49: Chapter 49 Where is Lin Shuang?

[A dead silence fell before the mountain gate.]

[Then, like water splashing into a pan of hot oil, the Disciples of the Cangyun Sect completely erupted.]

["Eldest Senior Sister is the Black Tiger Gang leader's concubine?!"]

["No wonder she never let any men get close to her..."]

["Is... is this true or false?"]

["No wonder the Black Tiger Gang targeted our Cangyun Sect first!"]

[In the crowd, Senior Brother Gu Changfeng's face instantly turned pale.]

[Standing in the crowd, he clenched his fists until his knuckles popped. His lips trembled, but he couldn't say a word.]

[She rejected me... because of him?]

[This thought was like a needle, stabbing deeply into his chest.]

["Bullshit."]

[Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan took a step forward. His voice wasn't loud, but all the whispering within the hall vanished instantly.]

[He looked at Wei Feisen, his eyes cold as ice.]

["Senior Sister Lin Shuang is my, Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan's, closed-door Disciple. When did she become your concubine? How come I didn't know?"]

[Wei Feisen turned his head slightly to look at Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan.]

[His tone remained polite, but beneath the politeness was a patronizing composure. "This is a private matter between her and me, and has nothing to do with the Cangyun Sect. You, Senior, only need to hand her over. I will handle the rest myself."]

[Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan shook his head.]

["Once someone enters the gates of my Cangyun Sect, they belong to my Cangyun Sect."]

[His smile vanished.]

["I, Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan, have only taken in a few Disciples in my lifetime. Anyone who wants to take her away must first ask the sword in my hand if it agrees."]

[Looking at Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan's back, the Disciples inside the mountain gate felt a sudden warmth rise up their spines.]

[Wei Feisen stared at him for a few breaths, then suddenly smiled.]

["Fine."]

[He turned around, walked to a sandalwood chair his subordinates had prepared behind him, and sat down. Someone handed him a teacup. He took it, unhurriedly lifted the lid, and blew away the floating foam.]

[He took a sip.]

[Then he raised his eyes.]

["Let it be so, then."]

[His voice was still very soft, so soft that it sounded as if he were speaking of an insignificant trifle.]

["I am not a very patient person. I will give you the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."]

[A black-armored guard behind him stepped forward, took out an incense stick as thick as an arm, inserted it into a crack in the stone steps, and lit it.]

[Wisps of blue smoke began to rise.]

["Once the incense stick burns down—if the Cultivation Technique, secret scriptures, or the person is missing..."]

[Holding his teacup, Wei Feisen's gaze swept indifferently over the plaque above the Cangyun Sect's mountain gate that bore the words 'Cangyun'.]

["This plaque won't need to hang here anymore, and you... won't need to remain alive either..."]

[The time of an incense stick.]

[Inside the mountain gate, hundreds of Cangyun Sect Disciples stood in the cold wind. No one spoke; there was only the faint crackling of the burning incense.]

[Then, someone couldn't bear it anymore.]

["Let's fight!" An Outer Sect Disciple suddenly drew his saber, his face flushed red. "I've practiced the saber for twelve years! Even if I die here today, I will still be a ghost of the Cangyun Sect!"]

["Yes! Let's fight! At worst, it's just a life!"]

["Long live the Cangyun Sect! Long live the Cangyun Sect!"]

[Dozens of young Disciples shouted in unison, their voices filled with a reckless, hot-blooded courage.]

[But even more people did not join in.]

[An Inner Sect Disciple standing in the middle of the crowd spoke in a low, trembling voice, "You... look at who is standing opposite us. Two Late Stage Great Grandmasters, four Early Stage Great Grandmasters, twelve Grandmasters... and that Black-robed man..."]

["Then what do you suggest we do? Hand over the Cultivation Techniques? The Cultivation Technique you practice was passed down by our Ancestral Master. Are you just going to hand it over like this?"]

["Of course I don't want to hand them over! But if we don't, our sect will be wiped out! Look at those Schools that promised to support us—not a single shadow of them is in sight!"]

["If everyone is dead, who will carry on the Legacy?!" another Disciple retorted, his voice trembling. "It's easy for you to just die, but what about your Master? What about your Junior Brother? There are still over thirty children under the age of ten on the mountain. Are you going to make them die with us?"]

["You..."]

["Enough!"]

[East Peak Leader Zhao Heng slammed his palm onto a stone pillar. Cracks spiderwebbed from his palm, and everyone shut their mouths.]

[But the silence only lasted for three breaths.]

[Head of South Peak Li Ruoxu was the first to speak, his voice heavy. "Sect Head, the reinforcements from the various Schools... not a single one has arrived."]

[No one responded. This was a fact everyone knew, but no one wanted to be the first to say aloud.]

[North Peak Supreme Elder Sun Minghai sneered, "They are all waiting. Waiting for the Cangyun Sect to be the first to hand over our Cultivation Techniques, waiting for us to bear the infamy of being 'traitors'. Once we hand them over, those other Schools can do the same and simply say, 'Even the Cangyun Sect handed them over, what else could we do?' It's logical and keeps their hands clean."]

[East Peak Leader Zhao Heng's face was livid. "So we are the scapegoats pushed to the front?"]

["Not scapegoats," Head of South Peak Li Ruoxu shook his head. "We are pathfinders."]

["The Black Tiger Gang is backed by an Earthly Immortal." He paused, as if confirming that his next words were correct. "Everyone, do you know how massive the gap is between an Earthly Immortal and a Great Grandmaster?"]

[Silence fell within the hall.]

[Head of South Peak Li Ruoxu continued, speaking very slowly, each word sounding as if he were chewing sand. "An Earthly Immortal can draw upon the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi for their own use. No matter how profound a Great Grandmaster's True Qi is, it is ultimately just that single breath within their own Dantian; once used up, it is gone. But an Earthly Immortal is different—heaven and earth is their Dantian, and their True Essence is nearly infinite. A single palm strike, wrapped in the power of heaven and earth, will shatter the internal organs of even a Peak Great Grandmaster who tries to take it head-on. Within ten strikes, they will undoubtedly die."]

[East Peak Leader Zhao Heng's fists clenched and unclenched, then clenched again.]

["So, what you mean is, we hand them over?"]

[Head of South Peak Li Ruoxu did not answer.]

[North Peak Supreme Elder Sun Minghai sighed, "If we don't, not a single one of the hundreds of people in our sect will survive today. If we do... at least the people will remain. As long as the people are here, the Cangyun Sect remains."]

["The people remain?" East Peak Leader Zhao Heng sneered. "A Cangyun Sect without its Cultivation Technique and Legacy—how is it any different from a piece of rotten wood with the word 'Cangyun' written on it?"]

[The two stared at each other, neither able to convince the other.]

[Sect Leader Qin Tianxing stood at the very front, never turning around.]

[He listened to the arguments of the Elders behind him, the crying of the Disciples, and the sound of the burning incense stick in the distance.]

[He suddenly felt very old.]

[Not old in body, but old in heart.]

["Forget it."]

[He finally spoke, his voice sounding as if it were squeezed from the deepest depths of his chest.]

["Go... bring all the Cultivation Techniques here."]

[East Peak Leader Zhao Heng abruptly raised his head. "Sect Head!"]

["I have the final say," Sect Leader Qin Tianxing interrupted him. "If anything goes wrong, I, Sect Leader Qin Tianxing, will bear it alone. A hundred years from now, if the ancestors of the Cangyun Sect want to blame someone, let them blame me alone."]

[East Peak Leader Zhao Heng opened his mouth but found himself speechless.]

[Sect Leader Qin Tianxing turned around, his gaze searching through the crowd, and suddenly frowned.]

["Where is Senior Sister Lin Shuang?"]

[He looked at Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan.]

["Why don't I see her?"]

[Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan leaned against a stone pillar. The teacup in his hand had emptied at some point; he set the cup down and said indifferently, "Senior Sister Lin Shuang is at the critical juncture of breaking through to Great Grandmaster, so it is inconvenient for her to come out."]

[Sect Leader Qin Tianxing remained silent for a few breaths, and then said something that no one expected.]

["Call her here."]