As soon as Lü Bufan left, Second Senior Brother dropped to one knee before the two elders. "Senior Uncle, Master! Dong Jun was at fault for failing to look after Little Junior Sister. Please don't blame her anymore, Master... She only hated evil as she would an enemy and was full of righteous fervor..."
"Enough, enough! You've all spoiled her rotten..."
One of the elders glared at the woman in black, then turned and headed toward the Rear Mountain with her.
A figure in black silently emerged beside the path and hurried over to the other elder. After glancing at Second Senior Brother Dong Jun, he whispered to the elder, "Grand Elder... The Secret Vault is open. Everything inside has been taken care of..."
"Mm. Be careful. Don't let anything go wrong..."
"Understood!"
Watching the figure in black swiftly disappear, Second Senior Brother Dong Jun stood beside the Grand Elder and said quietly, "Senior Uncle, I fear this will send the Taihua Sect of Mozi Mountain into a fury... If word leaks out, there will be no end to the trouble!"
The Grand Elder nodded and gave Dong Jun a sidelong look. "Then in your opinion... how should we handle it?"
With a conflicted expression, Dong Jun said quietly, "Those people from the Immortal Sect, the Commandery Governor, and the local militia... We can't leave a single one alive! And... and the commoners who saw us. With so many people and prying eyes... I fear some information might leak out!"
"Don't tell me you want to silence all these commoners too?"
Second Senior Brother froze. He had just opened his mouth to speak when his Senior Uncle lashed out with a slap. "Insolent! How could you even think of killing innocent commoners?"
"Yes, yes, Dong Jun has lost his mind. I wouldn't dare... I was only worried..."
"Fool. Thinking only of covering things up, and stopping at nothing to do it-that is a fool's way! Must I hold your hand and teach you how to steer with the current and draw winds from every direction?"
"This disciple is slow-witted. I have disappointed you, Senior Uncle..."
An icy light flashed in the eyes above his Senior Uncle's veil. "You aren't slow-witted. You're too clever for your own good! Don't try those little schemes on me... Understand? Go look into that hotheaded brat who just left... Do I need to teach you what to do?"
"That mud-legged Martial Warrior just now?... Understood. I'll have a good chat with him, and once I know his background... I'll go among the commoners and spread the right rumors... Divert the flood of trouble eastward..."
"Go!"
"This disciple takes his leave..."
Second Senior Brother Dong Jun turned and bounded off in the direction Lü Bufan had gone. The Grand Elder who remained snorted coldly, then turned to look at the rear camp, where chaos reigned and flames soared into the sky...
"All this fuss and clamor... You finish singing, and I take the stage. The Four Great Immortal Sects have been carried away with their own success for far too long. If they eat the meat, they ought to leave a mouthful of broth for poor little sects like ours!"
Lü Bufan hurried along in great strides until he reached the edge of a Wild Loquat Grove, then turned to look at the camp, now engulfed in flames...
Suddenly, an agile figure vaulted over a branch and landed.
Second Senior Brother Dong Jun cupped his hands toward Lü Bufan, his eyes full of smiles. "Young brother, please wait!"
Lü Bufan backed away two steps and quietly studied the black-clad Martial Warrior who had stolen the credit for killing Squad Leader Qian right before his eyes.
"Young brother! Like you, I am a martial man who fights injustice, slays demons, and saves the common people... Just now, my master suddenly remembered that you had spent half the night rushing about and gained nothing for your trouble. That really wouldn't do... Here is a long saber forged from cold iron. It is very sharp! Please take it for your protection..."
With that, Dong Jun enthusiastically took a finely crafted long saber and offered it to Lü Bufan...
Lü Bufan examined it carefully and was just about to refuse... when Second Senior Brother Dong Jun promptly shoved it into his hands...
"Come now, how can a true man roaming the martial world be so fussy? A treasured saber belongs with a hero. Only with this saber at your side can your chivalrous heart, righteous courage, and profound mastery of the Martial Dao shine through..."
Lü Bufan looked up at Second Senior Brother, gripped the long saber, and cupped his hands in thanks.
Second Senior Brother Dong Jun smiled. "Though it may be a little rude, I truly admire your sect... What gathering of mighty heroes could have taught a young disciple as righteous and skilled as you? If I ever have the chance, I would dearly love to pay a proper visit, and spread word of your heroic deeds while I'm at it..."
Lü Bufan gave a faint smile. "You flatter me. I've merely studied martial arts under two masters since childhood... I'm just a rogue cultivator wandering the martial world. My masters have gone into Two-World Mountain to visit friends! I still need to hurry to the commandery city and wait to meet them there..."
"Ah, the world's heroes are found among the humble... Since you would rather not say more, I won't keep you. Young brother, take care on your journey..."
"I'll take my leave..."
Long saber in hand, Lü Bufan said farewell and left. Dong Jun remained where he stood, his expression shifting uncertainly, but in the end he simply watched Lü Bufan disappear into the woods.
Lü Bufan ran more than a dozen li without stopping. Only when he spotted the hill where Big Black was resting in the distance did he breathe a sigh of relief...
Goddammit... Wherever there were people, there were schemers! That Second Senior Brother definitely hadn't meant him any good...
Had his mention of visiting friends at Two-World Mountain scared the man off? Otherwise, without coughing up some information about his masters, he probably wouldn't have been allowed to leave so easily...
"He even gave me a standard-issue Great Jin waist saber used by a squad leader... Just how out of my mind would I have to be to do something that stupid? Wouldn't that bring the damn court's suspicions down on me?"
Lü Bufan cursed bitterly a few times, then found a hollow tree at random and tossed the waist saber inside before turning to look for Big Black...
Groups of commoners in ragged clothes sat in the valley like walking corpses. By now, the figures in black had slaughtered every last one of the twenty or thirty lackeys and henchmen of the Immortal Sect and the court.
Several highly skilled elders gave a few instructions, then hurriedly withdrew.
The dozen or so disciples around Second Senior Brother's age stayed behind to distribute grain and a little silver and copper among the commoners...
"Listen well, all of you. We are heroic knights from Two-World Mountain. We came down expressly to avenge your suffering and rescue you from this sea of misery..."
Second Senior Brother Dong Jun froze. The scene he had imagined-people kneeling in gratitude amid cheers crashing like mountains and roaring seas-never came...
There were only pairs of numb eyes and gaunt, filthy faces.
..."These ants..." Second Senior Brother Dong Jun murmured under his breath. His icy gaze then swept over the commoners, wary of any cultivators hiding among them.
If there were even the slightest sign that their origins might be exposed, he would probably have to strike a vicious blow.
Lü Bufan sat beside Big Black, watching by moonlight as group after group of fugitive commoners who had escaped the Immortal Sect's mines slowly made their way out of the valley...
The figures in black had all vanished without a trace.
Some of the commoners bore numerous wounds, while others looked as though illness had already brought them to death's door!
Some of the women, in particular, struggled along at the back... Their clothes barely covered them, and every step was painful.
Lü Bufan said quietly to Big Black, "Did those great heroes just leave after killing everyone? Aren't they going to look after these commoners?"
Beside him, Big Black glanced expressionlessly at the wretched refugees and fugitives without a word.
Lü Bufan saw two men approach the women. One of them actually slapped a young woman viciously several times... then spat and turned away.
The woman broke free of her companion's hand and ran a few steps after him before collapsing to the ground, wailing in anguish. The man walked away without even looking back.
Having grown up in a brothel, Lü Bufan knew that the man was probably her husband...
Was this... Was he rejecting her because she had been made to serve those militia soldiers and government runners as a filthy camp prostitute?
The woman wailed without cease, then finally plunged headfirst into the deep ravine beside her and killed herself...
Lü Bufan watched with icy hands and said quietly to Big Black, "I saw those people in black carrying away the gold, silver, and spirit ore from the storehouses. They probably never intended to take these commoners with them at all..."
A familiar voice sounded softly behind Lü Bufan...
"This is the heart of the people of Central Earth... And of many mountain sects outside the Immortal Sects as well."
"Master?"
Lü Bufan turned in delighted surprise and saw the blind old Master Ming and the deaf Han Wu standing in the moonlight, smiling at him.
Master Ming smiled. "What? After going into the mountains, training in martial arts, and cultivating the Dao... you came back down and couldn't stomach these things anymore?"
"No, nothing of the sort..."
Master Ming reached out and smacked Lü Bufan on the head. "You little brat... A moment ago, you looked as though both your parents had died. You've lost faith in the Martial Warriors and cultivators who train up in the mountains, haven't you?"
Lü Bufan glanced at the refugees below and shook his head. "No... Even if they won't save the commoners, there are still good cultivators and good Martial Warriors like you who dare fight the Immortal Sects..."
Mute chuckled, and Master Ming smacked Lü Bufan again. "You little bastard! Burning incense to us and buttering us up so we're stuck riding a tiger and can't get off, are you? A belly full of sneaky ideas..."
Lü Bufan held his head and asked, "Are you really not going to save them, Master?"
"We will, but you'll have to do it... That fool of a master of yours, Huang Jiu, rushed off recklessly to Great Jin's Capital City. I'm afraid he might blunder into a trap... So Han Wu and I intend to follow him in secret. If anything happens to Huang Jiu, we can pull him out!"
"Can I go with you?"
Mute Han Wu extended a finger. Before Lü Bufan could even raise his hand, a single flick sent him tumbling...
Master Ming said to the dirt-covered Lü Bufan, "See? If you went, what good would you do besides burdening us? Take this... Hurry and lead these commoners northwest. Leave Guangling Commandery and take White Dragon Valley along the outskirts of Two-World Mountain... If they can reach the border with Western Liang, they'll be able to settle down. Perhaps they can live decent lives there..."
Lü Bufan took the Mustard-Seed Object pouch Master Ming handed him and said dejectedly, "Master... I'm not even a first-realm Qi Refiner. I can't open a Mustard-Seed Object at all!"
Master Ming chuckled and reached out to pat his little disciple with his abysmal aptitude.
"You fool. That's because I never taught you the mental method and Daoist scripture for breaking through! Did you think sitting in meditation, breathing, and gathering qi would be enough to make you a cultivator?"
"Master... That's not fair!"
"Take this!"
Master Ming stuffed a thin piece of silk into Lü Bufan's hand and said softly, "This is a Daoist Scripture I've kept for myself. That's all it's called! Daoist Scripture, Daoist Scripture... Promising cultivators with immortal roots and understanding are left in a fog when they cultivate it, and their progress is slow... Even I have no affinity with this scripture. But for the first time, Old Skeleton spoke up on your behalf... He said this sort of thing was only fit for an ordinary mortal like you, without a scrap of immortal root aptitude!"
"That damned Old Skeleton, utterly devoid of virtue..."
"Hahaha... Stop cursing. Right here, right now, I'll stand guard for you... Follow the cultivation formulas in this Daoist Scripture properly, and I'll teach you how to circulate true qi through the heavenly cycle!"
"Today? Right here?"
"Enough nonsense!"