His shout jolted all eleven Hall Masters beside him out of their meditation.
The moment those eleven opened their eyes and saw Mu Qinglan, they too recoiled in shock.
We're done for!
The Sect Master had ordered them to investigate the disappearance of the Sect's spiritual qi. They had spent seven or eight days on it and found jack shit.
Now that they had finally found a lead, instead of reporting it, they had abused their positions for personal gain and hidden here to cultivate together...
"Outrageous!"
Seeing the guilty looks on those old geezers' faces, Mu Qinglan snapped in fury. She raised her spear, ready to step forward and give each of these negligent old fools a thrust!
Yao Yuanzi ducked his head and hurriedly said, "Please calm your anger, Sect Master!"
"Y-you've misunderstood! We're sitting here because we've discovered why the Sect's spiritual qi is disappearing. We're deliberately lying in wait here, like hunters waiting by a tree stump for a rabbit!"
"Exactly, exactly!" The other eleven Hall Masters hurriedly rose and chimed in as one.
"We're here to lie in wait for the culprit!"
Without blushing or missing a beat, Yao Yuanzi continued spinning his tale. "We found our way here a few days ago and discovered someone secretly siphoning the power of the Sect's earth vein to rake in a fortune!"
"But we searched this hill several times and still couldn't find that suspicious individual!"
"So, after discussing it among ourselves, we Hall Masters decided to stand guard here and wait for him to show himself again!"
"Mm!" The other Hall Masters nodded repeatedly, equally unflustered by their lies.
Mu Qinglan knitted her brows.
Though these old geezers' behavior thoroughly displeased her, their words did make some sense.
The Heaven and Earth Boundless Formation's sixth-tier spirit-gathering