Yu Tangming looked at the mug in front of her distastefully. As Lin Yang had expected, she was rather straight-laced.

“Don't you have tea?” she asked.

Elder Bai turned a glare so fierce on her she was forced to try a sip. She scrunched her face in obvious displeasure afterwards. Not everyone could handle the bitterness after all. Or the headiness.

“It was your friend who decided to open the cask, wasn't it? And no, there is no damn tea!”

Lin Yang found the whole situation funny somehow. Elder Bai wasn't even truly angry. It didn't take him long to brew his alcohol, and he had array formations for aging it and the whole process. He was truly a genius when it came to that. If anything, Lin Yang felt Bai Qingling was smiling internally.

“This little girl will probably go to Luoyin hall. The other two, hmm… I guess it will depend on their ability.”

“They are really strong,” Yu Tangming shot up from her seat to say.

“I don't think the elder meant that they weren't strong. Rather, I think he is interested in them,” Lin Yang explained.

“Oh,” she said, getting back to her seat.

“So?” Bai Qingling asked. “What's this momentous problem you found on your first day in the outer sect?”

“It's about the outer sect elder Hao Feng,” Lin Yang started. Then he remembered that the system always said he was called Luo Feng. 

Although that was curious, there was no evidence for it, and Lin Yang didn't even know what it meant. But at least there was evidence of the man's wrong doings.

Bai Qingling was a great listener, when he detoxified himself. He sat and listened patiently as Yu Tangming told, and Yu Mo demonstrated with ever grander hand gestures, what had been going on in the outers sect for months, if not years.

After they were done, Bai Qingling let out a long sigh. Then he grabbed his cup, tried to resist, but ended up unable to. He threw it back and took a big gulp.

“This is a bad time to discover this kind of thing,” he said dejectedly.

“What? Why?” Three different voices - except Ru Gou's, who was already sleeping - said in unison.

“You have seen the council, Xiao Lin? You know things aren't as harmonious as we like to pretend they are. Now the matriarch is so injured that external threats are starting to circle. We are even considering changing leadership!”

Lin Yang’s brain froze for a second. Then the dam burst open and ushered forth a flood. Wasn't his master the heir? With her absent, was someone truly trying to usurp the sect? Why did he even care so much?

“But master…” he said slowly.

“We are hoping news of your injury will convince her to cut her journey short.”

“But I don't understand,” Tangming interrupted. “Can't you just use your authority as a member of the elder council? He is just the outer sect elder.”

“It's not that easy. That guy is quite chummy with the grand elder. In the elder council, the first and second elders unconditionally support the grand elder. The third elder is neutral. Me and my sister of course support the matriarch. When my sister becomes the sect master though, she will have only me for support… 

“Anyway, the grand elder's faction is quite strong currently. We can't do anything forceful. The best I can do is report this to her. It might take sometime for her to take action. I'm sure she has the sect's best interests at heart, but given how close this guy is to her, I don't think he'll get more than a little slap to the wrist.”

“That's contradictory,” Lin Yang said with an ugly expression taking shape on his face. The grand elder, Su Liang. It was she who wanted the sect master seat, wasn't it? “You said she has the sect's best interest at heart, but she won't punish him severely?”

Bai Qingling took another sip from his cup. “Listen kid, if your sister hurt someone, say took out their eye, and you knew she was in the wrong, would you take out her eye? Just to be fair?”

Lin Yang furrowed his brow. He also ended up taking a big swig from his cup at that. 

“When there are personal feelings involved, there will be a kind of bias. If it was any other time, I would push it. But if we try to push it at such a volatile time, Su Liang would push back. She might even refuse to suppress him. My advise to you guys? Keep your heads down. Soon that elder Hao will have to act cautiously. At least until the next test.”

Yu Tangming and Lin Yang shared a helpless look. At some point, Lin Yang's nightmare scenario had started somehow.

He wanted these three guys to get into the inner sect. They were too talented not to. He was very invested in getting them to the inner sect, but what could he do now?

In the end, he joined Yu Mo and elder Bai in the heavy drinking. After that all three of them joined Ru Gou on the tiny mattress, sleeping horizontally, their legs on the cold stone floor.

Ripple points obtained (fury): 0.0001 (Zhou Pingxin)

Ripple points obtained (fury): 0.0001 (Zhou Pingxin)

Ripple points obtained (fury): 0.0001 (Zhou Pingxin)

One after another, the notifications came, and they were what finally woke him. Zhou Pingxin, he read the name. So his master had finally heard of his predicament? And she was angry. 

No, she was furious.

It was already light outside, though barely, so Lin Yang decided to extricate himself from the awkward body pile. Looking down at them, he sighed, wondering what this new day would bring. 

He washed his face outside the hut, and rinsed his mouth as well. 

“Are you heading to the elder's pavilion?” Tangming's voice suddenly called out from somewhere behind him.

He turned around sharply, but soon relaxed. 

“Couldn't sleep?” he asked her instead.

“Yeah. I'm worried…”

Lin Yang grimaced at that. It was mostly his fault these guys were in this situation. If not for him, maybe they would have managed to hide a little longer. Maybe they would not be on Hao Feng’s radar by now.

He shook his head to clear it from the fog. Nothing mattered this morning except for breaking into a grave. He tried to convince himself.

Tangming's gaze burnt a hole through his back the whole time, until he was out of her sight. He clenched his teeth and fisted his hands, then he let out a long breath and tried to calm himself. It was his fault, so he had to fix it somehow. But later. At least he should have bought them a bit of time as things stood.

It was easy to walk through the inner sect, even in his casual clothes. He just had to hold his head high, even with his somewhat disheveled hair. He was the former young master of the sect. Of course he could still enter the inner sect whenever he wanted.

He just had to to mentally affirm that he belonged, and soon not so many people were giving him double takes.

It was very early in the morning as it was, the sun only peeking out furtively. The paths were scarcely populated. Only those who were going on their rounds or who had some extra training were awake by then. 

He reached the area in front of the elder's pavilion. He couldn't directly head to the ancestral hall, as that would make whoever was on guard duty suspicious. Or would it?

“Isn't that senior brother Lin Yang?” a mocking voice sounded from the direction of the ancestral hall.

At first Lin Yang was a little excited, thinking he'd lucked out. Even if his relationship with whoever was calling him was less than amicable, he at least had a reason to head towards the ancestral hall now.

But he froze upon seeing who it was. He froze and then unfroze, berating himself for it inwardly. So what if it was Xue Yin’s friend, the girl who'd been dressed in violet on the day Lin Yang first transmigrated; the girl who'd tried to kill him on said day.

Today she wore a short red dress, and her hair was tied lower and in two buns. Behind her stood two uncomfortable looking female guards, both older disciples of the inner sect. They stood only about two and a half metres away from the double doors of the ancestral hall.

Lin Yang swallowed his trepidation and took a step, and another, and another. She should not know that he knew, right? When they were conspiring, he was in a deep coma.

“So it's junior sister Ye,” he said with a small wave.

“Young master,” the girl said with a small nod, her voice dripping with derision. “Dare I ask what brings you to the elder's pavilion?”

Lin Yang immediately went on alert. He was so close now, but between him and the wooden door now stood two female guards and Ye Xian, a potential enemy. He couldn't afford to slip up right at the finish line.

He smiled nervously, hoping the act would reduce the suspicion on him. “I had an issue I wished to report to the elder council,” he explained.

It was just an excuse though. Of course, if he had to, he'd explain Hao Feng's matter in a pinch. He did have that much of an excuse at least.

Ye Xian shook her head. “You poor… former young master Lin, you are nothing now. The sooner you accept that the easier the rest of your miserable life will be.”

Lin Yang found himself tensing again. “What?” he asked with a frown.

“Just so you know, elder Hao has already reported what happened yesterday to the grand elder. The elders knew you would use your former status to try and make things difficult for elder Hao, so I was planted here to remind you. As an outer disciple, to report anything to the elder council, you must hand a suggestion or report directly to elder Hao.”

“What?!” Lin Yang said with a scowl. “Since when has this been a rule? How has this sect survived this long with such a stupid system?”

Ye Xian shrugged, a barely there smile playing on her lips. 

“That's all I was told to tell you. Anyway, elder Hao is there now, giving his statement, so you best be careful he doesn't notice you when he comes out. He is probably going to get permission to deal with you. A public flogging might be in order.”

Lin Yang felt his face darken. Well, it seemed Hao Feng, or Luo Feng, was trying to make things more personal than they already were. ‘I suppose I can stay in the sect long enough to deal with him then,’ Lin Yang decided.

“Oh, and, a personal matter. The tournament started yesterday, you know. My senior brother, who you used to look down on, won his first match!”

The poison guy! Lin Yang let his expression darken further, but in truth he was already in control of his emotions. 

In the background, he saw Hao Feng step out of the elder's pavilion. The man looked happy, holding some kind of letter, probably an order from the council, in his right hand.

“That Hao Feng character is a stain on this sect!” Lin Yang yelled, grabbing the outer sect elder's attention. “If the council won't see me, then I'll kneel in front of the pavilion until they are willing to listen to my story. That guy is an excuse for an elder! He can't even get to the ruler realm! He's already so old! I fear that with such a waste leading the outer sect, our disciples don't have much to look up to!”

Ripple points obtained (loathing): 0.1 (Luo Feng)

Ripple points obtained (loathing): 0.1 (Luo Feng)

Ripple points obtained (loathing): 0.1 (Luo Feng)

And yet Hao Feng kept his calm as he walked towards them. No matter how personal the attacks Lin Yang sent, Hao Feng appeared patient, reasonable even, as he approached the ancestral hall.

He'd at least got the man's attention. Lin Yang was pretending to be oblivious to his approach. He was just trying to create chaos and some kind of opportunity for himself. Maybe in the chaos he could somehow enter the restricted area behind him. But with how calm the elder was walking… He needed to say something to rile him up. Then he thought of something.

“That Luo Feng! No, I meant that Hao Feng, not Luo—”

“That's enough out of you!” the elder's voice boomed from behind Lin Yang.

He pretended to be very shocked and turned around. But there was no need to pretend, because once again he saw elder Hao Feng's movement technique fully activated.

With the sudden spike in his pulse, Lin Yang found his only technique activating of its own volition.

“You're courting death!” Hao Feng cried out.

Lin Yang timed it as well as he could, given the circumstances. He made sure none of the three girls standing between him and the door were in his direct path.

He underestimated Hao Feng's power though, and his ribs could attest to that. But mostly he managed to fling himself back with all his miniscule qi. And coupled with the momentum of elder Hao's strike...

And suddenly his shoulders were colliding with wooden doors, flinging them open and flying in.