Bei Mo Xing punched the ground in frustration. This was a man who was not one to give in to problems like this as he had faced countless ones in his life. However, he saw no real way out of this quagmire. To think that their luck would be so bad as to have invited this kind of calamity in addition to their spirit spring dying! It was true what they said - blessings rarely come in pairs, but misfortunes seldom come alone!
Killing intent rose in his heart, but there was no way that they could possibly fight Fang Yuan, who was confirmed to have at least one Rank 5 Gu worm. Even if he didn't have more than one he knew that they did not have the capability to resist.
All of their planning, however, would turn to ash if Fang Yuan's plan was allowed to succeed.
"What can we possibly do, then?"
"Allow me to check through the records one more time," the Bei clan head said. "I'll see if there really is any sort of credence to his claim. If not, then we will show him that there was no Bai or Gu Yue clansmen who came to the mountain, which will remove his reason for moving his clan there. Perhaps he will be dissuaded and seek some other place to settle down."
Mountains were areas where spiritual energy concentrated naturally and so any large mountain like Bei Gu Mountain most certainly had a spirit spring. But it wasn't the only uninhabited mountain in the entire Southern Border.
If they could put up a token resistance, even though they could not fight Fang Yuan head-on, they could make it extremely tedious for him to try to take the mountain. If they did so, he would likely just look somewhere else.
It wasn't like it was entirely difficult for him to find another one. The main problem would be fighting numerous beasts to get to another one. However, with Rank 5 strength, he could easily do so.
"If anything, we may be able to use this partly to our advantage," the Bei clan head said. "Perhaps when I speak with him later this evening, he might end up revealing something which would help us during our own endeavor. He might have come here because he got a hint from somewhere that Or perhaps even we can have him lead the way during one of our expeditions and allow him to take much of the heat from the surrounding beasts away from our own clansmen."
Bei Mo Xing nodded, but he knew he would have to tread carefully. Fang Yuan's issue was not a light matter. If they provoked a war, it would be the Bei clan which would no doubt be on the losing end.
When he returned to the tent that Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing were dining in, he told them, "The clan head said that she can be here by this evening if our esteemed guests do not mind waiting for that long."
"Alright then, but when she gets here, I'd like to have an audience with her immediately if possible," Fang Yuan said. "I know that I'm imposing on you, but like I said, both my companion and I have issues at home to sort after we figure this situation out."
Bei Mo Xing also wanted to be rid of this person as soon as possible, but if Fang Yuan was leaving to bring the rest of his clan here, that was something he absolutely did not want.
If anything, their best bet was to try to create a settlement for themselves before this could happen so they could state that they had already settled down there.
However, they lacked the necessary manpower to do so.
They were somewhat aware of where the primeval springs on Bei Gu Mountain must be, or were most likely to be located.
Wherever there would be a primeval spring, beasts would be nurtured and numerous there. As such, if they wanted to find out where it was, they just had to find out where most of the beasts were on Bei Gu Mountain and go to that place.
Of course, there was a problem with that: they could still be very off from where they wanted to go, and it was difficult, even for Rank 3 elders, to deal with many of the beasts as this was their natural habitat. This was different from a village attempting to resist a beast tide as they would be fighting on the beast's turf. Because of this, if Fang Yuan had any kind of foreknowledge, it would greatly cut down their losses
Later that evening, the Bei clan head arrived, and Fang Yuan went to greet her.
"Gu Yue clan head," she said. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I do not see your companion with you?"
"Pardon her absence, she has a mild cold, nothing to worry about, but she wanted to rest," Fang Yuan said. "And it is likewise a pleasure to meet you here," Fang Yuan said, also cupping his hands as they went into her tent to discuss things. As they talked about a few minor issues for a few minutes, Fang Yuan's demeanor suddenly changed. "If I may confide in you something personal?"
The Bei clan head's heart fluttered at the mention of that, but did not let it show. "What is it, Lord Gu Yue Fang Yuan?"
"The thing is, I was not entirely truthful regarding my reason for coming here," Fang Yuan said greatly eliciting her interest. "I'm sure that Bei Mo Xing has already told you what we said, but there is more to the story than that. You see, the reason why I was so eager to come to Bei Gu Mountain is because the Gu Master from the Gu Yue clan who eloped with the daughter of a Bai clan elder, he was a relative of mine."
The Bei clan head paused. This was a twist in the story she hadn't been expecting. "Because of that, and because I'm one of the few remaining survivors of my family, I felt that I had to go ahead and ensure that this was done."
Fang Yuan sighed. "You see, when I inherited my parents' legacy, there was a letter from my father who said that his grandfather, on his deathbed, greatly regretted what he had done during that time which had led to his brother, the Gu Yue clansmen in question, to run away. He regretted his actions and wanted to search for his brother for some time but was unable to find the individual in question, and even on his deathbed his heart was filled with regret. My father and his father also wished to remedy this problem, but were unable to because of circumstances. I'm aware that since there are no traces of them on Bei Gu Mountain, it means that they have likely died out and there is no one to actually bring back. But since these are my ancestors' remains, I wish to bring them back to my clan."
The Bei clan head was deep in thought. Could it be that Fang Yuan was actually being genuine when he said that that was the only reason he was coming there? Perhaps they had read too much into the situation, and this really was his intent?
If that were so, it may indeed be possible for them to give him a few hints and then have him go away without bothering them anymore.
"I have tried looking through my records, and we do not know of any Gu Yue or Bai clansmen who might've settled on that mountain," the Bei clan head said.
"Perhaps they hid their identities, fearing persecution?" Fang Yuan offered.
"Actually we have no records of anyone staying on that mountain for any extended period of time," the Bei clan head said.
"Could you be mistaken or have missed someone?"
"Unlikely as we send hunters out to the mountain from time to time," the Bei clan head answered. "I am saddened to say this, but it might be possible that your ancestor perished on his journey here. The wilderness is filled with dangers, after all."
"So... could it be that we came here for nothing?" Fang Yuan pondered.