The Immortal Lord and the Demon Venerable Are Both My Vests - Chapter 15

When Yin Lang woke up, it was already evening. He sat up slowly from the bed by the window, and upon turning his head, his eyes were immediately met with vast swaths of red flowers.

——With Xiao Chang’an’s aesthetic taste, it was truly remarkable that Senior Brother could tolerate it.

The door creaked open with a ‘creak,’ and Yin Lang didn’t need to turn around to know who had arrived. “Martial Uncle’s footwork is quite swift.”

“Bah!”

The newcomer cursed and grumbled, crossing to the bedside in three strides and raising a hand to strike. “You little bastard, you still have the nerve to speak! If I hadn’t received word halfway and abandoned the main group to rush back here, you’d already be reporting to the Yellow Springs by now!”

Yin Lang raised his hand to block, lifting his eyelids slightly. “Don’t be so petty. Martial Uncle Lu has vast wealth and resources—do you really care about one Healing Spirit Pill?”

Upon waking, he had felt his entire body refreshed, his spiritual power flowing smoothly and harmoniously within—he knew he must have already consumed a Nine-Revolution Healing Spirit Pill. Calculating the time, he knew it had to be Lu Li who had returned.

He asked, “Where’s Ah Lan?”

Without the Heaven-Concealing Stone on his person, Qin Xun would certainly have to personally handle all his affairs. If Lu Li could enter, Qin Xun was most likely nearby.

Lu Li turned a deaf ear, snorting coldly and slapping the table with his other hand. A row of jade bottles appeared, neatly arranged.

All Nine-Revolution grade Healing Spirit Pills.

Yin Lang: ?

He looked at Lu Li, then at the row of pills, and said sincerely, “I know Martial Uncle possesses countless treasures, but what’s the meaning of this?”

A free giveaway?

Lu Li said ‘ferociously’, “I truly don’t lack these sugar pills.”

Then he immediately began rolling up his sleeves. “From your attitude, you probably wouldn’t mind a ‘few’ more injuries.”

Yin Lang’s brow twitched.

Ah… had he angered his ‘guardian’?

A bit troublesome. Even using his true abilities, facing the Tribulation stage Lu Li with his countless treasures, he’d probably still be unable to escape the fate of being thoroughly beaten.

The Tribulation stage had internal hierarchies as well. The three great demon kings of the Demon Territory, the top three Demon Venerables of the Northern Demon Territory, and certain elders among the three great immortal sects—any one of them would thoroughly thrash Yin Lang in a fight.

Lu Li belonged to this category.

Fortunately, tragedy was averted.

Qin Xun rushed in just in time to interrupt Lu Li’s actions, first expressing surprise and joy at Yin Lang’s awakening, then his expression changed. “Grand Martial Uncle Lu, the Sect Master requests your presence.”

Yin Lang imperceptibly exchanged glances with Qin Xun, trading information, then simply accompanied Lu Li together.

Tu Feng, Gu Fuxuan and others were all present, though the younger generation like Xie Lan and Ji Chang’an were nowhere to be seen.

Gu Fuxuan was quite relieved to see his junior brother whole and healthy. He first thanked Lu Li for rushing back in time, then confirmed that his junior brother’s body was truly unharmed before feeling at ease to continue the meeting.

Tu Feng summarized the previous content for them.

“…Based on what we’ve discovered so far, this major incident at Tianji Peak should have been jointly caused by three waves of infiltrators.”

“The people that Elder Gu and I captured have been confirmed to be spies planted by the Fourth Venerable of the Demonic Path.”

“Those who attacked Tianji were the Tenth Venerable’s people.”

“As for those who triggered the demonic qi frenzy atop Tianji Peak and successfully tore open our sect’s northeastern formation, escaping smoothly…” Tu Feng paused. “They belong to the Third Venerable, Jiuyou Court Master Yan Guihe.”

“Currently, we know that the Fourth Venerable’s and Tenth Venerable’s forces had no cooperation whatsoever. They didn’t even know the others were also spies. As for Yan Guihe, the situation remains unclear.”

Lu Li’s expression was bewildered. “Are they all idi…ots?”

Earlier, when hearing the younger generation present describe it, he had assumed it was a premeditated, coordinated assault targeting Shen Muxuan. He’d been wondering how this little bastard had offended people to such an extent that three Demon Venerables would join forces to take his life.

But now you’re telling me they were all blindly flailing about, not even knowing there were others besides themselves causing havoc?

Lu Li: I thought you were mocking my intelligence, but after learning the truth, I discovered there really are people in this world who can achieve new extremes of stupidity.

Yin Lang read his lips and figured the man probably wanted to curse ‘idiots.’

Truth be told, when setting the plan, he also hadn’t expected so many people would emerge to frantically compete with him for blame.

To successfully pin a third of the blame on Yan Guihe, Ah Xun had really worked hard.

He decided to ask later exactly what had happened during the process.

Tu Feng ultimately made his decision.

The dangerous items that triggered the demonic qi outbreak would be confiscated to the sect treasury;

Send people to monitor the Northern Demon Territory’s movements, primarily watching the Third Venerable Yan Guihe, with the Fourth and Tenth Venerables as secondary priorities;

Strengthen sect security, especially for the several Sword Masters, who needed to pay attention to their own safety and guard against potential surprise attacks at any time;

……

Yin Lang summarized his lengthy speech: The wounded should honestly recuperate. No matter how things develop, until recovery, it has nothing to do with you—not even one spirit stone’s worth.

This wouldn’t do.

So after Tu Feng finished speaking, he saw someone who’d appeared distracted the entire time lift their head toward him. “Sect Master, I have something to say.”

“Speak.”

Yin Lang then said, “A few days ago, I happened to accept a Heaven-rank bounty from the Mission Hall. The target happens to be in the Northern Demon Territory. This team leader position…”

“Absolutely not.” This time, without waiting for Gu Fuxuan to speak, Tu Feng firmly refused. “Tianji, though you’ve taken the Nine-Revolution Healing Spirit Pill, your injuries haven’t fully healed. You absolutely cannot leave to execute missions like this.”

“But news of the Jihe Alliance has already spread throughout the entire Lantian Realm.”

Yin Lang said unhurriedly, “Sect Master, the overnight destruction of the Jihe Alliance has made all cultivation sects extremely anxious. Martial Uncle Lu personally took action and finally managed to reverse the affiliated sects’ impression of our sect. Should we let it all come to nothing because of me alone?”

“If so, even should Tianji ascend to immortality one day, I would have no face to meet the sect’s ancestors.”

Tu Feng pondered. “You make a valid point, then let…”

“I’ll go in his place.” Gu Fuxuan suddenly spoke.

“Senior Brother, don’t be ridiculous.” Yin Lang smiled helplessly. “If my injuries might relapse, wouldn’t Senior Brother’s chronic illness be even more dangerous?”

Gu Fuxuan occasionally coughed up blood, and no cause could be found. For hundreds of years, he never left the sect grounds, and the Peak Master of Qingnang Peak was always on call.

“If Senior Brother is truly worried, Junior Brother will shamelessly beg Martial Uncle Lu for eight hundred to a thousand Nine-Revolution pills, just in case. Would that put Senior Brother’s mind at ease?”

“……”

Eight hundred to a thousand pills?

Lu Li glared at him fiercely. Did he think high-grade pills were free?!

Yin Lang blinked innocently. Weren’t you the one who arranged them in rows, claiming you didn’t lack these sugar pills?

After Lu Li reluctantly expressed his position, and Yin Lang agreed to exchange items of equal value for the pills, Gu Fuxuan finally grudgingly agreed to let him leave the sect.

After the meeting dispersed, Lu Li threw down the pills and left in a huff. Yin Lang walked together with Gu Fuxuan, not minding the other’s cold expression. “When I leave, I’ll be gone about a month. Senior Brother must help me keep an eye on the promising disciple I’ve set my sights on.”

Gu Fuxuan deliberately treated him coldly. “Senior Brother doesn’t have the ability to snatch people from Martial Aunt Li’s hands.”

He was still upset about Yin Lang disregarding his own safety to insist on executing the mission.

Yin Lang then feigned heartbreak. “I protected Martial Nephew Xie and nearly died in the process, yet Senior Brother not only doesn’t appreciate it, but also quarrels with me. This is truly… alas…”

Before hearing three sentences, Gu Fuxuan couldn’t maintain his cold expression. His demeanor visibly softened, even showing obvious guilt. “If I hadn’t been so angry at the time and fought with Martial Aunt Li, you wouldn’t have…” suffered such severe injuries.

“So will Senior Brother help Junior Brother with this favor?” Yin Lang asked with a smile.

Seeing his instantly changed expression, Gu Fuxuan knew perfectly well it was an act. He was both annoyed and helpless. “You’re a grown man, yet still so unstable… Fine, I’ll help you watch that young disciple. His name is Xu Rong, correct?”

The two chatted and laughed as they returned to Tianshu Peak, but of the three disciples who should have heard the commotion and come out to greet them, only two appeared—Ji Chang’an was completely absent.

After giving a few more instructions, Gu Fuxuan took the repeatedly grateful Xie Lan to find his young disciple.

Qin Xun asked, “Master, it succeeded?”

“It succeeded.” The moment Gu Fuxuan disappeared, weariness immediately appeared between Yin Lang’s brows. He waved his hand, indicating Qin Xun needn’t worry. “Just the normal condition of unhealed injuries.”

He added, “This time I’ll be in the Northern Demon Territory for about a month. You’ll come with me.” Without Yin Lang’s timely spiritual qi replenishment, Qin Xun couldn’t stay at Taihua Immortal Sect for more than seven days without being exposed.

Yin Lang then inquired about what had happened while he was unconscious. Qin Xun organized his thoughts briefly and began recounting slowly.

Inner disciple residences.

Xu Rong pushed open the door to find a young woman waiting in the courtyard.

Lin Xinqiao had changed out of that beautiful yellow dress, tied up her long hair, kept her soft whip coiled at her waist at all times, and her demeanor was visibly much more resolute.

After her family’s destruction, the pampered young lady had grown tremendously.

Lin Xinqiao frowned and asked, “Where have you been these past two days? I came by several times and never saw you.”

The major incident within the sect couldn’t possibly be hidden from the disciples. Even though Tu Feng had tried to cover it up, the anxious atmosphere still spread uncontrollably at rapid speed.

This was also why he’d so readily agreed to Yin Lang’s request to execute the mission.

Xu Rong’s eyes were still somewhat unfocused as he instinctively asked, “Did something happen?”

He felt as though he’d split into two people—his body steadily continuing forward, while his consciousness floated lightly in midair, chaotically and disorderedly ‘observing’ the surroundings.

He seemed to have forgotten something…

It should have been something cyan… cyan what?

His gaze became even more unfocused.

Lin Xinqiao immediately grew anxious. From her expression, she was just short of rushing up and pointing at Xu Rong’s nose to scold him. “You’re actually asking me what happened?!”

She stamped her feet and circled the courtyard several times, still feeling she couldn’t suppress it, and cursed under her breath. “Haven’t you felt that the entire sect has been off these past two days!”

Midway through, she realized—Xu Rong had just happened to be missing for two days.

Lin Xinqiao’s gaze immediately became subtle. She probed. “Do you… know some inside information?”

“…Huh?”

Xu Rong was genuinely confused.

Those two scolding shouts from Lin Xinqiao did snap him out of his mentally dazed state, but they also drove away that thread he’d barely grasped.

Xu Rong’s only memories stopped at pushing open the door after returning from martial practice. It took him a full ten seconds to process Lin Xinqiao’s angry scolding and realize what she was saying.

“…Something happened to the Immortal Sect?”

His delayed reaction made Lin Xinqiao’s slight hope vanish completely. She was so angry her chest heaved dramatically, barely controlling herself from drawing her whip to strike him.

Miss Lin rarely doubted her own judgment of character.

This Xu Rong… would he really not hinder her path of revenge in the future? Should she just cut her losses and abandon him now?