The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 40 Gao Ling
Gao Ling, the elder of Taishan Sect, has been feeling uneasy in recent days.

The master's direct disciple went crazy while practicing his Qi, his Qi was cut off and his heart meridian was severed, and he died in the quiet room. His family buried him hastily before they even saw his body, causing an uproar within the sect.

This female disciple was beautiful, had excellent martial arts skills, and was kind. She had a high reputation within the sect and had a good relationship with her.

At first she thought it was this incident that disturbed her mood.

But she used her inner strength, meditated and adjusted her state of mind for a few days, but still saw no improvement. She always felt depressed in her heart, as if a storm was about to come, and it was so heavy that she couldn't breathe.

She wanted to go down the mountain to Tai'an City to take a walk and get some fresh air, maybe the situation would improve.

Gao Ling is 45 years old this year and is a famous female master in Qilu. When she was young, she was strong-willed and hated evil. She killed many evil people in the martial arts world and became quite famous.

However, she has never married in her life, and her temperament has gradually become gentler as she has grown older. She only practices martial arts and trains disciples in the sect, so not many people know her now.

She disguised herself, went down the mountain alone, and found a tavern in Tai'an City to have dinner.

Halfway through the meal, Gao Ling heard a few gangsters at the next table, drinking and chatting enthusiastically about some gangster stories.

"Did you go and see the Jinyiwei causing trouble for the Taishan Sect a few days ago?"

“Look, wow, I thought Fei Junxuan was finished, but who knew Zuo Lishan would come down the mountain to fight him personally, and he hasn’t even fought yet!”

"Who is that Jinyiwei? Everyone has been asking about it these past few days, but there is no news at all. When did the court hide a top master who is so powerful that even Sect Leader Zuo is no match for him? I really don't know how he trained."

"The Jinyiwei came alone, and the leader himself went down the mountain but still failed to defeat them. Taishan Sect is in big trouble now!"

"I originally wanted to come and see the excitement of the Five Mountains Alliance, but given the current situation, we'd better stay away. The court's lackeys are ruthless and heavy-handed, so don't let them trap us in with them."

"Yes, yes. Life is the most important."

Several people talked and laughed freely without avoiding others.

When Li Miao came to Fei Junxuan's house to cause trouble, he was just showing off, intending to let everyone know about it. Fei Junxuan was forced to go to the restaurant to buy food, and all the gangsters present saw it.

As for the fight between Zuo Lishan and Li Miao the next day, the martial arts people who were near Taishan Sect wanted to give Zuo Lishan some face, so they didn't go up to watch, but just looked at him from a distance.

They didn't see Zuo Lishan's injuries, and didn't know how badly he was defeated. But they saw his back as he fled in disgrace.

This matter is already known to everyone in Tai'an City.

Gao Ling became anxious after hearing this and no longer worried about hiding her identity. She walked directly to the people at the table with her sword in hand.

"Tell me in detail what you just said."

"Who the hell are you!?"

Gao Ling was in a hurry and spoke rudely. One of the Jianghu people felt uncomfortable and raised his head to look at Gao Ling.

It just so happened that Gao Ling had not been around for many years, and although her name was still there, not many people knew her. But this person was someone who knew her.

This person felt familiar at first glance, and after a closer look, his face froze and he smiled awkwardly: "Gao... Miss Gao..."

They make up gossip about others behind their backs, and not only are they caught by the real perpetrators, they are also people who cannot be messed with.

This person knew that he was in the wrong, and Gao Ling's martial arts skills were far superior to theirs, so he just spoke and told Gao Ling in detail what had happened in the past few days.

The more Gao Ling listened, the more frightened she became.

Is Fei Junxuan’s life or death unknown?
Jinyiwei coming to your house?
The leader was defeated?

Why didn't anyone in the sect mention these things?

She suddenly realized why she had been so anxious these days - Zuo Lishan had not shown up for several days. His female disciple died in a strange way, but there was no movement from her family. Zuo Lishan's several confidants were also missing these days, and no one knew where the disciples in charge of purchasing in Tai'an City had gone.

She vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but could not form a specific concept. Her restlessness caused her true energy to become agitated and could not be calmed down.

The most urgent thing is to go back inside to check on Zuo Lishan. He hasn't shown up for a few days, is he seriously injured?
Gao Ling stood up and without even bothering to ride a horse, he used all his strength to use his Qinggong skills to quickly return to Taishan Sect.

After returning to the sect, she knew she couldn't make a sound, so she went straight to the courtyard where Zuo Lishan lived and knocked on the door: "Master!"

"Gao Ling wants to see you!"

"Head!"

There was no response from the door.

This was not the time to be particular about formalities. Gao Ling gritted her teeth, kicked open the gate, and walked quickly towards the main house.

She pushed the door open and found the room empty.

Gao Ling walked around the house. Taishan Sect was located halfway up the mountain and it was usually windy. There were some fallen leaves blowing in from the windows, and it seemed that no one had lived there for two or three days.

She rummaged around and found some women's clothes. She took a closer look and found them familiar.

It belonged to the dead female disciple. Gao Ling saw her passing through. How could she appear in Zuo Lishan’s bedroom?
Gao Ling recalled some bad rumors she had heard before, her face changed, she put the clothes back and closed the closet door.

The master and the disciple have an affair, which goes against human ethics.

If word gets out that the leader of Taishan Sect has done something like this, the people of Taishan Sect will never be able to hold their heads up in the martial arts world again.

However, this is not the time to worry about this matter.

The Imperial Guards came with great fanfare, and Zuo Lishan disappeared after his defeat. The Taishan Sect was already on the brink of annihilation. We had to deal with the current situation first, and then deal with other things later.

Gao Ling turned and walked towards the quiet room where Zuo Lishan was practicing.

For the past ten years, Zuo Lishan has practiced internal skills in the quiet room every morning, and everyone in the sect knows about his habit.

Gao Ling walked to the door of the quiet room, held her breath, and listened carefully for any sound inside.

She was afraid that Zuo Lishan was using his inner energy to heal his injuries in there. If she rushed in rashly, it would be bad if Zuo Lishan went insane.

Gao Ling listened for a while and there was no breathing sound inside, so there should be no one there.

She then pushed the door open and walked in.

As soon as she entered the door, Gao Ling smelled a strong smell of blood.

The quiet room is not big, the walls are thick for sound insulation, and there are no windows, so the smell accumulates inside and does not dissipate for a long time.

Gao Ling looked carefully in the sunlight outside the door.

In a corner of the quiet room, there was a pool of dried blood on the ground. It had turned black and had been there for some time.

Next to the blood was a broken floor tile, and next to the floor tile were some fragments that looked like a jar.

Gao Ling walked forward and picked up a piece of debris, which was heavily stained with blood. She reached out and wiped it, and picked up a strand of long hair from the dried blood, which was stained with some minced meat.

Just at this moment, she heard footsteps in the yard behind her.

(End of this chapter)