Chapter 90: ON A DIFFERENT LEVEL

Li Yan made his way down the mountain path. Mo Lang would not be his first stop tonight. He first had to take care of the rodents he called Lackeys.

"Xiaoxiao. Find where that woman who follows Mo Lang lives, where the other men live. Find them all and burn it all to the ground..."

"As you wish, Master. Give me a moment to locate them properly."

A pause followed as Xiaoxiao worked, spirit sense stretching out through the sect grounds until it found what it was looking for. The woman’s residence sat tucked near the eastern quarters, small and plain, nothing worth noting until flame began licking up along the wooden frame of her door.

It caught quickly. Dry wood, dry season, and no one home to stop it. Curtains went first, bright orange light flaring behind thin fabric before the fabric itself gave way entirely. The fire spread along the beams next, crawling upward toward the roof while smoke thickened and rolled outward into the evening air, staining the sky a dull, angry orange.

"One down, Master. Shall I continue to the others?"

"All of them. Every single person who touched even the smallest grass in my courtyard will pay for it. ."

Xiaoxiao moved on without hesitation. The second residence caught soon after, then a third, each one belonging to the disciples who had followed Mo Lang to his courtyard, eager to please him, eager to prove their loyalty by helping ruin another person’s property.

Now it was time to reap the consequences of their actions. One of the disciples returned just in time to watch his door collapse inward, screaming for help that arrived far too late to save anything worth saving.

Li Yan felt nothing watching the smoke rise behind him as he walked. They had made their bed already, now they had to lie on it, no matter how thorny or rocky the bed was.

Shouts rose across the sect grounds as disciples spotted the growing fires and scrambled toward buckets and water, their voices sharp with panic. Someone somewhere was shouting for the Elders or those with water attributes to put out the fire. Li Yan paid none of it any attention. He had somewhere better to be.

He raised his leg and kicked the gate, sending it flying under the force and walked inside without slowing his stride, then stopped cold.

Mo Lang was in a "not suitable for the eyes" position with the woman, too focused on the meal in front of him to notice Li Yan standing there.

Li Yan gagged and looked away, more from principle than actual disgust. That little sound immediately broke Mo Lang’s concentration and he raised his head.

"Li Yan!" Mo Lang scrambled upright, face flushing red, grabbing for his discarded robe. "What is the meaning of this? How dare you barge in here—"

The woman bolted before he could finish, snatching her own robes off the floor and fleeing through a side door without a backward glance, leaving Mo Lang alone to face whatever came next.

Li Yan looked around the room while Mo Lang fumbled to dress himself.

The residence was smaller than his by a considerable margin, he couldn’t even brag about it if he wanted. And knowing Mo Lang, bragging was something he loved to do.

He did not bother asking why Mo Lang had trashed his place. He would deny it anyway and that was why he also came to trash his courtyard, so he could deny it later.

Li Yan started tearing the room apart the same way, beginning with the shelf nearest the door. He swept his arm across it in one motion, sending jars and small trinkets crashing to the floor.

A low table went next, flipped onto its side with a single sharp kick, tea still spilling from an overturned pot across the wood. Porcelain shattered against the stone floor, one piece after another, cups and bowls that had probably taken someone considerable effort to acquire.

A scroll rack toppled over next, scattering half-burned incense sticks and torn paper across the growing wreckage. Li Yan stepped over the mess without concern, moving toward the small collection of trinkets displayed along the back wall and sweeping those away as well, watching them scatter and break against the floor.

A cracked mirror on the far wall caught his attention next, and he sent it crashing down with a single well-placed shove, glass splintering into a dozen jagged pieces across the already ruined floor.

With Hu Bai, his master, and his older brother all standing behind him now in one way or another, he doubted anyone would bother punishing him for any of this.

"Stop!" Mo Lang’s voice cracked, robe only half tied as he lunged forward, grabbing uselessly at Li Yan’s sleeve. "Stop destroying my residence, you insufferable—"

Li Yan shook him off easily and laughed, entirely unbothered by the outburst. "You started this. Why should I care what happens to your things now?"

Mo Lang’s face twisted with fury, and before Li Yan could react, water lashed out toward his chest, fast and controlled, cracking through the air like a whip. His attribute, apparently, and one he clearly knew how to use with some genuine skill behind it.

Li Yan twisted aside on instinct, but the tail end of the strike still caught his shoulder, stinging sharp through his robes and leaving a thin, burning welt in its wake.

He had not trained his own attributes yet. Had barely touched his fire attribute beyond the theory Xiaoxiao explained to him during their earlier conversations back at the inn.

Attributes ranked the same way spirit roots did, and the stronger a cultivator’s control over their own element, the harder and more precisely they could strike. Right now he sat at the very bottom of that particular ladder, while Mo Lang had clearly put real time into refining that water whip.

Better to dodge for now and let Mo Lang wear himself out on his own temper than risk trading blows and getting hurt in the process.

"What a disgraceful attack." Li Yan straightened, brushing water from his sleeve with exaggerated calm, voice pitched just enough to needle at whatever composure Mo Lang still had left. "Is that truly the best you can manage?"