Prelude to Chaos
They listened to the doll in his room. All four of them.
'Hooo? Never expected this.' Qiao Chu scratched his head, unaware of the darkening look on Wuxie's face and the worried one on Ye Mei's face.
Hua Yao watched their reactions.
Huang Huiwen seems to be deeply affected by Qin Yue's murderous plots towards Qi Country and Jun Family, he thought. 'His' expression alone, was a tell-tale sign.
'...you're from the Qi Country aren't you.' he spoke. 'And you want a few people dead. That clearly included our very own sovereign himself.' he speculated as Qiao Chu squawked at Wuxie. 'Can you tell us the truth, as we told you ours?'
'...to avoid slip-ups, I will not tell you my name yet.' said Wuxie. 'At least, I can confirm that I am from Qi Country.' the two boys started to listen intently. 'And long before Qin Yuyan was killed, ten years ago, a great atrocity was committed to someone I care for by this very clan. They claim they cannot restore this person to full health. Yet with Qi Country's meager resources, I managed in a stinking month after I turned fourteen thanks to Bailian, and this person can finally live a normal life after eight months before I went here? Ten years of life, wasted in cold pain they shouldn't have had!' she told them angrily.
To be fair that would get anyone angry too, Hua Yao thought. Qingyun Sect BOASTED that they can bring back a man from death's door, but fails to cure this person...because they were bribed to and Huang Huiwen did what they did not. Ten years of life wasted and finding out the truth must have flipped this kid's family into a rage, wanting revenge.
'They exploited our country's lack of medical knowledge to keep up this farce. For ten years, with our very own Emperor the enabler because he was persecuting our clan! Too bad for the bastard, Qin Yuyan killed him because he refused to give her something before she died.' she told them coldly. 'This person at their prime a decade ago, could have married and had children. But at their state, this person was denied a normal life due to bribery. Half our national treasury went to ensure this person's grief.'
That got the boys squawking at the true motives of their colleague.
'H-half the...treasury?' Qiao Chu squeaked helplessly. 'That's millions of gold...'
'That's about 9 Eastern Pearls' worth of gold as our country is still young. We're that poor and now poorer than ever.' Wuxie sighed. The country is poor, but her family is independently rich thanks to her. She was amassing money to feed the army her medicinal meals for two months to supplement her pills' effectiveness by buying Eastern Pearls and selling them to rich kingdoms for money. 'The bastard's son who also suffered from his idiot father by poisoning him succeeded him and is thinking of ways to restore that money. Its a thorny path but he has to do it or face a revolt for causes that wasn't even his fault.'
'Wow...' Qiao Chu was astonished. 'You really do have a good reason.' he felt sorry for her and her relative. She won't say the gender or her identity will come out no doubt.
'And the worser crime they were willing to do?' Wuxie growled. 'Desecrate my father's grave, and defile his body.' that got the two boys inhaling sharply in horror. Now that, is beyond 'no manners', what color, is their blood?!
'T-That's beyond the pale!' Qiao Chu howled in anger. 'No respect no more?!'
'...that's to be expected of the likes of Qin Yuyan.' Hua Yao frowned in disgust. 'No wonder she was killed by angry family members. We understand your motive now, Huang Huiwen. It seems we really have to cooperate. Ke Cangju doesn't have the map. Qin Yue does and you want the whole clan dead. We win if we work together.'
With that in mind, they began to act.
The very next day...
Morning, after breakfast...
Later that very same day, Hua Yao made an appearance as the sinister Ke Cangju, and led Wuxie and Qiao Chu, his two recently favored 'disciples', and paid a visit to their closest neighbor, the Ash Cloud Peak.
The Ash Cloud Peak had previously been under Jiang Chenqing. After the demise of Jiang Chenqing, the running of the Ash Cloud Peak fell into the hands of his most senior disciple Gao Xiong. When the news of Qin Yuyan's death had arrived, news of Jiang Chenqing's passing was passed to the Ash Cloud Peak. All the disciples within the peak were still in mourning and Jiang Chenqing's three direct disciples were devastated that they could not even conduct a proper burial for their revered Teacher.
When Hua Yao and his two other disciples appeared before the Ash Cloud Peak, Gao Xiong was talking to his fellow disciples with his eyes red rimmed. Upon seeing Ke Cangju', he wiped his hand across his eyes and hurried forward in greeting.
'Elder Ke.'
Hua Yao glanced at Gao Xiong dismissively and said: 'Under the orders of the Sovereign, I am here in the Ash Cloud to pick a few disciples to help out at the Hidden Cloud Peak.'
Gao Xiong froze, knowing exactly what kind of place the Hidden Cloud Peak was.
That was the place that all the disciples from the other peaks avoided at all times. As not only the common disciples of the Hidden Cloud Peak but even Ke Cangju's own direct disciples had been known to mysteriously disappear often, and though unspoken, they all knew where those disciples had disappeared to.
Now, Elder Ke himself had come before the Ash Cloud Peak personally to select disciples. The unexpected demand made Gao Xiong felt a chill run up his spine.
Ke Cangju's definition of help meant that the disciples selected would soon give up their lives!
'Elder Ke, our Master had just passed away, do you...' Gao Xiong's voice was hoarse and sweat ran down his back. When Jiang Chenqing was still around, he did not have much to fear even in the face of Ke Cangju as Jiang Chenqing would have their backs. But with Jiang Chenqing's passing, Ke Cangju had wasted no time to come right up to the Ash Cloud Peak and demanded that they hand disciples over to him. It was an obvious instance of bullying the peak without an Elder's protection!
Gao Xiong did not dare to express his rage and could only look at Ke Cangju helplessly.
'It is precisely because your Master is no longer around that I, as an Elder of the Qingyun Sect am aggrieved and am offering to care for these poor disciples on your Teacher behalf. Gao Xiong, you better know your place and I am here merely just to select a few disciples. Rest assured, you and your two fellow senior disciples would be spared as I am gracious enough to leave Elder Jiang his favored direct disciples to at least take up his mantle to carry on his legacy.' Hua Yao declared domineeringly.
Gao Xiong's face paled visibly. Those words could not have been any clearer. Ke Cangju had obviously insinuated that he would not be leaving without Ash Cloud disciples going back with him. The Ash Cloud Peak had lost Jiang Chen Qing's protective wing and if he persisted to go against Ke Cangju, he would in turn become the one in trouble!
'This...this way please, Elder Ke.' Gao Xiong steeled his heart as he uttered those hated words.
Hua Yao nodded in satisfaction and led Jun Wuxie and Qiao Chu intrusively into the Ash Cloud Peak and walked obtrusively within.
The three of them attracted all the curious gazes from the disciples of the Ash Cloud Peak. In moments, Gao Xiong revealed Elder Ke's purpose of visit was to select disciples from among them and the news spread fast and furiously.
At that moment, the curious gazes turned to ones of fury and they all sensed the impending danger. They all knew the consequences from being selected only too well, and what Ke Cangju's true intentions were.
If chosen, and brought back to the Hidden Cloud Peak, they would only face the inescapable fate of untold torment.
All the disciples prayed, that Elder Ke would not 'grace' them with his eye.
Qiao Chu followed behind Hua Yao, looking at the disciples shrinking back in terror, he suddenly felt like a butcher about to choose livestock.
'Why do I feel like I am a villain?' Qiao Chu asked, rubbing his nose.
'If they are given a chance to retaliate, they would in turn become the villains. The reason you feel pity for them now is because we hold the upper hand now and they are victimized and can only submit themselves to our whims. If not for Huang Huiwen's ingenuity, we would be the ones persecuted and victimized instead.' Hua Yao did not feel the least bit guilty. He had come to the Qingyun Sect earlier than Qiao Chu, and in that period of a short half month, he had clearly seen the hidden hideous and ugly face of the mightiest clan throughout the lands.
The pitiful looking disciples cowering in fear before them now had been insufferably arrogant and egotistical before.
There had been several villages below the Cloudy Peaks before, but now, the villages had all disappeared and not a single person could be seen. Where had all the villagers gone? And why did they all disappear?
Within the Cloudy Peaks, every single one of them was guilty.
'You're right. If that is the case, I would choose to be the villain right from the start, and not make myself a victim if the real villains had made their move against me first instead.' Qiao Chu said laughing.
Showing compassion to the Qingyun Sect?
What a joke. Neither had the disciples of the Hidden Cloud Peak pitied the monthly new recruits who were all tormented to death by Ke Cangju, but had partaken in deeds driving them further towards their doom.
The disciples of the Qingyun Sect had all lost their conscience.
Within the whole of the Qing Yun Clan, those who had any sliver of conscience left had been killed by the supposed mightiest clan of the lands.
Hua Yao and Qiao Chu spoke in whispers and Wuxie looked at the two of them silently. She had heard their conversation and she raised an eyebrow as she continued to stare at the two youths seemingly silently thinking.
They were slightly younger than Mo Qianyuan, but it seemed that they were a tad bit more mature in thinking.
Her newfound allies this time round, might not be such a handful to handle.
They prowled around the Ash Cloud Peak for half a day, almost driving the disciples there insane in fear, before they nonchalantly picked two disciples from among them.
The two selected disciples fell to their knees immediately, faces white as sheets, tears running down their faces, their eyes pleading hopefully at Gao Xiong who stood at one side observing the events, his heart wrenching in turmoil.
Gao Xiong was just the most senior disciple under Jiang Chenqing, and he did not have the authority nor did he dare to defy the orders from Ke Cangju. Added to that fact was the loss of Jiang Chenqing protection, Gao Xiong could only look away at the two disciples' pleading eyes and maintained a stoic expression as he saw Ke Cangju out of the Ash Cloud Peak.
The two disciples were brought back to the Hidden Cloud Peak, their faces resigned and pale. When they stood before the gates to the Hidden Cloud Peak, they started trembling uncontrollably, a pitiful sight.
News of 'Ke Cangju' trip to seize disciples from the Ash Cloud Peak spread quickly throughout the Cloudy Peaks. The news reached the ears of the Elders but they did not give much reaction to it.
The Ash Cloud Peak had lost their Elder, Jiang Chenqing, and it was deemed to be expected for them to suffer the injustice.
When Jiang Chenqing was still around, the Ash Cloud Peak disciples had exploited their Elder's close relations with Qin Yue and been arrogant in their demeanor, offending many of the disciples of the other peaks.
Now that Ke Cangju's domineering ways were inflicted on those scoundrels, the other Elders thought that the Ash Cloud Peak deserved it and only felt that Ke Cangju was rather daring to target them so soon after the demise of their Elder.
But Qin Yue had always favoured Ke Cangju and the other Elders did not think much more on it.
The other peaks were spared and nonchalant but the Ash Cloud Peak disciples were still feeling jittery about the whole thing.
On the second day that the two disciples were brought to the Hidden Cloud Peak, Gao Xiong secretly tried to gather information on news of them. Ke Cangju might have claimed that they were only drafted to help out, Gao Xiong was nevertheless worried as Elder Ke was reputed to be insidious in his ways and he might very well just come back in a few days and Gao Xiong would be helpless to stop him.
So, he could only source for news of the two disciples discreetly and pray they would not meet with too miserable a fate and that would allow him to at least set the minds of the other disciples at ease a little.
After that day, the Ash Cloud Peak became very depressive. The loss of Jiang Chenqing had already thrown the disciples of the peak into disarray when the news of his demise came in, and Ke Cangju had come knocking immediately bullying the helpless peak!
Without the authority of an Elder to resist, the Ash Cloud Peak could only be coerced into obedience.
By the third day of Ke Cangju's visit to the Ash Cloud Peak, Gao Xiong stopped receiving any news of the two disciples from his sources and he knew very well what that could only mean!
Disciples who disappeared from the Hidden Cloud Peak could only mean one thing. It meant that they have been killed and their remains are currently serving as nutrients for the plants.
Gao Xiong did not try to suppress that fact and the Ash Cloud Peak disciples soon came to know about it. That was the last straw that broke the camel's back and the Ash Cloud Peak disciples were struck by their helplessness.
After losing Jiang Chenqing, the other Elders had turned a blind eye to their frailty and even the Sovereign had indulged Ke Cangju in the killing of disciples of the Qingyun Sect. The disciples now started to fear for their own safety and developed hatred for the other peaks.
They were afraid that they would turn out to be the next target and they took it out on the other Elders' and the Sovereign's indifference to their plight.
They were disciples of the Qingyun Sect just like the others. Why were they abandoned and allowed to be oppressed by Ke Cangju so openly?
The indignation and hatred festered and they soon cut off all forms of contact with the other peaks. The Ash Cloud Peak was in a state of lockdown and their disciples were never seen outside again.
They were abandoned by the clan and had received no pity or consideration for the dire plight the peak was suffering under. They refused to become sacrificial sheep for any of the other peaks to take for granted.
Just days after the injustice suffered by the Ash Cloud Peak, the other Elders who had been indifferent suddenly stopped smiling.
As Ke Cangju started to make rounds with his two disciples to appear before their gates. They had come to ask for the exact same thing as they had asked from the Ash Cloud Peak.
The first to be hit was the Cloud Banner Peak!
The Elder of the Cloud Banner Peak was Cai Zhuo, a man past fifty. Before Qin Yue took over as the Sovereign, he was already an Elder of the Qingyun Sect then. Due to his seniority, Cai Zhuo commanded quite a bit of respect among the other Elders and even Qin Yue deferred to him at times.
No one had expected that Ke Cangju would be so bold to go straight up to the Cloud Banner Peak and stand before the white bearded Cai Zhuo and snatch two disciples from right under his nose. Their domineering ways nearly made the Elder faint in rage!
Arrogance! Absolute tyranny!
The tragedy that befell the Ash Cloud Peak was replicated in the Cloud Banner Peak in just days apart! What was even more unacceptable was that Ke Cangju had seized the disciples in the face of Cai Zhuo's refusal, totally disregarding the authority of an Elder.
When the Ash Cloud Peak's disciples had been seized, the other peaks had thought it was due to the lack of an Elder's protection that Ke Cangju dared dominate over them.
But in the case of the Cloud Banner Peak, Ke Cangju's tyranny could clearly be seen!
Their Elder had been present, alive and kicking, but Ke Cangju had seized disciples right before his eyes! He acted like he owned the Cloudy Peaks!
Cai Zhuo was furious and his disciples persuaded him to go to Qin Yue. The senior Elder related Ke Cangju's arrogance and tyranny in detail to the Sovereign and pleaded till his voice went hoarse, but he still did not manage to convince Qin Yue to act against Ke Cangju.
Qin Yue only tried to appease Cai Zhuo and promised that in the next upcoming recruitment, he would allow Cai Zhuo first pick at the talents and did not say anything more about the matter.
When Cai Zhuo departed from Qin Yue's, his face became pale from his long suppressed rage and upon stepping out the gates, he dropped in a dead faint and had to be carried back to the Cloud Banner Peak by his flustered disciples!
With the Cloud Banner Peak as a prime example, the other Elders started to get worried. Ke Cangju had shown that he was capable of such atrocities and the Sovereign still chose to distant himself from the matter. Ke Cangju was hence allowed to act with impunity.
The Ash Cloud Peak and the Cloud Banner Peak were hit, and the tragedy was expected to come knocking upon their very own doors soon!
Losing a disciple or two did not affect the various Elders much. They were more concerned with the impunity that Ke Cangju was allowed to carry out his insidious deeds! Coming right up to the gates of the various peaks and seizing the Elders' disciples before their very own eyes. They could not swallow that prick to their pride!
The deeds that Ke Cangju carried out within the Hidden Cloud Peak was like an open secret within the disciples of the Qingyun Sect. If the various Elders were to allow Ke Cangju to kidnap their own disciples before themselves, they would lose all sense of credibility before their disciples. That was as good as telling their own disciples that their Teacher was useless, powerless before tyranny, and unable to even protect his own disciples!
It was a slap across the faces of the various Elders!
And enough was enough!
From that moment, the Elders started to take serious note of any whispers of movement from the Hidden Cloud Peak and all the disciples started to fear for their own safety.
But, tragedy still struck them.
Within weeks, Ke Cangju had swept through six peaks and the faces of the various Elders had all been slapped swollen by the domineering ways employed.
Ke Cangju was neither discreet nor merciful. He showed up arrogantly and carried Qin Yue's approval prominently before him, and forcibly seized disciples from before the respective Elders.
The famed and revered reputations of the Elders were shredded to pieces becoming non existent in a matter of weeks. They disciples started to eye their Elders with distrust and the Elders could do nothing but let their faces turn red in shame.
Their dignity as Elders in tatters, the respect the disciples had for their Teachers shredded, rage and hatred exploded in the Qingyun Sect. The Elders cursed at Ke Cangju incessantly in rage and hatred grew for Qin Yue for his indulgence and indifference to the sorry plight of the other Elders!
'Brother Hua, we hear you're imitating that freak for real for quite some time now.' a girl commented as in Cangju's Residence which they took over, the girls led carefree lives while helping out with housekeeping. They often have dinner together with Qiao Chu and Wuxie.
'For a disease to end, it must die at the very roots.' said Hua Yao. 'I'm here for a month before I got tortured to hell and back, and I have seen how evil these people are.' he told them. 'Before I was tortured, there were still villages below the peaks...and in a matter of days, they are gone.' he said. 'They all became test subjects like us, down to the last infant and pet dog.' the girls gasped. 'There's a cruel reason why Qingyun Sect is a Master of Medicine...that didn't come, without the inhumane suffering of victims.'
'There's villages here once?' Wuxie gaped at Hua Yao who looked solemn.
'I used to go there for supplies as I don't trust the food here...and one day, it's razed to the ground.' he said. 'So I suspected...investigated and I was right...the other villages suffered the same fate. No one here is innocent, so I'm not sparing the senior disciples either. They have all lost their humanity. Monsters.' Hua Yao told them. 'We're simply doing people a favor by getting rid of these depraved so-called doctors. This inhumanity must be repaid in kind...enjoying exploiting innocents? We will repay you with the very same inhumanity you caused upon them. Simple as that, no?' he chuckled darkly.
He also caused many of the older disciples in Hidden Cloud Peak to die, only sparing the seniors who never committed crimes and were actually fearing for their lives.
Well, they didn't know what causes many people to die in this peak. YOU WERE GOOD-LOOKING. That, was their so-called crime in the butt-ugly Ke Cangju's eyes. Those plain-faced are spared and lived in fear and hiding, too scared to even ask for the education they came here for as well as avoid the domineering, cruel favorites!
Wuxie who has a kind side to her, wrote a curriculum, and made them teachers to make Hidden Cloud Peak an actual hub of education and he played along. This got the ex-terrified seniors happier and set out to copy the books on 'his' orders to pass around to the surviving students of the peak. And she continues writing, when not committing 'disciple selection' with them and giving the disciples a nasty death.
And the terrifying kid has become a Blue spirit at a young age. Also an envious existence though she never flaunted or lorded it over. She was serious in her pursuit of medicine and her notes? Were more on healing people than poisoning people so everyone was learning something useful. Heck, he had to admit, he never thought there's so many uses for one plant alone...
xxx
While Hua Yao impersonated as Ke Cangju wrecked havoc and fanned the fire of hatred and fear throughout the sect, Wuxie had not been idle. She used the nights to develop her spiritual powers with the Embellished Wooden Bead and picked suitable herbs in the Hidden Cloud Peak to cultivate elixirs with varying effects...and put them in her notes.
Every few days, she went with Hua Yao and Qiao Chu to carry out their 'insidious deeds'. Wuxie managed to get a good grasp of the differing situations among the differing peaks as well as the different personalities of the different Elders. Some were calm, some were fiery, some gloomy, but they all fell victim to Hua Yao's tyranny as he held the banner of the Sovereign's approval of his actions high over his head, their revered reputations shredded to pieces and almost non existent.
The wave of chaos swept over and hung heavy over the Cloudy Peaks and all the disciples and even the Elders, could not find sleep well in the middle of all the mayhem.
After sowing the seeds of fear within the various peaks of many Elders, Jun Wuxie set her eyes on her last target, the Cloud Treading Peak of Mu Chen's!
The Cloud Treading Peak was the least conspicuous among the twelve peaks and it was the peak with the least number of disciples. Within the whole mountain, the total disciples number only slightly over twenty. The immense peak only housed Mu Chen and over twenty disciples all year round, and it usually looked pitifully sparse and uninhabited.
Compared to the other peaks, where they could easily round up hundreds of disciples, Mu Chen's numbers looked especially pathetic.
Mu Chen seldom accepted disciples, as he would rather not have disciples than to accept unsuitable candidates. If they did not meet the mark, he would choose to go without recruiting a single person. Added to that, Qin Yue had always suppressed Mu Chen's power secretly further adding on to the dismal situation in the Cloud Trading Peak.
'Elder Mu Chen seems to be rather different compared to the other Elders.' Qiao Chu remarked, rubbing his chin. He had lived luxuriously and reveled in the tyranny with Hua Yao as they terrorized the various peaks, and he felt his chin was getting a little rounded.
'Mmm, if the Qingyun Sect had a side that was clean, that would be only the Cloud Treading Peak. The Elder might be very young, but he is a steady and stalwart man. Righteous and everything that I had heard about him did not implicate him in any immoral or shady deeds. He is the only exception among all that I know about the other peaks.' Hua Yao nodded in agreement, as he shared the good impression he had of Mu Chen.
'Hummm...maybe we can get him to join in on the bandwagon after we get him alone.' Wuxie piped up. 'Getting him alone should be easy.'
Jun Wuxie stood at the foot of the Cloud Treading Peak and raised her head to look towards the summit.
At the summit, she seemed to be able to see a figure, dressed in blue, the robes flapping in the wind.
That man seemed to be looking in their direction.
'Can we use Mu Chen?' Hua Yao looked at the silent Wuxie. The order that the Elders were to be terrorized were chosen by her, and she had placed Mu Chen to be the last. On their way here, Wuxie had hinted with her words that made Hua Yao understand that Mu Chen was perceived to be different from the other Elders of the Qingyun Sect.
Be it his personality or circumstances, he did not fit into the Qingyun Sect at present.
'Whether he can be useful, will be his own choice, though hopefully he's useful.' Wuxie lowered her head, looking thoughtful.
Hua Yao smiled in silent agreement.
Qiao Chu laughed out loud and exclaimed: 'Let's put together our arrogant and tyrannical faces and set forth!'
The only reply he got to his boisterous exclamation were two sets of cold stares directed right at him!
Within the Cloud Treading Peak, Mu Chen stood at the summit with all his disciples around him. He eyes were resolute as he observed the slowly approaching form of Ke Cangju.
'Elder Mu, it has been a rather long time.' Hua Yao had become very good at imitating Ke Cangju's shrill cackle by now, and coupled with his sinister tone, his voice sent chills down the spine of the disciples before them.
'The Cloud Treading Peak does not welcome Elder Ke, we would request that Elder Ke depart from here.' Mu Chen's face was stoic and he did not hesitate in asking them to leave.
Wuxie observed Mu Chen silently thinking he was indeed different from the other Elders.
In the other peaks, the Elders had known of 'Ke Cangju's' intentions but had submitted to Qin Yue's approval and allowed their disciples to be sacrificed. None of them had reacted like Mu Chen, who had not immediately refused them entry and protected his disciples without any deference nor hesitation.
The disciples who stood by Mu Chen did not show any fear in their eyes but had been resolute and defiant.
'Ke Cangju' heard Mu Chen's impolite words and his sinister countenance quickly turned to be one of anger. He said sneeringly: 'Mu Chen, seeing that we are both Elders, I shall choose not to take offence with your attitude. But you should at least know your place! The purpose of my trip here to select disciples from you was the Sovereign's idea. Would you dare say your authority as an Elder overrides the Sovereign's?'
A string of curses erupted and Mu Chen's face darkened. The faces of the disciples behind Mu Chen started to turn red with anger hearing the nasty words.
'I just found out that Brother Hua is getting rather skilled at attracting hatred to himself.' Impressed by Hua Yao's ongoing tirade giving rise to the rage starting to boil over among the Cloud Treading Peak disciples, Qiao Chu could not help himself but whisper to Wuxie in praise. She can only sweatdrop at his words.
'I think so too.' Hua Yao's personality had seemed cold and unfeeling, and he had always had a poisonous tongue, and he had seemed to be capable of driving people up the wall with his gift of the gab alone.
Hua Yao continued: 'Elder Mu, I would suggest you accept our peaceful request now and not make things difficult for yourself. My task of the selection of disciples from the various peaks are under the direct orders of the Sovereign himself. The other Elders had been cooperative and I would ask our Elder Mu to not put up a futile struggle, as it is only a matter of merely two disciples.'
Mu Chen's jaw was tightly clenched and his face dark with anger. He simply replied: 'I will not accept those orders!'
Hua Yao's face became even more sinister. 'Looks like our Elder Mu is bent on defying the Sovereign's orders? Even as an Elder, defying the orders of the Sovereign is a crime even you cannot shoulder!'
After Qin Yue assumed leadership of the Qing Yun Clan as the Sovereign, the powers of the various Elders had been slowly diminished. Qin Yue soon held the power to reprimand and punish an Elder unilaterally. Moreover, Mu Chen and Qin Yue had been on bad terms and it was widely known throughout the Qingyun Sect.
Mu Chen had always laid low and avoided drawing attention to himself and the Cloud Treading Peak all this time just to avoid giving Qin Yue any excuse to act against him. But if he were to be stuck with the crime of defying the orders of the Sovereign, Qin Yue would gain a perfect reason to be rid of Mu Chen henceforth!
Everyone present was acutely aware of what Ke Cangju had meant.
Without waiting for Mu Chen to respond, Rong Heng who stood behind him stepped forward.
'Elder Ke, you need not say anymore. I'll go with you.'
Mu Chen was at a loss for words as he stared at Rong Heng who had volunteered to sacrifice himself for everyone. Soon another Cloud Treading Peak disciple stepped up as well, showing his willingness to follow Elder Ke back to the Hidden Cloud Peak.
This situation was absolutely unheard of! In the other peaks, all the disciples had stayed far away from Hua Yao, fearful that they would be chosen to go to the Hidden Cloud Peak. And the chosen ones had been completely terrified and knelt before their Teacher in pleading sobs, for the Elder to save them from their unavoidable fate.
All the disciples of the Qingyun Sect knew that if they ended up in the Hidden Cloud Peak, that would also mean the end of their lives.
But the disciples of the Cloud Treading Peak reacted differently. They knew that only death awaited them if they were to go to the Hidden Cloud Peak, but in order to prevent Qin Yue from having an excuse to lay hands on Mu Chen, they chose to sacrifice themselves and protect Mu Chen!
It made one wonder just how highly revered Mu Chen was to his disciples that they were willing to disregard their own safety and giving up their own lives for him.
Wuxie observed all this without a word and her gaze turned to Mu Chen.
The disciples were willing to die for him, what would he do?
Mu Chen grabbed Rong Heng and the other disciple and pushed them behind him before saying to Hua Yao: 'I will not allow you to take a single disciple from the Cloud Treading Peak. If you insist, you will have to do it over my dead body! Please leave, Elder Ke. Go to Qin Yue if you please, or do whatever you please in the Qingyun Sect, but I, Mu Chen will remain here, standing against you. I have said my piece, as long as I am still the Elder of the Cloud Treading Peak as the master of these disciples, nobody can force my disciples to do anything against their will!'
Mu Chen did not wait for Hua Yao to reply and just turned, pushing his disciples back. He had made his stand clear and his disciples are not to be preyed upon!
'I feel like I can grow to like Mu Chen, he's much better than those pompous hypocrites in the other peaks.' Qiao Chu watched Mu Chen leave with his disciples, giving him two thumbs up in his heart for his righteousness.
'That personality of Mu Chen would have gotten himself killed if I was the real Ke Cangju.' Hua Yao got rid of his sinister expression and reverted to his usual calm.
'Dragons have scales that go against the grain, and so do humans. Mu Chen puts up with all the oppression thrown at him but if someone presses the wrong buttons, he would not tolerate it anymore.' Wuxie was glad that Mu Chen had reacted in the way he did. If Mu Chen had acted just like the other Elders and allowed Hua Yao to bring their disciples away, she would not have considered working with him at all.
'This thing here, do I still hide it in the Cloud Treading Peak?' Qiao Chu asked, holding a little cloth bag in his hand.
Wuxie shook her head. 'We need to sit down and talk to Mu Chen. A real discussion.' she said.
'That is provided Mu Chen is still willing to see us. Seeing his reaction earlier, he looked like he was about to kill Brother Hua.' Qiao Chu did not think there was any chance of them sitting down and holding a civil conversation.
'He will see us.' Wuxie assured.
'You have a plan?' Hua Yao turned to Wuxie, feeling that the little kid had no end to ingenious ideas in his head.
Wuxie waved Hua Yao over, and Hua Yao pushed his ear over.
Soft words were whispered into his ear.
Hua Yao's eyes sparkled and said: 'This might just work.'
Moments later, Hua Yao and his disciples remained in the Cloud Treading Peak despite the earlier repeated requests for them to leave by Mu Chen. They started roaming around within the peak and the Cloud Treading Peak disciples thought they had left. They went about with their routine tasks and did not think that...
Mu Chen sat within his study, his face dark, and his clenched fists thumped hard on the table! He clenched his jaw as he stared at the securely locked doors before him, his eyes raging with hatred that threatened to explode.
Suddenly, Rong Heng stormed in in a fluster.
'Elder Mu! Elder Ke has kidnapped Little Lin back to the Hidden Cloud Peak!'
Mu Chen stood up suddenly and his chair crashed back onto the floor, utter disbelief in his eye.
Ke Cangju had carried it too far!
'Keep all the other disciples within the Cloud Treading Peak and do not allow them to step out! I am going to the Hidden Cloud Peak!' Mu Chen gritted his teeth. He had not thought that Ke Cangju could be so despicable in the face of his clear refusal. Ke Cangju had deigned to ignore him completely and forcefully abducted one of the Cloud Treading Peak's disciples!
Mu Chen could not make himself hold back any longer, the long years of suppression on served to fuel the fire that raged within his chest that was about to spew forth. After giving Rong Heng some instructions, he rushed to the Hidden Cloud Peak in the shortest time possible!
If Ke Cangju dared to harm a hair on his disciple, he will bury the whole of the Hidden Cloud Peak together with him!
xxx
Hidden Cloud Peak, Hua Yao's 'house'...
Little Lin who was drugged to sleep is wide awake, and actually entertained by the other girls.
This was the sight Mu Chen came to.
'...huh?'
He was expecting to see Lin at death's door, not playing with young girls. 'Little Lin?' he gasped in disbelief, but also in relief his disciple was OK.
'Oh, Elder Mu!' Lin chimed. 'I'm OK! When I woke up here I was told to play with the girls here and when you come, tell you to go to Elder Ke's office...that's pretty much it.'
'I'm glad you're alright...I expected the worst.' said Mu Chen in genuine relief. Little Lin smiled weakly. He knows full well the reputation of Hidden Cloud Peak, warned by EVERYONE in Elder Mu's peak...he thought he would die, until this.
'Me too...something's going on here but the girls here seem happy...dunno why.' nodding, Mu Chen went to Cangju's Office.
'What is going on here?' was his first demand. He was worried for his disciple, but he was also shocked at the change in Huang Huiwen, the boy who has a unique way of refining pills and invented his first pill, the Flesh-Recovery Pill. He seemed to be a bright youth aiming for a specific specialization. But now that he was taken by Ke Cangju...has his personality already taken a drastic shift in the hell that was Hidden Cloud Peak?
In the first few days, he had been worried for Huang Huiwen, afraid that the prodigious petite youth would suffer under the tormenting hand of Ke Cangju. But before long, Ke Cangju had brought Huang Huiwen and another disciple to frequently go around the various peaks. That was when Mu Chen realized that his worry had been unfounded. Ke Cangju might be malicious and cruel, but the petite youth's ability in Medicine was rare and extremely hard to come by. It was a relief that even Ke Cangju would hesitate to destroy a genius that had joined the Qingyun Sect.
His skill, other elders tried replicating to no avail, they have no clue where they're going wrong actually...even he tried but he just gets an ashy mess! There must be some trick! But alas, his skills wasted with this monster!
'Oya oya, shouldn't you be glad your disciple is playing with the girls outside.' Hua Yao chuckled as Mu Chen can then hear bones snap, and to Mu Chen's disbelief, he became a rather pretty-faced youth, after what seems to be a disturbing sight of transformation of bone-snapping and flesh-reforming!
Mu Chen could not speak for a long while as he had never met anyone who could change the structure of his bones at will.
'Where is Ke Cangju?'
'Dead of course.' Hua Yao smirked. 'How else am I pretending to be that ugly bastard?'
The reveal that Ke Cangju is dead shocked him. How? He can't be easy to kill...poor cultivation he may have, but he makes up for it in spades with poison only he knew how to treat. Hidden Cloud Peak's specialty, was poison! When he was younger, he had thought to kill Ke Cang Ju in revenge for his father's cold blooded murder, but Ke Cangju's arsenal of poisons had prevented him from carrying it out. How did they easily kill him, when no elder before could NOT?
He didn't know whether to be amazed or not, too.
'Mu Chen, you hate Qin Yue?' Wuxie asked suddenly.
Mu Chen's eyes turned cold, and he bit his lip, remaining silent.
'If you are presented with an opportunity to exact revenge for your mercilessly murdered father, what would you do?' Wuxie continued.
Mu Chen's eyes showed confusion. He had no idea where her words were leading to. Then his lips pursed
'I know that Qin Yue had always wanted to get rid of me. Ke Cangju had helped him with the murder of my father then. What is going on and what do you kids want?'
'I want the Qingyun Sect to disappear from the face of these lands.' Wuxie said softly. 'They tried to commit a heinous crime against what I cared for.'
Mu Chen's eyes bulged, speechless in his disbelief, and wondering if he had just heard the words correctly.
The petite youth wanted the Qingyun Sect obliterated!? And who was it in the clan who tried to commit a crime against his...family?
As just for the fact that Wuxie had killed Ke Cangju, she had become his benefactor, who had exact revenge for his father's merciless murder on his behalf!
'Your intention to wipe out the Qingyun Sect might not happen so easily as Qin Yue is very careful of his own protection. All the resident experts invited reside within his the Blue Cloud Peak that he commands and even if a blue leveled spirit expert attacks him, it would only bring him death. Unless you have a purple leveled spirit user with you, you would not be able to even get close to him, much less to kill him.' Mu Chen's brows were furrowed. If Qin Yue could be so easily killed, he would not have had to put up with so many years of suppression.
'These all not of concern to us. The number of expert exponents present would not change anything in our plans.' Qiao Chu grumbled from the side. Even Ke Cangju who was so highly proficient in poison had crumbled before Wuie without him needing to raise a single blade. How difficult could it be to take on the all brawn and no brains experts?
Mu Chen turned to Qiao Chu incredulously.
'You do not need to do anything to have Qin Yue killed, I will handle that. Even for the annihilation of the Qingyun Sect, there is not much that you need to do. You will only need to fan the emotions of the other Elders into a frenzy, and that will be enough. Its what we're doing. We ruin Qin Yue first, before the final blow.' Wuxie said slowly. With Hua Yao's perfect impersonation of Ke Cangju, he had saved her a lot of effort and she did not need to execute the plans she initially had with Mu Chen anymore.
Getting Mu Chen involved would smoothen the progress of their ploy, and it was because Mu Chen's Cloud Treading Peak was the only saving grace that had remained clean within the thoroughly rotted Qingyun Sect. Wuxie's plan might have been to wipe out the whole Qingyun Sect, but she held her principles near. She would not harm the innocents.