Scheming Kids 2
The second day that Wuxie had come to the Hidden Cloud Peak, she and Qiao Chu donned the uniforms of the Hidden Cloud Peak disciples. To avoid raising unwanted suspicions, the both of them returned to the living quarters for disciples.
When they appeared within the courtyard wearing their new uniforms reserved only for Hidden Cloud disciples, the eyes of the other youths who had been tormented for two whole days nearly popped right out of their heads!
Those two brats had from the first day been lazy and avoiding work. When they were dragging their exhausted bodies to carry water, the two scoundrels had suddenly disappeared. And on the second morning, when they had been forced to bring their completely drained selves to water the herb beds, those two had been even more incorrigible!
They just decided to shut their eyes and fainted!
They had subsequently been sent to Elder Ke, to enjoy the Elder's treatment.
To return the very next day.
Alas!
They had the cheek to come back dressed in uniforms reserved for accepted disciples, cheeks rosy with being in the pink of health!
'What in tarnation is going on!? Where did you get those clothes?!' The youths were all bent over with exhaustion and they stared in rage at the well rested Wuxie and Qiao Chu, their eyes almost boring holes into their uniforms!
It's not fair! The hardworking were oppressed! And the lazy were rewarded with style! It was just too much to take!
The youths were overcome with jealousy and envy, and they clenched their jaw in suppressed rage. A few more narrow minded ones ran straight up to the seniors passing by, to tell tales on the injustice they were made to suffer!
'Senior! Those two scoundrels are actually crafty and lazy...' They poured out their woes and vehemently indicted Wuxie and Qiao Chu of their various crimes of laziness and avoiding work completely.
The Hidden Cloud Peak disciples who were stalled by the youths frowned at the incessantly chattering youth and said impatiently: 'You shut your mouth now! Elder Ke pitied you guys for your weak bodies, and reduced the workload for you. Your time should be used to build up and strengthen those bodies and not used to prattle your mouth off! Let me tell you, only those who are dressed in this uniform are the real disciples of the Hidden Cloud Peak and Huang Huiwen and Qiao Chu have been accepted and gained the approval of Elder Ke himself, and nobody is to question that! If anyone is to question Elder Ke's authority in any way, he can very well get out of the Hidden Cloud Peak!'
After saying that, the disciple pushed the complaining youth away, his face infuriated.
Those sacrificial sheep actually had the audacity to fight for favoritism? If Elder Ke had not showered upon them his mercy, and spared them from a big portion of their daily torment, not a single one of them would be able to get out of here alive.
Just yesterday, Ke Cang Ju had summoned his head disciple and informed him that the Hidden Cloud Peak would temporarily have no need to increase the numbers of sacrificial sheeps. He would be caught up with the research of something new for a period of time and would have no time to handle those youths. So he had left instructions for the disciples to reduce the torment for the newly brought in youths.
With Ke Cangju's orders, the Hidden Cloud Peak disciples had restrained themselves and stopped amusing themselves with the torment of the sacrificial sheep.
Those idiots did not know that they had just been mercifully spared, and they dared to still kick up such a fuss.
The youth who was just reprimanded by a senior stood speechless, rooted to the spot, as he stared at the diminishing back of the senior, and looked down at his own clothes, feeling the unfairness of the situation, as his heart winced in pain.
'What did those two scoundrels do to gain the favor of Elder Ke!? This whole thing is just impossible to believe!' The other youths at the side heard the whole exchange and felt just as aggrieved at the injustice. In their eyes, Qiao Chu and Wuxie were nothing but trash. Besides acting docile and pitiful, what else were they capable of? Trash like this could not possibly be accepted as disciples of the Hidden Cloud Peak before them!
'On what basis were they selected to be accepted!?' The other youths were indignant and furious and wished they could run to Elder Ke to ask him about it. Those two brats were inferior to them in every way(conveniently forgetting Wuxie's stunt yesterday), how could they earn the acknowledgement of the Elder?
The youths' fury overtook them, but they did not dare to confront Ke Cangju, and they decided to take it out on Qiao Chu and Wuxie.
But they had witnessed Wuxie's brutality and prowess before, and they finally 'cleverly' decided to team up on the pair.
Wuxie had just returned to her room and was just about to go through her plans on how the mission was to be carried out when a hurried knocking sounded on her door, interrupting her thoughts.
She got up to open the door. Just when the door was opened a crack, several youths trampled in furiously, their faces menacing.
'Close the door quick!' One of the youths said hurriedly.
Wuxie, who had been pushed aside, stood frowning at the aggressive group of youths, her eyes cold as they closed the door.
Six to seven youths stood within the suddenly crampy room.
Wuxie remained standing on one side, her eyes growing annoyed at the intrusion.
'Kid, where did you get those clothes?' One of the youths eyed Jun Wu Xie with an evil glint. They knew very well where Jun Wu Xie got those clothes from, but their intention here was to find trouble and they feigned ignorance to use that as an excuse to properly 'teach' this sniveling brat some manners.
What made the Elders of two different peaks fight over this brat? And based on what ability was he accepted as a disciple barely two days into it when they had all just entered the Hidden Cloud Peak together!?
Just thinking about it infuriated the other youths to no end!
Wuxie swept her gaze across the group of youths and kept her silence.
'What!? You still dare to keep that mightier-than-thou pose of yours up!? You dare steal the clothes of our seniors! That's a mighty travesty! If you will just take off those clothes and quietly hand them over to us and apologize, we will force ourselves to overlook this and spare you. If not, we will just snatch those clothes off you forcefully and drag you to our seniors and have them hand down the punishment onto you!' The youth saw that Wuxie still chose to maintain her silence and wrongly thought that their target had been too shocked to react, which further fueled their desire for vengeance.
They just wanted to give vent to their jealousy and hatred and paid absolutely no heed to the consequences.
'Huang Huiwen was merely a newly accepted brat of a disciple, and if they gave him a good enough trashing and threatened him to keep his mouth shut, he would not dare to tell tales on them in front of Elder Ke!
Wuxie's eyes had grown further chillingly cold, and her eyes narrowed and the chill in those eyes started freezing.
'You must be asking for it! My brothers! Strip the shameless thief of his clothes! I want to see how trash like him intends to keep up his pretense!'
Several well built youths, confident of their strength, pounced on the skinny Huang Huiwen at that moment.
Wuxie's frosty eyes flared, and the hidden spiritual powers exploded out of her body!
Her spiritual powers burst out in a brilliant green flare, and a green ball coalesced and glowed within her palm. She turned on her heel and avoided the hands of one of the pouncing youths, and using her newly-gained fighting skills courtesy of an over-indulging 'brother, she boosted her physical prowess with her ki and gave the bullies the trashing of their lives.
A series of pitiful howling erupted echoing within the room!
The green glow blasted itself onto the bodies of the youths per blow of her punches, bringing a wave of agony to wash over them!
They quickly realized the shade of green within the glow of the spiritual power and they all stared in utter disbelief!
What was this before their eyes!?
That brat actually had a green leveled spirit!
They were all just youths still in their teens, starting from the tender age of fourteen when their spirits awoke, they had at most trained and developed their spiritual powers for a mere three years. Within that short span, most people were still stuck at the red level while green was far from their reach and still a distant dream.
The youths who came to Qingyun Sect, were mainly those whose strengths leaned more towards medicine and had pursued strongly towards that field, their time and efforts were immersed in the study of medicine, forcing them to somewhat neglect their development of their spiritual powers. Hence, many disciples below twenty years of age in the Qingyun Sect were commonly found still stuck in a sea of red.
But what was it with this brat!?
He looked to be fourteen or fifteen at most, yet he had already attained the green level!
Spiritual powers awaken at the age of fourteen, and he actually broke through red to attain the green level within a year!?
The youths were shocked speechless. Even if they disregarded Huang Huiwen's dominating and impressive display of his technique and inventing a new pill even the elders haven't seen before, and assumed her to have devoted all his time and energies wholly into the training and development of his spiritual powers, it was still impossible for someone to achieve a breakthrough within such a short span of time!
What was she fed with while growing up!?
He had shown himself to possess exemplary medical knowledge, and now it is proven his spiritual powers development had far surpassed any of them. What's really going on here!?
The disparity between their spiritual powers were more than sufficient to make those youths who were a couple of years older than her knee before her in surrender. It might be a difference of just one level, but the level red was just the opening the door to see the expanse of spiritual powers for the first time, and level orange was already a step into the door opening a whole new realm of spiritual development and prowess. The distance between the two cannot be explained with words alone, but only fully understood by those who have crossed the threshold.
This was the first time Wuxie had used her spiritual powers in a large attack, having mostly used 'needle forms' for her fighting style, and the exquisite feeling of strength and power raging in her body, but fused naturally within, was an inexplicable feeling to her. It was surreal to her.
She cast her cold gaze on the pale faced youths on the floor and they started shivering uncontrollably when those chilling eyes fell on them.
In just a brief moment, the youths had lost all of their lofty and confident aggression. They had initially thought the kid named Qiao Chu would not be easy to handle, but never had they expected the tiny and petite one would turn out to be one not to be trifled with!
They shouldn't be blamed for being blind to that fact, as it was true that, anyway you looked at Wuxie, he did not seem to be one that would possess such strong spiritual powers, not in the least bit.
But the truth could be so cruel, the might of a green level spirit, overpowered them completely, bashed their faces in, making their faces swell and looking like a bunch of pigs.
'Are all of you waiting for death to claim you?' Wuxie asked with her eyes narrowed when she saw the youths all still frozen with shock within her room and her frown deepened.
The youths then snapped awake and scrambled for their lives out of the door as if a horrifying ghost were after them.
Qiao Chu was about to knock on the door when he saw in puzzlement a group of startled youths shot out from Wuxie's room in fright. He stood stunned, rooted to the spot, a look of incomprehension on his face.
'What did they want from you?' Qiao Chu stuck his head through the doorway and asked Wuxie. He noted that Wuxie's clothes were not ruffled and his expression was as usual before deciding that he had not been bullied. But those youths had fled like startled pigeons and ran like the wind, and he had been worried.
'Suffering.' Wuxie replied curtly, dispersing the green glow in her palm.
Qiao Chu's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of green glow dispersing from her palm and he blinked his eyes, unsure of what he just saw.
Little Wen was just a little over fourteen right? His spirit awoke barely half a year ago, and he couldn't have broken through to attain the green level so soon could he?
He must have been mistaken!
'I bet these nincompoops came to bully you too and you trashed them like I did.' Wuxie snorted. 'The weak ones bark the loudest to feel strong, but its always the unassuming ones who are the actual deadly ones. I taught them that lesson...the hard way.' she purred with a chilly smile. 'Oh, and tuition fee is minced arm bones beyond godly treatment and severe muscle trauma, and a disfigured face from a sound beating. My tutelage is not cheap.'
'SCARY!'
xxx
Under Hua Yao, life changed.
The wolves were gathered by him, and had Wuxie kill them with her nastiest poison for being complicit with Ke Cangju's crimes. He also made Qiao Chu and Wuxie in charge of the peak as Overseers, while Hua Yao was assisted by Ye Mei in everything on Wuxie's request, as long as it would not conflict with each other's goals. The trio cunningly planned the curriculum...and actual teaching will soon begin, with the trio forking the teaching to the eldest disciples who were here for years, but didn't suffer Ke Cangju's wrath. Morning Lessons after breakfast to noon, taking care of the herbal beds after lunch, and cultivating after dinner.
'If you want to have hope of rising in rank, at least, master all these herbs that you can easily spot them among a bunch of weeds in a blink. Exams will always be Identification under a Time Limit.' said Hua Yao. 'Charlatans in the market also fool those with dim eyes and these dim-witted fools then end up poisoning their patients, if they were to refine pills.' he said in Cangju's usual nasty voice. 'If your teachers see that you have mastered your herbs, they will then recommend you to higher-level classes. If not, study harder.'
And meals are now more reasonable as well. Because Wuxie was the actual doctor between the trio, she planned the meals and talked to the cooks who were surprised with the changes, considering they were always told to add poison or else, threatened by the disciples. And they cannot refuse or get killed as they weren't cultivators.
Wuxie smoothly talked the cooks over who were relieved that they're no longer accomplices in murder and can finally cook real food. Just that, they thought its the 'favorites' killing talented newcomers better than them...and they have no idea of the truth.
Wuxie decided its best left that way, out of kindness to the distressed cooks. As for the disfigured servants in Cangju's Residence, there was nothing that can be done for them. They have no future. Judging by their names, they were from big time families and their sole misfortune, was that they were good looking inside Hidden Cloud Peak. Their mere existence angered Cangju, made up claims to have reasons to punish them by disfiguration and enslavement.
Now that she thought of it, those who died, all have pretty faces that incites his petty wrath.
With looks like that, they can never have normal lives ever again. She decided to be nice and put them out of their miserable existence by giving them painless deaths, ending their eternal nightmare. As she had told her colleagues, their lives were destroyed, and explained how rich society works. Cangju destroying their faces is the same as destroying their futures. Their families will never accept them back. Nowhere to go and turn to.
That, was the grim reality they faced.
It was kinder to let them die. The slaves, and the disciples in the poisoned vats. Those inside glass tubes of water, were mostly girls who were in sleep, and look very young. Poisoned to become living dolls...and showed signs of rape, to their disgust of the late elder further. Wuxie refined pills to cure the girls of their poison and wake them up, and told them of their cruel truth to their horror and disgust...and they have been in the tubes for months to a year on end! Thankfully they weren't pregnant!
They were so angry they nearly beat Hua Yao, and they have to clear stuff up and showed them the very-dead-elder. And now they're secretly in charge of the Peak where real education finally begins and disciples finally treated right. The hell called Hidden Cloud Peak, managed by the evil and petty Ke Cangju and his evil disciples, is now over.
But to keep them safe, Hua Yao and Ye Mei got them personal tutors and gave the tutors an 'adulterated truth', though even then, its still horrifying. By next month, they can 'show up officially'. But they have to mail home for supplies, and they were allowed to tell their families the truth and how they were saved and what was going on now. However, they cannot act against Qingyun Sect just yet...with good reason. They lack concrete evidence!
It was early the next morning when Wuxie stepped out from her room and went towards the herb beds within the Hidden Cloud Peak. She had made signs, and placed them before the flower beds to assist in education, as well as helping the cooks. The name and whether its a healing herb, or poison.
"Well, this is one useful thing he's done after all his crimes," she thought.
The herbs planted here were very rare and precious and Wuxie had only previously seen them in books. When she was in Lin Palace, she had not been able to produce many types of medicine and elixirs, and it had been for no other reason than the fact that she just did not have enough herbs.
The Qi Kingdom had a limited supply of herbs and there were some precious herbs that even Mo Qian Yuan could not get. Wuxie had already dug out all the herbs from the Imperial Store but she had still faced a major shortage.
She did not expect to find within the Hidden Cloud Peak many kinds of rare herbs she had eyed for a long time. With them, Wuxie would be able to cultivate and produce many more types of elixirs and medicine that she had wanted to make. So she raided the bastard's seed jars for herself to take home. Poisons and healing herbs she has no access to because Qi Country is a fledgling country. Poor. Unlike older nations that accumulated wealth and power over time.
She found out as well that the more precious the herb was, the more spiritual energy she could absorb from the plant during the cultivation process. It might not be anywhere close to what the Lotus was able to provide, it was still better than nothing.
This new finding greatly motivated Wuxie, as her training and development of her spiritual powers was no different from being a gardener, it did not matter to her what she planted.
Ke Cangju had been obsessed with the development of poisons and had planted herb beds everywhere within the Hidden Cloud Peak filling the place with an abundance of herbs. Mostly poisons more than healing herbs.
As she had been unable to use Jade Wine to cultivate the Lotus to absorb its spiritual powers, Wuxie wanted to look for an alternative and had come to the herb beds to see if she could absorb the miniscule trickle of spiritual powers from their growth.
After her first time using her spiritual powers in an attack, Wuxie became acutely aware of the might of the unique strength this world provided. Although she had her medical skills, power, still matters above all. She came from a world where Might makes Right. That was the first lesson taught to her in the cruelest ways possible since her mother's passing.
With Hua Yao's newly laid down instructions in the Hidden Cloud Peak, the youths regained some semblance of a normal life. At least they did not have to go hungry, or be overworked.
Although it was still early in the day, disciples were now heading for the mess hall.
It was queer to note though, that just the day before, they could not even stand the sight of Qiao Chu and Wuxie and had wanted to tear them apart. But on this bright and early morning the very next day, they went out of their way to avoid them, scuttling away like frightened mice, running far away from both of them. Their reputation spread, and the guys she beat, are no longer around.
'Little Wen, why don't we go see Brother Hua instead of staring at the plants and flowers?' Qiao Chu suggested. 'After breakfast of course.'
'Mm...'
Night fell.
The Hidden Cloud Peak lit torches every night around the perimeters, to allow the disciples to be able to care for the rare and precious herbs even at night.
And once night duties are over and disciples began cultivating in their own rooms...
'Hey little Wen, let's go see Brother Yao.' Qiao Chu chimed at her.
'Not for now Qiao Chu. I need to cultivate.' said Wuxie. 'You and Hua Yao should also exploit the Peaks. The peaks are rife with resources you normally won't get, thanks to Qingyun Sect's swindling many countries in exchange for even a single pill or a few minutes of consultation. While we bide our time, we should get stronger before End Game.' she advised. 'Shockingly enough, this peak is compatible with me.'
Qiao Chu thought about it.
'Right...I'll go see him about that!' and Qiao Chu ran off.
And so, she began, taking out the Embellished Wooden Bead.
The bead glowed, emitting warmth.
'Bailian.' she summoned Bailian who was sleepy.
'Yes, master?' Bailian replied groggily and he got handed the bead.
'We cultivate.' Wuxie grinned. 'Compared to the mere trickle back home, here is a flashflood!' that pretty much woke up Bailian in excited glee. 'Let's take that flood to ourselves!'
'Yes, master!'
They were Green Spirits now, and soon to be Blue! Who knows what will happen if they take all this! This is so cool!
xxx
Days went by.
Because Wuxie was peak-Green when coming here, she broke through to Low-Level Blue. Ahhh the perks of being a foreign soul! Had she been born in this world, life will be a lot harder!
She'll absorb more and more along with Bailian.
Up in the trees, Ye Mei was just as stumped.
Sure she's a foreign soul, but this growth is just too-too quick! She bulldozes her way easily through! Maybe such is the perks of the world she came from. Easy growth...if you can afford it. But in this case, as long as she's near spiritual clumps like rare plants, she would absorb and cultivate more and more.
After transforming into Ke Cangju, Hua Yao's daily task was to put up a cold front, and being very strict the disciples, while leading a leisurely life. Night or day, Qiao Chu would climb in noiselessly through the window and appear in Hua Yao's room suddenly. This night, Hua Yao had just changed his clothes to prepare to go to bed when he saw the scoundrel climb in through the window again, and his face grew sinister.
'Whoa! Brother Hua, don't give me that look, it hurts.' Qiao Chu shielded his eyes and cringed back from Hua Yao's eyes.
The wooden comb in Hua Yao's hand crumbled into dust.
'What are you doing here again!?' Hua Yao longed to strangle the idiot to death. Qiao Chu brought him nothing but rage, can't he find someone else to irritate?
Qiao Chu sat down at the table ostentatiously, and poured himself a cup of water to drink. 'I am here just to see the situation. The plans that you two had made earlier had sounded good, but why isn't anything happening for so many days? Little Wen just stays inside the pharmacy or runs to the herb beds and cultivate all night, and you laze and live a life of leisure all day. When are we going to act? I'm going to be bored to death!'
Qiao Chu did not understand it. Everyone had been so excited when they had made their plans days ago, but after that, the other two of them had not said a thing further.
Didn't they say there were going to instigate a conflict between the Elders and Qin Yue and wipe out the Qingyun Sect in the process? But why were they not moving?
Hua Yao took a deep breath. He realised he had to explain it clearly to this dolt here or he would be bugged to death.
'Qin Yue is coming to the Hidden Cloud Peak tomorrow.' Hua Yao said.
Qiao Chu's eyes lit up at the news. Was it finally going to begin?
'Go back and let Huang Huiwen know. See if he needs us to prepare anything so wecan act.' Wuxie was the brains behind the plot and Hua Yao felt that she needed to know about it. This way Ye Mei can act too.
'Both of you had just been waiting all this while?' Qiao Chu finally understood the reason for the period of inaction. Hua Yao had just assumed the form of Ke Cangju, and although he knew who Ke Cangju was, he had needed more time to fully copy his personality and mannerisms. Moreover, Ke Cangju had been rather conniving and had almost never gone to Qin Yue of his own volition, and if they had gone straight up to Qin Yue and made their request, Qin Yue might become suspicious, so they had laid back and waited for Qin Yue to come to them.
Hua Yao nodded in agreement.
Qiao Chu became excited. 'Sure! I'll go tell Little Wen now.'
Qiao Chu immediately got up and slipped out through the window, running the tell Wuxie the news. The corner of Hua Yao's mouth twitched as he stared at the open window, thinking vehemently that he would get people to seal it up the very next day!
Qiao Chu flew straightaway to find Wuxie and as he had expected, the kid was busying himself among the herb beds. By day, she plucks herbs to refine into pills for her own use as her weapons and support. He rushed up to Wuxie and exclaimed excitedly: 'Qin Yue will be coming to see Hua...Ke Cangju, and Brother Hua asked me if you needed us to prepare anything.'
Wuxie stood up, her eyes clear in understanding.
'Bring it to Hua Yao tomorrow, and have Hua Yao make sure it is present at the meeting during their discussions. He knows how to activate the doll.' Wuxie suddenly produced a little straw doll with a talisman out of nowhere and Qiao Chu blinked upon getting the item.
Qiao Chu was stunned, and he found the doll kinda kooky.
He did not know why Wuxie wanted him to send the doll to Hua Yao but he would just do as Wuxie had asked. He had come to learn that the silent kid who did not speak much did things that normal people could not hope to comprehend, and he guessed that even Brother Hua would not understand the reason for her decision this time.
Bring a doll...
For what purpose?
'One more thing.' Wuxie said, as if suddenly remembering.
'What?' Qiao Chu looked at Wuxie, waiting to hear something more mind boggling. 'Stand guard outside my room tomorrow, and do not allow anyone to go in. Yourself included.' Having said her piece, Wuxie continued with her task. 'Our fight is coming, I need to stock up on as many pills and weapons as possible. Give the doll to him now, and let him sleep in tomorrow. He needs all energy he can get to bully Qin Yue and so two of us can grasp his personality to base our next actions with. I told him to eat a lot of dinner too.'
'OK!'
xxx
'Sooo what's this for?' Qiao Chu asked Hua Yao who took the doll from him.
'Its for us to study Qin Yue's personality. His true self, that he only shows around Ke Cangju.' said Hua Yao. 'This will record every single thing we will talk about. Then we will study his personality to better deal with him. Ye Mei's spending days to get his daily routines, too.'
'Alright.'
xxx
When the sky lightened, Qiao Chu left and stood guard outside Wuxie's door.
Hua Yao and Wuxie waited within the Hidden Cloud Peak for the arrival of the Sovereign, Qin Yue.
When Qin Yue appeared at the Hidden Cloud Peak, the new recruits were overawed. They tagged behind the Sovereign with adoration in their eyes.
The man behind the Qingyun Sect's might, the man fabled to be the most highly skilled in medicine throughout the lands!
Over the generations of Sovereigns of the Qingyun Sect, they had all possessed extraordinary skills in medicine. In the early days, the founder of the Qingyun Sect was the widely famed miracle healer and after he set up the Sect, and over the generations, the people of the lands had come to tag the name of the world's top healer to the serving Sovereign of the Qingyun Sect.
Almost daily, people showed up uninvited, hoping for Qin Yue to help them alleviate their pains and ailments. Besides the high demand for treatment and healing, many others swarmed to him for elixirs.
Healing and cultivation of elixirs were never far apart and skilled healers would always have unique recipes for an elixir or two.
At the Qingyun Sect, it was believed that Qin Yue's healing skills could bring a man on the brink of death back to life and relieve all his wounds. His elixirs were in great demand as people were bound to fall prey to illnesses and ailments and the sick infirmed, or even severely wounded might not be able to survive the long arduous journey to the Qingyun Sect.
Moreover, Qin Yue only extended his healing skills to just one patient a month and that privilege was highly sought after. Unless they had in hand something the Qingyun Sect sought, that opportunity was usually beyond the reach of most people.
In a plea to convince Qin Yue to lend his medicinal expertise, many expert exponents volunteered to stay within the Qingyun Sect to serve as resident mercenaries, and countless rich families have parted with vast riches for that sense of security the elixirs gave.
In the eyes of the people, the Qingyun Sovereign held more than just his expertise in medicine.
Not just the Qingyun Sect's Sovereign's healing expertise was highly sought, people fought to impress him just to be accepted as a disciple of the Qingyun Sect.
The youths were eager to leave a lasting impression on Qin Yue and would have leeched on but the thought of Ke Cangju's sinister face loomed within their minds and they gave up after some time.
Qin Yue's benign face smiled gently as he walked within the Hidden Cloud Peak and his exalted but harmonious presence put a distance between himself and the respectful disciples and many of them swore to strive to emulate some of Qin Yue's dominating air.
Under a crowd of adoring eyes, Qin Yue came to Ke Cangju's quarters and entered. The smile on his face disappeared immediately and that benign face clouded, his brow creased into a frown, his foul mood and displeasure obvious.
His face darkened, Qin Yue strode quickly forward, seemingly familiar with the way around. He stood in the study in moments, finding Ke Cangju flipping through his ancient texts.
With a bang, Qin Yue slammed the door shut.
Hua Yao looked up from behind his desk, his hideous face splitting into a sinister smile. The doll hidden under his desk.
'Our Sovereign seems to be in a rather foul mood today?' Hua Yao said, imitating Ke Cangju's sarcastic tone.
'I want you to concoct a poison for me, one that makes people suffer a fate worse than death, and inflicts unimaginable horrific agony!' Qin Yue's face was distorted with undisguised hatred and his words dripped with venom.
'Oh? For who?' Hua Yao asked lightly.
Qin Yue took a deep breath, suppressing the rage that welled up in his chest.
'Yuyan and Elder Jiang are dead.'
Hua Yao froze a moment. The Qin Yuyan that Qin Yue was talking about was his only daughter. He had pampered and spoilt rotten this daughter of his and did everything within his power to give her everything she had ever wanted. As the Eldest Miss of the Qingyun Clan, Qin Yuyan was the sweetheart of the clan, and was loved by everyone, and her benign and pretty looks was an almost exact replica of Qin Yue.
Hua Yao had had a prior encounter with Qin Yuyan when he had first snuck into the Hidden Cloud Peak in search of the map, he had been hiding in the shadows when he saw Qin Yuyan and Ke Cangju in the underground chamber tormenting the innocent youths, her beautiful face was an insidious mask, working in cahoots with Ke Cangju. She displayed a stark contrast to Ke Cangju, her false facade of benign kindness and gentleness on her face, like Qin Yue, but was party to dastardly deeds in secret, together with the hideous and sinister looking Ke Cangju.
But, as the very treasured apple of Qin Yue's eye, how was she killed so suddenly?
'The audacious tiny Kingdom of Qi dared to commit such a travesty against us! That useless no good Jun Family actually dared kill my daughter! I want the whole family to die and cut into a thousand pieces! Ke Cangju, give me the best poison of your life's work! I want the Jun Family and the Qi Imperial Family to be buried together with my daughter!' Qin Yue's jaw was tightly clenched as his rage threatened to overcome him. He was no longer young and already middle aged and he had only Qin Yuyan, his most treasured one and only daughter. His most beloved daughter had been brutally murdered in the faraway Kingdom of Qi, and the humiliation and anger drove a strong urge within him to lead a force to storm the Qi Kingdom and shred his enemies to pieces.
Hua Yao was shocked after hearing Qin Yue's rant and a incredulous notion crept into his mind.
Huang Huiwen wants a few people dead in the sect. And she knew the masked youth of Ghost City in Qi Country.
And, did Qiao Chu not first meet the masked youth in the very same Imperial City of Qi?
'You don't need me to do that, wouldn't just a few of the highly skilled resident mercenaries of the Qingyun Clan would be more than enough to squash them completely?'
A frosty laugh escaped from Qin Yue's throat: 'A straight death would be too easy on them, I want them to suffer a fate worse than death! I will bring them back to the Qingyun Sect, and feel every bit of the agonizing torment I would inflict on them, and have them beg to be killed! Nothing less than that would appease the anger and hatred in my heart! Those that killed my daughter must not be allowed to walk the earth! If her murderers were not put through insufferable torment, his daughter's soul would not find peace!'
Hua Yao nodded in supposed agreement.
'It's just killing a few people, I can agree to that. But in exchange, I need you to agree to one condition I have.' Hua Yao asked, his eyes intently watching Qin Yue.
'What is it?' Qin Yue asked frowning. His mind was dead set on vengeance for Yuyan and he would agree to any conditions that Ke Cangju wanted.
Hua Yao grew a little more confident and he smiled: 'I might have called it a condition, but it's actually a necessity for me to carry out your daughter's vengeance. In my opinion, there aren't many people capable of killing Jiang Chenqing, and if my memory serves me correctly, several highly skilled exponents had also accompanied Jiang Chenqing's and the Eldest Miss' delegation and they were all killed. That makes me suspect that the Qi Kingdom has experts with them. I am sure you are aware that the effects of poisons are weakened when used on skilled people, and the more highly skilled they are, the weaker the effects will be. If you want revenge for your daughter's death, you will have to help me with it.'
Qin Yue stared at Hua Yao and said impatiently: 'What do you need from me? Just tell me straight!'
Hua Yao laughed lightly and said: 'It is very simple in fact. New recruits are too weak and I have lost interest in using them as experimental specimens for my research. I am not able to yield enough results from them. The disciples within the twelve peaks are skilled and they have always nurtured and developed their bodies. Their spiritual powers might not be parallel to expert exponents but the condition of their bodies are much better than many others. If I can use them to experiment my poisons, the results will give a more accurate reflection of its effects and inflict more agonizing torment on the people who murdered your daughter, wouldn't you agree?'
Hua Yao's words made Qin Yue hesitate for a long while as he turned to face that hideous countenance, as the words sunk in.
'You want to use the disciples of the Qingyun Sect to test your poisons?' Qin Yue's voice had turned cold.
Hua Yao pushed on, 'Why not? The Qingyun Sect has so many disciples. If I just pick a few of them from each peak separately, it would not hurt them much anyway. Rest assured that I will not target any from you.'
'Ke Cangju! You are going a little too far this time!' Qin Yue stood up furiously. Did Ke Cangju know what he was asking for!? Using formally accepted disciples of the Qingyun Sect as experiments for his poison, and he is targeting to use the disciples of the other Elders? That would be a big slap across the faces of the other Elders!
All the Inner House disciples of the Qing Yun Clan knew what kind of place the Hidden Cloud Peak was. If they were taken away just like that, how would the other disciples of the respective Elders see their own Masters!?
Hua Yao laughed coldly: 'My authority in the Qingyun Sect cannot be compared to yours. I am seeking the permission to carry out your request and I will need the authority from yours truly. Authority that came with the position of the Sovereign of the Qingyun Sect which became yours to command. If you did not crave for that authority then, the coveted position of the Qingyun Clan's Sovereign might have fallen into the hands of Mu Chen of the Cloud Treading Peak.' Hua Yao imitated Ke Cangju's shrill high pitched voice perfectly.
Hua Yao's obvious insinuation made Qin Yue turn pale and he clenched his fists tightly. Using all his might, Qin Yue pushed down the surging urge to smash the mouth of the nefarious Ke Cangju that had uttered those threatening words.
He had been very tempted to kill Ke Cangju on countless occasions, but he had held himself back for two good reasons. One was that Ke Cangju held evidence of Qin Yue's plot when he had poisoned his own Master, and the second reason was that Ke Cangju was extremely well versed with poison. Although he was not equipped with any spiritual powers, the myriad poisons Ke Cangju hid upon himself might result in them both to perish together.
Among the two reasons, both held Qin Yue's hand back, and even forced him to submit to Ke Cangju.
Qin Yue drew in a long breath, before he sat back down on the chair.
'I am sure you must have realized, that if I am to accede to your request, I would not be able to answer to the other Elders...' Succumbing to Ke Cangju's threat, Qin Yue did not have much of a choice but to comply.
'I will leave it to our Sovereign to decide on how to and what to do to make it work for us." Hua Yao refused to budge even with Qin Yue's change of tact. He was not Ke Cangju and he did not care if he angered Qin Yue, not even if it made Qin Yue want to kill him for it. The only thing that mattered to Hua Yao was whether he could stir up chaos within the Qingyun Sect. Wuxie was even nice enough to make him potent poisons and taught him how to use it, so if shit hit the fan, he can further portray this bastard accurately, and defend himself. Heck, she even made his famous Lone Smoke! He studied Cangju's notes for his techniques and trained hard in it too on her suggestion.
Qin Yue stared angrily at Ke Cangju and remained quiet for a long while before he finally blurted out: 'Alright! I agree to it! But you have to promise not to touch any of the Elders' direct disciples. And you have to give me the poison in the shortest time possible because I refuse to wait!' Blinded by his desire for revenge for his daughter's murder, and buckling under Ke Cangju's obvious threat, Qin Yue had no choice but to give in to Ke Cangju's unreasonable demands.
Although Qin Yue was aware that Ke Cangju's demand would bring him great resistance and anger from the other Elders, he was nevertheless confident, that the Qingyun Sect was firmly under his control and even the displeasure of the Elders would not bring about anything catastrophic.
Qin Yue's arrogance would soon make him eat his own words. He had thought that although Ke Cangju was being arrogant, he would know the limits and not overstep the boundaries. Little did he realize, the Ke Cangju before him had been replaced with a different person, and this person, Hua Yao, together with Jun Wuxie had wanted nothing more than to wreck havoc and plunge the Qingyun Sect into chaos as they had never seen!
'Rest assured, I am sure you will be satisfied with it.' His objective achieved, Hua Yao did not speak much after that and just nodded his head in agreement as Qin Yue continued to rant, but in his heart, he was silently laughing.
Despite all the grand plans he had for the Jun Family and the Emperor of Qi, Qin Yue was not aware that the very man right before him whom he was sharing his plans with, was plotting his demise right there in the Qingyun Clan.
After Qin Yue was seemingly satisfied with the answer he got, he got up to leave.
As Qin Yue neared the door of the study, Hua Yao suddenly said: 'Remember to keep that map safe.'
Qin Yue's footsteps slowed and he froze a moment, as his back straightened. He remained silent for a while before he replied softly: 'I know. It is very safe.'
Qin Yue had his back to Hua Yao then or he might have caught a flash of joy that showed briefly in Hua Yao's eyes when he replied.
Qin Yue left, and only Hua Yao was left with the little doll in the room.
"Qin Yue did not seem to have any limits to Ke Cangju's indulgent demands, as long as it did not threaten his position as the Sovereign. We are free to go do anything we want in the other peaks, anyway we want." he thought.
He called Qiao Chu and Wuxie.