77: Chapter 77 is only temporary.

Before Han Qingshan's palm could reach his chest, Mo Xiaochuan had already released his wrist and brought his own palm up to meet it.

Bang!

The two palms collided.

Han Qingshan only felt a surge of force rush up his arm into his body, and his right arm instantly went numb.

He retreated a dozen steps in succession, cracking several stone slabs under his feet, and finally stopped only after crashing into a broken stone pillar.

Mo Xiaochuan was still standing before the mountain gate, not having moved even half a step.

Han Qingshan looked down at his right hand.

His five fingers were still trembling, and he could no longer feel any pain in his palm.

He knew that Mo Xiaochuan had held back just now.

Otherwise, with that palm strike, it wouldn't just have been his arm that broke.

Seeing Han Qingshan beaten back, three Xuanyang Sect Disciples walked forward simultaneously, two of them already gripping the long swords at their waists.

"Don't move!"

Han Qingshan shouted.

The three of them stopped.

One of them still wanted to speak, but was glared back by Han Qingshan.

Han Qingshan shook his numb arm and walked up to the mountain gate once again.

This time, he did not continue to force his way inside.

"You are already a Golden Core Cultivator?"

Mo Xiaochuan did not answer.

Han Qingshan did not ask again either.

That palm strike just now had made him understand the gap between the two of them.

"I am no match for you."

Han Qingshan said,

"But just because I lost to you today doesn't mean that what the Xuanyang Sect left behind now belongs to the Mo family."

"Winning or losing has nothing to do with who these places belong to."

Mo Xiaochuan said,

"The Qingmu Sect has already handed this place over to the Mo family to manage. If you are not convinced, go find the Qingmu Sect."

"I will go."

"That is your business."

Mo Xiaochuan continued,

"You didn't force your way in last night, nor did you harm the Mo family's people, which is why I didn't use a heavy hand just now."

"If there is a next time, it won't be as simple as just retreating a few steps."

Han Qingshan did not refute.

With so many people up and down the Baihe Sect, not a single one survived in the end.

Mo Xiaochuan's words were not meant to scare him.

The Disciple who had been gripping his sword earlier couldn't help saying,

"Senior Brother Han, is it possible that we can't even go inside to pay respects to the Sect Master and our dead fellow Disciples?"

Han Qingshan didn't let him continue speaking, instead asking Mo Xiaochuan,

"We won't enter the mountain gate; we will only pay our respects outside. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes."

Mo Xiaochuan agreed very readily.

Han Qingshan had made the first move, but he hadn't harmed the Mo family's people, and he had also stopped the three people behind him in time just now.

As long as they didn't enter the mountain gate, Mo Xiaochuan had no reason to block even their memorial rites.

A Xuanyang Sect Disciple took out incense candles, joss paper, and a small jar of wine from his bundle.

The few of them found a flat spot outside the mountain gate, arranged the items, and then placed the joss paper into the fire one by one.

The fire quickly blazed up.

Han Qingshan led the three of them to kneel before the damaged mountain gate.

Mo Xiaochuan did not go over, instead leading that Mo family Disciple to stand below the stone steps.

Han Qingshan looked at the collapsed buildings inside the mountain gate.

A month ago, when he left the Xuanyang Sect to head toward Qingshi Town, this place was still one of the largest Sects within a radius of hundreds of miles.

At that time, Master was still around.

Every day Disciples entered and exited the mountain gate, and the sound of sword practice could be heard outside the main hall.

But now, the courtyard walls had collapsed, the ancestral tablets of the Ancestral Master had been burned, and the Disciples within the Sect had either died or scattered.

Only the four of them were left kneeling outside.

Han Qingshan picked up the wine jar and poured some onto the ground first.

"Master, this Disciple has returned."

After saying these words, he poured some more wine.

"You told me absolutely not to return, and I listened."

"Yet when I brought them out alive and returned, the Xuanyang Sect was already gone."

Han Qingshan raised his head and took a large gulp of wine.

The eyes of the three Disciples behind him all turned red.

One of the Disciples said in a low voice,

"The Sect Master let us live, not so that the Xuanyang Sect would end in our hands."

Speaking to this point, his voice became somewhat hoarse.

"If it weren't for the Sect Master sending me to Qingshi Town to report the news, I should have died here together with the other fellow senior and junior brothers."

Han Qingshan placed the wine jar on the ground.

"Master sent you to Qingshi Town to report the news precisely because he wanted to leave a few people for the Xuanyang Sect."

"Since we have survived, we cannot let the Xuanyang Sect end in our hands."

The four of them kowtowed three times toward the mountain gate.

After the joss paper burned out, Han Qingshan scooped up the incense ashes from the ground into a small cloth bag and kept it close to his body.

Junior Brother Zhao asked,

"Senior Brother Han, where are we going next?"

"Find a place to settle down first."

Han Qingshan stood up and looked back at Mo Xiaochuan.

"You promised just now to copy a version of the Xuanyang Sect's Cultivation Technique."

"What I said counts."

Mo Xiaochuan said,

"In a few days, send someone to collect it."

"Good."

Han Qingshan did not mention the mountain gate, Spiritual Vein, or herb garden again, and left along the mountain path with the three Disciples.

That Mo family Disciple waited until they had walked far away before asking,

"Brother Xiaochuan, we're just letting them leave like this?"

"Otherwise what?"

Mo Xiaochuan said,

"They didn't harm the Mo family's people, nor did they touch the things inside the mountain gate. I can't just kill all four of them simply because they want to take back the Xuanyang Sect's belongings."

"But they will come back in the future."

"Let them come back."

Mo Xiaochuan said,

"As long as the Qingmu Sect entrusts this place to the Mo family for a day, the Mo family will guard it for a day. If they want to snatch it back by force, they must first get past me."

That Mo family Disciple acknowledged.

Mo Xiaochuan further instructed,

"Transfer two more people over from the village to take turns guarding with you. If these people come again, send someone back to the village to report first, and don't fight them on your own."

"I've noted it."

Mo Xiaochuan turned around and looked inside the mountain gate.

Since the four of Han Qingshan could return alive, perhaps there were other Xuanyang Sect Disciples who had escaped outside.

The mountain gate had a Spiritual Vein, an herb garden, and several storehouses. Sending only a few ordinary clansmen to guard it meant that when Cultivators came to rob it, they could do nothing except run back to the village to report.

The places managed by the Mo family were becoming more and more numerous, yet there were hardly any Cultivators they could send out.

It seemed that besides Nannan and Xiao Niuzi, the other people who Cultivate needed to grow up as quickly as possible.

After the four of them had walked a certain distance, the Disciple who had gripped his sword earlier finally couldn't help asking,

"Senior Brother Han, are we really just leaving like this?"

"What else can we do if we don't leave?"

Han Qingshan asked,

"Do you think the four of us can beat him?"

That Disciple did not speak.

Junior Brother Zhao said,

"But this is the Xuanyang Sect's mountain gate. The Spiritual Vein, the herb garden, and the Sect's assets over the years—are we really going to hand them all over to the Mo family?"

Han Qingshan did not stop his steps.

"With just the four of us, we can't take back anything right now."

"Then we'll go to the Qingmu Sect."

"The Qingmu Sect won't hand these places back just because we say a few words."

Han Qingshan said,

"Settle down first, and then find out how many fellow Disciples are still alive."

"Only when people are found will there be a possibility of rebuilding the Xuanyang Sect."

Another Disciple who had been silent all along asked,

"Then what about the mountain gate?"

Han Qingshan looked back.

The mountain ridges blocked his line of sight, and the old Xuanyang Sect mountain gate could no longer be seen.

"The Qingmu Sect is only temporarily handing those places over to the Mo family to manage."

"Temporarily means it is not forever."