for him to harm Jia Jin Sheng."
"Yes, this is it…" Fang Yuan hid behind the academy elder's back, where no one could see his curled lips, revealing a smile.
Jia Fu's expression was dim, he did not expect the academy elder to stand out and protect Fang Yuan.
The crucial point was, the Gu Yue clan leader did not object. This had a great meaning, for it meant the Gu Yue clan was going to protect Fang Yuan.
"I get it! I wanted to get Fang Yuan to become the scapegoat, but that was from my perspective, and I did not consider their perspective. Indeed, once Fang Yuan is criminalized, the Gu Yue clan has to bear the evil name of harming a Jia family member. From then on they will have to face the Jia family's retribution as well as losing their own reputation. Furthermore, future caravans would not dare to come here and trade anymore, the loss is too great!"
Thinking of this, Jia Fu was anguished and wanted to slap his own head.
The Gu Yue higher-ups did have such considerations.
Fang Yuan was a C grade, so if he really harmed Jia Jin Sheng, handing him over was nothing. But the point was, now that his suspicion had been cleared, if he was handed over, wouldn't the Gu Yue clan suffer a great injustice and lose out greatly?
Knowing that this conflict could not be resolved, Jia Fu gritted his teeth, determined to get his way. He said, "If so, why don't you let me use the Footprint Gu. Once this Gu is used, it will show us his last 30,000 footprints on the floor."
The academy elder scoffed in displeasure.
Jia Fu's words meant he did not trust them. But he has no reason to stop him, thus he let Jia Fu through.
"Come and test!" Fang Yuan laughed coldly at Jia Fu, walking towards him with his head lowered.
He was confident, having predicted this. Thus, these few days he kept his activities within the village and did not go to the secret cave.
Under the Gu Yue higher-ups supervision, Jia Fu did not play any tricks.
The Footprint Gu was very peculiar, it was shaped like a person's foot. Its material was like a translucent yogurt, giving others a feeling of smoothness, and the surface had a yellow-green luster.
Its size was small, being only palm size.
Jia Fu held it in his hands, sending primeval essence into the Footprint Gu.
The Footprint Gu became brighter, and then suddenly with a "bam" sound, exploded into a cloud of yellow green powder.
The powdery cloud enveloped Fang Yuan and spun around him before flying out of the discussion hall.
Where the powder cloud passed through, the floor would show a series of footprints.
These footprints glowed in a yellow green light around the same size as Fang Yuan's foot. They were Fang Yuan's footprints when he entered the discussion hall.
The footprints extended from the family head pavilion into the academy hostel and then to the academy and circulated. Other than that, it reached the mountain village's inn.
The powder cloud became smaller as it flew, and finally at the 30,000th step, it vanished.
The results were clear, everyone had checked and knew that Fang Yuan was innocent, there were no suspicious points.
Jia Fu sighed, taking out a small jade box.
He opened the jade box, where there was only a jade piece inside.
The jade piece was a translucent emerald colour, and there was a Gu sealed inside.
This was a phasmids(1), its body long and slim, with the colour of jade, its entire body looking like a bamboo tube.
The phasmids was normally longer than a palm, but this one wasn't, being only the size of a fingernail. On its surface, it emitted a white glow.
"Green jade as its body, white light enveloping its form, this is the Bamboo Gentleman!" At once, some of the elders recognised this Gu worm and exclaimed.
Even Gu Yue Bo was moved. He could not refrain from advising, "Brother Jia, this Bamboo Gentleman is a Rank four Gu, it is not easily refined. Why waste it here?"
Jia Fu shook his head, looking at Fang Yuan: "This Bamboo Gentleman was obtained through gambling rocks when I was young. The rock was only opened halfway before it could no longer be extracted. As everyone knows, this Gu worm is fed honesty as food, being able to detect lies from birth. Only an honest gentleman who has never lied can refine and feed this Gu."
"Fang Yuan, you just have to open this rock and keep the Bamboo Gentleman in your aperture. Whatever I ask you, you will answer. Next, we will take out this Gu and let everyone see if it changed colour. If the Gu changes colour, you're lying!"
"No problem." Fang Yuan did not hesitate. He immediately opened the jade piece and did as Jia Fu instructed.
The Bamboo Gentleman appeared in his aperture and emitted a faint green glow, covering the primeval sea.
Fang Yuan felt that if he said a single lie, the Bamboo Gentleman could detect it and turn its body from green into another color.
But he only accepted it because he had his trump card.
"Spring Autumn Cicada!" With a thought, the Spring Autumn Cicada awakened and let out a trace of its aura.
This aura was overpowering, and it immediately suppressed the Bamboo Gentleman.
The Bamboo Gentleman emitted a green glow and immediately shrunk its body. Its entire body was curled up, trembling in fear. How could it have the excessive spirit to detect lies?
Jia Fu begin interrogating, with his first question hitting home, "Fang Yuan, did you harm my brother Jia Jin Sheng?"
"No!" Fang Yuan affirmed.
Jia Fu asked, "Do you have any other information about him?"
Fang Yuan shook his head, "No idea."
Jia Fu asked again, "Did you say anything dishonest to us earlier?"
Fang Yuan shook his head again, "No."
"Alright, you can take out the Bamboo Gentleman now." After finishing with three questions, Jia Fu instructed Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan took out the Bamboo Gentleman, and everyone saw that it was still an emerald green colour with no changes.
The clan elders heaved a sigh of relief.
Jia Fu's expression became milder as he kept the Bamboo Gentleman, cupping his fists towards Gu Yue Bo, "Much offense this time, brother Gu Yue."
"No matter, the truth is what we wanted to see as well." Gu Yue Bo waved his hand, then sighed, "But what a pity for this Bamboo Gentleman."
The Bamboo Gentleman had the ability to detect lies and was a Rank four Gu, thus it was very valuable. But feeding and refining it was not easy. It had to be refined by an honest gentleman. If any other Gu Master had said a single lie, the refinement would fail and the Bamboo Gentleman would die on the spot.
Its food was honesty. It would reside in the aperture of an honest gentleman and consuming the gentleman's honesty as food to survive.
Now that the Bamboo Gentleman had been opened, it was extremely weak, but it had no food to restore its strength. After being treated so harshly by Fang Yuan, its death was set in stone.
Jia Fu shook his head, looking at the Bamboo Gentleman in his head, not feeling any pity.
He said solemnly, "I have already done my best to investigate, but I received no results. This time, when I get back to the family, I will employ the divine investigator Tie Xue Leng(2), it would definitely get this matter cleared up! Goodbye."
Saying so, he cupped his fists towards Gu Yue Bo and left, crisp and quick, with a certain elegance to it.
Seeing Jia Fu and the rest leaving, Gu Yue Bo heaved a sigh of relief and said, "You can all leave now."
He waved at the clan elders, but suddenly thought of something and said, "Academy elder please stay back."
Without losing a single drop of sweat, Fang Yuan walked out of the family head's pavilion safe and sound.
"Clan leader, what is the matter?" The academy elder respectfully stood at a corner.
"It's nothing much, take a seat, I have a story to share with you." Gu Yue Bo squinted his eyes and said slowly.
"Your subordinate shall listen with full attention!" Academy elder chose to sit at the seat closest to the clan leader.
Clan leader Gu Yue Bo began his story on Ren Zu.
Some say ——
Ever since Ren Zu was able to get their names and subdued the Rules and Regulation Gu, his first order was for them to capture a longevity Gu.
Rules and Regulation Gu, one round and other other square, worked together and could capture all the Gu in the world, a longevity Gu was nothing difficult.
Ren Zu used the longevity Gu and got back his youth, becoming 20 years old again.
But now the rules Gu said, "Human, although you subdued us, every time you command us, it will add a rule and regulation."
Regulation Gu continued, "We can catch the longevity Gu for you, this is the first order. Our new rule and regulation is, we will not repeatedly catch the same Gu for you."
That means, if Ren Zu wanted to catch a longevity Gu again, the two Rules and Regulation Gu would not help.
Ren Zu nodded, having no choice but to accept.
He gave his second command, "Then, other than the longevity Gu, please capture all the other ten thousand Gu in the world for me."
Rules and regulation Gu got this command and Rules Gu turned into a giant circle, encompassing the universe. Regulation Gu turned into a giant square, covering the large world.
One square and one round formed a giant net together, enveloping the entire world.
When they shrunk again and returned to Ren Zu, all the Gu in the world other than longevity Gu were captured.
Ren Zu was overjoyed, with this all the Gu belonged to him, from now on he was the ruler of the world!
But once he opened the net, with a swoosh, a large number of worms flew outside and the Gu that Rules and Regulation Gu worked hard to catch, all escaped fervently.
When Ren Zu closed the net, only five Gu were left.
"Why is this?" Ren Zu was astonished.
Rules and Regulation answered him, "Human, the world has over ten thousand Gu with all sorts of abilities. You have no strength or knowledge, how can you subdue them? We can only capture Gu for you, to subdue them, you have to rely on yourself to get them to work for you."
Next they added, "This is your second order, so we'll add a second rule and regulation — From now on, we can only catch one Gu for you at a time."
Ren Zu could only nod, and carefully opened the net, only showing a small gap.
The remaining five Gu contained the Strength and Wisdom Gu. Seeing this, Ren Zu was overjoyed.
He said to Strength Gu, "Strength Gu, you left me back then, do you have any regrets? If you succumb to me now, I will return you your freedom."
Strength Gu said, "Human, you are wrong. I didn't leave not because I couldn't, but because I wanted to stay. You want to subdue me but that's impossible. I only succumb to those stronger than me, but you are out of the question. However we can deal again, give me your youth and I will temporarily obey you."
Ren Zu was reluctant upon hearing this, he had just gotten back his youth, was he about to lose it again?
But he desired strength, he knew that with strength, he would get stronger and life would get easier.
Moreover, with strength, he could subdue more Gu.
Thus, Ren Zu accepted, and formed a second deal with it.
Ren Zu became middle-aged at once, and the strength Gu flew out of the web and landed on Ren Zu's shoulder.
Ren Zu had strength, and was full of confidence.
He said to Wisdom Gu: "Wisdom Gu, you left me back then, do you have any regrets? If you succumb to me now, I will return you your freedom."
Wisdom Gu said, "Human, you are wrong. I did not leave not because I couldn't, but because I wanted to stay. You want to subdue me but that's impossible. I only succumb to those smarter than me, yet you are not smarter than me. But we can deal again, give me your middle age and I will temporarily obey you."
Ren Zu upon hearing this, refused to do the same deal again.
He treasured his life more, and he also knew that once he sold his middle age, he would be left with old age. Before long, the Strength and Wisdom Gu would leave him again, just like last time.
Ren Zu refused to deal, but did not want to let go of the Wisdom Gu.
Wisdom Gu was anxious, reluctantly giving in, "Alright, Human, you win. I lost to you this time. As long as you tell me what method you used to capture me, I will admit defeat and not take anything from you, being at your disposal."
Upon hearing this, Ren Zu was overjoyed and before the Rules and Regulation Gu could stop him, he said, "I used the Rules and Regulation Gu to capture you."
Wisdom Gu laughed upon hearing, "I remembered it, so these Gu are called Rules and Regulation. Haha, now that I know your names, you can no longer capture me."
Saying so, it turned into a flash of light and flew away, vanishing into thin air.
Rules and Regulation Gu begin to complain, "Human, we told u long ago that our name should be known by you alone, and not others. Otherwise, we would be used by others. Look what happened, now that Wisdom Gu knows our names, it spells trouble."
Only then did Ren Zu realise that he was tricked by Wisdom Gu. He was anguished, for he knew he lost the only chance he had of capturing the Wisdom Gu using Rules and Regulation.
Saying so, Gu Yue Bo's story came to an end. He looked at the academy elder with a meaningful gaze.
Academy elder jumped from his seat. He had heard of Ren Zu's story long ago, but from Gu Yue Bo's mouth, it had a greater meaning.
His gaze shone and his heart understood. He bowed slightly at Gu Yue Bo, respectfully saying, "Clan leader, you are using this story as an analogy? Fang Yuan as the Wisdom Gu and the clan as Ren Zu. Although Ren Zu used the Rules and Regulation Gu to capture Wisdom Gu and managed to trap it, the Wisdom Gu eventually escaped."
Saying so, the academy elder paused and thought about it for a while, before looking at Gu Yue Bo. "Sir clan leader, you want me to let go of Fang Yuan and stop pressuring him? But he's getting more and more overboard…"
Gu Yue Bo stopped the academy elder's words, holding out his hand, indicating for him to sit and speak.
The academy elder sat and heard Gu Yue Bo sigh, "You, your comprehension is still superb, being an intelligent person, easily getting my point. Unfortunately your grasp of the situation is still too small, you can only see that tiny plot of land in front of you. Let me tell you, the academy is a small matter, and the clan is really the important one."
"I know what you are worried about, afraid that the other students are heavily suppressed by Fang Yuan, eventually losing the fire in their heart. Hehehe." Gu Yue Bo shook his head, pointing at academy elder, "You're overthinking it."
"What do you think the clan is doing? Just relying on your academy to nurture new people? Of course not, behind every student, there's their parents, elders, and friends. Only with these people's support, encouragement, expectations, our Gu Yue clan's new generation can have the confidence and motivation in their hearts."
"Fang Yuan has indeed repeatedly exceeded my expectations, he has a hint of outstanding excellence. I have been observing Fang Zheng secretly and I have long known about Fang Yuan's extortions, just let him continue. Use him to train Fang Zheng, Mo Bei and Chi Cheng, these rough jades. There are many advantages in this matter, at the very least this round of students have the best fighting skills among all the previous seasons."
Academy elder was worried, "But clan leader, excessive hurdles isn't a good thing either, it will crush the jade. Especially that Fang Yuan has the Liquor worm now, this worm provides great help to a Rank one Gu Master. I'm worried that at the Rank one stage, under Fang Yuan's suppression, no one can overturn the situation."
"Then let them be unable to turn over the situation!" Gu Yue Bo snorted, showing the grace and callousness of a person in power, "This tiny setback, what does it matter? Is it scarier than death? With their family elder's support, if they still lacked motivation, then they are not even jade to begin with and have no value to nurture. The clan has tons of new students into the academy each year, so if this season doesn't succeed, there's always the next. As for Gu Yue Fang Zheng, starting tomorrow night, I will teach him in secret."
"With the clan leader's personal teaching, that is really Gu Yue Fang Zheng's fortune." Academy elder licked his boots at the appropriate timing(1).
Gu Yue Bo's expression softened as he looked at academy elder, instructing, "Do you know the reason why after so many decades, you are still the academy elder? Have greater tolerance, I know Fang Yuan infringed your dignity and made you humiliated, but do you really have to be so calculative with a junior from a younger generation?"
"I know that Fang Yuan has some earlier wisdom, but he is still a youngster and tends to be rash. If not, he would not have hurt the guards in public and caused you to be in a predicament. He was furious internally back then and that is understandable. From being hailed as genius to a commoner, it is normal to be angry at the clan."
"He is actually very childish, you can tell from him trying to hide the Liquor worm. How can the Liquor worm be hid? He is not mature yet and is still innocent, don't think of him as a scary being. Comparing him to the Wisdom Gu, I am thinking too highly of him. At most, he has some small intelligence, but lacks true wisdom and knowledge. If he hid the fact that he rose to middle stage silently, or accepted the class chairman position without any displeasure, that would truly be deep scheming."
"Clan leader, your meaning is?" Academy elder raised his eyebrows.
"What I'm trying to say is, Fang Yuan is discontented with the clan, thus let him go vent his anger. An ant spitting at an elephant, will the elephant care? Emotions are meant to be let out and not bottled inside, so once he's done venting, he will naturally fuse into the clan. Our Gu Yue clan has been around for nearly a thousand years ever since the first generation founded it. There has been countless of people who were discontented with the clan, but eventually did any of them manage to overturn the clan?"
"A clan is not just about rules and regulations, there's also blood relation and kinship. Ren Zu wanted to use the rules and regulations to capture wisdom. Yet not only did he lose, but he also informed wisdom of the rules and regulations. There is profound meaning in this story – the rules are dead, but people are alive, and relationships are deep. If you only know how to use rules and regulations to catch people, it will only increase resentment and cause Fang Yuan to be more dissociated with the clan. Fang Yuan is only a C grade, if he's lucky, after tens of years he'd still be a low-ranking clan elder. But he is still Gu Yue Fang Zheng's twin brother, do you understand now?"
"Understood!" Hearing Gu Yue Bo's final sentence, the academy elder realized at once.
"Mmm, if a family only has rules and regulations, then the family is a pile of dead objects. But if you add in blood relationship, it'll be alive." Gu Yue Bo nodded, "and one more sentence, I want you to remember."
"Please admonish me, sir clan elder."
Gu Yue Bo, with a distant gaze, looked out of the window towards the moon, "The sea can hold the water from thousands of rivers, it's big because of its capacity. A person is great when he can be tolerant and forgiving to many other people. Remember this, and leave."
"Yes clan leader sir, your subordinate takes his leave," said the academy elder as he left the hall.
Tonight's moon was especially round.
The moonlight shone splendid and like muslin, draping over the Qing Mao Mountain.
The Treasure Brass Toad would travel a hundred meters with every hop. Due to its leaping method to move forward, the precipitous and narrow mountain path was unable to serve as a limitation or hindrance to it.
Jia Fu and his crew sat on the back of the Treasure Brass Toad. After exiting the Gu Yue Village, they once again headed towards the merchant caravan's direction.
The wind blew past their ears, and their view followed the Treasure Brass Toad as it moved up and down.
The moonlight shone on everyone's faces and they all looked solemn, while Jia Fu's face was cold as ice.
After a while, a close subordinate could not stand this atmosphere and asked Jia Fu, "Master, what are we going to do now? Jia Jin Sheng's death, once master returns, how will you answer to old master? Should we find a scapegoat first..."
Jia Fu shook his head, but avoided the question, "Do you know the story of Ren Zu?"
The subordinate was stunned, not expecting this answer. At once he did not know how to reply.
Jia Fu continued, "Ren Zu had the Rules and Regulation Gu, and could capture all the ten thousand Gu in the world, obtaining strength but losing wisdom. At that point his net still contained three Gu. He opened and saw that they were the Attitude Gu, Belief Gu and Suspicion Gu respectively. Ren Zu was unwilling to let them go, thus the three Gu could only bet with him. Once Ren Zu opens the net, they would run out in three different directions, and whoever is captured by Ren Zu would be subdued. Guess, who did Ren Zu capture in the end?"
The trusted aide thought, and answered, "It's the Attitude Gu!"
"Do you know why?" Jia Fu asked. The loyal subordinate shook his head.
Jia Fu laughed, "Because attitude means everything. No matter if father 'believes' or 'suspects', I have already displayed my 'attitude'. Jia Jin Sheng went missing, and I immediately conducted investigations in the caravan. Once I had a clue, I rushed towards the Gu Yue clan without stop. At the village, I risked the danger of being attacked by them and interrogated them on the spot. I did not even sit down, and to prove Fang Yuan's words, I went as far as to use the Rank four Bamboo Gentleman."
"Once I get back, I will even spend a ton of money to employ the divine investigator, inviting Tie Leng Xue to investigate this matter. Regardless of whether Jia Jin Sheng is dead or alive, as his brother I have already done all that I should, my attitude shows everything! I have thought it through earlier, we do not need a scapegoat. We shall go back in this honest state, because I was not at fault for this matter! Finding a scapegoat, that might just be a trap by Jia Gui. If I can find a scapegoat, he can also find someone to overturn the case."
His subordinate was shocked and said, "Master, you really suspect that young master Jia Gui was behind this?"
"Hmph, who else but him can do something so perfectly?" Saying so, Jia Fu's face distorted, anger bursting from his eyes, "Before this, I was thinking about our blood relationship and did not do such a thing to him. But since he is so devious, I will have to pay him back an eye for an eye, don't blame me for being unscrupulous!"
He did not know that far away in a distant place, there were a pair of eyes sending him off.
Fang Yuan stood on the hillside as he silently watched.
The view tonight was truly spectacular.
The golden yellow, round moon was high up in the night sky, shining so brightly that the entire earth was lit bright.
The nearby green mountains were verdant and lush, all kinds of flora growing about. The Man Mountain's pine and cypress trees, as well as the Qing Mao Mountain's distinctive green spear bamboo grew in continuous clumps, cluster after cluster. A wide expanse of dark green colour poured down in torrents from the mountaintop and flowed down to the foot of the mountain.
Faraway mountains ranged endlessly, forming a muddled heavy black shadow under the moonlight.
The tortuous and entwined mountain road resembled goat intestines as it meandered into the distance, occasionally sheltered away by the forest, stretching out all the way.
Jia Fu and his group sat atop the Treasure Brass Toad, following the mountain road as they moved forward. As they continued on the leaping toad, their figures were finally covered away by the trees.
Although the mountain terrain could not affect the Treasure Brass Toad's speed, Jia Fu did not dare to recklessly cut through Qing Mao mountain, for if he barges into a monster horde, even with his Rank four cultivation he would still not come out unscathed. Hence following the mountain trail and moving forward is the best path.
Not long ago, Fang Yuan was standing on the hill holding an umbrella, sending the caravan off. But now he was here again, watching Jia Fu leave.
"The trouble from killing Jia Jin Sheng is finally settled." He eyes were dark and remote while his heart was calm, a bout of peacefulness.
Even since he killed Jia Jin Sheng that night, he had been considering how to tie the loose ends.
He was clear that without base or support, if the truth was revealed, the Gu Yue clan would definitely sacrifice him. But if he just hid it blindly, the truth was bound to get exposed one day.
A smart way to lie, is to have truth and lies, some truth in his lies, and some lies in his truth.
He had to direct the trouble elsewhere!
This incident was like a chess game with two sides against each other. One side is Jia Fu's caravan, while the other is the Gu Yue clan. In this incident, be it Gu Yue Bo, the academy elder or Jia fu, they were all pawns, heck even Fang Yuan himself was just a pawn.
To protect the pawn that represents himself, he had to use the two opposing sides and find a chance in between.
Few days ago, Fang Yuan had already started plotting.
He first made use of those two guards to come up with a good show with the academy elder at the academy. Next he hid the existence of the Liquor worm and stirred the curiosity of the clansman, gaining great attention, attracting the higher-ups. Simultaneously, he allowed the academy elder to hold private investigations.
Next, he extorted his classmates and expressed his rashness, wildness and displeasure towards the clan, "showing weakness" to the Gu Yue higher-ups.
Then he counted the days and waited for Jia Fu.
During the interrogation he displayed his immaturity and fear, which allowed him to lead the other's thoughts by the nose. Letting them find out the "truth".
Lastly he made use of the Gu Yue clan and Jia Fu's opposing interests, and turned the academy elder who was suspicious of him and held investigations, into his eye witness.
The Bamboo Gentleman was a small unexpected accident, but it was still a Rank four Gu and under the Spring Autumn Cicada's aura, the Bamboo Gentleman ironically became Fang Yuan's greatest evidence.
Finally, Fang Yuan not only explained perfectly where he got the Liquor worm, but also pushed the blame to the innocent Jia Gui, while he himself got out of this incident without losing a hair.
"Academy elder was asked to stay behind, it seems that Gu Yue Bo is going to interfere in the academy's matters and get rid of the plan to pressurize me. With his nature, he does have this tolerance. But his real motive isn't me, it should probably be Fang Zheng. One of my motives for blowing up the matter was to stir a commotion and make the higher-ups notice. If Gu Yue Bo doesn't show up, there will still be Gu Yue Mo Chen and Chi Lian who would come out to defend their reputation."
"As for Jia Fu, he should be certain that Jia Gui is the culprit now. With the flames of revenge burning in his chest, hehe, I am looking forward to it. With my interference, their sibling conflict would be elevated. I wonder if that Gu Master competition would be brought forward?"
"Oh yes, there is still that divine investigator Tie Leng Xue. Tie Leng Xue... hmph." Fang Yuan repeated this name, and after half a beat, lightly smiled, "Among the righteous path, this is indeed a character. Unfortunately he is riddled with official business and has a tight schedule. For this matter, it is not easy to get him to come. Jia Fu wants to show his attitude thus he has to invite him, but the time is hard to gauge, at the very least it should be arranged in two to three year's time."
In two to three years, he would have Rank two or three cultivation. By then, life would be in a completely different sight.
The night wind blew over with the fresh cool air of the mountains, penetrating with a kind of fragrance.
Fang Yuan breathed in, feeling more refreshed.
He looked into the distance, his field of view wide. The unrestrained mountains were picturesque, looking tranquil and auspicious under the moon.
"The bright moon illuminates among pines, the clear spring flows upon stone." Fang Yuan lightly recited, he could not help but think of a verse from a fable from Earth.
There were a group of monkeys that pursued the moon. They saw the moon in the well, and they wanted to fish it up. The monkey from behind grabbed hold of the tail of the monkey before it, and the monkey before it grabbed ahold of the monkey in front of him. Thus this went on repeatedly until the first monkey was able to touch the water surface of the well.
Once it stretched out its hand, the water rippled and the moon disappeared.
People in this world were like this. They would see the reflection of the moon, and think that it is the real thing.
Not knowing it was just the moon in the well, the moon in their eyes, or simply the moon in their hearts.
"In this life I hope to become the real moon, rising above the mountains and heavens, toying with the clouds and seas, following the ancient times and walk in the darkness above the various heavens." Fang Yuan's eyes were crystal clear, and the beautiful green mountains were reflected on his pupils.
On the hill, the thin body of a teenager stood silently.
A golden moon wheel shaped like a disk suspended high in the night sky.
It has existed since ancient times, travelling through the night sky, casting the small shadow of the teenager faintly onto the limestones.
The night sky of early summer is beautiful.
There was not a single cloud floating in the sky, and the stars flickered like crystals, shining with emotionally moving radiance.
Sandalwood crickets appeared on stage to take over the place of the dragonpill crickets, and they sang their emotional songs in the grassy bushes, creeks and tree branches.
The Gu Yue Village was radiantly lit, as if it was reflecting the bright starry sky.
One by one the dark green bamboo houses stood in the night wind, and beneath the star dome it had a tranquil and peaceful ambience.
Fang Yuan was not in the village now, but he had snuck into the secret cave among the rock cracks.
He half-kneeled on the ground, his hand caressing the image wall, his palm emitting a lump of blue-coloured moonlight.
On the image wall, the original scene was already gone, and it was now no different from the other surrounding stone walls. If Fang Yuan did not remember this position, who else would know that hidden under this image wall was Flower Wine Monk's strength inheritance?
On a night over a month ago, the image wall transformed and the Flower Wine Monk's secret hideout appeared. The image wall first showed a video of Flower Wine Monk bathed in blood, but proclaimed he was leaving his inheritance. Next was a line of bloody words, hinting for the discoverer to break the image wall and the cave opening would appear. Then the words vanished, and the image wall's Photo-audio Gu's strength was depleted, and the image wall went back to being an ordinary wall.
Although he knew about the Flower Wine Monk's inheritance, Fang Yuan did not have the time to explore it.
As it was an unexpected occurrence, he had to kill Jia Jin Sheng on the spot and was busy that night getting rid of the evidence. Towards the impending interrogation, he had to plot carefully and had restricted his activities inside the village.
Until when Jia Fu left and after the academy elder stopped his investigations, about ten days later, the attention had waded and Fang Yuan could finally sneak back into the cave.
In the aperture, the green copper sea was reducing as Fang Yuan deployed his primeval essence into the Moonlight Gu on his right palm.
The Moonlight Gu emitted a gentle moonlight and flickered continuously. Under its effect, the rock wall was shaved off slowly, and large amounts of rock powder fell on the ground.
This was Fang Yuan's extensive control of the Moonlight Gu, the same method he used to open the gambling rocks.
Compared to opening rocks, this method was more coarse, but in breaking this thick rock wall, this method seemed a little too gentle.
This was the sixth day that Fang Yuan was using the Moonlight Gu to shave the rock wall.
On the floor was a thick pile of dark red coloured rock powder.
Logically speaking, Qing Mao Mountain's soil was all green-coloured. But here, the soil were strangely bright red and emitted a dark glow.
But fortunately so, because of this source of light, Fang Yuan did not need to prepare a torch.
In order to avoid being suspected, Fang Yuan did not use any tools. Steel hammers and pickaxe were undoubtedly better for breaking the rock wall, but if he did, the sound of the wall breaking would reverb all over the area.
Regardless of whether the outside world would hear a faint or loud noise, Fang Yuan wanted to eliminate all such possible suspicious points.
Fine details often decided in one's victory or defeat.
To Fang Yuan, being cautious is not just his good point, it was more like a habit to him.
In his past life he had been careless and carefree, but he quickly paid a hefty price. There is a saying that goes, 'people get more cowardly when they age'. Yet actually this is not cowardness, but patient cautiousness. 500 years of experience ingrained the word caution into his soul.
"Puff…" Taking in a deep breath, Fang Yuan slowly stopped the transmission of his primeval essence.
He plopped onto the ground, extremely exhausted.
He had dug around three inches of thickness out of the entire slab of image wall that was the height of half a man.
Fang Yuan wiped the sweat off his forehead while exercising his shoulders and stretching his legs. Due to long hours of squatting, a sense of numbness was felt from his legs.
'Knock, knock, knock'.
Fang Yuan bent his fingers and knocked on the rock wall.
Hearing the sound, he was slightly happy in his heart, as he could tell the wall was getting thinner.
Closing his eyes to meditate, he checked the situation inside his aperture once again.
The green copper primeval essence had less than 20% left.
"Continue working hard!" Fang Yuan grit his teeth and stretched out his right hand again on the rock wall.
The water-blue coloured moonlight sustained a glow for around fifteen minutes, then Fang Yuan suddenly halted his actions. He took out his right arm and found out that the rock wall had a small hole in it already.
He immediately stood up and kicked.
With a thunderous noise, the hole expanded and became as big as a bamboo basket.
Fang Yuan cautiously took a few steps backwards. He felt a sense of staleness emitting from the hole and permeating into this secret cave.
The secret cave's ventilation was not good. Fang Yuan thought about it for a moment and decided to leave the rock crack, returning to the outside world.
Only after a while did he return.
The stale feeling in the cave was slightly better than earlier, and Fang Yuan continued to expand the size of the hole, sometimes using the Moonlight Gu, and at other times using his hands to dig, or his legs to kick. After a while, he finally expanded the hole into a size that he could fit into.
Looking from the hole, there was a diagonal path downwards.
The path was initially narrow, but the deeper it was, the wider it got. A person must lower their head when entering at first, but towards the latter half of the path, they are able to take large strides with straightened backs.
The cave's walls were a weird red soil colour, emitting a faint red glow. This caused the passage's interior to be visible.
But the path was very long and extended beyond what the eye could see. Due to the angle, Fang Yuan could not see what was at the end of the path.
He stood at the cave entrance and did not immediately step in, instead squinting and standing on the spot.
A strength inheritance was not like a legacy inheritance.
Legacy was when a Gu Master died and left behind his belongings. Those who find this legacy can find the items on the corpse.
A strength inheritance is when a Gu Master who is on the verge of death and reluctant to let his legacy go extinct, or to benefit the future generations, or wants to leave behind his last trace of existence in the world, purposely set hurdles to test the people who arrive.
Taking the Flower Wine Monk for example, he set up this inheritance with a clear objective – it is to nurture an avenger, to take revenge on the Gu Yue clan!
If the person who comes along is able to pass these trials he(she) would obtain all sorts of benefits. The person who gets through the final test would obtain the entire strength inheritance.
According to the two factions, strength inheritance is split into the righteous inheritance and the demonic inheritance.
Righteous inheritances often had exquisite design, to test the nature and character of the person. Those who fail midway, would not be in any mortal danger.
Demonic inheritance was more complex.
Those demonic cultivators were often insane and persistent, cold-blooded, or a mass murderer, unable to be assessed by normal standards.
Some demonic inheritances had trials that tested the mind. With lots of mind-boggling decisions to make, a lot of people would fall into deep and painful thoughts without getting a single result.
Some demonic inheritances were extremely simple, being a secret room with Gu worms and primeval stones inside.
Some demonic inheritances were extremely cruel, and failure midway often spelled death.
Some were more extreme – a few demonic cultivator's inheritances were a huge lie, being a giant trap itself. They followed the rules of 'bringing someone down with them', and even right before dying, they would set up this trial and trick others.
"Which type does Flower Wine Monk's inheritance belong to?" Fang Yuan thought deeply.
With his previous life's memories, he was clear of any future famous demonic inheritances. But this one in particular, no one discovered it in his lifetime, and Fang Yuan was left unaware of the details.
"By right, the chances of a trap isn't high. Otherwise the Flower Wine Monk would not design this image wall. But is there a hidden mechanism?"
Fang Yuan picked up a rock and threw it into the cave.
The rock rolled in the path and quickly rolled out of Fang Yuan's sight; he could hear a series of colliding sounds echoing in the cave.
Fang Yuan fell into deep thought. The rock testing results showed that it was safe.
But he did not enter the path yet, and instead took out some rock powder and spread it around the entrance of the secret cave. At the same time, he spread a layer on the rock crack entrance.
Next, he squeezed out of the narrow rock crack and left the place.
Around a few hundred meters from the river in a hidden bush, he found the green bamboo wine that he had brought along this time. Opening the seal, he drank a huge mouthful and purposely spilled some of the liquor, getting it on his clothes and making him smell of alcohol.
Carrying the wine, he went back to the village, and upon reaching the school hostel, it was exactly midnight.
If he did not return at night often, people would get suspicious. This was better, going out early at night and returning late at night.
When finding the Liquor worm, Fang Yuan already did this, and with that background, such behaviour was not peculiar.
The stars fade and the sun appears, a night of silence.