"Now you know to stand by each other, so why couldn't you use your heads before acting? Was that meal at Green Bamboo Abode all for nothing? Didn't you see that even Ninth Uncle regarded that boy differently? How did you still dare set your sights on him?"
Liu Songshan berated them, furious at their failure to do better.
"B-but hadn't Ninth Uncle already..."
"Shut up!"
Before Zhou Gu could finish, Liu Songshan cut him off.
"Is Ninth Uncle a name you're entitled to use? He is Granduncle-Master Daoxuan!"
Liu Songshan lowered his voice, his eyes filled with panic.
"Yes, yes!"
Frightened, Zhou Gu nodded repeatedly.
"Pavilion Master, we brothers were indeed at fault in this matter. Whether you kill us or flay us, we accept it."
Zuo Ju, who had remained silent at the side, also knelt beside Zhou Gu.
"Eldest Brother, this has nothing to do with you. I alone will bear the consequences!"
Zhou Gu looked anxiously at Zuo Ju.
"Can you bear them?"
Liu Songshan rolled his eyes at Zhou Gu.
"People from the Seven Peaks are already asking about this matter. It will be good enough if you two can leave the mountain alive."
He glared at the two of them as he continued.
At those words, Zhou Gu immediately deflated and argued no further.
If people on the mountain were personally looking into it now, there was nothing Liu Songshan could do, even if he wanted to protect them.
"Pavilion Master, for the sake of the many years we've followed you, could you tell us who exactly is backing Xu Taiping before we leave?"
In the end, Zuo Ju could not resist asking Liu Songshan the question troubling him.
As he saw it, if Xu Taiping had no connections, the people on the mountain