"Damn dog thieves!"
Wei Quji’s face was so dark it looked as if it could drip water.
Right under his very nose, that nameless enemy had used the living beings of Xiaolin Town as sacrifices, then consumed the lingering souls of all the generations that should have been at rest throughout the Fenglin City domain, all to condense the phantom of the Ghost Gate Pass in one fell swoop. And in the end, they had slipped away calmly right in front of him.
And he, Wei Quji, a dignified fifth-grade master, had rushed over with all his might, only to end up with absolutely nothing to show for it!
As the City Lord, he had failed his duty. As a powerhouse, he had been slapped in the face.
When had he ever suffered such humiliation?
So...
"Useless trash!"
Wei Quji backhanded a slap, sending Wei Yan flying several meters away!
Of the dozens of people present, not one dared to make a sound. Even though almost every single one of them felt a sense of injustice.
Even Wei Yan himself simply climbed up silently, without a word of protest.
He certainly had enough reasons to defend himself, enough reasons to be angry. Before the fog, he had charged forward. Facing the Nine Palaces Formation, he had been the first to break it. Seeing the Ghost Gate Pass, he had risked his life to burn his only Red Letter at the first opportunity.
It could be said that from any perspective, he had done the best he could at this stage; he was beyond reproach.
But success is success, and failure is failure. The military does not concern itself with such trivialities.
Wei Quji had granted him the authority and sent him to the Dao Academy to organize men to investigate Xiaolin Town, yet he had failed to prevent the incident from happening. That was a dereliction of duty.
Wei Quji could even have killed him on the spot.
But what would be the point?
Wei Quji had arrived with a menacing aura, and he left in a fit of rage.
The young people dispersed, some carrying the wounded, some supporting each other, and some carrying the dead.
These young disciples of the Dao Academy had just experienced a grueling battle with heavy casualties.
A very difficult battle that, in the end, proved to be completely useless.
From beginning to end, they didn't even know who their opponent was, yet the opponent had completed their goal and walked away unscathed.
They were called—trash.
...
"Damn it all... I’m not convinced."
Du Yehu lay sprawled on his dormitory bed like a collapsed iron tower.
He didn't have any serious injuries, and the damage to his foundation had already been mended by the Essence-Solidifying Pill sent by Zhao Rucheng; he just needed a period of quiet rest.
The Essence-Solidifying Pill was indeed a precious item, but there was nothing difficult about accepting it. Du Yehu happened to need it, and Zhao Rucheng happened to have it, so that was that. They were the kind of people who could entrust their lives to each other, let alone anything else.
But the battle at Xiaolin Town, to be realistic, was a blow to every Dao Academy disciple who participated. For anyone who aspired to transcend the ordinary and longed for strength, being powerless was probably the worst thing possible.
Perhaps only Zhao Rucheng was the exception. He had already gone to the Three-Part Fragrance Pavilion to "recuperate," supposedly wanting to win the heart of a beauty by playing the role of a warrior who had narrowly escaped death.
Du Yehu wasn't the type to stay in bed, but for now, he had no choice. No one would indulge him if he wanted to drink. Thus, for once, he felt a bit melancholy.
Ling He didn't speak; he was meditating with his eyes closed.
As for Jiang Wang... he was currently eating, together with Jiang An'an.
Cai’s Mutton Shop, a century-old establishment.
Two bowls of rich, fragrant mutton soup, and ten catties of neatly sliced cold-cut mutton.
Jiang An'an held a steamed bun in her left hand and chopsticks in her right... the chopsticks were gripping the mutton. The reason for using the word "gripping" was that her way of holding chopsticks was indeed different—probably because no one had ever corrected her—she just wrapped all five fingers around them, clutching the chopsticks.
Having lived with Jiang Wang for a long time, she wasn't as introverted and shy as she had been at first.
She took a bite from the left, then a bite from the right. As she ate, she would occasionally lean down toward the bowl to take a blissful sip of the mutton soup. Two shallow dimples appeared on her cheeks, looking extremely satisfied.
Cai’s Mutton Shop wasn't cheap; if it were Jiang Wang alone, he might not have been willing to come here to eat.
In the Xiaolin Town mission, although Wei Yan had taken the fall himself, he had still fulfilled his promise to secure a reward of twenty Dao Merits for each of them, along with some silver subsidies. For a cultivator, this was the least important part. But for Jiang An'an, being able to eat something delicious was very important.
"Do you like it?" Jiang Wang asked with a smile.
"Mm... yeah!" Little An'an nodded vigorously.
"From now on, every month..." Jiang Wang silently calculated his savings, "No, every ten days, we can come here to eat, okay?"
Jiang An'an continued to nod.
She chatted with her brother intermittently—mostly replacing answers with nods or shakes of her head—while her little hands were never idle. As she nodded, she grabbed another piece of mutton, rolled it carefully in the dipping sauce, and then stuffed the whole thing into her mouth.
"An'an, how are your studies lately?" It seemed that when chatting with children, all adults eventually landed on this topic. Jiang Wang considered himself an adult, so he said it quite naturally. Even though he was only a seventeen-year-old boy himself.
Jiang An'an paused in her eating, her little mouth bulging, and it took a great effort for her to squeeze out, "It’s, it’s okay."
Jiang Wang nodded with satisfaction.
He looked at his sister, feeling a slow-flowing, happy peace in his heart. The hardships of the battles, the sadness of seeing his fellow disciples die or get injured, the powerlessness of failing to prevent what happened... they all seemed to fade away.
Some things were certainly very sad, but right here, the life right in front of him, how happy it was.
It made one want to hold onto it forever.
...
Walking through the Wang clan grounds, greeting the clansmen who hailed him from time to time, Wang Changxiang was calm and serene, just as he was at any other time. Even the most critical clansman couldn't find a single fault in him.
The three major clans of Fenglin City—the Zhang, Fang, and Wang—were roughly equal in strength, making it hard to distinguish who was superior. But because Zhang Linchuan was currently ranked third on the Dao Merit Board, the Zhang clan had subtly surpassed the others. Wang Changxiang of the Wang clan was seventh on the Dao Merit Board, so he didn't lag far behind.
Only the Fang clan was different; their genius from the previous generation had died in a trial, and their most outstanding talent of this generation, Fang Pengju, had been killed. Now, only Fang Heling remained, who had barely managed to squeeze into the inner sect thanks to an Essence-Opening Pill bought with heavy gold. But in the eyes of those who could see, the Fang clan had already been left behind by the other two.
Setting these matters aside, Wang Changxiang had never been willing to get involved in worldly affairs. Although his wisdom was enough to see through the dirty greed behind those enthusiastic faces, he always remained light and detached.
The path he walked became increasingly remote.
He finally stopped in front of a semi-old small courtyard. This was a secluded corner of the Wang clan grounds, with almost no one living nearby; the owner of the courtyard was like a lonely bird separated from its flock.
Wang Changxiang reached out to push the door, and the wooden door let out a harsh, creaking sound, disturbing the tranquility of the courtyard.
Unlike the mottled and semi-old exterior walls, the courtyard was unexpectedly neat and exquisite. On the left, a grapevine had been set up, and beneath the trellis was a recliner that had been polished smooth. There was no one on the recliner, but a fat orange cat was lying there.
It wasn't startled by the arrival of a person; it only half-opened its sleepy eyes and glanced over listlessly.
"Little Orange," Wang Changxiang greeted it.
The fat orange cat turned its head away, closed its eyes again, and actually looked disdainful.
Wang Changxiang wasn't annoyed and continued walking forward. To the front right, there was a large water vat with lotus leaves floating in it. Bubbles could be seen from time to time; there were likely fish inside.
At this moment, his footsteps stopped because he smelled the aroma of food.
Almost at the same time, the Little Orange on the recliner quickly stood up and looked back, its movements fluid and seamless.
In front of the main hall, under the eaves, a low table was set up. A young man was just walking out from behind the door, and the fragrance came from the food tray he was holding.
His face couldn't be called handsome, nor could it be called ugly; it just gave people an inexplicable feeling of "distance." It was probably because of those overly indifferent eyes.
The aloof young man half-squatted down and placed the food from the tray onto the low table one by one. There were two bowls of snow-white, plump rice, two dishes of vibrant green vegetables, and two dishes of tenderly stewed pig trotters.
The man sat down on the threshold, pulled out his chopsticks, tapped the table with the ends of them, and said, "Eat."
Wang Changxiang didn't move, because he knew that wasn't directed at him, even though he desperately wanted to walk over and share this meal.
With a "whoosh," the orange cat darted to the low table at a speed that didn't match its physique. It first lowered its head to sniff at the dish of pig trotters, and only then, seemingly satisfied, did it rest its front paws on the low table and begin to eat.
Wang Changxiang opened his mouth: "Brother."
Perhaps only a few people remembered. The pride of the Wang clan today, Wang Changxiang, had an older brother.
In fact, he was the eldest son of the Wang clan's direct line, the most legitimate heir to the position of clan head according to patriarchal law.
But as it happened, he was also a useless person who had wasted a precious Essence-Opening Pill without being able to manifest a Dao Pulse. He caused the Wang clan to suffer ridicule and to be a head lower than the other two families for no reason.
The shame of the Wang clan, Wang Changji.