“My Lord, are we going straight back to the manor?” asked the carriage driver to Zhang Shizhao.
“Let’s go to Heavenly Fragrance Manor first,” said Zhang Shizhao.
“Yes, my Lord.” The driver pulled on the reins and drove towards the outskirts of Kai Yuan City.
“I have placed all the descendants of the sect in the Heavenly Fragrance Manor separately. I was worried that outsiders will learn our sect’s martial techniques, and I also don’t want outsiders to know their true identities.” Zhang Shizhao explained.
After thinking for a moment, he added, “There’s also another reason. The people I have taken in are descendants of the sect after all. Thus, their strength is much stronger than the guards I’ve hired from outside. Moreover, they’re extremely grateful to the Zhang family. If they’re placed elsewhere, they can be used as our family’s hidden trump card. In critical life-or-death moments, they may even be our saviours.”
Zhang Shizhao didn’t want to say this at first. After all, this arrangement was too selfish, and it wasn’t good for his image. However, within a short period of time meeting Ling Chuxi, Zhang Shizhao had become more and more impressed with her strength and breadth of mind. In the end, he had decided to return to the sect, so he didn’t want to hide anything anymore.
“You made the right decision. If Golden Pill Sect had such a strategy back then, we might not have ended up like now,” said Su Yizhi in a low voice but without any hint of displeasure.
Ling Chuxi’s heart was slightly moved. Su Yizhi’s words reminded her that previously she had wanted to let the Zhang family and the descendants of the other sects return to the sect once they had settled their matters in Qianzhong Ridge. But now that she thought about it, if she exposed the full strength of Golden Pill Sect to other sects without holding anything back, history might just repeat itself. Perhaps, it would be good to leave these hidden forces in Qianzhong Ridge as their trump card in times of need.
However, they still didn’t know what the Zhang family and the other sects were thinking. If they insisted on returning to Golden Pill Sect, her decision disappoint them. Therefore, Ling Chuxi only thought about it but didn’t make a decision right away.
A few fast horses started to appear, galloping in front of and towards them. The dense echoes of the hooves sounded even more urgent in the night.
“Brother Zhou, is the clan head back?” asked someone to the guards as he pulled on the reins of his horse.
“Yuan Zhen, why are you here? Where’s Elder Yuan?” asked Zhang Shizhao to the young man who had spoken earlier as the former opened the curtain. He thought that Elder Yuan had received the news and sent people to welcome him, but the anxious look on the young man’s face didn’t seem like it.
On the way here, Zhang Shizhao had already mentioned to Ling Chuxi and Su Yizhi the situation of the descendants who had defected to the Zhang family. One of them was the Yuan family. Their ancestor was one of the four elders of the former Golden Pill Sect and his status was second only to the Su and Qiu family. On the day the sect fell apart, Elder Yuan had been seriously injured. It hadn’t been easy for him to escape. But he eventually did, eventually wandering until he met the Zhang family. Only then did he settle down in Qianzhong Ridge. So the Elder Yuan mentioned by the two was definitely the elder from their history books.
“My Lord, something bad has happened. A group of black-clothed masked men barged into Heavenly Fragrance Manor at night. These people are very powerful. Even Elder Yuan has been seriously injured. The other brothers are guarding Purple Fragrance Garden. It was not easy for us to sneak out to seek help.” Just as he finished his sentence, Yuan Zhen fell off his horse.
Only then did Ling Chuxi and the others notice that there were a few shocking wounds on Yuan Zhen’s back—his flesh had been split open and blood was dripping.
