"What is the status of Fang Zheng's recovery?" the clan head asked the academy elder, worry etched into his face as he saw the latter's ashen expression.
"He will live but... his aperture has been damaged. He's fallen all the way back to Rank 1 Initial Stage, and it looks like his aptitude has fallen from A-grade to C-grade," the academy elder replied.
"Is there nothing that can be done?"
"Perhaps if we had one of the famous four great doctors of this Southern Border, they could do something," the academy elder said with a bitter tone. Such a thing was just wishful thinking. The aperture was a mysterious area and not many people knew much about it, simply because doing research upon it was difficult. Even those four might've been helpless in this situation. "I guess those Xiong and Bai clan bastards are belly-jingling with laughter right about now..."
"I don't think it was either of them," the clan head said. "The evidence doesn't seem to suggest such."
"What?" the academy elder asked, surprised. This was news to him. "Who else but them would have the motive to do something like this?"
The clan head shook his head. "We examined the body of the assassin. He had no markings which would identify him as belonging to either clan. If anything, he was malnourished and looked like he was on his last legs. And the most important part though- after reviewing statements from many witnesses, is the fact that he was extremely incompetent with his job. Were it not the case, he would've succeeded in finishing Fang Zheng off. Now tell me, why would the Xiong or Bai clans hire someone to do this job who was terrible at it and was also so weak? Furthermore, although they didn't have the necessary gu worms to record it, it seems the assassin was after Fang Yuan, not Fang Zheng."
"Fang Yuan? Why Fang Yuan?"
"I cannot tell, and it's only conjecture because the person in question doesn't remember things exactly," the clan head said. This was an era without cameras and the like, and without the appropriate gu worm it was hard to record things exactly.
"But why try to assassinate Fang Yuan?"
"Who knows? We can only ask him."
Fang Yuan was interrogated four times over, but had been able to give them no useful information.
He was allowed to see the body of the assassin, and did not recognize the person in question. The only person that he could think who might have cause to go against him in this timeline were the relatives of that mortal boy he had killed- but if he had the backing of a Rank 3 Gu Master he wouldn't have had to resort to such schemes to win the affection of a mortal woman.
The thought that his uncle was behind it did not even cross his mind- simply because based on what Fang Yuan knew, his uncle lacked the courage to do something like this. He was experienced, but not omniscient, after all.
'This man is a demonic path cultivator, but I had never heard of him during this time. Countless Gu Masters exist, of course... but why target me? Unless they were all mistaken and he just threw around the fact he was targeting me as an excuse?'
The confusion around the incident muddled it even further, to the fact that to everyone's disappointment, no clear answer could be found.
Everyone's disappointment, that is, other than Uncle.
He was sweating bullets almost constantly, jumping at nearly every single shadow around him. He had been genuinely shocked when he received news that Fang Zheng had been injured and the assassin he had hired had been killed.
Any minute now, he expected the clan to put the pieces together and come to snatch him away! He had made a grave mistake hiring that idiot- who knew what kind of clues he had left behind?
The longer nothing happened, the more worried he got.
"Husband, Fang Zheng has been crippled and is nothing more than C-grade trash now, what was the point of raising him then?" Aunt asked, but he ignored her for now.
Right now, he tried to play the part of a caring and nurturing uncle fully, simply to mask his own guilt.
In reality, he had nothing to worry about. Lord of the Mysteries had his headquarters hidden well enough that in the expanse of the mountain, it was nearly impossible to find. And he had left no clues for that matter- the bag of primeval stones that were left behind had been unmarked, after all.
"I can only apologize and bow my head for my failure," the academy elder said to the other elders during a meeting as he lowered his head. He had let an A-grade talent be crippled- the one greatest hope they had of nurturing someone who could rival the Bai clan's Bai Ning Bing. If he had perhaps made a move faster, Fang Zheng could've been saved from his fate. Moreover, he was in charge of the exam, and any mishaps that happened naturally fell on his head.
"Raise your head," the clan head said. "No one here blames you. if anything, the person behind this scheme was too crafty and pulled the wool over all of our eyes." In reality it was the opposite- the person behind the scheme had been extremely dumb and the only reason they hadn't been caught yet was that no one thought that anyone could be that dumb, thereby ironically saving them from suspicion. Nearly everyone was certain that there was a greater conspiracy at foot. "But, we cannot let this matter slide like this. That is why I have reached out to Ti Xue Leng."
"The famous investigator himself?"
The TIe clan was one of the largest clans of the Southern Border, and was famous for upholding justice and had brought countless demonic cultivators to justice. Ti Xue Leng was a Rank 5 Gu Master who wandered the Southern Border, upholding the values of his clan. Naturally, he had many demands upon him, and could not come immediately, but once he was done settling his other matters he had promised to look into their matter.
"Will he really come?"
"Promises are just talk, after all. And what would he care about breaking his word with a village like ours?"
"No, I think based on his reputation, he truly wishes to uphold justice," the clan head said. "And, I have offered an adequate price for his aide."
The elders paused. A price that could entice a Rank 5 Gu Master- it could not have been small!
"Is it worth it for something like this? Fang Zheng has already been crippled, what use is it in spending so much over spilt milk?"
The clan head shook his head. "If word gets out that we did nothing, it will be seen that our Gu Yue clan is easy to bully, or that we could not deal with a demonic cultivator ourselves." The other clans, naturally, had denied their involvement- though no one in the room believed them for even an instant.
With time, Uncle's paranoia faded and he was now faced with the decision on what to do with Fang Zheng. He was now a liability, not an asset, to their household.
In some ways, it would have been better if he had died. In this world, which was quite different from Earth, where strength was everything, it was better to be dead than to be crippled. Those who died to save their clans were remembered as heroes. Those who had been gravely injured and remained, while treated nicely initially, would eventually be forgotten and even mocked by those whom they had saved. Without strength to back up their position, they would eventually become helpless.
Fang Zheng felt this acutely. He had earlier been soaring high based on his A-grade talent, even if he had temporarily been suppressed by his elder brother. But, it was as if a new world had now opened up to him. A world that had suddenly turned cold as he was seen as nothing better than average.
He had great difficulty dealing with the fact that he was now considered ordinary, and had reverted back to his former status before the awakening.
To those who had been honored, dishonor was worse than death! His gu worms had all been destroyed when his aperture had been damaged, and he did not even have the primeval stones to buy more. No one was willing to help him anymore, as he was no longer A-grade. His classmates who used to look up to him, now had odd looks on their faces whenever they saw him. Of disdain, of smugness, and worst of all- of pity. Fang Zheng hated the pitiful looks more than anything else.