Still lots to do. Everyone's getting prepared for the trip to South Xinjiang, requesting the three sects to return some personal belongings, and so on. They were all running around, barely touching the ground.
Qi Xiu was planning to ask for the memorial tablets of the previous sect leaders, but unexpectedly, that Elder Qin personally delivered them.
"Honor them well!" He said only this one sentence and then turned and left.
Another night fell, with almost everything more or less arranged. Qi Xiu felt sore all over. That clean sweep from An Qi had left him with just superficial injuries. Though not serious, they were really quite nauseous
Lighting a few incense, he sat by the lamp and started carving his master's wooden memorial tablet, stroke by stroke.
Staring at the tiny flickering flame of the oil lamp, with the room filled with sandalwood fragrance, Qi Xiu gazed silently at the freshly carved memorial tablet in his hand. His thoughts drifted back to the small room where he had spent fifteen years.
The wooden door, the finger monkey, a few scrolls of scriptures — he had stayed there for fifteen years, as if his existence was merely a pawn for the sect, placed wherever the sect needed.
He accepted it all, never questioning.
"Was it wrong for me to follow my master's instructions? Is the current state of the sect only because a few elders colluded with outsiders? Are the disciples all selfish and scheming by nature? Were they born this way?" Qi Xiu pondered as he contemplated the future of the sect from the position of the sect leader. He felt like he had entered a new realm; his thoughts and considerations were now markedly different from before.
"Senior Brother Qi, oh no, I mean, Sect Leader Qi. I've finished packing," came a slightly childish voice from behind.
Qi Xiu didn't turn around. "Got it," he said calmly. "We'll be heading to South Xinjiang tomorrow, so get some good rest tonight."
"Yes, Sect Leader," the young voice said respectfully before tiptoeing out of the room.
All this sudden respect and obedience, with everyone calling me 'Sect Leader,' made his heart swell with warmth and a bit intoxicated.
So this is what it feels like to be a sect leader! he thought to himself. Though he knew he had to remind himself not to get lost in the temptation of power, he had to admit that he really enjoyed this feeling."
"Sect Leader, Senior Sister Qin is here again," Zhan Yuan reported from outside the door.
Qi Xiu immediately felt a headache coming on, but there was no choice—he had to go out and meet her.
This time, Sister Qin didn't bring the group of female disciples who usually followed her around like shadows, nor did she bring the crying baby that could irritate even the Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Instead, she brought a young boy of about ten years old. She seemed to have been crying; her eyes were red. Unexpectedly, she didn't mention anything about the position of sect leader. Rather, she entrusted the boy to Qi Xiu, asking him to take him to South Xinjiang.
After a few instructions for Qi Xiu to take good care of the child, she took her leave. This left Qi Xiu feeling oddly uncomfortable.
The boy's surname was Qin; his name was Wei Yu, twelve years old, and he hadn't started growing taller yet. He belonged to a distant collateral branch of the Qin family, with no close blood relation to Sister Qin or those living in the main residence.
Originally, as an outer disciple in second-level Qi Condensation with three mediocre Soul Roots, he had been coerced by Elder Qin to join the Three Sects.
However, Senior Sister Qin had bargained herself and the few female cultivators into joining the Three Sects as a condition to get him out of it.
Is she trying to preserve a glimmer of hope for the Qin family? Why did she choose him?
The boy had mixed Soul Roots and seemed somewhat slow-witted, not appearing to have any potential. Qi Xiu just couldn't figure out the answer.
Qi Xiu had Zhan Yuan take the boy downstairs to rest.
I'll treat everyone the same. As for what will happen after my death... it's too early to think about that.
Just as Qi Xiu lay down in his clothes, wanting to sleep, another Qin family member came to visit. This time, the person entered the room directly, and Zhan Yuan outside didn't notice a thing.
"It's you!"
Qi Xiu was startled to see who had come—it was none other than Qin Si Yuan! He had changed out of the red robe of the Chu Qin Sect and was now wearing a lake-blue long robe.
With his tall body standing gracefully and his handsome features and his slightly androgynous air, he looked like someone straight out of a painting.
Qin Si Yuan's personality might have been spoiled by their master. He did things very directly and didn't really consider the consequences.
With a thump of sound, a pile of cultivation materials was dumped out of Qin Si Yuan's storage pouch, crashing onto the floor and forming a small mountain as high as the table.
"These things were left to me by our master. I've taken all the valuable ones as my dowry to bring into the An family. As for these leftovers that aren't worth much, I figured I might as well give them to you. I have no use for them and can't be bothered to sell them. Consider it repayment for all those things you gave me before. As for this..." Qin Siyen said and he kicked aside the materials on the ground, revealing a crimson jade formation plate.
"This is a central part of our mountain's protective formation. Without it, the formation on Chu Qin Mountain can only operate at half its strength. Since Elder Qin dared to shut down the formation, I dared to dismantle it. Let's see who goes further!
"You can take this formation plate to South Xinjiang and sell it to the Three Sects for a big price. If they refuse to buy it, destroy it. Either way, it'll bother them. If they ask, blame it on me. Now that I'm backed by the An family, I'm not afraid of them. Haha..."
He chuckled nonchalantly, uttered a few more irrelevant things with a mind that jumped around, and just like he arrived, Qin Si Yuan disappeared without a trace.
Qi Xiu stared at the pile of stuff on the floor, feeling somewhat dumbfounded. If you say that this so-called fourth-generation Sect Leader of Chu Qin Sect was sensible, how could someone in his right mind give up the position of sect leader just to be a good son-in-law? If you say he wasn't sensible....what was that just now?
"Never mind, never mind!"
Qi Xiu placed the crimson jade formation plate into his storage pouch, then went out to quietly call in Zhang Shishi and Zhan Yuan. The three of them spent the entire night sorting through the items, packing the valuable ones into Qi Xiu's storage pouch.
The rest had to be packed into wooden crates and sealed with talismans.
In truth, they were mostly low-grade elixirs and talismans, without a single valuable item, as Si Yuan had already picked through and taken what he deemed worthwhile.
But these things were still all essential items for the sect, such as the Clear Mind Talisman that could help low-level Qi Condensation cultivators avoid Qi Deviation and the Return of Spring Elixir used to treat damage from elemental techniques.
Zhang Shishi and Zhan Yuan were quite happy to see the sect gain this much resources.
Qi Xiu hadn't hid the fact that he had a storage pouch from them, but he hadn't told anyone about the existence of the Foundation Establishment Pill either.
None of the people going to South Xinjiang, including Qi Xiu himself, had much hope of reaching the Establishment stage, but Qi Xiu hadn't made up his mind yet on how to handle the pill.
Another sleepless night passed.
As the first rays of sunlight touched the glazed tiles of the Chu Qin Mountain's Sect Hall, an enormous snake-headed, bird-bodied spirit beast landed on the public square.
"The Chu family's here! It's time to leave..."
Qi Xiu and his nine disciples, carrying large bags, climbed up the ladder onto the back of the second-rank flying beast, the Wind Lizard Goose.
Chu Youyan waited solemnly until everyone was on board, then gave a whistle. The Wind Lizard Goose flapped its wings and soared into the sky.
In Qi Xiu's vision, the new plaque on the Sect Hall of Chu Qin Mountain grew smaller and smaller. "Spreading Blossom Sect," he thought. "Why did the three sects choose such a weird new name?..."
With these thoughts, Qi Xiu bid farewell to Chu Qin Mountain, the place that had bound him for more than twenty years.