In Emei, start by obtaining golden attributes.

Chapter 121: It's not that they know they're wrong, it's that they're afraid.
Half an hour later, in the east of the city.

As Gu Shaoan and his two companions hurried across the rooftops, a well-organized, tall courtyard came into view, bathed in the first light of the setting moon.

The outline of the courtyard wall appeared somewhat solemn in the night, with its blue bricks and gray tiles exuding a solidity and neatness that was different from ordinary houses.

The gate is quite imposing. Although it is not ornately decorated, the lintel is heavy and the stone lions on both sides crouch on their stone seats, silently proclaiming the significance of this place.

Lanterns hung on the gate tower, their dim light illuminating the three powerful characters "Emei Residence" on the plaque.

"arrive."

Gu Shaoan spoke again, his voice slightly clearer than before, but still carrying an undeniable chill.

Under the cover of night, there was no one guarding the entrance.

He landed lightly at the doorway like a feather, raised his right foot, and then kicked the vermilion door in front of him.

With a burst of soft force, he actually broke through the bolt on the back of the door, making a loud "bang" sound. The door, which was originally tightly closed, was kicked open by Gu Shaoan.

Gu Shaoan rarely kicks down doors, but today, the situation was clearly different.

The enormous sound was like a boulder thrown into stagnant water, exploding instantly! Almost at the same second as the door was kicked open, the once quiet and solemn Emei garrison courtyard was like a powder keg that had been ignited.

"Who dares to trespass on the territory of my Emei Sect?"

A low shout came from the backyard of the house, and a series of agile figures, with the rapid sound of clothes rustling through the air, quickly entered the front yard.

However, when the Emei disciples' gazes fell on Gu Shaoan and his companions, they were all taken aback by Gu Shaoan's attire.

It was obvious that they recognized the three as fellow disciples by the clothes worn by Gu Shaoan and the others.

Then, looking at the three, Gu Shaoan, who carried a heavy sword, was tall and handsome. A woman in her thirties, who was the leader in the front hall, seemed to remember something and bowed, saying, "May I ask if you are Junior Brother Gu, a disciple of the Sect Leader?"

Gu Shaoan returned the greeting to the woman.

"Gu Shaoan greets all senior sisters. May I ask your names?"

After confirming Gu Shaoan's identity, the Emei disciples stationed in the front hall felt relieved.

The woman at the head of the group smiled and replied, "Zhao Jingyi, a disciple of the Jueling Sect, greets her junior brother."

Zhou Zhiruo and Yang Yan also paid their respects.

Zhao Jingyi and the others dared not be negligent and quickly responded with a bow.

Needless to say, Abbess Miejue's status in Emei was second only to Abbess Miejue.

Gu Shaoan and his companions were all personal disciples of Abbess Miejue and Abbess Juechen, so in terms of status, they were naturally not comparable to ordinary disciples.

Immediately afterwards, Zhao Jingyi looked at the broken wooden bolt on the ground of the gate, and a few doubts arose in her heart.

As a disciple of Emei, why would Gu Shaoan so violently break down the door upon his arrival?

Upon hearing Zhao Jingyi mention "extinction of spirits," a kind-faced figure appeared in Gu Shaoan's mind.

I clearly have some recollection of it.

Among the elders of the Emei Sect, although Abbess Jueling's strength was far inferior to Abbess Miejue and Abbess Juechen.

But in terms of temperament, she is the best among all the elders.

Moreover, the cultivation of ordinary outer disciples was also overseen by Abbess Jueling.

She is extremely popular within the Emei Sect.

After learning who Zhao Jingyi was from, Gu Shaoan looked around and asked, "May I ask, Senior Sister Zhao, are these the only people stationed in Linhai Town?"

As he spoke, Gu Shaoan walked forward.

As Zhao Jingyi stepped aside to lead the way for Gu Shaoan, she replied, "Linhai Town is just a small town after all, so the sect only arranged for twelve of us to guard it."

"Twelve people."

With the precise numbers in hand, Gu Shaoan quickly scanned the area.

After confirming that there were exactly twelve disciples stationed in the front hall, Gu Shaoan nodded.

"So, the senior sisters' defense is just colluding with the Ghost Hand Gang to prey on the people?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jingyi, who had just been smiling, instantly froze.

Before she could think further, Gu Shaoan, who was walking beside her, suddenly raised his hand and used his two fingers to strike several acupoints on her body, sealing Zhao Jingyi's power and making her stiff and unable to move.

After successfully subduing Zhao Jingyi, Gu Shaoan took a step forward and instantly appeared in front of the other two Emei disciples.

The two Emei disciples barely saw a blur before their eyes, and before they could even react, Gu Shaoan had struck their pressure points.

After discovering that Gu Shaoan had made a move, Zhou Zhiruo and Yang Yan also set off together.

Like other sects.

Being dispatched by the Emei Sect to Linhai Town, the place furthest from the sect, means that Zhao Jingyi and her companions' talent and strength were not particularly outstanding.

Even though these disciples were older than Zhou Zhiruo and Yang Yan, their strength was still far inferior to that of the swordsman beside Li Wanshan in the Ghost Hand Gang, let alone compared to Yang Yan and Zhou Zhiruo.

In the span of two breaths, all twelve people were immobilized by Gu Shaoan and his group having their acupoints sealed.

With her body stiff as a board and unable to move, Zhao Jingyi couldn't help but ask, "Junior Brother Gu, is there some misunderstanding?"

In response to Zhao Jingyi's words, Gu Shaoan calmly replied, "I just dealt with the Ghost Hand Gang half an hour ago."

Just one sentence made Zhao Jingyi's eyes narrow instantly.

At this moment, Gu Shaoan spoke again: "Of course, to catch a thief red-handed, it is naturally difficult to determine the innocence of all of you senior sisters based solely on the one-sided statements of those Ghost Hand Gang members."

"But according to the Ghost Hand Gang, they have been giving each of you two thousand taels of silver every month for the past six months. If that is true, surely not each of you could hide the silver so well. After a search, you will surely find something."

"At the very least, we can investigate the whereabouts of our senior sisters over the past six months and their spending in the city. Finding some clues shouldn't be too difficult."

At this point, several Emei disciples in the front hall narrowed their eyes and their expressions involuntarily became more flustered.

The next second, Gu Shaoan's gaze fell on the face of one of the Emei disciples whose expression had changed.

A coldness filled his eyes.

Upon meeting Gu Shaoan's icy gaze, the Emei disciple felt a chill run down his spine.

In her panic, she couldn't help but blurt out, "I...I didn't mean to."

Upon hearing what the garrison disciple said, Zhao Jingyi and several other Emei disciples, who had been barely maintaining their composure, immediately closed their eyes, as if they had lost their parents.

The stubborn resistance in my heart vanished completely in an instant.

After a few breaths, Zhao Jingyi sighed and said, "Junior brother, there is a reason for this. We were forced into this situation. Li Wanshan of the Ghost Hand Gang is too strong. His internal energy cultivation has reached the level of returning to the innate realm. We are no match for him."

“He explicitly threatened that if we didn’t accept the money, we would be his enemies, and not only would our lives be in danger, but the lives of all our fellow disciples in the area would also be in danger. We really had no other choice.”

"Please, junior brother, forgive us this time for the sake of our fellow disciples."

Gu Shaoan didn't speak, but Yang Yan suddenly sneered, "Forced into it? What a high-sounding excuse, Senior Sister."

"Li Wanshan is indeed strong, and I suppose he is stronger than all of you senior sisters."

"But since this is the territory of my Emei Sect, in order to ensure the safety of the disciples stationed in various places, the sect leader has also taught emergency methods."

“Every seven days, disciples in the camp need to send a message. If they are coerced and cannot speak openly, they only need to leave a secret message in the message. Just two words in the message will be enough for the sect to know that the disciple is being coerced and send someone to secretly support them.”

"Since all the senior sisters have been safe and sound for the past six months, they have obviously been sending messages to the Emei Sect on time. If they wanted to inform the sect, why would they have kept quiet about this place's turmoil for the past six months and pretended that nothing had happened?"

"Does Senior Sister think we're three-year-olds who can be fooled by such words?"

Faced with Yang Yan's words, Zhao Jingyi turned pale, but could not find any way to refute them.

Yang Yan was clearly too lazy to talk to these troublemakers, and looked at Gu Shaoan, asking, "Senior brother, what's the next step?"

Gu Shaoan glanced at Zhao Jingyi and the others, then said in a deep voice, "Cripple their cultivation, tie them up, and send a message back to Emei to ask the elders to come and deal with them."

Upon hearing that Gu Shaoan intended to cripple their cultivation, the Emei disciples' expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly begged for mercy.

Zhao Jingyi exclaimed in horror, "We're all from the same sect, and we already know we were wrong. Why must Junior Brother Gu be so ruthless?"

Gu Shaoan said in an icy voice, "You didn't realize your mistakes early or late, but you only realized them when the truth came out. In my opinion, you senior sisters didn't realize your mistakes, but rather you were afraid."

After speaking, Gu Shaoan circulated his inner energy and struck Zhao Jingyi's lower abdomen with a palm. The force of the palm strike shattered Zhao Jingyi's dantian, causing her to spit out a mouthful of blood.

The moment Gu Shaoan made his move, Zhou Zhiruo and Yang Yan both set off at the same time.

Not to mention Yang Yan, even Zhou Zhiruo, who usually values ​​the bond between her sect and her master, showed no mercy to the Emei disciples in the front hall.

A short while later, after binding Zhao Jingyi and the other disciples and locking them in a room, the two of them saw Gu Shaoan walk into the front hall as a carrier pigeon fluttered and flew towards Emei.

"Senior brother, everything has been taken care of."

Gu Shaoan nodded and said, "The courtyard of this camp is not small, which is just right for accommodating the people who were tied up on the ship."

The Emei disciples stationed there also need to cultivate on a daily basis, so although there are only twelve people in the Emei sect's residence in Linhai Town, the courtyard is actually not small.

With a little squeezing, it was just enough to accommodate the hundred people in the cabin.

After saying that, the three of them set off again towards the dock.

An hour later,

However, when Gu Shaoan and the others reappeared at the dock, they found that a group of constables had already gathered there.

Even on the boat carrying abducted women or children, there were constables carrying lanterns and torches.

However, as the group drew closer and saw that Shangguan Haitang was standing calmly in front of them, Gu Shaoan felt relieved again.

As a top-ranking secret agent of the Dragon Guard Manor, Shangguan Haitang is also the adopted daughter of Zhu Wushi, the current Iron-Blooded Marquis.

Their status is beyond that of ordinary people.

Compared to Gu Shaoan and his group, they were indeed more suited to dealing with the government officials.

An hour later, with the help of these constables, all the people who had been abducted by the Ghost Hand Gang entered the Emei Sect's territory.

By the time everyone was settled, the moon was already high in the sky.

backyard.

Inside the pavilion.

Zhou Zhiruo and Yang Yan sat in the pavilion, both looking up at the sky.

The moon, like a silver plate, still retains its usual radiance.

But the two little girls at this moment were less lively than usual.

Just then, Gu Shaoan gently descended from the air, carrying a food box in his hand.

However, after the pastries and food in the food box were placed on the table, neither Zhou Zhiruo nor Yang Yan seemed to have much of an appetite.

After a long silence, Yang Yan suddenly sighed and said, "I never thought that although Master and Senior Uncle, the Sect Leader, usually despise human traffickers, there would be someone in my Emei Sect who would collude with them."

With Yang Yan speaking first, Zhou Zhiruo also put down the pastry she hadn't touched for a long time and sighed softly.

The Ghost Hand Gang's actions were hateful, and Wu San Gou and Old Man Bai's fates were tragic and lamentable, but they were ultimately outsiders.

What upset the two of them the most was that such a black sheep could appear within their Emei Sect.

Gu Shaoan said in a gentle tone, "People always have some wishful thinking. With such wishful thinking, it is inevitable that they will make mistakes. Moreover, Emei is not a small sect with only a few dozen people, but a large sect with over a thousand disciples."

"After all, the elders and our master are on the mountain, so naturally no one dares to have any thoughts."

“But if the disciples who are stationed down the mountain stay there for too long, some of them will inevitably lose their original intentions.”

Finally, Gu Shaoan looked at the two of them and said, "So now you know why Master and Uncle Juechen are so strict with those who break the sect rules, right?"

"Even with the strict rules of the Emei Sect, some people still can't resist the greed in their hearts and let evil take hold. If they are allowed to be more indulged, one can imagine how many disciples will forget their original intentions and their responsibilities after being away from the mountain for a long time."

Zhou Zhiruo and Yang Yan nodded.

Over the past three years, as the two women have grown and gained more experience, they have seen more and more, and they have come to understand the difficulty of governing a sect.

One can also sense just how much effort Abbess Miejue and Abbess Juechen had to put in to bring the Emei Sect to its current state.

At this moment, Yang Yan asked curiously, "Senior brother, do you think there's any way to better prevent Senior Sister Zhao and the others from doing what happened today?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Shaoan looked at Yang Yan and Zhou Zhiruo and said, "This is something you and your senior sister need to think about together."

"Huh? My senior sister and I want to?" Yang Yan first pointed to herself, and then to Zhou Zhiruo standing next to her.

Not to mention Yang Yan, even Zhou Zhiruo was stunned at this moment.

Gu Shaoan chuckled and said, "You and your senior sister were involved in the whole thing this time. I just explained why Senior Sister Zhao and the others in Linhai Town knowingly violated the rules."

"So before the sect elders arrive, you and your senior sister need to think carefully about how to prevent this from happening in the next few days. After returning to Emei, report to Master and Uncle Juechen."

Father, like son.

But how can bystanders understand the thoughts and ideas of those in power?
If you don't think things through when faced with a situation, it's like trying to see flowers through a fog.

Gu Shaoan never took Yang Yan and Zhou Zhiruo along just to watch the excitement; he wanted to teach them to think critically through various events.

Before the two could think further, Gu Shaoan spoke again.

"Alright, you've had a long day, go eat something to fill your stomach and go home to rest!"

A young mind is always unconventional.

The feelings that the two women had not long ago were also drawn to Gu Shaoan's sudden test.

After the two left, Gu Shaoan did not get up, but suddenly said, "You've been busy for so long, I wonder if Miss Shangguan has eaten? If you don't mind, why don't you come and have something to eat with us?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a snow-white figure darted out from the night and landed steadily in the pavilion.

Who else could it be but Shangguan Haitang?

However, unlike before, Shangguan Haitang did not change her clothes, but she no longer wore a bamboo hat.

The bright moonlight, mixed with the soft glow of the lanterns inside the pavilion, poured down on Shangguan Haitang's face without reservation.

The moonlight outlined the distinct lines of her profile, her eyes were clear and bright, like stars reflected in a cold pool.

In terms of appearance alone, Shangguan Haitang was no less beautiful than Zhou Zhiruo and Yang Yan, who were around the same age and had reached the age of marriage.

In a few years, she will surely become a stunning beauty.

However, unlike Zhou Zhiruo, Shangguan Haitang's beauty lacks the gentle grace of a young lady from a secluded boudoir, and is not as bright as Yang Yan's. Instead, she has a heroic spirit or a scholarly air about her.

It's rare for a woman to give off this kind of feeling.

But it was precisely this temperament that enhanced Shangguan Haitang's appearance.

As she walked slowly forward, Shangguan Haitang casually sat down next to Gu Shaoan and said in a low voice, "Since you know I've been here all along, why wait until Miss Zhou and Miss Yang have left before you speak?"

Gu Shaoan did not hide anything and said frankly, "Today's events have had a significant impact on them. Senior Sister Zhou and Junior Sister Yang also need time to process and digest the situation. It would be best for them to rest as soon as possible."

Shangguan Haitang looked at Gu Shaoan with a half-smile: "So that's why you deliberately threw out a question to divert their attention?"

Gu Shaoan smiled and said, "Miss Shangguan is intelligent and kind-hearted."

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Haitang glanced at Gu Shaoan and said, "I didn't realize you were so thoughtful."

Gu Shaoan smiled and said, "I naturally have to take extra care of my own senior and junior sisters."

Shangguan Haitang gave a soft snort, but a hint of envy flashed in her eyes.

Immediately, her gaze fell upon the food on the table, and Shangguan Haitang casually picked up a piece of pastry and began to eat.

However, just as she took a bite of the pastry, she saw Gu Shaoan reach into a food box at her feet and take out a plate of untouched pastries, placing it in front of Shangguan Haitang.

Looking at the neatly arranged plate of pastries, Shangguan Haitang was stunned.

"You saved this just for me?"

Gu Shaoan said honestly, "When I arrived, I found Miss Shangguan there, so I decided to stay."

As he spoke, Gu Shaoan picked up an empty cup next to him, poured a glass of water, and placed it next to Shangguan Haitang.

After a moment of contemplation, Shangguan Haitang turned her head and said softly, "Is Young Master Gu showing off his superior strength, able to discover my presence so easily, or is he subtly mocking my weakness?"

(End of this chapter)