"How come I didn’t know about this?"

Zhou Qingmei was taken aback.

If everything in Zhuji Pavilion was handed over to Li Nanchen, it would be all too convenient for him to coordinate with outside forces.

She could already imagine it: once Li Nanchen was in power, the Black Death Sect would launch a full-scale assault on Zhuji Pavilion.

Caught unprepared by a premeditated attack, Zhuji Pavilion would surely suffer a devastating blow.

Most importantly, the Profound Secret Cave in the back mountains was almost completely isolated from the main entrance hall.

All one had to do was replace the guards at the Profound Secret Cave with men from the Black Death Sect and intercept any disciple who tried to report. Those in seclusion would never know what was happening outside.

Lu Xiaoqing said helplessly:

"Initially, this was just the Pavilion Master’s idea. He didn’t discuss it with the Elders or the other senior members of the sect.

"The decision was finalized a month ago. You had already left the mountain by then, so of course you wouldn’t know."

"When are the Zhuji Pavilion Master and the others entering this so-called Profound Secret Cave?"

Fang Shuwen asked.

Lu Xiaoqing’s expression turned grim.

"Chen Hour!"

It was already Yin Hour, leaving less than four hours until Chen Hour.

Jiuning Mountain was already in sight, but as the saying goes, mountains in the distance can wear out a horse. At their current speed, it would likely take them more than six hours to arrive.

Zhou Qingmei subconsciously looked at Fang Shuwen again. He said:

"Even though we’re too late, there’s no sense in turning back now that we’re here.

"Take your senior sister. We head for Zhuji Pavilion at once."

Zhou Qingmei cupped her fists and said:

"In that case, I’ll have to trouble Brother Fang to carry my senior sister the rest of the way."

Lu Xiaoqing frowned slightly.

"I’m afraid it’s already too late. Qingmei, you can’t fight the tide. You should take this young brother and leave Jiuning Mountain. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"The world is vast, the Jianghu is full of opportunities. Wait until your Martial Arts have improved... OOF!"

Before she could finish, Fang Shuwen had slung her onto his back.

Then, with practiced ease, he grabbed Zhou Qingmei’s hand.

"Let’s go."

Zhou Qingmei tapped her feet on the ground and, using her Lightweight Technique to carry all three of them, abruptly soared into the air and sped toward Zhuji Pavilion.

Lu Xiaoqing, who had been about to say more, was completely dumbfounded.

’When did Zhou Qingmei’s Lightweight Technique become so profound?’

’No, wait... isn’t this Zhuji Pavilion’s signature Lightweight Technique? But how can it be so incredible when Zhou Qingmei uses it?’

But she soon realized it wasn’t Zhou Qingmei’s Lightweight Technique that was so impressive.

Rather, she was borrowing Fang Shuwen’s Inner Strength.

’But the problem is, Fang Shuwen just used his power to heal my injuries. Shouldn’t he be completely drained?’

’How does he still have so much energy to spare?’

Lu Xiaoqing was bursting with questions, but at that moment she couldn’t get a single word out.

Being carried on Fang Shuwen’s back, she was jostled about violently. She could only cling tightly to his neck with both hands, not daring to use her legs—her leg was broken, and any pressure caused unbearable pain.

Otherwise, even if it seemed improper, she would have had to wrap both her legs tightly around him to keep from being thrown off.

As time went on, her shock grew.

She could accept that Zhou Qingmei was borrowing Fang Shuwen’s Inner Strength to achieve such astonishing speed with her Lightweight Technique.

What she couldn’t accept was that Fang Shuwen’s Inner Strength seemed absolutely limitless.

Using one’s Inner Strength to help someone else perform a Lightweight Technique consumed far more energy than performing it oneself... but they had been traveling for two full hours, and there wasn’t a single drop of sweat on Fang Shuwen’s forehead.

She suddenly remembered what Fang Shuwen had said earlier—’It didn’t consume much energy’—and how she’d thought at the time that it was just youthful bravado.

’Now it seems he was just telling the truth!’

’This young man’s Inner Strength is unfathomably deep.’

’Where on earth did Junior Sister Zhou find such a monster?’

...

...

Zhuji Pavilion!

In the main hall, Li Nanchen stood at the head of the room, ramrod straight in his black clothes.

His gaze fell upon the assembled disciples of Zhuji Pavilion, some sitting, some standing.

Only two people were seated.

A man and a woman.

The man was in his fifties, with a gaunt face and features so sharply defined they looked as if they were carved by a knife and hewn by an axe.

His hair was a mix of gray and white, and his expression was stern and meticulous.

This was Xu Chongshan, Zhou Qingmei’s martial uncle and Zhang Fang’s master.

It was impossible to guess the age of the woman sitting opposite him.

Her beautiful face bore no trace of the years, though her lazy eyes held the depth and wisdom of time.

This, in turn, gave her an ineffable charm.

This was the master who had taught both Lu Xiaoqing and Zhou Qingmei—Zuo Qingshuang.

At Chen Hour, after seeing the Pavilion Master and several Elders into the Profound Secret Cave, Li Nanchen had gathered this group here on the pretext of discussing important sect matters.

Zuo Qingshuang yawned, the sleepiness in her eyes almost spilling out.

She glanced at Li Nanchen.

"Little Chen, if you have something to say, just say it. After you’re done, your Martial Aunt needs to go back and catch up on her sleep."

Xu Chongshan frowned slightly.

"Junior Sister, you’re a master now. You should watch your words."

"Second Senior Brother, do you know why you’re still a lonely old bachelor at your age?"

"Why is that?"

"You worry too much, which makes you old... and women don’t like that."

Xu Chongshan’s mouth twitched, and he ground out through clenched teeth:

"As if you have men lining up for you!"

"Senior Brother, you should know, it’s not that no one wants this old lady. It’s that this old lady has high standards and won’t settle for any misshapen melons or cracked dates!"

"If you were really all that, would you only be attracting a bunch of misshapen melons and cracked dates?"

The disciples below watched their martial aunt and uncle bicker, each and every one of them staring at the floor as if their life depended on it.

They simply pretended to be blind and deaf, seeing nothing and hearing nothing.

But for many, this was a common sight.

Their martial aunt, martial uncle, and the Pavilion Master had all grown up together. When these martial siblings got along, they were the best of friends; when they argued, their words were truly vicious.

They always went for the jugular.

In the past, sect elders could keep them in line. Later, as their status grew, only the Pavilion Master could rein them in.

Now that the Pavilion Master had gone into seclusion in the Profound Secret Cave to comprehend the Hundred Interpretations Scripture, who knew who could possibly control these two?

Li Nanchen?

The crowd stole glances at Li Nanchen.

They saw that the young acting Pavilion Master showed no signs of annoyance; on the contrary, there was a hint of a smile in his eyes.

Then they heard him give a light cough.

"Martial Uncle, Martial Aunt, please listen to this humble nephew for a moment."

They had to give the acting Pavilion Master some face, so Xu Chongshan and Zuo Qingshuang both fell silent.

They heard Li Nanchen say softly:

"This nephew is young and inexperienced, and by rights, not qualified to be the acting Pavilion Master.

"However, since Master has entrusted me with this great responsibility, this nephew dare not refuse.

"To ensure the stable development of our Zhuji Pavilion, this nephew has invited several Honored Guest Elders, whom I would like to introduce to you all today."