The Lingyun Main Hall finally quieted down.
Handing the ledger over to the subordinates to calculate, Wan Linglong sat beside her master and accompanied him in drinking tea. "Uncle Yin is going to spit blood for sure when he goes back."
"Pfft—"
Dantai Shuo almost spat out a mouthful of tea. "Rest assured, he's in good health and won't spit blood."
"I'm not pitying him, I'm just wondering..." Wan Linglong frowned. "Why is he like that?"
Everything Yin Cheng wore and used was of supreme-grade magic artifact tier. Couldn't the uncle who failed to provide any subsidies see that?
"Hah, in his mind, the meat stays in the family pot."
Headmaster Dantai smiled. "That uncle of yours has ambitions higher than the heavens, but a fate thinner than paper!"
If possible, he would rather it had been Yin Zhenghai who died back then.
"Actually, if Yin Cheng hadn't gone too far, the meat... would have always stayed in their family pot."
Having served as headmaster, what hadn't he witnessed?
It was just that some matters could not be scrutinized too closely, let alone investigated deeply.
There was no mighty figure in the Immortal Realm who grew up relying entirely on the care of others.
Compared to the outside world, the hardships within the sect... really amounted to nothing.
If one couldn't even endure the hardships within the sect, then there was no need to speak of anything else.
"What surprised me, though, is Gu Chengshu! When you run into her later, take good care of her!"
"Yes!"
Even without her master telling her, Wan Linglong would have looked after her. "Master, what kind of grudge does Senior Brother Geng have against Senior Uncle Gu? Senior Uncle has been fallen for more than ten years, yet he still wants to vent his anger on Junior Sister Gu. Acting like this, can he really serve well as the Punishment Hall master?"
"The matters of the older generation are not for you to meddle in. Whether he can serve well as the Punishment Hall master is something for you to observe and ponder more!"
In water too clear, there are no fish.
Some matters, as long as they are not brought right to one's doorstep, are better handled with one eye open and one eye closed.
"All right, the accounts over there are almost finished. Hurry over to Tianxiang Peak and collect what should be claimed."
Only what is safely in your bag is truly yours.
Besides, this was also the first time in all his long years that he was taking advantage of Yin Zhenghai so openly and with such sufficient justification.
"Although the Yin Family has been developing quite well these years, they couldn't possibly have that much spirit grain in stock. To prevent them from dragging it out with installment payments or trying to default outright, you must go personally. Even if they have to borrow from all around, you must watch them make up the full amount for me today."
"Yes!"
Wan Linglong could hear her master's dissatisfaction toward Uncle Yin.
She was also quite willing to use this matter to knock down the arrogance of the people from the Yin Family and Tianxiang Peak.
"Wait for my good news, Master!"
As Wan Linglong set off for Tianxiang Peak, nearly all the cultivators traveling back and forth across Lingyun Peak already knew about today's grand annulment drama!
Who could have imagined it!
Even the dim-witted could piece together a lot of things from this big show.
It was just that Elder Yin was still in the sect, and Elder Feng Lan had a bad temper. In case the two of them started a fight because of everyone's gossip... the consequences would simply be unimaginable.
Therefore, no matter what they were thinking inside, for the time being, everyone held their tongues.
...
"Does it hurt?"
In Mingfeng Valley, as Feng Lan applied medicine to Gu Chengshu's forehead, she was simultaneously furious, heartbroken, and enraged. "Didn't you know to hold back a bit? Why use so much force? When you were wronged, your Senior Brother Jiang didn't bother with it—didn't you know to send a message to your Senior Aunt?"
"Senior Aunt!" Gu Chengshu's eyes were brimming with tears. "Senior Aunt..."
The grievance naturally welling up from within the original self could no longer be suppressed.
Gu Chengshu felt a sourness in her nose and a burning heat in her eyes. "At first, I didn't know why things turned out like that.
Clearly, Master cared for me so much.
The Yin Family even showed goodwill several times!
But slowly...
Senior Aunt, I'm so foolish, so stupid!"
Feng Lan: "..."
With trembling hands, she pulled the sorrowful, weeping girl a bit tighter into her embrace. "You aren't foolish, and even less stupid—it's just that certain people's scheming is too high-level."
When she was home for the past couple of years, she hadn't noticed that junior brother of hers was so 'capable' either.
Feng Lan was also extremely angry.
Junior Sister Xue had gone missing, Junior Brother Gu had died, and since Master and she weren't at home, who else would carefully investigate matters on Tianxiang Peak?
That man surnamed Yin was hypocritical yet acted with such cleverness. After she left, the little girl who was only eleven years old was simply a mute eating coptis—unable to voice her bitter sufferings!
To be able to realize it on her own...
Thinking of the dried bloodstains that had long since congealed on the little girl's undergarment near the Cliff of Repentance, Feng Lan was simply furious that Yin Zhenghai had escaped so quickly; otherwise, she would have beaten him until he lost all his teeth.
As for the Poison Dragon Shoal...
"Don't you worry, Senior Aunt is keeping this ledger for you. I won't let the old one off, and as for the young one..."
"I'll settle the score myself!"
Such a good girl!
Feng Lan wiped away her tears. "Senior Aunt won't be leaving for a while. I'll stay in Mingfeng Valley during this time and go nowhere..."
"Senior Aunt, I need to make a trip to the Marketplace."
Gu Chengshu wanted to rest as well, but certain matters had to be handled as early as possible. "My father left a grocery store for me in the Marketplace, and Old Uncle Yu, who watches the shop, doesn't know that I've broken ties with the Yin Family. It wouldn't do if he ended up lending anything else to their household."
Feng Lan: "..." Then go ahead. Do you want Senior Aunt to accompany you?"
"No need. Senior Aunt, just lend me a veil that blocks spiritual sense!"
Her father's Storage Ring certainly contained one, but it was sealed within the sect, and without reaching the Core Formation stage, she couldn't get her hands on it.
And it was fortunate she couldn't get it; if it were in her hands, it might have been gone long ago.
"...It's yours."
Feng Lan fetched a small bamboo hat for her, the ethereal, pale gauze draped downwards, impervious to spiritual sense. "Go and come back quickly."
"I'm borrowing it!"
Gu Chengshu had been frightened by being given things too many times. "Senior Aunt, after I finish handling the shop's affairs, I need to return to Xiaohe Valley. The spirit fields there haven't been tended yet, and I need to go back and work on them."
Tianxiang Peak, Mingfeng Valley—they were all other people's places.
She had her own home and property, so why live under someone else's roof?
"When I'm done with my business, I'll come visit you again."
Feng Lan: "..."
She strangely understood what remained unsaid.
Sighing inwardly, she produced a cyan jade Dharma pendant and hung it around her waist herself. "Very well, do whatever you wish. But you cannot refuse this item; it is also called the Mother-and-Child Pendant. Breaking it will automatically generate a spiritual shield capable of withstanding three consecutive strikes from a Core Formation cultivator, and Senior Aunt will know immediately as well.
All these years... Senior Aunt didn't take good care of you. If you refuse this too, Senior Aunt will be sad."
Junior Brother Gu had left this child quite a few good things.
Feng Lan considered that when she went to drink tea with Headmaster Senior Brother, she would demand a few items back for her self-protection, just so this child wouldn't always worry about being murdered for her wealth.
"Senior Aunt... thank you! I will definitely come often. When you have free time, you can also come to Xiaohe Valley, and I'll make delicious food for you."
"You know how to cook delicious food?"
Feng Lan was both expectant and heartbroken; during all these years when everyone was away, this child probably didn't even know how much hardship she had endured. "How could I miss out on such a wonderful thing? I'll head over tomorrow."
"It's a deal!"
Gu Chengshu brightened up. "I promise to give you a pleasant surprise."
Though she had little practical experience and couldn't eat much due to her illness, it didn't prevent her from studying culinary arts.
Otherwise, how boring would those bedridden days have been?