"Curse that treacherous dog!"
Wei Quji's face was so gloomy it seemed to drip with water.
Right under his nose, the unknown enemy had used the lives of Xiaolin Town as sacrifices and consumed the restless spirits of the entire Fenglin City area, which should have been at peace, to condense the shadow of the Ghost Gate. And in the end, they had calmly slipped away right in front of him.
And he, Wei Quji, a distinguished fifth-rank master, had rushed here with all his might, only to be left with nothing!
As the city lord, he had failed in his duty. As a strong warrior, he had been humiliated.
When had he ever suffered such an indignity?
So...
"Useless!"
Wei Quji swung his hand back and slapped Wei Yan, sending him flying several meters away!
Among the dozens of people present, not a single one dared to make a sound. Although almost everyone harbored resentment.
Even Wei Yan himself only silently got up without a word.
He certainly had ample reasons to defend himself and ample reasons to be angry. Before the fog, he had charged forward. Facing the Nine Palaces Array, he had taken the lead in breaking it. Upon seeing the Ghost Gate, he had risked everything to burn the only red signal he had on him in the first place.
It could be said that from any perspective, he had done the best he could at this stage, beyond reproach.
But success is success, and failure is failure. The military does not concern itself with excuses.
Wei Quji had granted him the authority to organize manpower from the Daoist Academy to investigate Xiaolin Town, yet he had failed to prevent the incident. That was dereliction of duty.
Wei Quji could have killed him on the spot.
But what would that achieve?
Wei Quji came in a rage and left in a huff.
The young people, some carrying the wounded, some supporting each other, and some, carrying the dead, dispersed in this manner.
These young disciples of the Daoist Academy had just gone through a battle with heavy casualties,
a battle that was extremely difficult but ultimately proven to be utterly futile.
From beginning to end, they did not even know who their opponent was, yet the opponent had accomplished their goal and left triumphantly.
They were called——useless.
...
"Damn it... I just can't accept this."
Du Yehu lay sprawled on his dormitory bed like a fallen iron tower.
He didn't have any serious injuries, and the foundation he had lost had already been replenished by the Gu Yuan Dan sent by Zhao Rucheng. He just needed some time to rest and recover.
The Gu Yuan Dan was indeed a precious item, but there was nothing unacceptable about it. Du Yehu needed it, and Zhao Rucheng had 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 in Xiaolin Town, to be realistic, was a blow to every Daoist Academy disciple involved. For anyone who aspired to be extraordinary and yearned for strength, helplessness was probably the worst thing.
Perhaps Zhao Rucheng was the exception. He had already gone to the Sanfen Xianglou to "recover from his injuries," supposedly trying to win the heart of a beauty in a state of having narrowly escaped death.
Du Yehu was not the type to lie still, but at this moment, he had no choice but to lie down. He wanted to drink, but no one would indulge him. Thus, unusually, he felt somewhat melancholic.
Ling He did not speak; he was meditating with his eyes closed.
As for Jiang Wang... at this moment, he was having a meal, with Jiang An'an.
Cai's Mutton Shop, a century-old brand.
Two bowls of richly fragrant mutton soup, ten pounds of neatly sliced white-cut mutton.
Jiang An'an held a steamed bun in her left hand and chopsticks in her right... the chopsticks holding a piece of mutton. The reason for using the word "hold" was because her chopstick-holding posture was indeed different—probably because no one had corrected her before—she just wrapped her five fingers around the chopsticks.
Having lived with Jiang Wang for a long time, she was no longer as introverted and shy as before.
She took a bite on the left and a bite on the right. As she ate, she would occasionally lower her head and take a sip of the meat soup. Two dimples faintly appeared on her face, showing great satisfaction.
Cai's Mutton Shop was not cheap. If it were up to Jiang Wang himself, he might not have been willing to eat here.
In the Xiaolin Town mission, although Wei Yan himself had a setback, he still fulfilled the agreement and secured a reward of twenty Merit Points for each of them, along with some silver as compensation. For cultivators, this was the least important. But for Jiang An'an, being able to eat delicious food was very important.
"Do you like it?" Jiang Wang asked with a smile.
"Mmm... Yes!" Little An'an nodded vigorously.
"From now on, we can... " Jiang Wang silently calculated his savings, "No, every ten days we can come here once, okay?"
Jiang An'an continued to nod.
She chatted with her brother intermittently—mostly answering with nods or shakes of her head, while her little hands were busy. As she nodded, she picked up another piece of mutton, carefully rolled it in the dipping sauce, and then took a full bite.
"An'an, how's your schoolwork recently?" When chatting with children, all adults eventually bring up this topic. Jiang Wang felt like an adult, so he spoke naturally. Although he was only a seventeen-year-old boy.
Jiang An'an paused in her eating, her mouth puffed up, and with some effort, she managed to say, "It's, it's okay."
Jiang Wang nodded with satisfaction.
He looked at his sister, feeling a slow-flowing, happy peace inside. The hardships of battle, the sorrow of seeing fellow disciples die or get injured, the helplessness of not being able to prevent what happened... all seemed to fade away.
Of course, some things were very sad, but right now, the present life was so happy.
It made one want to hold onto it forever.
...
Walking through the Wang family's territory, greeting the clansmen who greeted him, Wang Changxiang was composed and serene, just like any other time. Even the most critical clansman could not find a single fault with him.
The three major clans of Fenglin City, Zhang, Fang, and Wang, were all quite evenly matched in strength and influence, making it difficult to determine a clear hierarchy. However, since Zhang Linchuan currently held the third place on the Merit List, the Zhang family had subtly surpassed the others. Wang Changxiang, ranked seventh on the Merit List, was not far behind.
The only exception was the Fang family. Their genius from the previous generation had died in a trial, and their most outstanding member this generation, Fang Pengju, had been killed. Now only Fang He Ling remained, having barely entered the Inner Circle with a costly Meridian-Opening Pill. In the eyes of the discerning, the Fang family had already been left behind by the other two.
Leaving these matters aside, Wang Changxiang had never been interested in getting involved in trivial affairs. Although his wisdom was sufficient to see through the dirty greed behind the enthusiastic facades, he always remained indifferent.
The path grew increasingly secluded.
He finally stopped in front of a half-old courtyard, a remote corner of the Wang family's territory where hardly anyone lived nearby. The owner of the courtyard seemed like a solitary bird, isolated from the flock.
Wang Changxiang reached out and pushed the door open, the wooden door creaking loudly and disturbing the tranquility of the courtyard.
Unlike the mottled and half-old exterior walls, the courtyard was unexpectedly tidy and exquisite. On the left side, a grapevine was set up, with a high trellis. On the trellis was a lounge chair that had been smoothed by frequent use. No one was lying on the lounge chair, but there was a plump orange cat.
It did not startle at the arrival of a person, only half-opening its sleepy eyes and giving a languid glance.
"Little Orange," Wang Changxiang greeted.
The fat orange cat turned its head away, closed its eyes again, and actually ignored him.
Wang Changxiang was not annoyed and continued to walk forward. To the right front was a large water vat, with lotus leaves floating inside. Bubbles could occasionally be seen, indicating that there were fish inside.
At this moment, his steps stopped because he smelled the aroma of food.
Almost simultaneously, Little Orange on the lounge chair swiftly turned around.
In front of the main hall, under the eaves, a low table was set. At this moment, a young man was walking out from behind the door, and the fragrance came from the food tray he was holding.
His face could not be described as handsome, nor could it be called ugly. It just inexplicably gave people a sense of "distance." Perhaps it was because of his overly indifferent eyes.
The aloof young man squatted halfway down and placed the dishes from the food tray one by one on the low table. There were two bowls of snowy white and plump rice, two plates of emerald green vegetables, and two plates of stewed, tender pig's trotters.
The man sat down on the threshold, took out his chopsticks, and tapped the table with the ends of the chopsticks, saying, "Let's eat."
Wang Changxiang did not move because he knew it was not an invitation for him, even though he really wanted to go over and share this meal.
With a "whoosh," the orange cat leaped to the low table at a speed that did not match its size. It first lowered its head and sniffed the plate of pig's trotters, then seemed somewhat satisfied. It placed its front paws on the table and began to eat.
Wang Changxiang opened his mouth and said, "Brother."
Perhaps only a few people still remembered that the current pride of the Wang family, Wang Changxiang, had an elder brother.
In fact, he was the legitimate eldest son of the Wang family's main line, the most reasonable heir to the position of clan leader according to clan law.
But unfortunately, he was also the good-for-nothing who had wasted a precious Meridian-Opening Pill and failed to manifest a Dao meridian. This brought great shame to the Wang family and caused them to lose face in front of the other two families.
The disgrace of the Wang family, Wang Changji.