Chapter 421: Extra 16.

should not ignore the fact that the bell responded when Yan Cijin and I stood beside it. The next step is to compare the inscription with the other records and find out whether there are references to a similar phenomenon."

Yan Cijin nodded. "Look for records of unusual lights, bells, gates, or formations that awakened without a clear cause. We should also search the old maps. If the image we saw represented a place, the summit may be somewhere within this mountain range."

Lu Wenshu bowed. "I will assign a team to the archives."

"Use people who can keep a quiet head," Bai Li said. "I do not want rumors spreading through the sect before we know what happened. If the bell has no harmful effect, there is no reason to frighten the disciples."

The elders accepted the instruction. Before they left, Yan Cijin looked toward the open sanctuary doors. Beyond them, the ridge rose toward the highest restricted peak of Mount Hua, where clouds wrapped around the stone like white cloth. For a moment, she felt the same distant pull that had accompanied the vision. It was not a command. There was no pressure in it, no voice telling her to obey. It felt more like a door left open at the end of a long road, an invitation to see what lay beyond it if she chose to walk closer.

She glanced at Bai Li. Her wife was already looking at her.

Neither spoke about the feeling in front of the elders. They did not need to. They had seen the same gate, and they would investigate it together.

The discovery of the bell’s activity caused a stir among Mount Hua’s senior elders, though the Matriarchs took care to keep it from becoming a source of panic. The council assembled in the main hall before the end of the afternoon. Word had spread that something unusual had happened in the ancestral sanctuary, but the disciples had not been told the details. Some believed that an old formation had awakened. Others whispered about a warning from the founding patriarchs. One particularly imaginative student insisted that the bell had rung because Mount Hua was about to receive a new sacred weapon, though no one could explain why a weapon would announce itself by making a noise from a secluded ridge.

Bai Li and Yan Cijin allowed the elders to discuss the evidence before deciding what should be done. One elder believed the bell might have responded to a shift in the spiritual currents beneath the mountain. Another argued that the recent weather had been unusual, with more fog than normal and a series of small tremors near the northern slopes. A third thought that the old metal might have become unstable after centuries of exposure to the mountain air.

Bai Li asked what evidence supported each theory. The answers were mostly speculation, which was not surprising. No one had seen the bell ring. No one had found damage to its frame. The faint energy currents did not match the usual traces of a collapsing formation, and the records offered no clear explanation. There was simply an unexplained event, an old inscription, and a vision that two people had seen together.

Yan Cijin asked whether any disciples had been injured by the bell’s activity. The answer was no. Had the sanctuary’s protective seals changed? Not in any way the elders could observe. Had the formations around the main compound weakened? The inspection had found no sign of it. Was there evidence that the bell’s activity would repeat? Not yet.

"Then we investigate without interrupting the entire sect," Yan Cijin said. "The bell may be important, but we do not know that it is dangerous. Until we have a reason to believe there is a threat, the disciples should continue their training and the ordinary work of Mount Hua should proceed as usual."

Bai Li agreed. "We will search the old records, examine the restricted summit, and compare what we find. No one should make public claims about the heavens, immortality, or a coming disaster. If we learn that the phenomenon presents a danger, we will deal with it. Until then, there is no value in turning an unanswered question into a rumor that frightens everyone."

The elders accepted their instructions. Lu Wenshu would supervise the archive search. Two senior disciples would inspect the paths and formations around the restricted peak. Another group would review the oldest maps of Mount Hua and compare them with the locations named in the records. The work would be careful and ordinary, even if the subject was extraordinary.

One of the elders, a patient woman named Elder Shen, raised a practical concern. "If the bell leads to something beyond our understanding, the Matriarchs may need to spend time away from the main compound. We should make sure the sect can function properly during their absence."

The suggestion drew several glances. No one liked to imagine Mount Hua without its two Matriarchs, even for a short time. Their presence was a source of security, but it had also become part of the sect’s identity. Some disciples had never known another supreme authority. The elders remembered the years when Bai Li and Yan Cijin had first taken responsibility, but even they found it difficult to picture a future in which the two women were no longer available to resolve difficult matters in person.

Yan Cijin considered the concern honestly. "We should make sure the sect can function without depending on us for every decision, whether this mystery leads anywhere or not. A strong sect needs capable people throughout its ranks."

Bai Li nodded. "Lu Wenshu and Elder Shen will oversee the ordinary affairs of Mount Hua if we need to visit the summit. The heads of the training halls already have the authority to make decisions about daily practice. We should review the list of matters that require the Matriarchs’ personal approval and remove anything that can safely be handled by the elders."

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TO BE CONTINUED.