When Fang Yuan said this, he looked so despondent, and his acting was so on point, that even the experienced Bei clan head for a moment began to wonder whether her initial assessment was correct or not.
He did, as a matter of fact, look like someone who was just coming to try and fulfill his filial duties towards his parents, and not for some other nefarious reason. Of course, the Bei clan head was experiencing, so she did not completely buy this performance, especially not from someone like Fang Yuan.
The mere fact that he had managed to become clan head at an age where most people would not have even become an elder meant that there was definitely something special about him, and one did not rise to that rank without learning a thing or two.
"It is possible, yes," the Bei clan head said. "However, as a consolation, while we are exploring the mountain during our hunting trip, if we happen to find any such remains, we can reach out to you, should you leave behind the appropriate gu worms."
Fang Yuan considered it for a moment and then shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I need to at least make sure myself before I go ahead and leave back home. Otherwise, I would be letting my family down and doing my village a disservice." He spoke with a righteous aura. "In the tablet that they had left behind, they said that they would be staying somewhere near the back of the mountain. I'm not sure why, and perhaps they had heard of something being there, but that was what they said. If you don't mind, can I see a map of the mountain?"
The reason why Fang Yuan said this was because in the tale of the Bei clan twins who had found the Flesh Bone Lord's inheritance, they mentioned that they had wandered into a cave near the back of the mountain. The Bei clan head felt the gears inside her head turning slowly. 'Could it be that the spirit spring is somewhere towards the posterior of the mountain?'
It was true that the Bei clan had a map of the region. However, there was a good reason that they didn't give these out to outsiders, because otherwise understanding the geography of an area was unreliable.
It made attacking them far more difficult, even if it was an area which technically did not belong to them, it was going to be their new home in the future.
If the Gu Yue and the Bei clans ever began to have a conflict in the future, that could be a great detriment to the Bei clan, were they to try to defend their area. However, at the same time, she did not want to refuse Fang Yuan. He was a Rank 5 Gu master, after all, and this could result in a possible conflict.
Keeping this in mind, she said, "Alright, it will take me a while to prepare them. As you can understand, we don't keep very detailed records of Bei Gu Mountain as it isn't our home. We have to piece together the map from various scouting parties who have been sent there over the centuries, but I'm sure I can put something together and have it ready for you, ready within about an hour or so."
Fang Yuan nodded. "I thank you for your help."
The Bei clan head needed this time in order to insert errors into the map so that it was not 100% reliable, as they did have a one-to-one map of the mountain. Many details also needed to be removed from it, like the locations of dangerous wild beasts.
By the time the Bei clan would settle there, the topography would have changed based on the simple fact that they were there, and it would have been less reliable anyway.
The reason why the Bei clan head wanted Fang Yuan to see the map in her tent and not have it delivered to him was so that she could see if perhaps he had some kind of secret regarding the primal spring.
'The lad said that his ancestor wanted to head towards the posterior part of the mountain. Could it be that the primeval spring is there?' she thought to herself. There were wild beasts all around, and it was difficult to navigate, let alone get a detailed idea of the deeper parts of the mountain. If they had a region locked down, they might be able to find a spirit spring within the next six months; even something as vague as 'on the posterior side of the mountain' was of great help to them.
Fang Yuan observed the map carefully.
The Bei clan head had handed him an information path Gu worm, which displayed it on the floor of the tent, much like an Audio-Visual Gu worm. Inwardly, his eyes were flashing, because he realized where it was that the Bei twins had managed to find that inheritance. Outwardly, though, he was still passive, and then he pointed to a location which was about 50 li away from where he would be going.
"I think this is the most likely area," he said, tapping it with his finger. "I think I'll go ahead and check this out myself before turning to Gu Yue village." He turned towards the Bei clan head and smiled. "I thank you for your help."
The Bai clan head noted the region where Fang Yuan had pointed and thought to herself, 'If this lad really does find a primeval spring, there's nothing I can actually do to stop it. If he does manage to find it, all we can really do is wash away our bitter feelings and curse our luck.'
There was an alternative: that was to look for another primeval spring on Bai Gu Mountain. That was not impossible, as most mountains tended to have two or three primeval springs. Qing Mao Mountain was an easy example of this, where there were three clans and three primeval springs.
However, there was no guarantee of that, and moving their clan next to the Gu Yue clan had many issues. The Bai clan were surrounded by other enemy clans, and if they were going to put their backs against a clan which had a Rank 5 Gu Master, it would be quite bad for them. Not only that, but Fang Yuan might not take kindly to them settling near his base of operations. He might even consider that to be good enough reason to declare war on them.
'What should I do?' the Bei clan head continued to wonder. 'Should we go ahead and check some other area as a place where we can move the clan?' Bei Gu Mountain was the ideal place because it was basically right next to them, and the dangers were fewer if they wanted to migrate. On the other hand, if they wished to travel a long distance, much like the Gu Yue clan had to while coming here, they would lose a large number of the clansmen as well as resources.
Merchant caravans were delayed all the time and oftentimes ran into trouble, and moving the clan was like moving a massive merchant caravan. The main difference was that they did not have a Rank 5 Gu master and as such, could potentially encounter dangers that they would not be able to deal with. 'No, maybe I'm thinking about this too much,' she thought to herself. 'Maybe he really is here just for his ancestors' remains. If that's so, then hopefully in the best case scenario he'll leave, otherwise we'll try to put scouts around the mountain and see where he goes.'
She wanted to do something - anything. However, in the moment she felt helpless. What could she offer Fang Yuan that he did not have? She could not really give him any of the Bei clan's secrets regarding Rank 5 Gu worms, as that would only increase his strength if he did fight them in the future.
As for primeval stones, while she could provide a price that might satisfy a Rank 5 Gu Master, the fact still remained that this Fang Yuan would have this entire clan to look after, and that could not be equivalent to that. As for beauties, she considered showing him some of the more beautiful Bei clan women in case some of them caught his eye. However, he already had Lady Ling Ding Ching with him, and so there was little chance of them being able to honeypot him.