After Qin Mu followed Qi Shayu to dispose of the severed head, he received a token and clerk's official robe from an old man, and was even assigned a courtyard.
Considering that he had just brought back his parents' remains, Qi Shayu granted him one day of leave.
When Qin Mu arrived at the courtyard the Demon Suppression Division had arranged for him, he saw that Uncle Cang and the others had already arrived and were currently cleaning.
When they learned that Father and Mother Qin's remains had been recovered, and that the Demon Suppression Division had even painted posthumous portraits for them, they all burst into tears and hurried to prepare a room, enshrining Father and Mother Qin within it.
Meanwhile, in a certain room aboard the Misty Sect's Towering Ship, Zhang Qianren took the last piece of Geng Metal from his Storage Ring and placed it on his lap, letting the Jade Hairpin devour it.
As this piece of Geng Metal Ore grew smaller and smaller, a pensive look appeared in Zhang Qianren's eyes.
Everyone aboard the Towering Ship was now forbidden from leaving, and the Demon Suppression Division's men still stood guard outside the ship.
He needed to think of a method to leave this place as soon as possible.
Otherwise, not only would the Ruyi Jingu Bang's Spiritual Power fail to recover, but he himself would fall into crisis.
Before long, this last piece of Geng Metal Ore was also completely devoured.
Zhang Qianren took out the weapon he had forged himself from iron ore in his Storage Ring, letting the Ruyi Jingu Bang continue devouring it, all the while continuing to ponder.
About half an hour later, all the weapons in his Storage Ring had been devoured by the Ruyi Jingu Bang.
Yet Zhang Qianren still hadn't thought of a method.
Helpless, he could only compose himself, insert the Jade Hairpin back into his hair, dissipate the Divine Sense enveloping the room, and rise to walk out.
The moment he stepped into the corridor, the sound of disciples sobbing reached his ears.
Zhang Qianren, unable to concentrate his thoughts amid the disturbance, couldn't help but frown in irritation, and made his way up to the Deck of the Towering Ship.
When he arrived on the Deck, he happened to see Vice Sect Master Fu Qingfeng standing with his hands behind his back before the wooden railing, watching the people coming and going on the street below.
A light breeze stirred his black hair and the green robe he wore, sending them fluttering.
Zhang Qianren hesitated a moment, but decided to step forward and bow anyway — perhaps if the Vice Sect Master took a liking to him, he might even receive some kind of reward.
"Vice Sect Master."
Hearing his voice, Fu Qingfeng looked back and smiled at him. Noticing the troubled look on his face, he asked, "Does Steward Zhang also find his room stifling? Have you come here to clear your mind?"
At this question, Zhang Qianren immediately let out a long sigh.
Fu Qingfeng sighed softly as well, and said, "This seat already spoke with Steward Yue Yang yesterday. The other stewards were indeed careless with their words last night, and this seat has already reprimanded them. This seat hopes Steward Zhang will show this seat some regard and not stoop to their level."
Even as a cold sneer flickered in Zhang Qianren's heart, his face showed nothing but a bitter smile. He waved his hand and said, "With the Catastrophe now upon us, this old man hardly has the mood to hold a grudge against them."
Hearing this, Fu Qingfeng let out a bitter laugh as well.
He normally spent his days wandering the mountains and rivers, rarely managing the Sect — all the Sect's affairs relied on his Fellow Daoist.
And yet he had always prided himself on being carefree and unrestrained, believing he had already seen through the mundane world.
But now, with the Catastrophe looming, not only was he unable to muster the capability befitting a Vice Sect Master to handle the mundane matters aboard the ship, even he himself felt bewildered, his mind in complete disarray.
He wanted to do something, yet had no idea what that something should be.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Zhang Qianren spoke up. "Vice Sect Master, when will the Sect Master arrive?"
Hearing this, Fu Qingfeng immediately let out a bitter laugh and shook his head. "If you knew the path ahead led only to death, would you still walk forward?"
Zhang Qianren was startled by this, while a look of desolation appeared in Fu Qingfeng's eyes.
"This Fellow Daoist of mine has always been a man of decisive ideas. Back then, he and I came to the East Sea together to escape the world, yet he kept it from me that he was founding the Misty Sect."
"Neither of us had a proper lineage of teaching — everything we know was gathered from various Ruins. The Cultivation Methods and Techniques in the Sect's scripture pavilion are all things we picked up here and there, so they never formed a coherent system, and learning from them was scattered and fragmented."
"Had it not been for this, Steward Yue Yang wouldn't have suffered Backlash from lacking a follow-up Cultivation Method, ending up in his current state, riddled with Hidden Injuries."
This was the first time Zhang Qianren had ever heard such a secret, and an look of astonishment involuntarily crossed his face.
"In recent years, I've been away searching for some coherent Cultivation Methods and Techniques, hoping to use them to rebuild the Sect's Foundation."
"But unfortunately, the Great Yu Dynasty Court had already stripped clean the Secret Realms left behind from the Ancient Sects, and other Sects were unwilling to sell their Cultivation Methods and Techniques. Occasionally there would be an Auction selling Cultivation Methods, but by the time news reached me, those methods had already been bought up by the local Influential Families and Great Clans."
"This seat, as a Cultivator of the Nascent Soul Stage, naturally couldn't bully the weak by force to seize them."
"Yet they refused to sell as well."
"And so, despite being away for over a decade, this seat has ended up with nothing to show for it."
After hearing Fu Qingfeng finish this, wild joy immediately surged in Zhang Qianren's heart.
He had always been merely a Foundation Establishment Cultivator nearing the end of his Lifespan, and in the face of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator — a dragon that shows its head but not its tail — an inexplicable fear would always rise in his heart, believing such a being to be all-knowing and all-powerful.
But now, after hearing Fu Qingfeng share so much, that fear suddenly dissolved entirely.
"It seems this Fu Qingfeng is actually a man of pure and simple thinking!"
As this thought crossed his mind, he couldn't help but recall the scene of himself lying the night before.
That had been the first time in his life he had lied to a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, and yet this Cultivator had not only believed his words, but had even bestowed upon him a mountain's worth of Geng Metal Ore.
As he thought about this, a glint of sharp light flashed through his eyes.
Just then, Fu Qingfeng suddenly said, "Actually, I already sent him a Flying Sword Message yesterday. Given his speed, he should have arrived sometime after midnight."
"This morning, when I saw he still hadn't arrived, I knew he had something else on his mind."
With that, he let out a series of short, heavy sighs.
Seeing this, Zhang Qianren hurriedly offered comfort. "Vice Sect Master, there's no need to worry. It's understandable that the Sect Master is running late — after all, there are still over a hundred Disciples in the Sect, and our only Towering Ship is the one we're using to reach Guanhai City. He must be thinking of a method right now."
Hearing this, Fu Qingfeng suddenly felt it made a lot of sense, and much of the Gloom in his heart dissipated.
But before a smile could even form on his face, he heard Zhang Qianren suddenly let out a long sigh.
"It's just a shame that even if the Sect Master arrives, he won't be able to stop this Tribulation."
"This old man is already past eighty, and there isn't much time left. To this old man, the Imperial Court's House Arrest hardly matters."
"It's just a pity for my child who was just born — this old man fears he'll never get to see him again in this life."
As he said this, his eyes immediately reddened, tears welling up.
Hearing this, Fu Qingfeng was immediately reminded of encountering this Steward a thousand li away the night before.
"If this seat hadn't brought him back partway, he might have already seen his own descendant by now — there wouldn't be this look of gloom on his face today."
Having thought this, he seemed to arrive at some decision, and suddenly said in a low voice, "Steward Zhang, this seat asks you — if this seat let you go see your descendant, would you still come back?"
Zhang Qianren gave a bitter smile. "Vice Sect Master, please don't tease this old man. There are several banners of Demon Suppression Division Patrol Inspectors guarding beneath the ship — how could this old man possibly leave?"
Fu Qingfeng said in a low voice, "This seat has a method. But you should know, if this seat lets you go, and you simply never return, this seat would also be punished for it."
Hearing this, Zhang Qianren immediately lifted his robe and knelt down, sobbing with tears streaming down his face. "Vice Sect Master, there's no need to test this old man. This old man has served the Sect for several decades — how could I now abandon the Sect for my own selfish desires?"
"Not only can this old man not leave today, but even if I could, this old man would never let you suffer punishment from the Imperial Court for the sake of that child!"
Visibly moved, Fu Qingfeng helped him to his feet. "Steward Zhang, don't say such things. If this seat hadn't brought you back last night, you would already have seen your child by now."
With that, a smile bloomed across his face.
"Besides, this seat trusts you, and trusts its own judgment. Steward Zhang, you are certainly not the kind of man to betray his word!"
Zhang Qianren's face immediately showed deep emotion, yet he said nothing.
Fu Qingfeng patted his shoulder. "In a moment, this seat will use an Illusion Technique to envelop the entire Towering Ship. You should slip away then — but remember, you must return before dawn tomorrow."
"Vice Sect Master... this old man is unworthy..."
Zhang Qianren's face showed deep emotion. He hadn't expected that his mere probing would lead this pure-hearted Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator to actually offer him a way to leave.
Fu Qingfeng patted his shoulder again. "Say no more — go quickly, and return quickly!"
With that, he took several Formation Flags from his Storage Ring and, with a wave of his sleeve, arranged them in the surrounding area.
In an instant, a ripple flickered through the surrounding air.
Seeing this, Zhang Qianren hastily knelt down, sobbing, "V-Vice Sect Master, rest assured! This old man — this old man will definitely come back!"
Fu Qingfeng said nothing more, only waved his hand.
Zhang Qianren slowly rose, glancing back with every step as he made his way to the other side of the Deck.
Fu Qingfeng waved his hand at him once more.
Zhang Qianren raised his sleeve, wiped away his tears, turned, and departed by Sword riding.
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