"When that happens, we will conserve some of our energy and let Song Zhi waste his. Regardless of what happens, it will still be a problem for Pei Zi Yun. We can then kill him. Song Zhi’s like a grasshopper on a leash. I don’t believe he will pose a threat to us."
Shi Mu Zhong was extremely confident as he sat down, his chest out. He held his hands together and nodded his head, "Besides, after much thinking, I remembered that Pei Zi Yun has killed off our main man in Ying Prefecture, we have to start from scratch and recruit someone to replace him."
"Since Song Zhi is already committed, regardless of whether he actually kills Pei Zi Yun or not, he’s already under our control. Even when he becomes Sect Leader of Free Cloud Sect, he will remain so."
"In the normal world, we can kill everyone and take over their sect to solve all our problems. Even if our cover gets blown, it doesn’t matter."
"But in the spiritual realms, there are still the Patriarchs within Paradise!"
"Although the Patriarchs are in spirit form, Ying and Yang are opposites. The Patriarchs are powerful and are able to see the secular realms clearly."
"In future when our young master Xie succeeds in his Dao endeavors, he will be the leader of the entire spiritual Dao realm. When that happens, he shall require a chess piece who’s of an influential position within a sect. Song Zhi would thus be a better fit than Meng Luo Gong in this regard." As he spoke he laughed. When Qin Gao heard this, he nodded his head in agreement and laughed coldly as well, "Song Zhi is pitiful and yet detestable. If he was one of my men, I would have killed him long ago. However, it would be good to have someone like him doing the dirty work for us."
"We should start making preparations now. This time, it shall be Song Zhi, you and I who will lead the vanguard. All of us are of the same level of Pei Zi Yun in terms of martial arts, or maybe even better than him. Three against one, don’t tell me we can’t win against him?"
"We should attack like lightning, hard and fast, to prevent anything from going awry."
When Qin Gao heard this, he nodded his head excitedly once more before asking, "Actually, I have a question. How do you know Pei Zi Yun’s precise movements?"
"Haha, that’s a secret technique from within my sect. As long as I meet someone once, I would be able to get an inkling of their future actions. Although I can be a hundred percent certain, I can roughly see their intents and future steps." Shi Mu Zhong said contentedly before adding, "If not, how would it be possible for me to constantly chase and keep up with him?"
"Fantastic!" Qin Gao was full of admiration, and yet he was somewhat wary as well. Someone like this was extremely intimidating and frightening to cross.
Free Cloud Sect Monastery
"Brother Hao, you’ve been looking strangely distracted and worried these past few days. Are you love sick? Or is there something bothering you? It seems like even food doesn’t taste good to you anymore." A sumptuous meal had just been laid out on the table, where an entire set of pork ribs had been sliced neatly, and the skin of the pork had been roasted to crispiness, lard was dripping from the meat temptingly. Most of the other dishes were vegetarian but were still extremely appetizing and delicious.
Hao Yong and a few other Daoists were seated around a table. Everyone was familiar with each other and were close fellow brothers. At this point, they were perplexed by Hao Yong’s demeanor.
"Nothing." Hao Yong took a large bite out of the pork ribs before placing the bowl of rice and chopsticks down. He then forced a smile on his face. It’s just that the matter that was weighing him down was a huge matter, and it was better to not spill it out.
"Fellow brother, these few days you’ve been down and troubled. You have to remember that we are all from the same sect. If you have a big burden, you can approach the Sect Leader and the Elders. If things are even bigger and more severe, there are still the Patriarchs from Paradise which can help. What are you fretting about? All your problems are just water under the bridge." The Daoist nagged.
Hearing this advice, Hao Yong’s heart skipped a beat. Right, everything under the sect will eventually come to light with the Sect Leader. Hiding anything from them would just be a waste of time. Besides, being sandwiched in the middle of this conflict was extremely tiring and unbearable. All this was just for him to earn a little silver. It was not that big a deal on hindsight, and there was no need to hide it from the seniors any longer. In fact, by hiding it, Hao Yong might appear to be traitorous when the truth comes out.
Thinking this way, he immediately stood up and turned to leave, forgetting completely about the people before him and the food on the table.
"Master, I have something urgent I need to report to you." Hao Yong pushed open the doors to his master’s chambers.
"Come in!" Seeing his own disciple at the door, Elder Chen frowned, "Hao Yong, I’ve not seen you for barely a few days and you already look so pale. Could it be that you’ve encountered some problems on your cultivation?"
Hao Yong fell to his knees instantly, "Master, I’ve done wrong. I’ve come to confess everything."
"What have you done wrong?" Elder Chen was taken aback as his face instantly turned grim.
"Master, a few days ago senior brother Song Zhi used silver to buy news and information from me. I’ve all along thought that this was just to gain the upper hand, and to wrestle the Honorary Disciple position away from Pei Zi Yun. I would never have thought that senior brother Song was collaborating with outsiders, and planned to harm fellow brother Pei." Hao Yong spilled as he knelt down.
"What? Collaborating with outsiders? Tell me everything now." Elder Chen paused as he sat upright in fear, his body was trembling slightly. After he had heard the entire account, he spoke, "Something like that actually happened? Since you’ve managed to find out all these, follow me to find Elder Yu now and tell her everything."
The both of them hastily left the room and walked down the corridor, heading towards the northern wings. When they were outside Elder Yu’s chambers, Elder Chen shouted loudly, "Elder Yu, I have something to tell you."
"Come in." Yu Yun Jun was within the room as she called out. When Elder Chen pushed opened the door, he saw Chu Xia beside Elder Yu, hunched over a piece of paper. It seemed like Elder Yu was writing a poem. When he glanced at her writing, he saw the words, "All emotions have become memories, what could not will never be, forever gone are the old times."
(TN : This was the last line composed by Pei Zi Yun to spite Ye Su’er’s master.)
When Elder Chen looked at Yu Yun Jun, he noticed that tears were welling up within her eyes. She looked clearly upset. Elder Chen then thought to himself, "Who wrote this poem for her? Did the person not know that Elder Yu’s old lover had died? Would this line not cause her to remember all her heartbreak and sorrow? Ai."
Yu Yun Jun gently dabbed away the tears at the corner of her eyes. When she looked up she spoke, "What a surprise that Elder Chen’s here to visit. I wonder what can be so urgent."
"Today, my disciple reported something to me. This Song Zhi…" Elder Chen shook his head and sighed before recounting everything that he had heard.
After hearing the entire recount, Yu Yun Jun’s face fell. Chu Xia then stood up before shouting, "This wretched Song Zhi. How dare he do something like this. I will kill him right now."
She then started searching for her sword.
Yu Yun Jun’s face remained stoic before speaking sternly, "Chu Xia, that’s enough."
"Elder Chen, let’s go and find the Sect Leader. Since this matter has already got to such a serious state, we shall see what the Sect Leader says." Yu Yu Jun then continued, "We also have to find out where Song Zhi has gone to!"
At this point, it was raining heavily outside with huge winds. The raindrops were falling down harshly onto the roof of the entire monastery. The floors were slippery and wet. Even without picking her raincoat, Yu Yun Jun dashed out of her room with the other two close behind, until she reached the Sect Leader’s chambers.
Yu Yun Jun then halted before speaking to someone outside, "I wish to see the Sect Leader."
"Right away!" The disciple immediately acknowledged before turning inside. Some time later, she was led into the chambers where she saw a pair of Elders speaking to each other. Yu Yun Jun didn’t speak out and sat down to listen.
The Sect Leader gazed out at the rain and remained silent. He then turned around to ask, "How much did we receive from the last event?"
Elder Gui then replied, "After acquiring the True Sovereign title, the ceremony we hosted was only due to happen once every three years. The county dispatched many people to pay their respects and give donations. Since the status of the Patriarchs is now the equivalent to a "count", we have to match that status accordingly. The count status was also equivalent to that of a County Deity in the spiritual realm."
"The shrine erected for the Patriarchs are no longer suitable after they've become True Sovereigns. We need to upgrade them to shrines that are befitting of their new statuses." Elder Gui beamed in happiness as he stated this fact.
Every year between spring and autumn, the county magistrate would lead his officials in rites and processions as they offer their sacrifices to the shrine. However, this treatment would only take place for Patriarchs with divine relations.
The True Sovereign title of the spiritual realm was of the same level as County Deities or slightly higher. Hence the shrines that were used to portray the images of the previous Dao Masters had to be upgraded to be befitting of their new ranks. Although the government officials will not contribute any funds to this upgrade, they will send people to offer sacrifices and donate alms.
Everyone was well aware of the might of Free Cloud Sect in being able to obtain the True Sovereign title. Elder Gui waved a hand casually and an image of a temple floated above his hands. The new temple looked extremely awe inspiring, which huge red doors, long and wide corridors, and spacious halls. The statues within the halls looked extremely lifelike and dignified.
The Sect Leader didn’t speak and listened attentively. Elder Gui then spoke, "Since we intend to demolish the entire shrine and rebuild it, it would implicate the nearby buildings. I’m afraid the total cost was estimated at around ten thousand silver taels."
"Hssss… Ten thousand taels!" The Sect Leader repeated these words and exhaled deeply. "Although it’s very costly, this is a necessary cost. Even if we have to squeeze the money out, it can’t be helped. Elder Liu, what do you think?"
Elder Liu was staring out of the window looking at the rain, speechless. At this point he smiled and replied, "Indeed, we cannot save costs when it comes to such matters. In fact, when it comes to such matters, having a newly defined status and shrine to go along with increases our influence and reputation."
"As for the estate owned by our monastery, we have three hundred mu of land nearby. In fact, the yearly harvest is only barely enough to feed the many mouths we have here."
"Can we not buy more land? Since we are now of the True Sovereign status, that’s where we are entitled."
"Previously, we even had a cap on the number of tenants we had, severely limiting our income."
"Now that we have acquired this new status, we can own up to 900 mu of lands. As long as the number doesn’t exceed a thousand mu, there shouldn’t be any problems. This means we can build more shops to rent out to merchants, we can build them in the nearby counties."
"After we’ve done this and rented out of shops, we would get a significant amount of income in terms of rental payment. Nephew Pei has done a great job as this would be the lifeblood of our sect."
"Without a main source of income, how then we can acquire and feed new disciples?"
Hearing these words, the Sect Leader exhaled deeply before standing up and walking towards the door. His eyes were still fixed on the huge rain. At this point the clouds were dark and overlapped each other. Before long he smiled and turned around, facing Yu Yun Jun, "Is there something important for you to be here today?"
"Sect Leader, indeed I’m here for something important." Yu Yu Jun gazed upon the face of the Sec Leader and knew that he had worked hard and tirelessly for the sect and all its members. If this was any other ordinary time, her heart would’ve soften and she would’ve waited for everyone to disperse before speaking ill of his disciple. However, at this point her heart was stone cold. She then said to him brusquely, "All that you’ve been speaking about was only possible because your junior nephew Pei’s works. Your disciple Song Zhi has been collaborating with outsiders and planned to kill Pei Zi Yun."
Once her words had been spoken, the crack of a lightning sounded before the the thunder roared. Everyone heard her words loud and clear, and their faces all fell.
"Oh?" The Sect Leader seemed as though he had not heard her clearly the first time and was still in a daze, speechless. Before long he then snapped back, "What did you just say?"
At this point Elder Chen looked like he could not hold it in anymore. By telling Yu Yun Jun of whatever happened, he had inadvertently formed an alliance with her. Seeing how her words seemed to have minimal effect on the Sect Leader, he sighed loudly and intentionally, "Ai, junior nephew Song was supposed to be the senior brother for the next generation. How could he have done something like that….."
The Sect Leader’s face was pale as sheet as he looked around helpless before mumbling to himself, "Song Zhi, you’ve done yourself in…."
As he spoke, tears fell down his face as he extended a hand to wipe the tears from his face. He then ordered, "Hurry, find Song Zhi now."
Immediately, someone acknowledged before retreating hastily. The Elders present didn’t speak. Once this matter was confirmed to be the truth, even if he had not acted out according to his plan, regardless of whether Song Zhi was the senior brother of the next generation, or whether he was the only disciple of the Sect Leader, he would no longer be suited for the Honorary Disciple position.
The future of the next generation had just taken an abrupt shift. Elder Gui and Elder Liu looked at each other before diverting their gazes as well, clearly thinking the same thing.
"Report in, Song Zhi is no longer here. According to sources, he had just left for Slow River County."
"Slow River County, isn’t that where Pei Zi Yun came from?" When the Sect Leader thought this, he hurriedly instructed, "Quick, let’s go now."
If they reached in time to prevent a clash, Song Zhi might only be rid of all his statuses within the sect. However, if Song Zhi had already acted and initiated a move on Pei Zi Yun’s life, it would be extremely hard for the Sect Leader to resolve the issue and punish Song Zhi fairly. If Song Zhi had killed Pei Zi Yun, the wrath of the Patriarchs, who had showed their favor upon Pei Zi Yun, and the rage which Yu Yun Jun would display would be indescribable. Their combined anger would inevitably ruin everything he had worked for.