A Matter of Great Importance

The affair at the Medicine Field came to an end faster than Ye An had expected.

Early the next morning, Lu Yun sent someone to summon him to the Inner Sect Management Office.

When Ye An arrived, Lu Yun was sitting at his desk. An open ledger lay before him, with two pages of official documents beside it.

"Zhao Yin and Qian Hu were taken into custody last night." Lu Yun pushed one of the documents toward Ye An. "The evidence is complete, and they confessed. They colluded with outsiders to harvest spirit herbs in secret. Under sect rules, they'll be expelled from the Inner Sect, have their cultivation destroyed, and be handed over to the Law Enforcement Hall. Your tip has been entered into the record, and the office has approved a reward."

Ye An glanced down at the document: three hundred Contribution Points, ten bottles of Meridian Opening Pills, and one Grade D sect merit. Three such merits could be exchanged for access to a Spirit Grade Martial Art in the Inner Sect's Scripture Repository.

"One more thing." Lu Yun put away the second page, his tone turning colder. "The man you killed last night has been confirmed as a member of a collateral branch of the Song Family. Their herb shop in Cangwu Prefectural City closed this morning. Its ledgers are incomplete, and the people are gone. There's nothing left to investigate openly, but the Four Symbols Sect has no intention of letting this matter rest."

He paused, closed the document on his desk, and spoke in an even voice. "The Song Family planted people in the Four Symbols Sect's Medicine Field, stole spirit herbs, and killed to silence witnesses. Even their collateral branches dare to strike at the sect now. Have they forgotten where they rank in Cangwu Prefecture?"

Ye An said nothing. Lu Yun continued calmly, but every word carried unmistakable confidence. "The sect won't move against the Song Family directly, but it will collect what it's owed. Within a month, the Song Family must replace the missing herbs and pay substantial compensation besides. It'll hurt them for a while. That's the office's decision, and the decision from above."

Once Lu Yun had finished, Ye An gave him seven of the ten bottles of Meridian Opening Pills he had just received.

"Thank you for your help this time, Senior Brother Lu."

A promising young man. Of course, Lu Yun did not say it aloud.

Lu Yun accepted them without a change in expression, as though they had been his all along.

After chatting a little longer, Ye An left.

Now that the Medicine Field affair was over, he had plenty of time to cultivate.

Disciples of the Four Symbols Sect fell into three groups: the Outer Sect, the Inner Sect, and the Four Halls.

There were two ways to become a disciple of the Four Halls. One was to break through to Qi Condensation. The other was to place in the top ten at the Inner Sect's annual tournament and enter the Four Halls early.

Meridian Opening Realm martial artists had to be no older than twenty.

It was early July. There was enough time for him to advance his cultivation by one stage while achieving a breakthrough in the Star-Shattering Finger. Perhaps he could enter the Four Halls early and learn its Mystic Grade cultivation methods.

The sun had risen by the time Ye An stepped out of the Management Office, shining on the Inner Sect's bluestone path.

The Crimson Blood Ginseng sat in a corner of his desk, covered with a piece of old cloth.

His assignment guarding the Medicine Field was over. He Liu was dead, and Zhao Yin and Qian Hu had lost their cultivation.

Someone new would probably move into that little house. He no longer needed to think about those things.

Cangwu Prefectural City, the Liu Lineage residence.

Several people sat in the main hall of the rear courtyard. A number of elders from the Liu Lineage's collateral branches had come. Liu Ruyan's father, Liu Zhengtang, sat in the seat of honor, his complexion sallow and his spirits far below what they once were.

The discussion began with the mining district.

The Liu Lineage had a small mineral vein north of the city. Its ore was one of the supplementary materials used to forge Spirit Grade weapons, making it one of the more important sources of steady income for the family. Over the past two months, the district's output had fallen by nearly thirty percent. The vein had not run dry; people had begun "sending a message" along the transport route. Caravans had been stopped several times. No one had attacked them, but the delays had held up deliveries. Several shipments had failed to reach their buyers on time, and the buyers had already voiced their displeasure.

The collateral-branch members called it a minor nuisance that would pass. Liu Ruyan said nothing, but she knew it was no coincidence. She had sent people to investigate, and several unfamiliar faces had appeared near the mining district. They looked neither like ordinary merchants nor passing Rogue Cultivators. They looked more like people mapping the roads.

She brought this up. As soon as she finished, one of the collateral-branch elders set down his tea bowl. His voice held a smile but no warmth. "Ruyan, you're still young. You're making this more complicated than it is. Trouble at the mines is common. It's happened in past years too, and it'll pass."

Another elder spoke, his tone even cooler. "Your father is unwell. Stay here in the prefectural city and put your mind at ease. Don't worry about matters so far away. You still have a matter of great importance to settle. That deserves more of your attention."

The words "a matter of great importance" were spoken lightly, but everyone present understood what he meant.

As a daughter of the Liu Lineage, Liu Ruyan had gone to Anping County for two reasons. One was to expand her influence within the family and gain more support. The other was to avoid this matter.

Liu Ruyan did not argue. She merely lowered her head and picked up her tea bowl as though she had heard nothing, though her fingers tightened slightly around it.

Liu Zhengtang coughed a few times, as though he wanted to say something, but swallowed the words when they reached his lips. "I'm tired. That's all for today," was all he said.

After everyone left, Liu Ruyan and Cuiwei walked out of the main hall, one behind the other, and returned to Liu Ruyan's courtyard through the covered corridor.

Walking half a step behind her, Cuiwei lowered her voice. "Miss, should I go to the mining district myself?"

"Yes, but focus on investigating. You must not get into a confrontation, and you must be extremely careful," Liu Ruyan warned her. Cuiwei was her capable assistant. If anything happened to her, Liu Ruyan would have even less say within the Liu Lineage.

"I understand, Miss." Cuiwei knew that whoever was behind this was no band of thugs. Someone else was directing it.

Perhaps all they wanted was to make her young mistress surrender her right to choose and obediently marry.

After following Liu Ruyan for so long, Cuiwei knew what kind of person she was. She had to get to the bottom of this.