Li Ling hid nearby and watched for a long time. Only after confirming that no one else was hiding there or returning did he quietly clean up the aftermath and take everything away.
Even then, he neither showed himself directly nor put everything into storage. Instead, he found several tree hollows in the wooded hills near the valley and tossed the assorted odds and ends, along with some unimportant spirit materials of inferior quality, inside.
He kept only the few more valuable magic treasures and low-grade spirit materials, storing them in the treasure pouch Granny Wu had left behind.
After he returned, Zhou Cheng and the others remained completely oblivious. They had no idea Li Ling had ever gone out.
Only his dao companion, Mu Qingsi, knew, and she had covered for him.
"Husband, how did it go?"
When the two found a chance to be alone, Mu Qingsi asked discreetly.
Li Ling said, "Something happened to that group..."
He then told her the whole story.
Mu Qingsi sighed. "I never imagined there would be so many twists and turns behind this. The merchant associations are scattered, and the various parties aren't of one mind. No wonder someone managed to plot against them."
Li Ling said, "With this, the Bamboo Step Kingdom will probably be left short of Foundation Establishment cultivators. The risks will be impossible to predict."
Mu Qingsi said, "I never thought the pirates here would be so rampant. If things really become untenable, let's take all our fellow disciples from Mystic Xin Peak away and develop somewhere else."
Li Ling said, "Then the king of the Bamboo Step Kingdom would probably curse us roundly, saying Mystic Xin Peak had cheated him."
Mu Qingsi said, "That would indeed be wrong. Breaking a promise brings karmic retribution from heaven