Chapter 549: Internal Contradictions

Seeing no one object, the eldest disciple focused his mind and began checking each room one by one. Once again, he was greatly disappointed. “There’s really no one!” He searched every room in the row, but not a single person was in sight. Of course, there were strange things in these rooms as well. The room on the far left was filled with wine jars, while the second room contained plenty of chili peppers. As for Old Man Ding and Feng Yue inside, upon noticing someone arriving and Yun Lan and Lin Dong hiding their presence, they chose to ignore them. They did the same, creating a strange energy barrier around themselves with their spiritual power—so that unless it was a peak-level expert, it would be impossible to detect their presence just by using the mind.
These were ordinary bedrooms, complete with beds and tables, not storage rooms, so there should naturally be no need for so many wine jars and chili peppers. Yet, no matter how strange it seemed, it didn’t seem like a place to store silver coins either. To the eldest disciple, it was completely useless.
In fact, he didn’t realize that among these rooms, there were some that could catch his eye. The first room on the far right was a pen, though it didn’t house any spiritual beasts. But the second room was a small garden, which contained many high-grade spiritual materials useful for cultivation. With their keen eyes, they could easily tell these materials were extraordinary. Even if they didn’t know they were used for cultivation, such high-grade spiritual materials were extremely valuable. Finding dozens of them at once would be as good as finding a box of silver coins, as long as they could find buyers.
Unfortunately, both the pen and the garden were protected by spiritual arrays set up by Yun Lan. These arrays also prevented mental detection, and even peak-level experts would be unable to see what was inside. These were eighth-tier illusion arrays—once inside, even peak experts would face various illusions. Breaking free required considerable effort.
“Since there’s no one, Eldest Brother, let’s go back!” The silver-like voice rang out again.
“Mu Xue, talking more to him is pointless. His mind is only on silver right now,” said the voice that had objected earlier.
“Liang Shan, it’s better if you stay out of my affairs,” the eldest disciple retorted, glancing at him before smiling at his junior sister named Mu Xue. “Sister Mu, after we get the silver, I’ll accompany you to the largest silk shop in the capital to pick out some top-quality silk. Then we’ll buy some jewelry too—guaranteed to make you the most beautiful head of the sect in the Great Han Nation.”
No one replied, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

The eldest senior brother had clearly gotten used to it and didn’t pay much attention. He took out a spiritual sword and gently pushed it into the door crack. With a slight force, the door latch fell off with a snap. Pushing the door slowly, it creaked open. Lin Dong stood up and went room by room looking for silver. Although he could guarantee that this eldest senior brother wouldn’t steal a single penny, the backyard of Lin’s Inn hid quite a few secrets. Yun Lan also stood up immediately, waving her sleeve lightly, and the energy barrier surrounding the two of them disappeared quietly. “Gentlemen, visiting so late at night without notifying the owner isn’t quite proper, is it?” Lin Dong said calmly. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was enough for these skilled thieves to hear. The group was shocked and immediately turned to look at Lin Dong and Yun Lan, who were over ten meters away. They regretted having focused on talking and inspecting the rooms, forgetting that the entire place was empty with no one around—the owner must have left and could return at any moment. “We apologize for the intrusion. Please forgive any offense,” Liang Shan said, bowing to Lin Dong and Yun Lan helplessly. “We’re on the road and in need of some money. Since you’re so calm, you must be sensible people. Please be understanding.” Aside from the eldest senior brother, who stood with his hands behind his back, showing no signs of being a thief or anxious about being caught, the others also quickly bowed, looking embarrassed. They regretted not wearing black clothes and masks when they came. “I’ve seen many warriors before, and I’ve heard of helping in emergencies,” Lin Dong said. He took out several thousand-tael silver notes from the mobile cabinet and placed them on the table, bowing. “It’s not much, but I hope you won’t mind.” “Oh, no…” Liang Shan and the others breathed a sigh of relief. At least they’d encountered someone who knew the rules. If they had to shout for help, their faces would be utterly ruined. “A thousand taels?” The eldest senior brother focused his spiritual energy in his eyes, glanced at the amount on the silver notes, then studied Lin Dong coldly. “Are you trying to trick us like a beggar?” Lin Dong frowned slightly before taking out more thousand-tael silver notes from the mobile cabinet and placing them on the table. “This…” Liang Shan hesitated, not knowing what to say. He couldn’t bear to lose face. As an elite disciple of a mid-tier sect, he couldn’t possibly resort to extortion for money. If word got out, not only would he be humiliated, but the sect would also suffer reputational damage. “It seems you’re also a martial artist. And it looks like you have quite a few silver notes in your storage spiritual ring,” the eldest senior brother said, his gaze greedily fixed on the copper ring on Lin Dong’s finger.

“Want more?” Lin Dong asked with a smile. He was already annoyed that this senior brother had disturbed him while celebrating Yun Lan’s entry into the ranks of peak warriors. He had tolerated it so far solely to keep the secret mission hidden. But even secret missions had their limits.

“Hand over the storage spirit ring, or else…” The senior brother waved the spirit sword in his hand and sneered, “I can show you what a fifth-level Mind Realm warrior is capable of. I suppose you’ve never seen a warrior’s true strength before, have you?”

“Jiang Huan, don’t go too far,” Liang Shan shouted. “This brother has generously offered help. It’s one thing if you don’t know how to be grateful, but to be so greedy—how can someone like you qualify to be the head of a sect?”

“Extraordinary measures in extraordinary times—this is something every sect heir must understand. I guess you’ve never heard of it, have you?” Jiang Huan sneered. “Of course not. You’re just an elite disciple. How could you possibly know such things meant for sect heirs?”

“Extraordinary times? You just lack money to frequent brothels and casinos—that’s what you call an extraordinary time?” Liang Shan retorted coldly. “We’ve tolerated you time and time again.”

“Tolerated? You say tolerated?” Jiang Huan acted as if he’d heard something utterly ridiculous, dismissing it with disdain. “It’s me who’s been tolerating you, right? Don’t think I don’t know you have an eye for Sister Mu. Let me tell you—Sister Mu has already agreed to marry me. If it weren’t for our brotherly bond and your stubborn persistence here, I would have thrown you out long ago.”

“You…” Liang Shan was too angry to speak.

“Senior brother, Sister Mu only agreed because you can revive the sect, right?” A young man with a pale face and no beard suddenly interjected.

“With my talent, reviving the sect is a piece of cake,” Jiang Huan said dismissively.

No one else had anything to say. There was indeed no argument against that. Not because of Jiang Huan’s extraordinary talent, but because of his confidence, which left everyone speechless.

“Hand over the storage spirit ring. Did you hear me?” Jiang Huan’s attention turned back to Lin Dong.

“Do you really want it?” Lin Dong asked.

“If you don’t hand it over now, don’t blame me if I become ruthless,” Jiang Huan said coldly. “Money can be made again, but once your life is gone, money can’t bring it back.”

“Jiang Huan, do you dare kill someone?” Liang Shan demanded angrily.

“Why not? Haven’t you killed anyone?” Jiang Huan retorted.

“I’ve only killed bandits!” Liang Shan snapped. “I’ve never killed or hurt a single ordinary person.”

“That’s your business. As a disciple of the sect, you’re free to do as you please. Not killing is just because you’re cowardly.” Jiang Huan said disdainfully.
“Senior Brother Wang, Senior Brother Liu, Senior Sister Zhang, Junior Brother Yang…” Liang Shan called them one by one, then said gravely, “What hope do you still have in such people? With such character, can they possibly revive the sect?”
“Could it be that you can revive the sect?” Jiang Huan retorted arrogantly.
No one answered, neither to Liang Shan’s question nor to Jiang Huan’s.
After a long while, the young man whom Liang Shan called Senior Brother Wang sighed helplessly and said, “Junior Brother Liang, who else but him? We can’t forget the sect master’s instructions or the fifth elder’s last wishes.”
Liang Shan retorted angrily, “But that doesn’t mean we should indulge him like this.”
“Senior Brother, enough!” The young man turned to look at Jiang Huan and said, “You want silver. We’ll think of a way tomorrow. This is the capital city. With our abilities, we won’t have trouble getting silver.”
“No trouble getting silver? To be guards? To go up the mountain to collect spiritual materials?” Jiang Huan laughed loudly. “You can afford to lose face, but I can’t. Besides, how much silver will there be? A thousand taels? Five thousand taels? Ten thousand taels?”
“Losing face? Isn’t stealing and extorting also a loss of face?” Liang Shan countered.
“I’ll say it again. Those who don’t want to follow my orders as their senior brother can leave now. No one will stop you,” Jiang Huan said impatiently.
These words once again cooled the atmosphere, and no one spoke up in protest.
“My patience is limited. Don’t test it, or you won’t be able to bear the consequences,” Jiang Huan said coldly, staring at Lin Dong with a freezing tone. In the quiet of the night, there was a chilling aura.
“Anyway, I won’t allow you to kill,” Liang Shan couldn’t help but say, seemingly contradicting Jiang Huan’s previous words yet also echoing them.
Not far away, having listened for a while, Lin Dong began to see some clues. Not all of these people were greedy. It was just that the senior brother leading them was that kind of person, and they had no choice but to follow him due to their own difficult circumstances.
According to Lin Dong’s guess, these circumstances were likely due to the destruction of the sect. This senior brother had great talent, so the sect elders had sent him and a group of elite disciples out, hoping they could revive the sect.
These disciples might disapprove of Jiang Huan, but with the sect master’s instructions, the elders’ wishes, and their affection for the sect, and since only this senior brother’s talent was sufficient to take on the responsibility of rebuilding the sect, they had no choice but to tolerate him repeatedly.

Lin Dong smiled, stretched out his left hand, removed the ring from his right hand, and threw it at Jiang Huan.