Chapter 67: East Arrival Cave Master (5)
After looking around his surroundings for a while, and even riding Charcoal around the mountain gates, repeatedly entering and exiting, no one came to stop him. Not even the shadow of a ghost could be seen.
This place, where anybody could just casually enter, was his domain?
Or was Qin Weiwei making a fool of him, letting him be an abandoned Cave Master?
The Great Cave Master Miao’s face begins to darken, the joyful excitement of promotion all turned to smoke. He angrily shouted, “Anyone still alive, get your butts out here!”
He invoked his arts as he shouted, and his voice reverberated throughout the wilds of the mountains, startling all the birds of the forest into a frenzy.
Fortunately the situation was not as bad as he thought, and very soon three figures ran out after hearing his shout.
The one in the lead was none other than Yan Xiu. Miao Yi recognised the other two as well—they were the fallen soldiers of Transient Light Cave. To be more precise, they were the two White Lotus Second Grade cultivators who gave themselves up to Yang Qing back then at Transient Light Cave. One was called Dan Biaoyi, and the other was Qiu Shaoqun. One could say they were all Transient Light Cave’s fallen soldiers who had surrendered to Yang Qing.
Both parties were surprised to see one another.
Yan Xiu caught a glimpse of the storage ring on Miao Yi’s finger, and he jovially asked, “Have you become the new Cave Master already?”
“Senior Yan?” Miao Yi, in contrast, was puzzled—hadn’t Qin Weiwei refused to put Yan Xiu under him? Why was he here? Naturally, he questioned, “How come you’re here?”
Yan Xiu pointed to the other two behind him, and laughingly said, “Mountain Chieftain gave the order for me to guide these two here, to look after East Arrival Cave until the new Cave Master arrives. I’m guessing that must be you.”
“What is that vile woman plotting, is it that fun to mess with other people?” Miao Yi rolled his eyes.
He could hardly fail to realize that since Yang Qing was willing to let Qin Weiwei be Mountain Chieftain of Mount Calming Sea, she would not dare to mess with official matters. Regardless of how much she despised Miao Yi, she would not neglect official matters. She was also concerned that with Miao Yi’s cultivation, he would not be able to handle his subordinates, so she specifically arranged for Yan Xiu, who had a good relationship with Miao Yi, to be assigned here, asking him to temporarily oversee the East Arrival Cave affairs. Even the other two from Transient Light Cave who surrendered—Dan Biaoyi and Qiu Shaoqun—were assigned here, increasing the number of familiar people around Miao Yi, so as to avoid any mishaps in East Arrival Cave.
Yan Xiu asked curiously, “Which vile woman?”
“Uhhh…..” Miao Yi cast a glance at Dan Biaoyi and Qiu Shaoqun, and immediately swallowed his words. It was unbecoming to speak ill of Mountain Chieftain Qin Weiwei in front of strangers, so he casually followed up with, “It’s nothing.”
Yan Xiu immediately understood from his reaction, and could make a pretty good guess which vile woman he was referring to. He knew Miao Yi had a poor relationship with that person, and some things should not be so casually said in front of Dan Biaoyi and Qiu Shaoqun, so he waved his hand and changed the subject. “But a promotion to new Cave Master? If that’s true, then please hand out the decree of the Mountain Chieftain. Then I’ll be able to pass East Arrival Cave over to you.”
A jade archive shot out from the storage ring on Miao Yi’s middle finger, and landed onto Yan Xiu’s hand. After giving it a glance, he nodded towards the other two. Immediately, all three of them formed a straight line, and bowed respectfully, “Your subordinate greets the Cave Master!”
If Miao Yi was still the Transient Light Cave Horse Deputy of back then, Dan Biaoyi and Qiu Shaoqun might not even have held Miao Yi with any importance. But the situation now was different. After the battle at Transient Light Cave, the two of them were witness to Miao Yi’s ability, and the strength capable of single-handedly killing three White Lotus Second Grades and one White Lotus Third Grade cultivator. What’s more, even five people working together could not defeat Miao Yi. They found it hard not to lower their heads, and now were courteous and respectful.
Miao Yi, who was sitting on top of Charcoal, beamed with a smile. He raised his hand in a humble gesture, “Senior Yan, the three of you need not be so formal.”
“Cave Master must not address your subordinate as such,” Yan Xiu remarked, “Your position commands respect. Cave Master can simply call your subordinate as Yan Xiu from now on.”
Miao Yi chuckled, but as he looked around, his expression turned gloomy again. He pointed towards the unguarded mountain gates and asked, “What is the meaning of this, why isn’t there anyone guarding the gates? Don’t tell me my East Arrival Cave is only for show, and that anyone can come and go as they please? What use of us is there, if we can’t even tell if a thief should ever steal something? Yan Xiu, the Mountain Chieftain put East Arrival Cave under your temporary care, is this how you handle affairs?”
He was being a bit harsh, but it wasn’t that he was not willing to give Yan Xiu face, it was just that the problem was too severe. If this were to continue, what if one day someone were to attack them and they wouldn’t even know? He was truly annoyed by Yan Xiu’s carelessness.
“Cave Master, you have wrongly accused your subordinate,” Yan Xiu tried to explain with a bitter expression on his face.
The reason was none other than lack of manpower. The entire South Edict Manor had ten mountains, requiring at least one thousand and one hundred cultivators standing guard. And after Yang Qing took over South Edict, his territory had expanded exponentially—his subordinates could hardly make up the numbers, hence most of the spots were filled up by School of Blue Jade’s disciples, as per their earlier agreement.
East Arrival Cave was no exception. Before Miao Yi came, other than Yan Xiu, Dan Biaoyi and Qiu Shaoqun, the other seven were all School of Blue Jade’s disciples. Three were White Lotus Third Grade cultivators, and the other four had a White Lotus Second Grade cultivation.
Even though Yan Xiu was under orders to manage East Arrival Cave, the other seven were all fellow disciples of the same house, so naturally they stuck together. Added to the fact that they had the advantage in numbers, they barely held Yan Xiu in any regard.
Yan Xiu picked a few from their group to guard the gates, care for the horses and clean up the trash, but they did not even bother. In turn, they forced Yan Xiu’s group to care for the horses, to clean up the trash, and even prepare meals for them. Where else would they find someone free enough to guard the mountain gates?
Originally, the East Arrival City Lord wanted to pay his respects with a few servants or gifts, but Yan Xiu knew that once they arrived, they would be taken away and shared by these people. When that happened, regardless of whether the new Cave Master was Miao Yi or not, he would have no way of explaining himself to the new Cave Master. Thus, Yan Xiu secretly laid pressure on the City Lord, stating that these matters could only be decided once the Cave Master had arrived. Otherwise, the Cave Master would not spare the City Lord.
As they were talking, seven blue-robed figures came out. After hearing the noise, they remained unfazed, and simply walked out slowly, unlike Yan Xiu’s group who’d come running.
Miao Yi, who was sitting on top of his dragon steed, squinted his eyes to look at them. His gaze seemed to shine through the seams of his eyes. With both hands on his abdomen, he gently knocked his knuckle with his middle finger that wore the storage ring. It was unclear what was going through his mind at that moment.
Yan Xiu’s group seemed to be a bit fearful of these people. Yan Xiu did not even dare speak in the open, and instead, secretly transmitted his voice to Miao Yi to introduce them.
The three people who brazenly walked in the front, were called Song Fu, Wang Zifa, and Zhu Tianbiao respectively. They all seemed to be quite old, especially Song Fu—he was practically an old man, and looked much older than Yan Xiu, but had a White Lotus Third Grade cultivation.
Behind them, the other four people all had a White Lotus Second Grade cultivation. They were called Shang Youlai, Hou Sheng, Wang Xiuqing and Nan Sisi respectively. The two at the back were female.
Seeing Miao Yi, who was seated on a dragon steed, a storage ring on his hand, as well as the reaction of Yan Xiu’s group, the three people in front, including Song Fu, looked at each other—they understood what this meant, and the mockery in their eyes became all the more difficult to conceal. A White Lotus First Grade brat was going to become their Cave Master? What a joke, did he think School of Blue Jade would be easy to bully?
The seven of them came over and stood firm. Song Fu, with a languid expression on his face, shouted unreservedly as he pointed at Miao Yi, “Who is it making a racket here?”
