Chapter 6. Tianjian Sect Discipline

After more than ten days of travel, Xin Jiao Zhou and Feng Yan arrived at Tianjian Mountain.

Before they even reached the sect gates, the various branch leaders had already come from afar to welcome them.

“Sect Leader!” All the branch leaders called out in unison, except for Feng Yan who was standing right beside Xin Jiao Zhou.

Although their thoughts differed, they all maintained a friendly and united appearance at this moment.

Xin Jiao Zhou didn’t give them a single glance, made no extra movements, and headed straight for the towering mountain gate ahead.

Seeing this, the crowd immediately dispersed into two groups, tactfully clearing a wide path.

Xin Jiao Zhou walked expressionlessly along the path, the fluttering sound of her clothes being the only response to those behind her.

Inside the Tianjian Sect, the personal maid Fei Yun had already calculated her master’s steps and prepared everything accordingly.

After Xin Jiao Zhou and Feng Yan returned to their respective chambers to bathe and change clothes, they relaxed together over dinner in the Sect Leader’s quarters.

Meanwhile, some people couldn’t wait any longer in their own rooms.

The woman in the main seat lowered her head, caressing the dragon head on the armrest of the grand chair. Her expression was enigmatic, showing neither joy nor anger. For a long time, she showed no signs of speaking.

She had time to maintain this state, but those seated below her didn’t have the patience to wait any longer.

“Branch Leader Hua,” the Mingjing Branch Leader spoke first.

With a suggestive look, she hinted obscurely, “The Sect Leader is…?”

“How did the Sect Leader return safely?” the Yemeng Branch Leader completed the unfinished sentence of the Mingjing Branch Leader.

“We’ve entrusted our lives and fortunes to Branch Leader Hua, is this how casually you handle matters?” the Shengyu Branch Leader asked loudly, suppressing the anger in her heart.

The people below spoke one after another, indirectly expressing their dissatisfaction. Yet the person seated above remained unmoved.

Receiving no response from the other party, the hall fell silent after a moment.

“Have you all finished speaking?” Hua Yin spoke softly.

“That demon has indeed been poisoned by us,” Hua Yin affirmed, giving everyone a reassuring pill.

She paused, first sweeping her calm gaze over the seated crowd below, letting everyone calm down with her, then continued, “Seeing how intimate she is with that despicable Feng, always whispering in each other’s ears, I estimate she doesn’t know how he has betrayed her yet.”

As she finished speaking, a dark light flashed in Hua Yin’s eyes, and she contentedly curled her lips and tapped the dragon head with her fingers.

That demon wasn’t worth their effort to deal with. That despicable Feng was much more troublesome than them.

They only needed to stabilize the current situation, and when the two were at each other’s throats, they would cast the net…

Hua Yin slowly gathered her fingers, and the others understood.

The group’s expressions were pleased.

Compared to what Feng Yan had done, what they had done was nothing.

With one sentence, Hua Yin had stabilized the precarious situation that was extremely unfavorable to her; the crowd that had just been secretly worried, hesitant and shaken in their resolve, and questioned her aggressively, now put their minds at ease and became even more determined to unite against the enemy.

“Branch Leader Hua truly has great wisdom! In this way…” Recalling her own recent actions, the Shengyu Branch Leader was the first to praise.

The other branch leaders echoed in agreement.

After a round of flattery, everyone enthusiastically began to discuss the next steps, completely returning to their previous united front against a common enemy, tacitly “forgetting” the earlier tension…

“When the Sect Leader learns the truth, she will surely be furious. At that time, you and I will step forward to beg for punishment. Using ‘May the Sect Leader forgive us’ as a signal, we’ll present the witness, which will surely make the Sect Leader believe without doubt, forcing that despicable Feng down from the position of branch leader in one fell swoop.”

“Let’s see if he can still order us around and show off in front of us like before!”

“Indeed. Although we’re all branch leaders, we’ve always been a step below him. Why should that be?”

The three branch leaders were full of confidence in this plan and left the Fenghua Branch with high spirits…

The next morning at the assembly.

After reporting the basic affairs, the crowd below the great hall showed no signs of withdrawing.

Hua Yin’s faction began to sow discord in the great hall according to plan.

“Sect Leader, you don’t know how arrogant the Haoyue Branch has been since you left. They’ve almost climbed over your head.”

“Yes, yes,” another person chimed in, “It’s not just climbing over your head. My subordinates have heard that the people of the Haoyue Branch are saying that their Branch Leader Feng will soon be the Sect Leader of Tianjian Sect.”

“…”

The people below spoke one after another, causing Xin Jiao Zhou, seated above, to frown as she listened.

“Sect Leader, this subordinate has something to report to you, but I first want to ask for a guarantee from the Sect Leader. Otherwise, I fear I might not be able to leave this Sujian Hall later.”

The one speaking was the Mingjing Branch Leader, Mo Jing.

“If you’re afraid, then there’s no need to speak,” a cold voice came down from above.

Mo Jing was stunned upon hearing this. This reaction was vastly different from what they had anticipated at yesterday’s meeting.

Unable to discern their Sect Leader’s attitude, she didn’t know how to react for a moment.

The Yemeng Branch Leader stepped forward to take over, continuing to push forward, “Sect Leader, you don’t know that during your absence, Feng Yan, relying on your previous trust in him, has been running rampant in the sect with the Haoyue Branch, throwing his weight around. Not only that, this subordinate has also heard…”

She deliberately dragged out her words, trying to pique Xin Jiao Zhou’s interest.

However, Xin Jiao Zhou had no intention of giving her face and showed no reaction to this.

The Yemeng Branch Leader had no choice but to continue on her own, but thinking about what was about to happen, her enthusiasm didn’t diminish but increased. She said excitedly, “This subordinate has also heard that the Jiaoyue Branch has been… in frequent contact with the other three branches recently.”

After that, the incident of the Sect Leader being seriously injured and leaving the sect, whereabouts unknown, occurred.

The implications were intriguing, and didn’t need to be spelled out to be understood.

The Yemeng Branch Leader intentionally left her words unfinished, her reticent attitude more effective than if she had spoken everything.

Though the words were incomplete, her meaning was crystal clear.

She believed that the Sect Leader must have guessed what she was going to say next.

“Who did you hear this from?” The esteemed leader on the high seat spoke, but from a completely unexpected and tricky angle.

Fenghua Branch Leader: “?”

Mingjing Branch Leader: “?”

Yemeng Branch Leader: “?”

Shengyu Branch Leader: “?”

Even Feng Yan, as the Jiaoyue Branch Leader: “?”

Wasn’t the focus supposed to be on him colluding with the other three branch leaders to rebel, harming the master and attempting to usurp power?

Feng Yan had already prepared himself for a verbal battle against the group, but the seated person’s single question blocked the words at the tip of his tongue. He could only swallow them back and continue to watch the show.

He didn’t need to lift a finger, or even open his mouth.

“…”

The great hall fell silent for a moment.

Those still with their wits about them immediately reacted, hurriedly prostrating themselves and calling out, “May the Sect Leader forgive us!”

The Yemeng Branch Leader finally reacted, kneeling down with a “thud”, her head hitting the ground with a muffled sound. She immediately cried out, “May the Sect Leader forgive us!”

Below, people knelt in a flurry, but Xin Jiao Zhou didn’t even raise an eyelid. She neither spoke to punish nor to forgive, just quietly sat in her high position, lightly rubbing her temple with her index finger, as if waiting for something.

The Mingjing Branch’s guard, waiting outside for the signal to enter the hall and assist, heard the signal – “May the Sect Leader forgive us” – and walked in with his people.

Xin Jiao Zhou’s gaze swept lightly downwards.

The people below were as silent as cicadas in winter, no one daring to make any rash moves.

What happened next made the Yemeng Branch Leader wish she could turn back time and personally pull out that little servant’s tongue, use a poisoned needle to seal her mouth, so that she could never speak again.

But clearly, she couldn’t do that.

The person had already taken the stage.

The little servant, who had been outside the door thinking about her future success after climbing to a high branch, was as excited as a fighting cock. But upon entering and seeing the real person, she was so frightened she barely dared to breathe. Her legs trembled, her voice shook as she spoke, her words jumbled and stuttering, “This… this slave… is… is a gate guard from Branch Leader Feng’s branch…”

The gist of it was that while on duty, she had seen people from the other three branches entering and leaving the Haoyue Branch.

After saying what she had been instructed to say, she cautiously looked at the person kneeling at the front of the great hall, finding it to be the Yemeng Branch Leader. Although confused, she remembered her master’s pre-event teaching to “know how to adapt on the spot”, so she continued, “This… this slave was worried about the Sect Leader, afraid… afraid that the Sect Leader might be deceived by treacherous people, so… so I didn’t hesitate to bear the name of ‘disloyal’ to… to testify for Mo… Yemeng Branch Leader…”

The little servant’s testimony was finally complete.

The hall fell into dead silence…

The person seated above was also silent for a moment.

“Oh?”

One word made the hearts of those kneeling below leap.

“The Yemeng Branch Leader truly says one thing and means another,” said Xin Jiao Zhou.

The title “Yemeng Branch Leader” made the Yemeng Branch Leader no longer pay attention to Xin Jiao Zhou’s subsequent words.

Thinking of what she was about to face, she broke out in a cold sweat, her clothes soaked through in an instant. Her body, unable to control its trembling due to fear, could no longer maintain a proper kneeling posture, and she slumped directly onto the ground.

“So it turns out that the Yemeng Branch is the one truly on good terms with the Haoyue Branch, even the small servants of the Haoyue Branch are so close to the Yemeng Branch’s guards,” the person above continued.

Xin Jiao Zhou’s thin lips curled slightly, her fingers tapping twice, as if she had thought of something interesting: “It seems there must be something that would make the Yemeng Branch Leader act this way. So it turns out the Yemeng Branch Leader was jealous of the Haoyue Branch’s interactions with other branches.”

The person above closed her eyes and raised her hand to rub her temples.

Unable to fathom the reason for Xin Jiao Zhou’s words, Hua Yin and the Shengyu Branch Leader, deep in thought, were extremely cautious in their words and actions, both kneeling without daring to move.

Only Mo Jing thought she had grasped a lifeline. Eager to clear herself, she hastily agreed with Xin Jiao Zhou, getting even more into the act than the speaker herself: “Yes, yes.”

Mo Jing even added dramatically with a coquettish complaint: “Branch Leader Meng is being so petty.”

Xin Jiao Zhou turned her head to look at this fool, feigning confusion: “Hmm? But why was it the guard from Mo Branch Leader’s branch who brought this witness?”

Seeing Xin Jiao Zhou turn the topic back to herself, Mo Jing’s mind went blank, and her vision turned white.

Ignoring the stunned Mo Jing, Xin Jiao Zhou lowered her eyes and rested her chin on her hand. After appearing to think for a moment, as if she had realized something, she raised her eyes slightly and said, “Has the Tianjian Sect fallen so low in these days of my absence? Are there so few sect members that even branch leaders need to borrow from each other?”

“…”

No one kneeling below dared to respond.

Feng Yan stood quietly to the side. He knew she had no use for him now. The others were not capable of making decisions in such a situation. Their subordinates thus followed their masters’ lead and stood quietly watching the show. As for Hua Yin’s faction, even if they understood now, they had to pretend to be confused.

Xin Jiao Zhou lost her teasing mood and withdrew her gaze.

The hall suddenly turned cold.

Fei Yun, at her side, received her master’s signal and without delay, clapped her hands.

Instantly, a group of people emerged from various corners inside and outside the great hall, orderly escorting away the people from the Mingjing and Yemeng branches.

“Discipline your own people.”

Xin Jiao Zhou threw down these words and left with a swish of her sleeves.

“Yes.” Feng Yan bowed deeply, respectfully saluting Xin Jiao Zhou’s retreating figure.

The few who had originally plotted, how could they not understand now.