Chapter 92: MEETING WITH ELDERS

Li Yan looked at Gu Jun for a moment before glancing around the wreckage of his residence. There was not much left to explain, and judging by Gu Jun’s expression, he had already figured out most of what had happened.

"My residence was ransacked, so I returned the favor. The residences that caught fire belonged to the people who helped destroy mine. Consider it revenge, and you already know the rest."

Gu Jun was taken aback by the casual explanation, but before he could question Li Yan further, his eyes fell on the injuries covering the younger boy’s body and his expression changed immediately. "Did you fight? Are you crazy? Come here, let me see."

He quickly went to Li Yan’s side and carefully examined the injury on his shoulder before his gaze moved lower and settled on the huge mark stretching from Li Yan’s waist toward his back. The wound was still red beneath the torn fabric, and there were several smaller cuts scattered across his body as well.

"These are outrageous injuries. Did you get beaten by a whip? You have slash marks all over you."

"Yes, I had a fight with Mo Lang. The water whip is part of his abilities."

Gu Jun stared at him in disbelief. Was Li Yan crazy? Why would he fight with Mo Lang when Mo Lang was at least two or three cultivation realms above him?

Even if Li Yan had managed to dodge most of the attacks, the difference between their cultivation was still enormous. He was lucky Mo Lang had not beaten him to death.

"Have you gone mad? You are going to hurt for days."

Li Yan knew there was no point arguing with Gu Jun when he was already wearing that expression, so he let him examine the wounds properly. Gu Jun cleaned what he could and helped him wrap the injuries, making sure the cloth was secure without pressing too hard against the damaged areas.

Once Li Yan was properly bandaged, Gu Jun turned his attention to the residence itself. There was not much that could be salvaged, but leaving everything scattered across the floor would only make the place harder to use. The two of them worked together to clear away the broken pieces and move the larger debris out of the way.

By the time they finished with the inside, the residence was spotless in the strangest possible sense.

There was almost nothing left. The shelves had been emptied, the table had been destroyed, the trinkets were gone, and the broken porcelain had been cleared away.

The only thing Li Yan still had to his name was his bed, which fortunately had survived the chaos.

Gu Jun looked around the bare room and shook his head. He promised that he would return tomorrow to help clean the outside properly, since the courtyard still looked terrible and there was no way Li Yan could deal with all of it while injured.

Li Yan thanked him for helping and walked him to the entrance. He promised to repay him with something nice when he had the opportunity, although Gu Jun initially waved the matter away and said there was no need.

Li Yan insisted until Gu Jun finally accepted. "I will bring some snacks with me tomorrow..."

After watching him leave, Li Yan closed the gate and returned to the room. His body was beginning to ache now that he had stopped moving, particularly around his waist where Mo Lang’s water whip had landed with the greatest force.

He sat down carefully on the edge of his bed and rubbed his forehead.

A moment later, Xiaoxiao emerged from the space with a large stack of manuals in her arms. She placed them beside him and gave him a look that immediately made Li Yan sighed, knowing he was barely going to get any sleep tonight.

"Cultivating your fire attribute is the most important thing. You also have to read the manuals your master gave you. You cannot keep putting them aside whenever something happens. Although it was not your fault."

Li Yan stared at the manuals, then looked at the empty room around him before letting out a long sigh.

He reached for the first manual and opened it, knowing full well that Xiaoxiao would not allow him to escape his studies simply because he had been beaten by Mo Lang.

He was the one who had gone to look for trouble anyways, especially when he could have just reported the matter to his master.

Meanwhile, in another part of the sect, Fu Hanzheng sat at the head of the meeting hall while the remaining elders gathered around him.

The atmosphere was considerably heavier than it had been during their usual meetings.

The discovery of the Nightmare Gu had already been enough to cause concern, but Fu Hanzheng was no longer willing to treat Elder Shen’s actions as an isolated incident. The longer he considered the matter, the more possibilities came to mind, and none of them were pleasant.

"I do not believe Elder Shen is the only person in this sect using Gu insects."

The statement immediately silenced the hall.bSeveral elders exchanged glances, their expressions becoming serious as they considered what Fu Hanzheng was implying.

If another person was secretly using Gu insects inside the sect, then the victims might already be among their disciples.

Fu Hanzheng rested one hand against the table and continued, his voice carrying through the hall.

"We need to create strict policies for identifying anyone who may have been affected. Any disciple who looks sick or has suffered from an unexplained ailment for several days should be brought for examination. We cannot dismiss prolonged illness as something ordinary without investigating it first."

One of the elders nodded. "Then we should issue an announcement to the disciples immediately. If anyone knows of a student who has been ill for several days, they should report it."

"That will be the first step," Fu Hanzheng said. "We also need to examine those who have already recovered from unusual illnesses. If Gu insects have been used against them, there may still be traces left behind."

The elders grew increasingly solemn. Fu Hanzheng had no intention of allowing another situation like Li Yan’s to happen. Elder Shen had used a Nightmare Gu against a fifteen-year-old disciple whose cultivation was nowhere near strong enough to resist it. Had Li Yan not sought help that night, the consequences could have been far worse.

What concerned Fu Hanzheng now was the possibility that Elder Shen’s actions were only one part of something much larger.

"We will investigate the records as well," another elder said. "There may be cases that were never reported directly to the elders."

"That is also true," Fu Hanzheng replied without hesitation. "I want every suspicious case brought before us."

Among the elders present was Bu Tangshan, Li Hanye’s master. Fu Hanzheng’s gaze briefly landed on him before moving away, but that brief glance was enough for him to notice the familiar expression on Bu Tangshan’s face.

To anyone else, Bu Tangshan looked perfectly ordinary. He sat quietly among the elders, his green robes blending with the green jade decorations around his seat, his posture relaxed and his expression calm as he listened to the discussion.

Fu Hanzheng, however, knew better. In his eyes, Bu Tangshan was a green snake hiding in a field of green grass.

He was too quiet, too patient, and far too good at pretending that he was observing the meeting when Fu Hanzheng knew perfectly well that those eyes had been following him for longer than necessary.

Bu Tangshan had taken an interest in Fu Hanzheng years ago.

It was not something Fu Hanzheng had misunderstood either. Bu Tangshan had never openly confessed his feelings, but his attention was difficult to miss once one knew what to look for.

Whenever Fu Hanzheng spoke, those eyes seemed to linger. Whenever Fu Hanzheng became serious, Bu Tangshan’s attention became even more obvious.

The man had not crossed a serious boundary, which was probably the only reason Fu Hanzheng tolerated him.

Bu Tangshan, meanwhile, had never considered his interest something worth hiding from himself.

From his perspective, Fu Hanzheng was an unusually interesting man. He was powerful despite his relatively young age, eccentric enough to disregard the opinions of people who underestimated him, and serious whenever matters concerning his disciples or the sect arose.

There was something particularly attractive about the contrast between Fu Hanzheng’s strange personality and the authority he carried whenever he sat at the head of the meeting hall.

Bu Tangshan watched him quietly as the discussion continued. He knew Fu Hanzheng had noticed his interest long ago but simply did not see any reason to stop admiring him.

Fu Hanzheng, naturally, had long since recognized the green snake sitting among the grass, which meant Bu Tangshan’s attempts at appearing harmless were wasted on him.

Still, Fu Hanzheng had more important matters to handle. His fingers tapped lightly against the table before he looked toward the elders again.

"From today onward, no unexplained illness is to be ignored. If Gu insects are being used elsewhere in the sect, I want those responsible found before they have the opportunity to harm anyone else."