Chapter 345: Initial Stage of Bewilderment

After Shang Xiangyu returned to the inn, he pondered repeatedly, but still could not make heads or tails of it; however, he soon put the matter aside.

His time was limited; thirty-six Blood Spring Pills were at most only enough to sustain him for a large half-year, and with no telling how many variables might arise in between, he had no time to attend to other things.

The sun and moon shuttled back and forth; in the blink of an eye, over a month had passed.

Pan Yong had long since evaporated from the world; even if the entire territory issued a wanted notice, how could they possibly catch a person who did not exist at all?

This day, Yang Yi came again to that bamboo building in the mountain hollow.

At this moment, it was early morning; it was Yang Sixuan who had sent someone to summon him.

Yang Sixuan stood before the window of the bamboo building, looking at the faint morning light in the bamboo forest, listening to the birdsong coming from the woods...

Yang Yi stood right behind him.

Yang Yi had already reported to Yang Sixuan the progress of the search for Pan Yong and the secret investigation into Shang Xiangyu over the past month or so.

In fact, the progress was no progress at all.

Whether it was Pan Yong or Shang Xiangyu, there was not a trace of them; they were as if they had vanished from the human world.

Pan Yong was a search on the surface.

As for Shang Xiangyu, secret orders were issued to the Office of Transmission in various places, as well as to secret agents, to investigate covertly; once there was news, they were not to alert Shang Xiangyu, but to report to the Sect immediately.

Yang Sixuan sighed, rubbing his temples with a weary expression.

It seemed that as soon as Shang Xiangyu left the mountain, he had already prepared for counter-surveillance; although he had issued the secret order at the first opportunity, he still failed to touch upon any trace of Shang Xiangyu.

Pan Yong and Shang Xiangyu were both considered to have left the mountain not long ago; this first month was the time window when they were most likely to leave traces. After this time window passed, wanting to search again would just depend on luck.

Yang Yi suddenly said, "Department Head. Why not also issue a wanted notice for Shang Xiangyu? If we act both openly and covertly, the chances will still be a bit higher."

Yang Sixuan turned his head and glared at Yang Yi, coldly saying, "Use your brain a little!"

Seeing his second uncle angry, Yang Yi immediately lowered his head and dared not speak.

"Shang Xiangyu left the mountain wanting to join the Filthy Blood Sect. You issue a wanted notice to hunt him down; you're afraid he won't have a pretext to join the Filthy Blood Sect, right?"

Hearing this, Yang Yi's heart jumped, and he immediately understood Yang Sixuan's meaning. If they issued a wanted notice to hunt down Shang Xiangyu, it would just become a tool for him to gain the trust of the Filthy Blood Sect.

Even, the people of the Filthy Blood Sect, seeing that this person was an Inner Sect Disciple but was wanted by the Sect, and was also a Pharmacist, might even take the initiative to make contact with him.

Wouldn't they then be doing Shang Xiangyu a huge favor instead?

Yang Yi said, "This case was issued to us by the Inner History Department of the Elder Council. It's been over a month; logically, we should give them a written reply."

Yang Sixuan said angrily, "Those guys in the Inner History Department only know how to engage in bureaucratic paperwork and don't do a lick of real work."

As Yang Sixuan spoke, he let out a deep sigh; the ten-thousand-year-old Sect had long since become a great dyeing vat. He knew very well that many ingrained bad habits were not things he could change just because he wanted to. Within the Elder Council, there were also undercurrents surging!

Yang Sixuan said, "Write a first draft and bring it for me to see."

Yang Yi's expression was somewhat reluctant, but he still respectfully said, "Yes."

Yang Yi hated dealing with these case files the most; there were clearly many old Attendants in the Ruling Sect Justice Division, so why had his second uncle recently been handing the first drafts of case files to him to write?

Yang Yi asked, "That Registered Disciple named Duan Rong is still locked in the prison. He has no involvement in this case, and the testimony information he provided is still quite valuable. Should he continue to be locked up?"

Although Duan Rong had no involvement in this case, he was only a Registered Disciple; as long as the case was not closed, even if the Ruling Sect Justice Division kept him locked up, no one would dare say anything.

"That kid... let him go... he has already confessed everything he should have."

Yang Yi pondered for a moment and added, "Qin Laotou of the Lower Courtyard should also be punished according to the rules. The permit he issued for Pan Yong to leave the mountain gate was not compliant."

Yang Sixuan said in a flat tone, "Give him a verbal warning."

Hearing this, Yang Yi frowned, somewhat puzzled. He thought that at the very least, Qin Laotou's title as manager in the Lower Courtyard should be stripped.

Yang Sixuan looked at him and said, "Do you know that the Supervisor of the Elder Council's Inner History Department is also surnamed Qin? That Qin Laotou of the Lower Courtyard is his cousin. You have to look at the master before beating the dog. If you punish him too heavily, when the file is submitted to the Inner History Department, he will just strike it back down. That bunch of people are most adept at forming cliques and excluding those who disagree."

As Yang Sixuan spoke, there was no lack of resentment in his tone. "This Sect has long been listless; there are some things you can't avoid getting involved in even if you want to. Go on, I want to rest for a while."

Looking at the decadence and vexation in Yang Sixuan's eyes, Yang Yi's heart stirred slightly. He felt a bit of heartache for his second uncle. He really wanted to persuade Yang Sixuan that there were some things one didn't need to take too seriously, but with the words on the tip of his tongue, he swallowed them back, only saying to rest well and not to worry too much about the case, before exiting the bamboo building...

The second day after Duan Rong was released, he went to Xia Honghua's place first; he was afraid that Xia Honghua had been waiting anxiously and would fire him, and then his sixty Contribution Points per month would go down the drain.

As soon as Xia Honghua saw Duan Rong, she stared at him in a daze for a long while before asking, "You were released?"

Duan Rong sighed and nodded.

It seemed Xia Honghua already knew, which was good, and saved him the trouble of explaining.

Pan Yong stole rare Sect medicines; it was in this very building that he used Shang Xiangyu's Star Disk to exchange the medicines out. Yang Yi had come to investigate Xia Honghua's place at least three times. Later, when Duan Rong did not come for many days, she even ran to the mountain peak where Shang Xiangyu was to look for him, naturally without seeing a shadow of a person.

At that time, she guessed that Duan Rong had been taken away by the people from the Ruling Sect Justice Division, and upon inquiring later, it was indeed so.

Xia Honghua was in a great predicament at the time; with Duan Rong arrested, she would have to find someone else to handle the accounts.

She entrusted people in many ways and finally found an old accountant; that person was quite old and looked to have the white hair and youthful face of a sage, and at a glance, he was an experienced accountant.

Xia Honghua was overjoyed, thinking she had met a savior.

Who knew that after testing him for a few days, Xia Honghua realized that the old accountant was already a bit senile. The accounts he balanced were topsy-turvy and chaotic; let alone comparing him to Duan Rong, he wasn't even as good as her.

She immediately sent the old accountant back and then gave the person she had entrusted a good scolding.

She had been at her wit's end these past few days, and never expected that Duan Rong would come.

Duan Rong worked at Xia Honghua's place for three consecutive days and balanced all the backlogged accounts; after catching up on the progress, he returned to his usual routine of two hours a day.

After Duan Rong settled things at Xia Honghua's place, he immediately went to the Stone Workshop and the Weapon Workshop to check on Xiao Yu and Ximen Kankan.

Both of their craftsmanship skills had become proficient; basically, after this third month of the training period ended, they could arrange their own monthly workloads like the old hands in the workshops, without having to spend every day in the workshops.

Duan Rong hadn't seen them for over a month; Ximen Kankan acted as if nothing had happened, but Xiao Yu was somewhat worried.

She even took the time to come to the mountain peak where Shang Xiangyu was. But after she circled around a large area, the entire mountain peak was empty, without a single shadow of a person.

At that time, Xiao Yu thought that Duan Rong might have some mission, so she had no choice but to return to the Stone Workshop.

Seeing that another ten days or so had passed, Xiao Yu was worried in her heart every day; she was just preparing to finish work and go discuss with Ximen Kankan to look for Duan Rong one more time, and if she couldn't find him, she would go to the Lower Courtyard to ask Qin Laotou.

Just as she was thinking this, after finishing work and washing up by the stream, she saw Duan Rong walking out from the dense forest on the opposite side, smiling and looking at her from across the stream.

Duan Rong walked to the edge of the stream.

Seeing Xiao Yu still squatting on the opposite side of the stream, staring blankly at him, he suddenly kicked a pebble at his feet into the stream, splashing water all over Xiao Yu's face.

Xiao Yu suddenly realized what was happening, jumped over the stream, and was about to hit Duan Rong.

The two frolicked in the forest for a while, then sat on a large bluestone and began to chat.

Xiao Yu asked about Duan Rong's recent situation.

Duan Rong was afraid that if he brought up those distressing matters, it would make Xiao Yu worry, so he only said that for the past month, he had been in seclusion refining pills with Master Shang and had no leisure time.

The two chatted about some other things, and Duan Rong carefully asked about Xiao Yu's situation in the Stone Workshop.

Although he had a fixed income of sixty points from Xia Honghua every month, his cultivation method also consumed a lot.

Therefore, he planned to go to the Guanglu Courtyard with Xiao Yu, Ximen Kankan, and the others to take on tasks to earn Contribution Points.

With the disappearance of Shang Xiangyu and Pan Yong, he was now basically a free man; it mainly depended on the time Xiao Yu and Ximen Kankan had.

Xiao Yu told Duan Rong that starting next month, she would finish her three-month training period and could arrange her time relatively freely, at which point she could go to the Guanglu Courtyard with Duan Rong to take on tasks.

Then, Xiao Yu asked Duan Rong about Shen Mizhi. In her heart, she had always treated Shen Mizhi as a younger sister, and occasionally, she could see the shadow of Xiao Baijiao in Shen Mizhi.

Duan Rong said that the Elder Council was the core of the Sect's power and was practically a forbidden area. It was impossible for them to enter; they could only wait for Shen Mizhi to find time to come out and see them.

The two chatted in the dense forest until dusk fell, and only then did they return to the Stone Workshop, to Xiao Yu's cave.

In the darkness, the two embraced and kissed passionately.

At this moment, Duan Rong had no more worries in his heart. Previously, when Shang Xiangyu was around, Duan Rong had once planned to flee the Sect.

But now, the great mountain that was Shang Xiangyu, which had been pressing down on Duan Rong's heart, had left on its own.

Moreover, Duan Rong had already tasted the joys of intimacy with Lv Qingzhu in the ruined temple.

At this moment, he could not restrain his emotions and reached out to pull at Xiao Yu's pants.

Xiao Yu grabbed Duan Rong's hand, blushed, and said indignantly, "Don't push your luck."

In the darkness, Xiao Yu looked into Duan Rong's eyes and asked, "I ask you, will you marry me?"

Duan Rong said, "I will marry you."

Xiao Yu lifted her body, kissed Duan Rong on the forehead, and said gently, "Wait until you marry me to say that. For now, you should just sleep on the floor."

Xiao Yu was actually burning with desire at this moment, but she did not want Duan Rong to look down on her. She was a child of the Jianghu, but she had already set her heart on Duan Rong, and she wanted to be his wife for a long time.

For the past month or so, Duan Rong had not come to see her, and only then did she realize that she had become somewhat absent-minded. It was then that she realized that Duan Rong had occupied such an important position deep in her heart, to the point that her entire life was tied to him.

This was what is meant by "longing to the bone," which was her state of mind at that time.

As she spoke, Xiao Yu got up and lit the Candle Lamp.

She spread a straw mat and bedding on the floor and gave Duan Rong a beast-skin blanket.

Xiao Yu settled Duan Rong down on the floor before she herself got onto the stone bed.

The two were one above and one below, looking at each other, the Candle Lamp flickering.

After a while, Duan Rong fell asleep.

Xiao Yu looked at Duan Rong, the corners of her mouth slightly raised; as she watched, sleepiness washed over her, and without extinguishing the Candle Lamp, she drifted off into a hazy sleep...

The next day, Duan Rong went to the Weapon Workshop again to see Ximen Kankan; he agreed with Ximen Kankan that starting next month, the three of them, including Xiao Yu, would go to the Guanglu Courtyard to take on tasks and earn Contribution Points.

After returning from the Stone Workshop and the Weapon Workshop, Duan Rong returned to his previous rhythm; apart from balancing the accounts at Xia Honghua's place for two hours every day, he spent the rest of his time cultivating in the dense forest.

Ever since Duan Rong returned from the Dungeon of the Ruling Sect Justice Division, Shang Xiangyu's territory seemed to have become completely peaceful.

This place was already tucked away in a corner and was Shang Xiangyu's private territory; once the limelight of that case passed, this place seemed to have been forgotten by everyone...

This day, Duan Rong was sitting cross-legged on a bluestone not far from the pool in the dense forest; within his meridians, True Qi surged, wrapping around and refining the medicinal power...

Although he had been locked in a cell by Yang Yi for over a month, because he had no pills to refine, his True Qi cultivation had progressed extremely slowly.

However, after these few days of hard cultivation in the dense forest, his True Qi was becoming more robust day by day; according to Duan Rong's estimation, in about a few days, he should be able to achieve the True Qi Realm First Stage.

Just as Duan Rong was refining his True Qi, there was a "whoosh" sound in the air, like a sharp Arrow piercing through the sky.

Duan Rong frowned slightly, suddenly opened his eyes, and saw a green fruit being forcefully thrown at him by the baboon on the tree canopy not far away.

Duan Rong flicked his sleeve and knocked the green fruit away.

Then, he turned his head to look at the baboon on the tree canopy and actually smiled slightly.

The moment Duan Rong smiled at the baboon, a flickering firefly-like light suddenly appeared before the baboon's eyes.

That firefly light danced before its eyes, just like a firefly.

But at this moment, it was daytime, the sky was bright; how could a firefly emit such a bright light during the day?

The baboon had spent years hanging around the Sect and already possessed considerable intelligence.

It was just wondering about it when that flickering firefly light suddenly darted into the center of its brow.

The baboon immediately reached out its claw and slapped its forehead, but saw nothing on its claw; it didn't pay it any mind, thinking that the strange firefly had already been slapped to death by it.

But the next moment, the baboon suddenly saw a black shadow wiggling its butt under the tree...

The baboon rubbed its eyes and realized that, somehow, a big-butted female baboon with a wiggling waist was winking at it under the tree...

The baboon's eyes went straight immediately, and drool dripped uncontrollably from the corners of its mouth...

It jumped down from the tree and pounced toward the female baboon...

It tackled the female baboon, but suddenly discovered that the female baboon was emitting an extremely strange, loud laughter.

It looked closely and saw that the female baboon had become blurry and turned into the appearance of Duan Rong. Duan Rong was laughing loudly, his face began to twist, and with a mouth full of fangs, he bit toward the baboon.

The baboon screamed in terror and retreated, only to find that all the trees in the dense forest had begun to twist and had all turned into the appearance of Duan Rong, with twisted faces and mouths full of fangs, surrounding it from all directions in a dense mass...

The baboon was so scared that its legs were trembling; it retreated toward the clearing in the center of the dense forest, and as it retreated, it suddenly fell down beside that bluestone.

It fell and looked up, only to see Duan Rong sitting cross-legged on that bluestone, smiling at it...

The baboon was scared out of its wits, let out a screech, and bolted out of the dense forest.

Duan Rong sat cross-legged on the large bluestone, watching the baboon disappear into the dense forest, and smiled happily.

"Scared you to death, didn't I?!"

He had been locked in the Dungeon by Yang Yi for over a month; although his True Qi cultivation was hindered, he had taken advantage of that time in the Dungeon to fully comprehend the Primary Level of the Divine Soul Illusion, "Firefly Confusion."

(End of chapter)