Chapter 79
The current Jian Ge simply can't withstand any more turmoil.
Resources are dwindling, barely enough to support others.
Li Qingran didn't understand why she still needed to confirm her identity; she just held onto hope and obediently followed Su Qinian to the ancestral hall.
The ancestral hall of Jian Ge was already quite old.
Yet, it was kept remarkably clean inside.
Li Qingran noticed a female sword cultivator sweeping the yard, which was littered with fallen leaves. Dressed in simple white robes, her long, slender figure bathed in the morning light, her fair cheeks seemed to glow with a soft halo, as if time had left no trace on her face.
In a daze, Li Qingran felt as if time itself had merged with this ethereal sword cultivator.
“Senior Sister Lin,” Su Qinian greeted the female sword cultivator with a slight bow.
This was the first time Li Qingran had seen the usually composed Sect Master with such a serious expression.
“Hmm.” The female sword cultivator merely nodded lightly, seemingly indifferent to their arrival. Su Qinian didn’t explain who Senior Sister Lin was to Li Qingran, and instead led her quickly into the ancestral hall.
Inside, the hall was filled with memorial tablets. Compared to the dilapidated hall, each tablet was polished to a shine, as if they had just been placed there not long ago.
Unconsciously, Li Qingran thought of the transcendent figure in the yard, the one Su Qinian referred to as Senior Sister. Surely, she must be the one who meticulously cared for these tablets, keeping them gleaming like new.
Su Qinian lit three incense sticks and placed them in the incense burner, bowing three times before the tablets. He turned to Li Qingran and said, “Let’s split up and search. Remember, don’t touch the tablets—just look, don’t touch!”
Li Qingran tightened her lips and nodded, “Don’t worry, I won’t touch anything!”
“Good. You’re obedient, so I won’t keep an eye on you.”
The ancestral hall had more than one level. Su Qinian swayed his way up to the second floor, thinking he could just play it by ear.
After all, he remembered that there was no ancestor or elder of Jian Ge named Chen Huai'an.
Li Qingran searched carefully within the hall, growing increasingly anxious.
Especially when she couldn’t find her master’s name among the tablets of the Chen lineage.
Time ticked by.
Su Qinian descended from the top of the hall, and seeing Li Qingran’s anxious face, he felt a pang of sympathy but steeled himself to say, “So, did you find your master’s tablet? If not, maybe I remembered it wrong. Ah—! It happens when you get old; sometimes memories get jumbled.”
Li Qingran continued searching, ignoring him.
She even went back to the tablets that Su Qinian had already ‘checked.’
Her eyes were red, lips pressed tightly together, determined to inspect every single one again.
Su Qinian didn’t stop her, just patiently continued, “Qingran, even if your master isn’t our Sect’s Grand Elder, I’ll find a way to help him. You don’t need to…”
“I found it!”
Her jubilant voice cut off Su Qinian’s unfinished sentence.
“What?!” Su Qinian turned around in disbelief.
Li Qingran was tightly clutching a tablet, tears glistening at the corners of her reddened eyes, her face breaking into a relieved smile. “Disciple, disciple found Master’s tablet!”
…
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Chapter 84: Isn’t this three zeros? (Fei Ding +1)
“Ugh—! This doesn’t make sense! It shouldn’t be like this!”
Su Qinian tugged at his beard again, utterly perplexed.
“So, Sect Master, is it Master’s tablet?” Li Qingran looked at Su Qinian with eager eyes, her hands nervously clutching her skirt.
The Sect Master had been scrutinizing the tablet for over ten minutes.
Could there really be another issue?
“Well, how should I put this?”
Su Qinian pulled his gaze away from the tablet, his expression complicated.
The tablet read “Chen something An,” with one character missing in the middle.
Li Qingran’s master was named Chen Huai'an, but with a character missing, he couldn’t be sure this tablet belonged to Chen Huai'an. Yet, Li Qingran’s master had claimed to be a Grand Elder of Jian Ge…
Su Qinian was utterly confused.
His memory told him there was no Grand Elder named Chen Huai'an in Jian Ge.
But the tablet indicated that there was indeed an ancestor named Chen something An.
Because this tablet was placed at the very top, and due to the missing character, combined with his lack of memory of Chen Huai'an, he had simply overlooked it. If Li Qingran hadn’t gone back to check the tablets he had already seen, he might have missed it entirely.
Could it be that when he joined the sect, this elder named Chen something An had really gone out traveling?
Had his offhand remark turned out to be true?!
Su Qinian took the tablet to find the female sword cultivator outside, and Li Qingran hurriedly followed.
“Senior Sister Lin, you joined the sect before me. Do you remember an elder named Chen something An?”
The woman in white turned at his words, her beautiful face darkening. She drew her sword from its sheath and tapped it against Su Qinian’s head. “Who told you to mess with the tablets in the ancestral hall? Do you want to get hit?”
Su Qinian, the Sect Master, dared not retaliate.
He simply lowered his head and endured the scolding from Senior Sister Lin.
…
“An ancestor with the surname Chen, I do have some impression, but I’ve forgotten the exact name.” Lin Yuxi respectfully placed the tablet back in its position and turned to the two younger disciples, saying lightly:
“That ancestor left long ago to travel. He was a brother to our master’s master. This tablet is quite old; the disciple who used to guard the hall didn’t do well, and a mischievous beast from the sect scratched it, which is why the middle character is missing.”
Su Qinian felt a wave of darkness wash over him.
He hadn’t expected his casual remark to turn out to be true.
“Is there any other information about that elder?” He wanted to confirm further.
“Hmm…” Lin Yuxi frowned in thought and said, “That ancestor did leave behind a saying, inscribed on the stone tablet of Wan Jian Peak.”
“Wait, that saying on the Wan Jian Peak stone tablet was left by the ancestor with the surname Chen?” Su Qinian was greatly surprised. “I thought it was left by our master.”
“The disciple hasn’t had the chance to go to Wan Jian Peak yet. May I ask what it says?”
“I don’t mind telling you.” Su Qinian paused, stroking his beard. “It’s just eight short words, yet they carry immense power, perfectly encapsulating the sword intent cultivated at Wan Jian Peak—‘When the heavens collapse, only one sword remains!’”
Su Qinian shook his head, lost in the pride of those words.
Li Qingran blinked, her gaze wavering.
Though the words were powerful, they didn’t sound like something her master would say; her master’s words had a more ethereal quality.
But that didn’t matter.
The past master was the past master.
The current master is the current master.
So much time has passed, and her master has experienced more; it’s normal for his words to differ slightly from before.
“That settles it.” Su Qinian clapped his hands, summarizing. “Li Qingran, your master Chen Huai'an isn’t our sect’s Grand Elder, but he is an ancestor. He may have held the position of Elder when he left the sect, and now it’s not appropriate to discuss his status in Jian Ge, so he told you he was a Grand Elder.”
Li Qingran didn’t respond.
In fact, her master hadn’t told her; she had asked.
“Since your master is one of our Jian Ge’s ancestors, this matter must be handled properly. Go back and ask your master where he is now and what poison he’s afflicted with. Jian Ge will spare no expense to find the antidote, even if it means exhausting our resources!”
Su Qinian spoke with determination, truly ready to go all out.
Not to mention Jian Ge’s spirit of not giving up on any disciple.
Just the weight of the title “ancestor of Jian Ge” was worth them selling everything to save him.
If they could rescue this ancestor of Jian Ge, what was the Qingyun Sect to them?
They would charge straight into the Qingyun Sect.
Digging up all their spirit stones, letting their guardian beast mate with the mother snake of the Qingyun Sect—would the Qingyun Sect dare to say a word against it? Would they?!
“Ha ha ha!”
Su Qinian thought of something amusing and laughed like a true sword cultivator.
“Su Qinian! You meddled with the ancestor’s tablet; go to the Law Enforcement Hall and receive a hundred lashes.”
A cold voice rang out from behind, startling Su Qinian into a shiver.
“Oh dear, Senior Sister, I’m already the Sect Master, so…”
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