As the morning sun graced the boney peak of Bei Gu Mountain, casting them in a strange kind of golden halo, Gu Yue Yao Le found herself near a milk stream, looking for certain ingredients she needed. The milk stream emerged from the milk reservoir within Bei Gu Mountain and flowed much like a water stream across the land.
Since the place still could not handle agriculture to a very large extent, these milk streams were the main livelihood and the backbone of the new Gu Yue Clan's diet.
That wasn't to say that everyone could just subsist on them. Unfortunately, a few of the clansmen were lactose intolerant as it turned out. There were probably gu worms that existed that could fix this issue, but Yao Le knew nothing of them. Some of these people were mortals and could not use gu worms regardless. They had come to her with this complaint, stating that they were losing weight and could not digest anything, and all she could do was tell them to avoid dairy products.
And yet, how could they do so when most, if not nearly all, of the food they generated was milk or milk-derived? They couldn't exactly wander off the mountain either. 'Regular' food was available but was at a premium.
Since there was currently no Beast Tide, and because of Fang Yuan's actions of killing most of the dangerous bone beasts near the village, there weren't that many injuries for the Medicine Hall to deal with, thankfully. This also meant that as a Gu Master working under the new Medicine Hall, there was little to do.
As such, she preoccupied a good portion of her time with trying to solve this dilemma of people's diets, wondering if she could find some herb which would help them digest and adapt to the food that was grown upon the mountain.
Following the stream to a clearing, she saw that someone was already sitting there. "Oh, I didn't mean to intrude," she said, starting a bit as the person turned around to reveal themselves as Gu Yue Fang Zheng. "Oh, Clan Leader, I'm sorry for interrupting. I was just looking for some ingredients I'll leave you-"
"Oh, I wasn't doing anything," Fang Zheng said. "I was just out here..." He trailed off. He wanted to say 'to get some peace and quiet', but he couldn't show weakness - not as the Clan Head. That was one of the first rules he had learned. "...I just came here to admire the scenery. That's all."
"Oh, well, if that's the case, I can leave."
"You can stay. It's not an issue," Fang Zheng said, allowing her to approach. Yao Le noticed that he seemed to have a slightly listless appearance. He had light bags under his eyes as if he had not slept for a while, and despite the fact that his body was radiating a healthy Rank four aura, something seemed to be off about his countenance.
"Um, Lord Clan Leader, are you all right?"
"Yes, I am all right. Why do you ask?"
"You said that you were here to examine the scenery, but..."
"Foolish woman, always prying where she doesn't belong," Fang Zheng muttered under his breath, soft enough that Yao Le couldn't hear. "No, I was just wondering about what to do regarding a certain issue that's come up."
"Oh, if I can be of help, I would love to," Yao Le said.
She was currently at Rank 2 Upper Stage and was not an Elder yet. However, she was probably the only person within the village who had the capability of becoming an Elder.
As such, all eyes were on her, and her talents for healing were greatly valued in their new home. Since the soil couldn't grow many of their traditionally used medicinal herbs, they had to rely upon Bone Path methods for healing instead. Yao Le had struggled with adapting to them initially, however, Fang Zheng had given her special access to some of the recipes left behind by the Flesh Bone Lord, which she had been able to use and modify into Healing Path gu worms. The advanced forms were too complex for her to use currently, but she had gotten a handle on those Rank 2 and below.
It wasn't that the Bone Path could not heal; it was just that the methodology was different from what she and most of the other healers were used to. The quicker they adapted to this, the easier it would be for them in the future. It was because of the small kindness of Fang Zheng's that Yao Le felt she wanted to help him.
"Help me? No, I don't think there's anyone who can do that," Fang Zheng sighed tiredly.
"Well, Lord Clan Head..."
"You can call me Fang Zheng while we're alone," Fang Zheng said, waving his hand. Yao Le blushed slightly. That seemed a bit too informal. But Fang Zheng had not been Clan Head for long, and in this short interval, he had already come to dislike the title. Not that he necessarily disliked being called Clan Head, he just wished that he could get a break from it for a moment. Had their old Clan Head, the one who came before Fang Yuan, also had moments like this? he thought to himself.
He had never asked the man in question.
Fang Zheng had assumed for a good portion of his life that everyone else was just naturally confident. How could he not after living in Fang Yuan's shadow, and seeing people like Qing Shu and his earlier rivals Mo Bei and Chi Chen?
The thought that they also had suffered from confidence issues hadn't crossed his mind for a good while.
"Well, then... Fang Zheng. If you tell me what's going on, maybe I can be of help. I see how much you've been working for Gu Yue Village and I want to support you."
The time for political factions, like the Mo faction and the Chi faction which had existed in Gu Yue Village before was long over. Fang Yuan had held such a monopoly on power, and so did Fang Zheng by extension, that there was really no formal opposition to them.
The remnants of the Bai Clan and the Xiong Clan could be thought of as their own separate factions, but they were not strong enough to oppose him, at least not directly. Fang Zheng found that most of the criticism came from most of his own so-called supporters.
"It just feels like a never-ending deluge of trouble," Fang Zheng said, sighing, telling Yao Le more than he would have ordinarily. "Especially with this latest scandal. I bet you've probably already heard of it."
Yao Le wondered what he was talking about. "Um, no, I really haven't."
"Well, it's the talk of the village. One of the mortal Gu Masters that Fang Yuan had allowed to cultivate," Fang Zheng explained, "had a rather good C-grade aptitude of 55%. Since she was a woman, she was asked to birth at least two Gu Yue clansmen before getting clan resources. However, it turns out that she was seeing three different male Gu Masters, all of whom she was taking resources from as 'betrothal gifts.' One of them was even a Clan Elder." The whole situation was so stupid that it made Fang Zheng want to ram his head against the wall, but because he was Clan Head, and because an Elder was involved at this scale, and because this was originally Fang Yuan's idea in the first place, the blowback found a way to land on him.
"That sounds rather scandalous," Yao Le said.
"I'm surprised you haven't heard of it," Fang Zheng said, sighing. Now, the Elders had another reason to criticize Fang Yuan, and by extension, Fang Zheng.
"I'm not entirely sure what to do with the woman," Fang Zheng confessed to Yao Le. "I could just simply have her executed, but she was not married to any of them so the crime doesn't fit the criteria of adultery. Defrauding a Gu Master is a capital offense, but she herself is a Gu Master. What would you do to such a person?"
Yao Le was a bit taken aback by the sudden question, but she answered. "She sounds like more trouble than she's worth. You should just end up exiling her."
"That's the same as an execution for most people," Fang Zheng said. "And I'm sure her lovers would not want that."
"Well, if those men truly loved her," Yao Lao said, "why wouldn't they go with her out into exile rather than opposing you? You can even frame it as only one willing to follow her is the one worthy of her..."
Fang Zheng snorted. He didn't think that any woman were capable of being loyal or was worth being loyal to. And if anything, this incident had deepened his mistrust of them.
Even Yao Le, who seemed to be rather simple on the surface; Fang Zheng suspected had to have some kind of undercurrent of maliciousness to her.
On top of which, what was really grating on him was that Fang Yuan was going to be leaving the clan soon. Although he hadn't taken anything from them, he would have loved to have his brother's support for a bit longer.