Chapter 30: A Worthy Death

Inside Shandu Mountain, within a grand hall that showed only minor signs of damage, Fang Qingyuan was speaking with two Wei Family Cultivators.

One of them, an older Cultivator, asked Fang Qingyuan,

"You’re saying that when Wei Luo saw how dire the situation was, he flew off the hump-backed ray to engage Swentai, hoping to tie him down?"

Fang Qingyuan nodded.

"That’s right. Brother Wei Luo was noble and understood the greater good. He disregarded his own safety, intent only on pinning down Swentai until your Patriarch arrived. Such loyalty is truly moving, a story for the ages. He died a worthy death!"

The older Wei Family Cultivator remained noncommittal at these words, but the younger one beside him spoke up.

"How is it that on a beast ship, only a Cultivator from our Wei Family died at Swentai’s hands, while you and the She Family disciples escaped without a single casualty?"

Hearing this, Fang Qingyuan’s expression hardened as he addressed the younger Wei Family Cultivator.

"What are you implying? I am a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect. Are you suggesting I colluded with the She Family to set Wei Luo up?"

At this, the younger Wei Family Cultivator’s face stiffened, and he was at a loss for words. The older Cultivator beside him quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Fellow Daoist Fang, please forgive him. Wei Luo was one of our Wei Family’s Cultivators, and a high-ranking disciple at the Late-stage of Qi Refining. Now that he’s dead, we must get to the bottom of it."

Fang Qingyuan snorted, then said irritably,

"Wei Luo died under Swentai’s sword light. Many of us saw it with our own eyes. If you still don’t believe it, then have your Patriarch perform a Soul Search on me. A quick search will make everything crystal clear."

Fang Qingyuan had barely finished speaking when the younger Wei Family Cultivator shouted,

"You think we don’t dare?"

But the older Cultivator shot him a glare and rebuked him angrily.

"What are you talking about? Fellow Daoist Fang is a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect! You will not be insolent here. Get out."

After the young Cultivator stormed out, the older one chuckled.

"The young ones can be so thoughtless. I only wanted him to gain some experience, but I didn’t expect him to make such a scene. My apologies, my apologies."

Fang Qingyuan sneered inwardly. ’What a classic routine. Good cop, bad cop. I’ve seen this a million times in my past life.’

"So, about that Soul Search...?"

"Fellow Daoist Fang, you must be joking. How could we possibly do that? The Wei Family is indebted to you for this matter. How could we perform a Soul Search?"

"Then the cause of Wei Luo’s death?"

"It was definitely that bastard Swentai who killed Wei Luo. The matter is beyond dispute."

"Since the facts are clear, is there anything else you need from me?"

"Nothing at all. This was just a formality. Fellow Daoist Fang, you are free to go."

After Fang Qingyuan left the hall, the Wei Family Cultivator watched his retreating back and let out a soft sigh.

.....

Staring at the bright sunlight outside the hall, Fang Qingyuan felt his mood lift considerably.

Three days ago, Fang Qingyuan had been frantically fleeing on the hump-backed ray when Wei Tong finally arrived. When Swentai saw his true target, he abandoned Fang Qingyuan’s group and attacked Wei Tong directly.

However, not everyone was a Huo Hu. Besides, Wei Tong wasn’t alone; the Spiritual Flood Dragon beneath his feet was also at the Golden Core Stage.

This meant that Swentai, with his Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, had tried to take on two Golden Core Great Cultivators. How could he possibly have won?

Even though Swentai ultimately detonated himself and managed to inflict a minor injury on Wei Tong, that was the extent of it.

’Three whole days have passed, and the Wei Family is only now asking about the cause of Wei Luo’s death? Isn’t that a little late?’

As for the Soul Search, Fang Qingyuan had only brought it up to put the Wei Family Cultivators in a difficult position. If Wei Tong actually tried to perform a Soul Search on him, Lechuan would be the first to object.

As the head of the villa, if one of his disciples was subjected to a Soul Search by the Wei Family, where would his honor be?

Therefore, to save face, Lechuan would never allow Wei Tong to search Fang Qingyuan’s soul.

In truth, this matter wasn’t even important enough for Wei Tong to personally intervene. A Late-stage Qi Refining disciple was valuable, but he wasn’t at the Foundation Establishment stage. What’s more, the man was already dead, which made him even less valuable.

Besides Wei Luo’s descendants, who else would bother looking into this?

Furthermore, the fatal wound on Wei Luo’s body was clearly inflicted by Swentai. That point was indisputable.

Fang Qingyuan had framed Wei Luo’s death in a heroic light, making it more valuable. The Wei Family would be sure to compensate Wei Luo’s descendants handsomely.

In this whole affair, Wei Luo’s descendants received compensation from Wei Tong, Wei Luo received honor, and Fang Qingyuan and the She Family survived. Wasn’t it a happy ending for everyone?

Even if Wei Tong was determined to uncover the truth, the blame would fall on the actions of She Xi Yu, the She Family Patriarch. At most, Fang Qingyuan was guilty of concealment.

’And if you think you can convict me on that alone, who does the Wei Family think it is?’

With this in mind, Fang Qingyuan went to the Beast Cages to retrieve his hump-backed ray and flew out of Shandu Mountain.

The disciples of Tianshan Villa had been settled on a mountain peak. Although the Wei Family had conquered Shandu, it would take them at least a year or two to truly secure the territory and stabilize the situation.

Sometimes, governing is far more difficult than simple conquest.

Upon entering the main hall on the mountain, Fang Qingyuan saw four coffins arranged inside and couldn’t help but sigh. So little time had passed, and yet another group from Tianshan Villa was gone.

Originally, only two disciples had died during the assault on the mountain. But after the encounter with Swentai, two more coffins had been added.

Looking at Wang Lu in his coffin, his already fair complexion now even more deathly pale, Fang Qingyuan thought to himself, ’Wang Lu probably never imagined, even in death, that he could lose his life on a simple transport mission.’

Wang Lu’s luck had been terrible. His hump-backed ray team was the largest of the three, making it the primary target for Swentai’s sneak attack.

A flash of sword light, and both Wang Lu and his hump-backed ray were sliced in two. He never had time to react, so he probably didn’t feel much pain.

Inside the great hall, the villa’s disciples wore mixed expressions. Some were grief-stricken, while others were excited.

The grief-stricken ones likely had friends in those four coffins. The excited ones were excited because they’d struck it rich.

Despite not personally fighting in the battle for the mountain, Fang Qingyuan had still acquired four storage bags. Not even considering their contents, the bags themselves were worth three to four hundred Spirit Stones.

Moreover, he had been credited for his role in obstructing and tying down Swentai, and there was still a reward for that to come.

The battle had been perilous, but the rewards were plentiful. The spoils from this one fight were enough to support Fang Qingyuan for ten years.

However, Fang Qingyuan felt no gratitude for it. He would rather have forgone this windfall than ever again be trapped under Swentai’s sword light.

’I was lucky this time and ran into a She Family that had a trump card up their sleeve. But what about next time? And the time after that?’

One bout of bad luck was all it would take for his path of cultivation to be severed. Given his personality, how could he possibly enjoy this kind of life, licking blood from the blade’s edge?

’I’ve got to be more cautious from now on. Whoever wants these kinds of missions can have them. I’m going back to raising my turtle.’

Just as Fang Qingyuan was contemplating his future course of action, a series of greetings interrupted his thoughts. He turned to see that Lechuan had returned.