40. Plans.
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Yue City...
Sect Leader Xu was pleased to find that Zhang Luoyin was safe at home.
As Luoyin had instructed before he left, Yinying had hired a Head servant to manage the household, and the young man, Meng Qiu, stared in awe, a bit intimidated as Lord Xu and Xu Weiyan personally arrived for a visit!
After Lord Xu ensured that Luoyin was on the way to recovery, he asked Meng Qiu about the immortal who brought Luoyin back home, but Meng Qiu had no answers.
"I woke up and the servants were chattering about how the master was back home!"
The servants had no answers either...
With Yin Xing and Yinying invisible, a servant had simply found Luoyin lying in his bed!
"How odd..." Lord Xu mused.
In the cave, Weiyan had assured him that the Immortal meant Luoyin no harm, but it was still odd that the Immortal had simply vanished.
After ensuring Luoyin was recovering, Lord Xu left, but Weiyan was reluctant to follow.
It was clear the servants were taking adequate care of Luoyin, so she knew he was fine, and yet she lingered.
But she also knew that her father, being the Sect Leader, would need to visit the family of the late disciple, and organize a central mourning and funeral for him.
As the two leaders of the mission, she and Xu Haoyuan would need to pay their respects, even if the disciple hadn't been in her own group, and as the disciple's comrades, the entire Sect would need to pay respects.
It didn't end there. The 'mission' had also led to the death of an entire settlement, and the responsibility fell on the Sect, who would need to control the damage and panic across other cities.
Most of all, as it involved a demon, the Sect would need to report the entire incident to the Wulin, and Weiyan was right in the middle of it, with new information concerning the 'Black Dragon'.
Lord Xu would never ask or make demands, but the least she could do was stand by him at such a time, ensuring everything went seamlessly...
So with a sigh, and one last glance at Luoyin, Weiyan turned her back.
"I know you're still here." She suddenly spoke aloud, as she followed after her father. "It's a long journey to immortality, but I'll do whatever it takes to get there and destroy you, if anything happens to him..."
Hidden in a corner of the room, Yin Xing froze in shock.
Almost literally too! Carps froze whenever they were endangered, and something about Xu Weiyan's words nearly awoke that long surpassed instinct!
'How can a mere mortal threaten me?! And how did she detect me?!' Even Lord Xu didn't sense his presence.
Yin Xing wasn't sure whether to be angry, offended, or relieved.
'Elder brother's love affairs are really something else!!'
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It was a few days later, after the central funeral, that news of Zhang Cheng's bullying and cowardly escape spread amongst the disciples.
Not only had he escaped, before doing so, he had harmed two Inner disciples, including the Head disciple, all because he wanted to attack Zhang Luoyin, his own brother.
As punishment, Sect Leader Xu temporarily banned him from all Sect duties, pending a proper decision by the Clan and Sect Elders.
Speaking of 'Elders', Sect Leader Xu had threatened the Clan Elders, which brought the Mission's sickening plot to light.
After Zhang Cheng's embarrassment on the Arena, he and his mother, Zhang Furen, knew they couldn't openly harm Luoyin within Yue City, as he was now in charge of the Light Tiger, and was set to become Sect Leader Xu's son-in-law.
But Zhang Cheng was not satisfied with secretly beating Luoyin, as Luoyin had embarrassed him before the disciples!
So Zhang Furen had orchestrated the mission with the Eye-eater - an 'easy' mission with the sole purpose of pulling Luoyin, Xu Weiyan, and more than a few disciples away from Yue City.
In the forests, Zhang Cheng could severely beat and embarrass Luoyin however he liked, in the presence of Weiyan and the other disciples, so she would clearly see the type of 'husband' she had settled for.
But they knew Xu Weiyan might simply ignore a mission on the mission board, so Zhang Furen had the Xu elders let Sect Leader Xu assign the mission, knowing he would send Weiyan.
To finish, they had sent Zhang Luoyin a fake letter, and placed he and Zhang Cheng in different groups, so Luoyin wouldn't see Zhang Cheng and run off too early.
This was why Zhang Cheng had been late, why he was certain the mission was not dangerous, and why he was not surprised by the absence of evil spirits.
It had all been part of the plan.
Even the County Head of that Settlement was in on it, and the dead victims were supposed to be fake.
But the simple 'bowl of water had turned into a pot of soup'...
None of them realized they had been dealing with a vengeful Level Nine demon, who used the plot to his own advantage, leading to the death of an innocent disciple, and an entire settlement...
Sect Leader Xu suspected there was more to the story, especially around how Zhang Furen had established a connection with the eye-eater in the first place.
Unfortunately, Zhang Furen blatantly denied all accusations, shedding a few convincing tears to move her husband and anyone who would listen.
'Wah! Is she using a technique for these tears?!' Lord Xu wondered in awe, recalling how she had shed a pretty tear when he first brought Weiyan to propose marriage.
'Probably fake as well!' He realized. 'She didn't want an orphan married to her own child!' And she had even used the engagement to get a favour from him!
'How clever.' From what he could deduce, Luoyin was certainly right about Zhang Furen and Zhang Cheng!
Unfortunately, that knowledge did not help the present matter...
Since there was no proof besides the words of the Xu Elders, Sect Leader Xu was forced to leave Zhang Furen and the Zhang family alone.
But in a rare show of pettiness, he did nothing to quell the rumours of their involvement, and his aide, Liu Yao, could have sworn he heard him actually instruct a few servants to spread the word in the markets and other towns!
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Meanwhile, Luoyin finally opened his eyes, much to Yinying's delight.
"You little brat! You've docked several thousand years off my life span!"
"Heh! Laoying, how do you know you're not mortal right now?" Luoyin smirked, enjoying Yinying's presence. "If we dock even fifty years, you're done for!"
For a second in that cave, he had thought he would die and let Yinying down again!
"Hao!" Yinying was saying. "Make fun of this old man once you open your eyes!"
Luoyin beamed at him, then suddenly paused.
"Wait!" He sniffed. "I can smell a suspicious shrimp somewhere!"
"You -!" Yin Xing appeared from behind a curtain. "Older brother! I'm a full grown Carp! How can you still call me a shrimp?! And after I saved you!" Yin Xing protested.
But he hurried over, tossing aside all pride to take Luoyin's hand!
Luoyin grinned amidst threatening tears.
He hadn't seen Yin Xing in thirty thousand years, and he placed a hand on Yin Xing's head. "You've grown. I really can't call you shrimp anymore."
It was a quiet moment for both brothers, and Yinying vanished with a soft poof, leaving them to their reunion...
After that, news of Luoyin's awakening spread around, along with more interesting rumors which had somehow tagged on!
"Did he or didn't he destroy those Level Seven beasts?!" A disciple asked in frustration.
"I'm telling you he did!"
"It's Impossible! That trash?!"
"He might be trash, but he's super clever! According to Disciple Tao, he used some sort of herb and a talisman to do it!"
"Really?!"
And added to that, was the mystery of what had happened in the cave...
Only Weiyan had clearly seen what happened, but the rest had a vague recollection.
To protect Luoyin, Weiyan insisted it was the immortal who saved them all, but then she blatantly refused to explain why Luoyin had suddenly collapsed, and was sick to the point where the Immortal had to treat him!
Besides, Xu Lian was certain she had caught a glimpse of Luoyin stepping on the shadow and defeating him, but with a deadpan expression, Weiyan had asked her,
"Sister Lian, can you really trust anything you saw after that Miasma?"
"You -!"
Still Xu Lian and even Xu Wen, had drawn their own conclusions.
'Zhang Luoyin is hiding his strengths!'
Xu Min had drawn a similar conclusion, though he wasn't sure.
And when Xu Wen asked him why he defended Zhang Luoyin so much, and even seemed to hold him in high regard, he responded,
"I'm not entirely sure... When I recently met him again, he just seemed like someone I should respect!"
Either way, all the disciples were now looking forward to the Sect Tournament, set to hold in the Spring!!
Zhang Cheng hoped his ban would be lifted by then, so he could beat Zhang Luoyin!
Several disciples also wanted to see what Luoyin was capable of, or if he would even participate!
Xu Weiyan resumed her cultivation with a rare spark of ambition, determined to defeat Zhang Cheng!
And Luoyin....?
Luoyin simply wanted some peace and quiet!
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