Chapter 108: I Have Already Devoted Myself to the Great Dao

It is said that some unwilling patriarchs of cultivation families also ran off to ask the two whether they had really dug up a treasure.

The two old brothers almost unanimously declared: You actually believe the rumors?

Wasn't everyone there together hacking at the shell bug back then?

Who wasn't present at the time?!

So some believed it, some did not... believe it!

Wang Yueyi quietly arranged to meet her junior brother Xu Yunrui at a newly reopened restaurant in the north of the city.

Top-floor private room!

As soon as Xu Yunrui arrived, Wang Yueyi hurriedly invited him to take the seat of honor.

Xu Yunrui's expression was cold and stern, tinged with a hint of disdain. This was also why Wang Yueyi was not too keen on meeting him. Who would enjoy getting cozy with a big block of ice?

Even though he was her junior brother from the same sect.

"Junior brother, I know you're not happy to see me. But I just got promoted to patriarch, I had no choice. I really do have something important." Wang Yueyi said.

"That broken-down mess of your Wang family—you're actually willing to pick it up and shoulder it." Though Xu Yunrui's words were unpleasant, Wang Yueyi still detected a hint of concern, and an auntie-like smile floated across her face.

She knew her master was right—Xu Yunrui was cold on the outside but warm on the inside.

"The Wang family is where I was born and raised. I have no choice."

"Sooner or later you'll be dragged down to death by it." Xu Yunrui said.

Wang Yueyi heard it but paid it no mind.

"Junior brother Xu, that shell bug's head—could you spare one or two more pieces for our family?" Wang Yueyi knew that after the shell bug was killed, its entire head had been divided into over a hundred pieces, and every family had received a few. But their Wang family had sacrificed so much this time, yet only got two pieces—wasn't that a bit excessive?

"How the shell bug's head is distributed is my father's job. If you have a problem, go talk to him, don't come to me." Xu Yunrui said. Turns out he was Xu Chengzhu's only son.

Xu Chengzhu had no wife, but he had a son—unfortunately not many people knew.

"I always feel that in this distribution of spoils, Xu Chengzhu seems to be slighting our Wang family." Wang Yueyi said, puzzled. "We've never offended him before, have we?"

"The shell bug hid underground beneath Thousand Carp Lake for so long, and your Wang family is so close to Thousand Carp Lake—how could you not have noticed anything at all?" Xu Yunrui asked.

Only then did Wang Yueyi understand why her family was being given the cold shoulder.

"We really didn't notice. Such a big matter—if our family had discovered anything, we would have reported it long ago."

Xu Yunrui gave a cold snort upon hearing this.

"No wonder my father doesn't care for you. How can you be so stupid? Not having noticed the problem is itself the biggest problem. Your Wang family definitely has a traitor."

Wang Yueyi's face changed dramatically upon hearing this. "That's impossible."

"Hmph." Xu Yunrui snorted again. "Senior Sister Wang, if your family has produced a traitor and you've been completely in the dark, even though you're the master's disciple, you'll still be expelled from the sect."

The sect never keeps fools and useless people!

Something must have gone wrong with the Wang family, otherwise her own father wouldn't have targeted her during the spoils distribution.

Why did Wang Yueyi say "that's impossible"? Because she was unwilling to accept that answer.

She wanted to play ostrich with all her heart.

The key is, even if you're willing to play ostrich, others are not.

"Senior Sister Wang, for the sake of our shared master, let me give you one warning—if you don't investigate yourselves, once the sect's Internal Surveillance Bureau or the General Inspection Bureau sends people down, your Wang family will at the very least be expelled from Xiancheng, even if not exiled."

Wang Yueyi's face changed again: "Our Wang family lost so many people this time, and our clan lands were destroyed. We sacrificed so much."

"Your Wang family also raised that shell bug!" Xu Yunrui said.

Wang Yueyi fell silent at once, staring coldly at Xu Yunrui. After a good while she said: "What proof do you have?"

"Save that questioning attitude for when the people from above arrive—go tell them." Xu Yunrui noticed that since becoming patriarch, Senior Sister Wang had changed. Or rather, her stance had changed.

He got up and left directly, unwilling to continue wasting words with her.

Wang Yueyi waited until Xu Yunrui walked out the door, then her expression changed and she was utterly deflated.

She had only just become patriarch—she truly didn't want to wield the knife against her clansmen again.

She had originally wanted Xu Yunrui to help smooth things over, to get Xu Chengzhu to stop targeting their family.

But clearly, Xu Yunrui's view leaned more toward the sect, believing the Wang family had a problem.

It seemed she truly needed to make a choice.

And she also needed to write another letter begging for help to her master!!

Sigh, being a patriarch is really too hard.

……

In less than three days, the entire Xiancheng had returned to peace and tranquility.

The Su family's battle fortress form was also dismantled once more.

The sealed-off districts everywhere reopened, as if everything had returned to how it was before.

In another two days it would be a rest day again, and Su Jin's heart began to stir restlessly once more.

She still hadn't mastered her extraction of wood essence Qi!

So she went straight to Su Jian. "Big brother, can we go outside the city to practice spells again? I still haven't mastered my extraction of wood essence Qi!"

"Sure, but let's switch locations this time. Find a forest near Xiancheng." Su Jian thought for a moment, then said.

His daily mandatory work had finally ended.

The family had finally disbanded these temporarily recruited young and able-bodied men!

Having spent the past two days lying flat at home, Su Jian also felt he should go out for a walk and stretch his limbs.

"Great, as long as we can practice spells, I'm fine with anywhere." Su Jin said immediately.

However, Su Yu and Su Hanlin had fallen out, and Su Hanlin had run off to work at the Intelligence Bureau. So Su Jian had to put together another trustworthy team.

Su Jian racked his brains but couldn't find a suitable team—either people were temporarily not in Xiancheng, or there were people in the team he found disgusting. With no options, he went to ask Su Hanlin for help.

Su Hanlin thought for a moment, then asked, "Is it okay if they're not clansmen?"

"Is it reliable?"

"According to my investigation, this person's character is truly good. Teaming up with her now makes us a trio of brothers. All three of us look decent," Su Hanlin said.

"Who exactly is this person you're talking about?" Su Jian asked curiously.

"It's An Qian. The woman I pulled you to save," Su Hanlin said.

Upon hearing this, Su Jian's eyes immediately widened.

He thought to himself, You two fell out over a woman, yet you're introducing that same woman to me to team up and go out of the city to extract Wood Essence Qi?

"Didn't Su Yu team up with her?" Su Jian stammered.

"This An Qian is very smart. I saw through Su Yu's character; do you think she might not have seen through it?" Su Hanlin sneered.

"Oh, wait, that doesn't add up. How do you know she's smart?" Su Jian said, puzzled.

"Ahem. Later, she came to thank me many times, and that's how we got to know each other," Su Hanlin said, deliberately downplaying it.

Su Jian: Something's off. This Su Hanlin is a bit off, isn't he?

"Did you and An Qian become a couple?"

"No," Su Hanlin immediately refuted. "I have dedicated myself to the Great Dao; I will never marry or find a Dao companion in this life."

Su Jian didn't believe it at all: Before he met his wife, he used to shout "I have dedicated myself to the Great Dao" every single day!