"Your father is missing!"

The elder's hair was flecked with gray, and he looked to be at least seventy years old. He sat cross-legged before a low tea table, his expression grave. The teacup in front of him was bone dry.

Near the tea table, an incense burner wafted curling smoke into the air.

"Elder Liu, what on earth is going on?" The color drained from Qi Li's face. She couldn't comprehend why her father had vanished. How could a Sect Leader just disappear?

"I might not be able to explain why your father is missing, but there is one thing I know with absolute certainty." Elder Liu suddenly raised his head, his voice cold as he spoke to Qi Li. "You and Lu Dongshan killed the son of the Spirit-Taming Sect's Leader in the world below. In retaliation, they've attacked us multiple times. Dozens of our disciples have died or been wounded. Look at the mess you've made! Can't you even tell who to kill and who to spare?"

"It was a conspiracy!" Qi Li frowned deeply. "Other forces want the Spirit-Taming Sect and our Floating Cloud Sect to destroy each other so they can reap the benefits. Senior Brother Lu and I brought back an informant. If you just let him speak, the whole truth will come to light!"

Qi Li clenched her small fists. "And Yan Xiaosong of the Spirit-Taming Sect wasn't killed by Senior Brother Lu and me! They were the ones who killed him!"

"Even if what you say is true, it's meaningless now!" Elder Liu raised a hand. "Your father's disappearance has all but confirmed your guilt. He was afraid the Spirit-Taming Sect would kill him, so he fled, didn't he?"

"Absolutely not!" Qi Li grew agitated, her voice rising. "This is his home! How could he possibly flee? He should have waited for me to return! Elder Liu, tell me the truth. What happened to my father?"

"Qi Li, I watched you grow up. Do you not believe my words?" Elder Liu pointed toward the door. "Someone saw with their own eyes your father sneaking away from the back of the mountain. Before leaving, he even made off with a large amount of the sect's Daoist Vouchers. If that isn't fleeing, what is?"

Daoist Vouchers were, for all intents and purposes, the currency of the mountain world.

"Impossible!" Qi Li shook her head vigorously, refusing to believe that her refined and righteous father would steal from the sect and flee on his own.

This must be another conspiracy!

"My father might be in trouble!"

"I have to go find him!"

Muttering to herself, Qi Li turned to leave. But the moment she stepped over the threshold of Elder Liu's residence, a blade was pressed against her neck.

Qi Li didn't look at the person holding the blade. Instead, she turned her head toward Elder Liu and said slowly, "Are you trying to usurp the position of Sect Leader? Or are you planning to sell out the Floating Cloud Sect?"

Elder Liu gave no reply, simply waving a hand at the person with the blade outside. "Take her away. Lock her up, and don't let her see anyone."

...

"This gentleman is a distinguished guest of our Floating Cloud Sect!"

In the reception hall, Lu Dongshan pointed to Su Xuan and instructed an attendant disciple, "Find the best accommodation for my brother. If there's any neglect, I will hold you personally accountable!"

"Understood, Senior Brother Lu! You can count on me!" The attendant disciple took out a form for Su Xuan to sign and register.

"Brother Su, I won't be able to accompany you to your room," Lu Dongshan said, grabbing his bag. "I have to find Junior Sister Qi Li right away and see what's happened to the sect." While Su Xuan was signing the form, Lu Dongshan hurried out of the reception hall.

"Are you from the world below the mountain?" the attendant disciple asked, sizing up Su Xuan after Lu Dongshan had left.

"Mhm." Su Xuan nodded.

"Your clothes are really cool!" Admiration shone in the disciple's eyes.

"When you get a chance to visit down the mountain, I'll give you a few outfits," Su Xuan said with a smile, still filling out the form.

"Thank you so much!" The attendant disciple's gaze then shifted to the pen in Su Xuan's hand. "That pen of yours looks pretty nice, too!"

"It was a gift," Su Xuan replied, glancing up at the disciple. The sect used calligraphy brushes for registration, which he wasn't used to, so he had simply used his own royal pen.

"You must be a big shot down below, right?" the disciple asked.

"Just an ordinary person." Su Xuan handed the completed form to the disciple.

The disciple looked at the form, then called over two other disciples and whispered a few instructions to them.

"Understood." The two disciples gave a secretive nod and led Su Xuan away from the reception hall.

As they walked, Su Xuan began to feel that something was wrong. The buildings around them grew sparse, and the environment became increasingly desolate. The paved stone path gave way to muddy dirt.

This was definitely not the way to what Lu Dongshan had called the "best accommodation."

"Don't look around. Keep moving!" one of the disciples urged when he noticed Su Xuan slowing down.

"We're currently at war with the Spirit-Taming Sect, so the guest rooms are all being used to care for the wounded," the other disciple explained with a veneer of politeness. "We had to find another place for you. Please understand."

"Alright." Su Xuan gave an impassive nod and continued following the two, but his guard was up. Ever since entering the Floating Cloud Sect, everything had felt strangely off.

"This is your residence."

Five or six minutes later, the two disciples stopped in front of a cluster of buildings.

Su Xuan narrowed his eyes. The "buildings" were dozens of mud huts with walls of red mud, mottled and cracked with age, looking as if they might collapse at any moment. The living conditions were appalling, hardly suitable for someone with a fortune in the hundreds of billions.

"Where exactly is this place?" Su Xuan asked them.

"We'll be honest. This is where the menial disciples live," one of them said, dropping all pretense. "You'll stay here quietly. Don't ask a bunch of questions and don't wander around. If you disobey and something happens to you, we won't be held responsible."

"I want to see Qi Li," Su Xuan stated.

"You'll see her, but not right now." One of the disciples pushed open the door to a mud hut. "Get in."

Su Xuan frowned and stepped inside the hut.

Once inside, he discovered it was already occupied. Two men were lying on simple beds made of wooden planks.

"Newcomer?"

As soon as Su Xuan entered, the two men sat up. A fierce-faced, brawny man spoke up. He was shirtless, revealing a menacing tiger head tattooed on his shoulder.

Su Xuan said nothing. Seeing an empty cot, he placed his travel bag on it.

"Well now, this kid's got quite an attitude!" the fierce-faced man said with a raised eyebrow. "Newcomers have to learn the rules. From now on, I'm your boss. Now, come over here and give me a foot rub!"

"Are you deaf?" the other man, who was rail-thin, chimed in. "Master Tiger told you to give him a foot rub! Get your ass over here!"

"Actually... I have a question for you," Su Xuan said, turning to face the two men. "If I wanted to be your boss, what would I have to do?"

"What?"

"You want to be our boss?"

The two men stared blankly for a moment. Then they both doubled over with laughter, as if they had just heard the funniest joke in recent memory.

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