Cries of agony rose from the dungeon below, clearly audible even out in the courtyard.
An Old Pine stood in the courtyard, gnarled and vigorous as a dragon. Lou Zhenwu sat at the stone table beneath it, lightly tapping the tabletop in rhythm with the screams.
Before long, the screams ceased. The Steward of Punishment came over to report, "Fifth Senior Brother, the case is mostly clear now. Cen's wife only begged for a quick death and confessed everything."
Lou Zhenwu nodded. "Go on."
The Steward of Punishment said, "Junior Sister Qi had meant well. She drew her sword to aid someone when she saw injustice on the road and accidentally killed Cen Wugou. His wife bore a grudge and gathered a pack of petty scoundrels to lie in ambush, catching Junior Sister Qi while she was unprepared..."
Lou Zhenwu said coldly, "Meant well? She was simply reckless! It was in her nature—there is no need to make excuses for her!"
Lowering his head, the Steward of Punishment gave a bitter smile. "Yes. It was only that Cen Wugou and his wife were quarreling, and the quarrel had grown quite dangerous—they had even come to blows with blades. How could an outsider have known? She must have thought... Of course, Junior Sister Qi had indeed struck a little too heavily."
Lou Zhenwu shook his head. "Continue."
"After Junior Sister Qi was killed, her flying sword fell into Cen's wife's hands. Since Junior Sister Qi had not been carrying any spiritual pills or Spirit Stones at the time, Cen's wife compensated the other five with Spirit Stones—one stone each..."
"One each?"
"These Rogue Cultivators were all poor to the bone..."
Lou Zhenwu could not help being angered into laughter. "One Spirit Stone apiece? They paid only five spirit stones in all, and Junior Sister Qi died for it?"
The Steward of Punishment was equally helpless. "That was indeed the case."
A sense of absurdity suddenly welled up in Lou Zhenwu. He was so stifled that he could not speak for a long while. At last, he exhaled a mouthful of Turbid Qi. "Dispose of every last person involved... Two thieves escaped?"
The Steward of Punishment replied, "One thief claimed his surname was Wei, though his given name is unknown. He is at Qi Refining Level 5, a Xiangxi rogue cultivator; where he cultivates is not yet known. The other thief's identity is especially vague, and his cultivation is unclear as well. According to the confessions of Cen's wife and the other three criminals, he was close to the Wei thief. He called himself a disciple of the Pai Sect, surname Li."
Lou Zhenwu said, "Scum like this are accustomed to hiding their heads and showing their tails. Their names may not be real. Have someone draw their likenesses and investigate every branch of the Pai Sect thoroughly."
The Steward of Punishment said, "When the Wei and Li thieves acted, both wore bamboo hats and black cloth masks. Cen's wife and the other three criminals never saw their true faces, though they said the two ought to be fairly young. The one who called himself a disciple of the Pai Sect was skilled with incense that befuddled the mind. When they ambushed Junior Sister Qi, that was the vile trick he used."
"Incense that befuddled the mind? Incense capable of befuddling Junior Sister Qi?" Lou Zhenwu pondered. "I have never heard of anyone in the Pai Sect being skilled in such incense."
The Steward of Punishment agreed. "Yes. Most disciples of the Pai Sect make their living driving corpses and controlling insects. Their sense of smell is exceedingly dull—otherwise, they could not do this line of work."
Lou Zhenwu said, "Using befuddling incense against a disciple of our Dongyang Sect is truly despicable. Send more men. We must capture those two thieves and avenge Junior Sister Qi!"
After giving his orders, Lou Zhenwu left the dungeon and went to see his Ninth Junior Brother, Su Zhenjiu. He said, "Junior Sister Qi's death has greatly enraged several Martial Uncles. If something happens when Zhang Xianbai emerges from seclusion, the outer sect may no longer be of any use. We must also hasten the recruitment of outer sect disciples. After all, we accept only one person every three years; this concerns the foundation of our Dongyang Sect's continued existence and cannot be treated lightly. Did anything come of the candidate list I asked you to revise?"
Su Zhenjiu sighed. "Junior Sister Qi had the finest talent among the outer sect disciples. It was truly a pity."
Lou Zhenwu shook his head. "It is also a lesson. When accepting disciples, character must be valued above all."
Su Zhenjiu nodded and presented a roster for his senior brother to inspect, explaining as he did so, "As you instructed, Senior Brother, this selection places equal weight on character and talent. All those with rash tempers have been discarded. Ten candidates remain. As is customary, most come from the prominent families of Jingxiang and smaller Rogue Cultivator sects."
Lou Zhenwu glanced over the roster and immediately rejected three of them. "These three are not from Jingxiang. They have only moved here within the past few years—who knows what their true backgrounds are?"
Su Zhenjiu said, "Their talent is excellent."
"Then we do not want them either. You must understand that our Dongyang Sect is rooted in Xiangnan. We should select good material whose origins we know inside and out. Outsiders who settle here cannot be properly nurtured in thirty or fifty years. If anything happens to the sect, people like them are often of two minds."
Su Zhenjiu nodded. Though he found it regrettable, he felt that Fifth Senior Brother's words made sense.
When Lou Zhenwu reached the end, he suddenly frowned. "Why is there someone from Wulong Mountain as well? Liu Xiaolou?"
Su Zhenjiu said, "He was recommended by one of our outer sect disciples in Xiangxi. It is said that he is only eighteen, yet steady of character. Though he comes from Wulong Mountain, there has been no word of him committing any great evil. His heart in pursuing the Dao is most sincere, and his talent is not bad either. His master happened to pass away recently, leaving no one to impart the true meaning of cultivation to him..."
Lou Zhenwu raised a hand to stop him. "Junior Brother, Wulong Mountain rogue cultivators are as numerous as ox hairs. They have always been called bandits, with lowly methods and a foul reputation, entirely unlike those cultivation families and Rogue Cultivator sects. Such people are difficult to reform... Besides, this Liu Xiaolou is already eighteen, not eight. His character has long been set and will be exceedingly difficult to change. If we accept a Wulong Mountain bandit into the sect, never mind the inner sect—even taking him into the outer sect would make us the laughingstock of the world."
Su Zhenjiu made one final effort. "It is said that he is the inheritor of the Three Xuan Sect."
Lou Zhenwu searched his memory but could not recall it for the moment. "The Three Xuan Sect?"
Su Zhenjiu reminded him, "It is said that his patriarch was one of the Cave Heaven Masters of Luofu Mountain. Two hundred years ago, he departed because of internal strife on Luofu Mountain and founded the Three Xuan Sect. Sadly, his undertaking did not succeed, and the sect declined. Now Liu Xiaolou is its only remaining sapling."
"Where did you hear that?"
"...Rumors from the martial world..."
Lou Zhenwu shook his head with a laugh. "I have never heard of such a thing. Leaving aside whether it is true, if it is true, there is even less reason to provoke Luofu Mountain... Let him fend for himself."
Su Zhenjiu sighed. "Understood. Then shall the remaining six come up the mountain to await selection?"
Lou Zhenwu nodded. "So be it."
Since Fifth Senior Brother had made his decision, Su Zhenjiu naturally could only carry it out. He wrote a letter to his uncle, Shopkeeper Su of the Xiangxi Zhongyi Workshop, explaining the situation in detail and making clear that he had already done everything he could.
Shopkeeper Su was also quite helpless after receiving the letter. After some thought, he decided to make a trip to Wulong Mountain himself. Wulong Mountain rogue cultivators had always had poor reputations. He had, after all, accepted a generous gift from the other party, yet failed to get the matter done. If they did something unreasonable and became entangled with him later, it would be most troublesome. Of course, the gift would absolutely not be returned—there was no reason to return it.
Xiangxi, Wulong Mountain, Qianzhu Ridge.
A clump of emerald bamboo, a ring of fencing, and a thatched cottage. This was Liu Xiaolou's cultivation residence.
Shopkeeper Su did not enter the yard. Through the wooden door, he explained the matter to Liu Xiaolou, then sighed. "Little brother, by all rights, your character is beyond reproach, and your master was the same. Otherwise, this old man would never have associated with master and disciple alike. But when all is said and done, it is your background... There is no helping it. This old man has already done his utmost."
Liu Xiaolou was silent for a long while before he forced out a smile. "Thank you, Shopkeeper. I have caused you trouble."
Looking at Liu Xiaolou before him, Shopkeeper Su felt great regret as well. What a handsome young man. If he were truly accepted into the Dongyang Sect, he would surely become one of its outstanding figures. But alas, he had been born in a nest of thieves. This old man wished to pull you out of the pit, but his status was too low and his words carried no weight.
Having explained the reasons and shown his sincerity, Shopkeeper Su considered himself worthy of the generous gift he had accepted. Seeing that Liu Xiaolou was fairly reasonable and had not made a great fuss, he cupped his hands in farewell. "If you encounter difficulties again in the future, you may still come find me."
He had no desire to remain long amid these poor mountains and evil waters. He always felt that for every moment he stayed, his back grew a little colder.
Liu Xiaolou returned the gesture with a smile and watched him all the way down the ridge.
To gain the favor of this man who spoke for the Dongyang Sect in Yongshun Prefecture, Liu Xiaolou had spared no effort. He had nearly exhausted all the property Mister Sanxuan had left behind, only to be struck a blow right in the face. When he had asked Shopkeeper Su to handle the matter, he had known it was a gamble and expected the chance of success to be slight. Yet when the news of failure truly came, he was still deeply stifled.
What was wrong with being from Wulong Mountain?
Whom had he offended?
With this path blocked, he sat listlessly on the cool terrace before the house for a long time. Then he remembered that he still needed to attend his sworn elder brother's dual-cultivation ceremony. He turned to go inside—and froze.
The Spirit Stone meant as a congratulatory gift was gone!
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