The He Family Goes Berserk

Early the next morning, what happened in the He Family was exactly as Chu Yuntian had expected. At daybreak, a guard ran in and shouted, "Bad news! Bad news, Patriarch! The things—the things are gone!"

The He Family Patriarch frowned. "What things are gone? Why are you so flustered? What sort of appearance is this for others to see?" He did not punish the guard too severely. He knew these men. They were utterly loyal to the Lineage and specifically guarded the medicine storehouse. From his words, some herbs or spiritual medicines had probably gone missing. This was not the first time such a thing had happened.

Some members of the Lineage would sometimes take medicine for their own use without having time to inform them. Whenever the daily inventory did not match, they would come report it. Other than their own people, could outsiders possibly get in?

The guard caught his breath. He still looked anxious, but he slowed his speech considerably. "Patriarch, this time it was the Body Tempering Pills. The Body Tempering Pills are gone." His voice lowered, but his tone remained incomparably urgent.

"What? Body Tempering Pills? Could those brats have taken them without permission? They were meant for them anyway, but taking them without a word is simply disgraceful. Tell me, how many were taken?"

The guard cautiously glanced at the Patriarch, then said softly, "Patriarch, one bottle, one bottle..."

"What? They took one bottle? Fine, I'll ask about this matter. Keep guarding the place. Don't let anyone take any more."

The guard hurriedly said, "No, Patriarch, it wasn't that one bottle was taken. It—it was that not a single bottle was left. We checked. It wasn't the young masters, nor was it anyone else in the family. This must have been theft." At last, the guard got the whole matter out. If he failed to explain clearly, it would be troublesome if the blame later fell on his head.

The Patriarch's face was full of shock. "What did you say? Not a single bottle is left? How is that possible? Take me there at once." The Body Tempering Pills were far too important to the Lineage. They were precious resources for raising the next generation. One-third of this year's income had been spent purchasing them.

Originally, these Body Tempering Pills should have lasted the younger members of the Lineage for several years at least. After all, using too many Body Tempering Pills at once was not good either. Young people lacked experience and found it difficult to restrain themselves from advancing too quickly. Every Lineage was the same in that regard. Unlike the Huo Family, the He Family only allowed its Body Tempering Pills to be contested at fixed intervals.

And in every contest, each person could only obtain one pill. If they were simply gone like this, who could bear such an enormous loss?

When they arrived at the medicine storehouse, the Patriarch's face turned somewhat pale. They were indeed gone. Damn it, how had this happened? Even as Patriarch, he found such a massive loss difficult to bear. The He Family was not like the Huo Family.

The Huo Family had few members, and the main branch never needed to fight for resources. The He Family, however, flourished with people. If he did not perform well as Patriarch, the other elders would certainly drag him down from his position and replace him with someone else. Among the outstanding descendants of the He Family alone, there were several in his generation. The He Family had never lacked candidates for Patriarch.

"Wait, what is this?" Suddenly, the He Family Patriarch spotted something. After moving aside some medicinal materials, he discovered a small round hole in the cabinet. It was just large enough for a pill bottle to pass through.

"Did none of you notice? You actually let someone calmly come in, drill a hole, and take the goods without realizing it. Were you all asleep?" The He Family Patriarch suddenly flew into a rage, leaving the guards at a loss.

The Patriarch was doing this deliberately. By shifting the main responsibility onto these gate guards, he might even be able to push it onto several other people. Not only would this absolve him of responsibility, it would also solidify his position. This pill theft might even turn out to be a good thing. Anyone capable of becoming Patriarch was skilled at turning misfortune into something advantageous for themselves.

"Patriarch, we deserve ten thousand deaths." The surrounding guards immediately dropped to one knee, offering no rebuttal at all.

The Patriarch nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand. "It cannot all be blamed on you. Think carefully. Who would be most capable of entering the medicine storehouse and stealing the items without alerting you?" The Patriarch began steering them deliberately.

The guards did not have so many twists and turns in their minds. They exchanged glances and began thinking. Someone entering the medicine storehouse without alerting them—how was that possible? They had guarded this place constantly. Unless... everyone's eyes lit up.

"Right, unless it was someone from our own He Family." Every day, members of the He Family entered the medicine storehouse to look for herbs they needed. It contained not only high-grade spiritual medicines and pills, but also herbs for treating illnesses and nourishing the body. After entering, some people might take a few extra things, then later forget to register them.

That was why items often went missing from the He Family medicine storehouse. When he first received the report, the Patriarch had assumed this was what had happened. Only after arriving at the storehouse did he realize that things were not so simple. This was outright theft.

Though the cabinet holding the pills appeared ordinary, its wood was made from an extremely high-grade material. Moreover, it bore formations inscribed by a formation spirit master and was incomparably sturdy. Drilling a hole through it was no easy task.

With so much time and such a great disturbance, how could no one have noticed? The only possibility was that someone had repeatedly taken advantage of chances to sneak in, drilling a little each time until, over time, they had made the hole.

"Patriarch, are you saying there is a traitor within the Lineage? That one of our own stole them?" At last, one guard cautiously spoke up. If that was the case, then this matter was troublesome. Stealing a little ordinary stuff was nothing, but these were Body Tempering Pills bought with one-third of the Lineage's annual income. This was a serious matter.

No matter who it was, once discovered, they would definitely have no good fruit to eat. The Patriarch nodded faintly. "That's right, exactly so. I never imagined such a worm would appear within the Lineage. No, this time, there will be no leniency."

The Patriarch wore an expression of firm resolve, then shouted, "Men, immediately notify every member of the Lineage to come to the medicine storehouse. I want to see exactly who did this." With a single order from the Patriarch, the entire He Family sprang into motion.

After discovering that the pills had been stolen, no one looked pleased, especially those young disciples who had originally been allotted Body Tempering Pills. Their faces looked even worse. In order to catch the petty thief, everyone began searching. Under the Patriarch's deliberate guidance, the target gradually became fixed on the He Family itself.

Thus, a great upheaval in the He Family began at that moment. Even Huo Hai himself had not expected that his actions would create such a huge stir. At this very moment, Huo Hai was covering his tracks.

Every day, he still did as before: catching insects and gathering herbs. The rest of his time was spent quietly adjusting his condition. To undergo Foundation Establishment perfectly, he needed not only a large number of Body Tempering Pills, but also an excellent state of body and mind.

"Brother Hai, did you hear? Something major happened in the He Family these past few days. It seems something was stolen, and it was done by someone from the He Family itself. Because of this, several people in the He Family have already been removed from their posts." That day, Huo Hai was outside catching insects. Beside him, Huo Yuner teased Little Gold while speaking softly.

"What happened to the He Family? How did things become so serious? What sort of people were removed from their posts?" Huo Hai asked without changing expression. Huo Yuner did not suspect in the slightest that the person responsible was the brother beside her.

Huo Yuner curled her lip. "Hmph, what else could it be? Dogs biting dogs. The He Family is far more chaotic than ours. Who knows what really happened? The Patriarch's faction is desperately attacking the other factions. Maybe the Patriarch stole the things himself."

Huo Hai smiled faintly. Of course he had stolen them—twenty full bottles of Body Tempering Pills. But Huo Hai suddenly asked, "Yun'er, how do you know all this? Even I didn't know. You couldn't have thought up all this scheming and intrigue yourself, could you?" Huo Yuner was so innocent and adorable. How could she understand such things?

Huo Yuner stuck out her tongue and said embarrassedly, "Ah, you saw through me. Yesterday, I heard my father saying this to my mother, so I overheard it." Just as expected. How could this little girl possibly understand such matters?

"Then what else did you hear? For example, what is the He Family's current situation? Have they found out who stole the things?" Huo Hai asked without revealing anything. If it were someone else, he would not have dared probe so casually.

Huo Yuner thought for a moment, then said softly, "It seems they caught someone. Some say the second branch did it, while others say the third branch did it. The He Family seems to have split into several factions now, and they are about to start fighting. The Patriarch insists it was those few who did it, but none of them will admit it. Don't you think that's strange?"

After thinking briefly, Huo Hai roughly understood what was going on. He had not watched all those television dramas full of scheming and intrigue for nothing.

"Hmph, but this is good too. Fight among yourselves slowly. Now, even if I use these Body Tempering Pills, it won't draw your attention." Once he realized their attention was no longer on catching the real thief, Huo Hai understood what he should do.

Over the past few days, Huo Hai had nearly adjusted his condition to perfection. Next, he could use these Body Tempering Pills to increase his strength and undergo perfect Foundation Establishment. This was not something that could compare to using Body Tempering Pills to forcibly raise his cultivation. It was a secret method—an openly known secret method. Many people knew of it, but few could accomplish it.

It was said that many people in truly great powers were trained this way. The Western Frontier was very, very small, and even the Southern Cloud Kingdom was very, very small. Since he had the chance to use this legendary method for Foundation Establishment, how could he not be delighted?