Gu Yue Mo Chen's heart was heavy.
He had originally planned to recruit Fang Yuan, but had backed off because of his talent.
Now, his old nemesis, Gu Yue Chi Lian, had somehow managed to get in cahoots with Fang Yuan. Moreover, all signs pointed to Chi Lian having started investing in Fang Yuan over a year ago.
Now, the investment had paid off, and the Crimson Blood Vein had gained a new elder. How could his heart not be heavy?
But besides the gravity of the situation, Mo Chen was also puzzled.
He had been Gu Yue Chi Lian's nemesis for a long time, competing and feuding since their youth. His understanding of him was so deep that he knew exactly what color underwear he liked to wear.
Logically, Gu Yue Chi Lian should have been showing off by now, throwing contemptuous and smug glances at Mo Chen. But looking at him now, his face was dark and gloomy, as if he had suffered a loss.
This was just too strange!
What exactly had happened between him and Fang Yuan? What kind of agreement had they reached?
Gu Yue Mo Chen was completely baffled.
"This Fang Yuan is absolutely audacious! How dare he threaten me!" Gu Yue Chi Lian's heart was filled with shock and rage.
Last night, Fang Yuan had secretly found him and threatened him to his face using the fact of Gu Yue Chi Cheng's fake talent.
Heaven!
This massive secret was only known to the two of them: Gu Yue Chi Lian and his grandson Chi Cheng. How could an outsider like Fang Yuan have found out?!
Gu Yue Chi Cheng only had a Grade C talent, but for the benefit of the entire Crimson Blood Vein, Chi Lian had to take the risk of faking it, creating the illusion of Grade B talent.
If this were exposed, the blow to the Crimson Blood Vein would be unprecedented. The vein's lord, losing trust, personally cheating — it would be complete ruin. What's more, the heir of the Crimson Blood Vein turned out to be just Grade C talent, and the Vein would have almost no political future. Who would be stupid enough to rely on such a force?
Holding this secret, Fang Yuan effectively held the entire Crimson Blood Vein by the throat.
When Fang Yuan threatened him, Gu Yue Chi Lian almost couldn't hold back from making a move and directly killing him to silence him!
But he forcefully held back because he didn't know who else knew this secret, who else Fang Yuan had told, and what evidence like letters might be left somewhere.
"First, stabilize him, find out the situation, and then deal with him! I cannot leave this menace alive!" That was his thought at the time.
But then Fang Yuan revealed his cultivation of the Third Rank. Shocked and alarmed, Chi Lian had to change his thoughts to compromise.
A Third Rank was already an elder. Killing an elder was no less serious than cheating.
Moreover, dealing with a Third Rank Gu Master couldn't be done quickly, and making a big fuss would be even harder to handle.
Falling out with Fang Yuan would bring no benefit to the Crimson Blood Vein and the risks were extremely high.
"Although Fang Yuan has leverage over me, sharing a secret is also a form of alliance." In the end, Chi Lian could only hypocritically comfort himself. Fang Yuan's threat came out of nowhere. He didn't know how many trump cards Fang Yuan had, so he could only swallow his pride and accept it.
Now, Fang Yuan, without fear, had pushed him into the spotlight to divert fire onto himself. It was like roasting Gu Yue Chi Lian over a fire!
But even knowing this, what could Gu Yue Chi Lian do?
Then he heard Fang Yuan slowly say, "Gu Yue Yao Ji, I know you are very unbalanced. Your granddaughter with Grade B talent is dead, without a complete corpse. Your Medicine Vein has no successor. But a boy like me with Grade C talent has managed to break through to the Third Rank. You are upset, annoyed, and you take it out on me. I can understand you."
"What did you say?!" Gu Yue Yao Ji's eyes bulged, furious. "Little brat, I tell you, Gu Yue Yao Le is not dead!"
Fang Yuan laughed and shrugged indifferently. "Whether she dies or not, what does it have to do with me? Yao Ji, you don't need to emphasize it so much."
"But!" he suddenly changed his tone. "You, Gu Yue Yao Ji, for the sake of searching for your granddaughter, mobilized people and wasted huge amounts of manpower and resources. This has something to do with me, and with the elders present here, and with the Clan Leader. Gu Yue Yao Ji, everyone trusted you to lead the Medicine Hall. But what did you do? You sent out all the healing Gu Masters from the hall to search for your granddaughter. You abandoned the wounded Gu Masters, our clansmen, without care. Your selfishness is too great! Yao Le's sacrifice is indeed a loss for the clan. But you are making this loss even greater. You are completely unworthy of being the elder of this Medicine Hall!"
Fang Yuan's words struck the heart, every word exposing Yao Ji's deepest taboos and scars.
But what he said was actually reasonable. Hearing Fang Yuan's words, quite a few elders secretly frowned.
Which family doesn't have wounded Gu Masters? This action of Gu Yue Yao Ji was truly excessive. Arbitrarily pulling healing Gu Masters from their proper duties to search for her own granddaughter.
"You... you!" Gu Yue Yao Ji trembled with rage, pointing a finger at Fang Yuan, momentarily unable to speak. Her eyes seemed to spit fire, wishing she could strangle this loathsome Fang Yuan on the spot.
Fang Yuan's gaze was cold, meeting hers without an ounce of fear.
He was simply giving her a taste of her own medicine. Gu Yue Yao Ji's speech just now was full of righteous indignation, stirring the elders' curiosity about Fang Yuan's breakthrough secret and leveraging the momentum. Fang Yuan's words were the same, every sentence reasonable. He stood on the high ground of the clan's rules, making most of the elders unconsciously support him.
For the elders, upholding the organization's rules means upholding their own interests.
Gu Yue Yao Ji's actions in recent days had indeed infringed upon their interests!
"This Fang Yuan... bastard! A complete bastard!" Gu Yue Yao Ji trembled with rage, unaware that Gu Yue Chi Lian was also so angry he was practically fuming from his seven orifices.
Fang Yuan had offended Gu Yue Yao Ji so thoroughly, making her hate him. The Crimson Blood Vein that Fang Yuan was "attached to" would likely also be dragged into her anger.
But in truth, his Crimson Blood Vein was completely innocent!