Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

ay,” Li Rong clearly shared the same sentiments.
“Apparently, the sect already sent a few direct disciples out to kill the person from Vast Sky Sect, but they’ve been held up by the folks from Vast Sky Sect who were supposed to meet with the traitor.”

Li Rong downed the rest of his tea and smacked his lips before continuing, “That traitor had no choice but to continue on his way.
He’s got a bunch of servants with him, but they’re all below Foundation Establishment level.
There are about seven or eight of them in all.”

“So, wouldn’t it be better to send internal disciples at Foundation Establishment after them?”

“It’s probably an agreement between Vast Sky Sect and our sect to settle this problem with disciples who are not as powerful as the thief.
The thief is only at the Half Step to Foundation Establishment Stage and hasn’t completely transformed his meridian channels yet.” Li Rong looked very unhappy by this point.
“So…”

“Is your name on that list too?” Gu Suihan felt a sense of schadenfreude when he saw how unhappy Li Rong looked.

Li Rong noticed Gu Suihan’s smirk and became even more annoyed.

“Let’s go then,” said Gu Suihan with a long sigh.

“Why are we even involved,” Li Rong continued to grumble as he got up and shook his head with a miserable expression on his face.

…

“You’re Gu Suihan?” said a middle-aged man with shriveled skin and a perpetual worried look as he stood at the entrance to the East Compound.

“That is correct,” said Gu Suihan politely as he cupped his fists to greet the elder.

The Elder couldn’t help but frown at how sickly Gu Suihan looked.
He asked, “Have your injuries gotten better over the past few days? How long more do you need to recuperate?”

“Thank you for the concern, elder.
I have been pretty badly injured, so I will probably take another month or so to fully recover,” said Gu Suihan in a slow and pained manner.

“Oh dear!” The elder let out a long sigh, then said, “If Li Xianlong hadn’t died, he would have been a good candidate for this mission.
But…sigh…”

“You can have this Spiritual Multiplier Pill.
It will help you recover faster.” The elder frowned even more deeply, making his already wrinkled face seem even older as he sighed.

“But…” Gu Suihan didn’t take the pill from the elder and frowned as he said hesitantly, “It’s not that I don’t want to help the sect, but even if I did have the heart to do so, I don’t have the ability to do so.”

“Why do you say that?” The elder’s face fell.
“If you do a good job this time, I will reward you with other things.”

The elder had clearly thought that Gu Suihan was trying to negotiate for some additional benefits.

As the elder spoke, he enveloped Gu Suihan with a thin layer of pressure, which was a hint to Gu Suihan that if Gu Suihan continued trying to find excuses, the elder would teach him a lesson.

Gu Suihan immediately became terrified and bowed low as he said, “Please don’t take it wrongly, elder.
Let me explain.
I had been lucky enough to survive that duel with Li Xianlong some days ago, but the weapon I had been using all these years was also destroyed in the fight and I’ve been spending the last few days trying to rest and recuperate.
So, even if you give me a pill to help with my recuperation process, I’m still going to have a lot of trouble fighting if I don’t even have a weapon.”

“Is that really what happened?” the elder turned to ask the other four external disciples he had gathered suspiciously.

“It’s true, elder.”

“Sigh!” The elder’s lips twitched for a moment before the elder pulled a sword out very reluctantly from his magic storage bag and passed it to Gu Suihan.
“This was a weapon I had actually spent some time and effort in obtaining for that ungrateful traitor.
You can have it.
But that means you won’t get anything else after you complete this mission.”

“Thank you, elder,” Gu Suihan thanked the elder in a sincere voice as he bowed low.

“According to our intel, that traitor is trying to head back to Vast Sky Sect and he has already reached Blizzard City, so you have to move fast.
It’ll be best if you bring that traitor back alive, but if he tries to resist, just kill him,” instructed the elder very sternly.

“Yes, elder,” responded all five of them as they solemnly placed a palm against their other fist politely.

After the elder disappeared out of sight, Li Rong suddenly spat and said, “What a wily old fox.”

“Hello, my dear junior brothers.
My name is Feng Ran, and I hope we can support each other in this journey,” said the young man in blue robes with a friendly smile as he stood next to Li Rong.

“My name is Zhou Haotian,” said another young man emotionlessly with an aloof expression.

“My name’s Wang Xianxian, looking forward to working with everyone,” said the third young man whom Gu Suihan did not know.
He was short and small-sized and had a rather cheeky countenance.

“I’m Li Rong, I think everyone knows that.
And this is Gu Suihan.”

Since everyone was friendly and they were going on a mission like this, they automatically looked out for one another.
Besides, they had no conflict of interest, so the five of them got along quite harmoniously.

As they chatted a bit more, they pasted a Wind Blast Talisman on their legs, activated it with Qi, and flew towards Blizzard City.

Blizzard City was about 200 kilometers from the Seven Kill Sect, so it wasn’t too far.
They could reach it within a day or so, so the five of them weren’t in too much of a hurry.
When the sun was about to set, they took a break and decided to find somewhere to spend the night in the forest.

“Li Rong, why did you insult Elder Wang after he left in the afternoon? Did you notice something?” asked Wang Xianxiang as he continued roasting a pig over the open fire.

Before Li Rong could answer, Feng Ran said, “Something’s fishy,” as he used a dagger to cut slits into the pig’s skin so that it would cook more evenly.

The Clacker’s Dodgy Chinese Takeout

Today’s snack recommendation: Chinese Pig Ear Salad.
Sorry to everyone who doesn’t eat pork (or ears), but reading these guys roasting a pig just makes me crave this eaaaaarsss.
Filled with collagen and cartilage.
Excellent crunch.
Umami: ********

Soil God and City God. Tudigong. City God (China)↩