"Clan leader, what is the matter?" The academy elder respectfully stood at a corner.
"It's nothing much, take a seat, I have a story to share with you." Gu Yue Bo squinted his eyes and said slowly.
"Your subordinate shall listen with full attention!" Academy elder chose to sit at the seat closest to the clan leader.
Clan leader Gu Yue Bo began his story on Ren Zu.
…
Gu Yue Bo's story came to an end. He looked at the academy elder with a meaningful gaze.
Academy elder jumped from his seat. He had heard of Ren Zu's story long ago, but from Gu Yue Bo's mouth, it had a greater meaning.
His gaze shone and his heart understood. He bowed slightly at Gu Yue Bo, respectfully saying, "Clan leader, you are using this story as an analogy? Fang Yuan as the Wisdom Gu and the clan as Ren Zu. Although Ren Zu used the Rules and Regulation Gu to capture Wisdom Gu and managed to trap it, the Wisdom Gu eventually escaped."
Saying so, the academy elder paused and thought about it for a while, before looking at Gu Yue Bo. "Sir clan leader, you want me to let go of Fang Yuan and stop pressuring him? But he's getting more and more overboard…"
Gu Yue Bo stopped the academy elder's words, holding out his hand, indicating for him to sit and speak.
The academy elder sat and heard Gu Yue Bo sigh, "You, your comprehension is still superb, being an intelligent person, easily getting my point. Unfortunately your grasp of the situation is still too small, you can only see that tiny plot of land in front of you. Let me tell you, the academy is a small matter, and the clan is really the important one."
"I know what you are worried about, afraid that the other students are heavily suppressed by Fang Yuan, eventually losing the fire in their heart. Hehehe." Gu Yue Bo shook his head, pointing at academy elder, "You're overthinking it."
"What do you think the clan is doing? Just relying on your academy to nurture new people? Of course not, behind every student, there's their parents, elders, and friends. Only with these people's support, encouragement, expectations, our Gu Yue clan's new generation can have the confidence and motivation in their hearts."
"Fang Yuan has indeed repeatedly exceeded my expectations, he has a hint of outstanding excellence. I have been observing Fang Zheng secretly and I have long known about Fang Yuan's extortions, just let him continue. Use him to train Fang Zheng, Mo Bei and Chi Cheng, these rough jades. There are many advantages in this matter, at the very least this round of students have the best fighting skills among all the previous seasons."
Academy elder was worried, "But clan leader, excessive hurdles isn't a good thing either, it will crush the jade. Especially that Fang Yuan has the Liquor worm now, this worm provides great help to a Rank one Gu Master. I'm worried that at the Rank one stage, under Fang Yuan's suppression, no one can overturn the situation."
"Then let them be unable to turn over the situation!" Gu Yue Bo snorted, showing the grace and callousness of a person in power, "This tiny setback, what does it matter? Is it scarier than death? With their family elder's support, if they still lacked motivation, then they are not even jade to begin with and have no value to nurture. The clan has tons of new students into the academy each year, so if this season doesn't succeed, there's always the next. As for Gu Yue Fang Zheng, starting tomorrow night, I will teach him in secret."
"With the clan leader's personal teaching, that is really Gu Yue Fang Zheng's fortune." Academy elder licked his boots at the appropriate timing.
Gu Yue Bo's expression softened as he looked at academy elder, instructing, "Do you know the reason why after so many decades, you are still the academy elder? Have greater tolerance, I know Fang Yuan infringed your dignity and made you humiliated, but do you really have to be so calculative with a junior from a younger generation?"
"I know that Fang Yuan has some earlier wisdom, but he is still a youngster and tends to be rash. If not, he would not have hurt the guards in public and caused you to be in a predicament. He was furious internally back then and that is understandable. From being hailed as genius to a commoner, it is normal to be angry at the clan."
"He is actually very childish, you can tell from him trying to hide the Liquor worm. How can the Liquor worm be hid? He is not mature yet and is still innocent, don't think of him as a scary being. Comparing him to the Wisdom Gu, I am thinking too highly of him. At most, he has some small intelligence, but lacks true wisdom and knowledge. If he hid the fact that he rose to middle stage silently, or accepted the class chairman position without any displeasure, that would truly be deep scheming."
"Clan leader, your meaning is?" Academy elder raised his eyebrows.
"What I'm trying to say is, Fang Yuan is discontented with the clan, thus let him go vent his anger. An ant spitting at an elephant, will the elephant care? Emotions are meant to be let out and not bottled inside, so once he's done venting, he will naturally fuse into the clan. Our Gu Yue clan has been around for nearly a thousand years ever since the first generation founded it. There has been countless of people who were discontented with the clan, but eventually did any of them manage to overturn the clan?"
"A clan is not just about rules and regulations, there's also blood relation and kinship. Ren Zu wanted to use the rules and regulations to capture wisdom. Yet not only did he lose, but he also informed wisdom of the rules and regulations. There is profound meaning in this story – the rules are dead, but people are alive, and relationships are deep. If you only know how to use rules and regulations to catch people, it will only increase resentment and cause Fang Yuan to be more dissociated with the clan. Fang Yuan is only a C grade, if he's lucky, after tens of years he'd still be a low-ranking clan elder. But he is still Gu Yue Fang Zheng's twin brother, do you understand now?"
"Understood!" Hearing Gu Yue Bo's final sentence, the academy elder realized at once.
"Mmm, if a family only has rules and regulations, then the family is a pile of dead objects. But if you add in blood relationship, it'll be alive." Gu Yue Bo nodded, "and one more sentence, I want you to remember."
"Please admonish me, sir clan elder."
Gu Yue Bo, with a distant gaze, looked out of the window towards the moon, "The sea can hold the water from thousands of rivers, it's big because of its capacity. A person is great when he can be tolerant and forgiving to many other people. Remember this, and leave."
"Yes clan leader sir, your subordinate takes his leave," said the academy elder as he left the hall.
Jia Fu and his crew sat on the back of the Treasure Brass Toad. After exiting the Gu Yue Village, they once again headed towards the merchant caravan's direction.
The wind blew past their ears, and their view followed the Treasure Brass Toad as it moved up and down.
The moonlight shone on everyone's faces and they all looked solemn, while Jia Fu's face was cold as ice.
"Master, what are we going to do now? Jia Jin Sheng's death, once master returns, how will you answer to old master? Should we find a scapegoat first..." A close subordinate broke the silence.
Jia Fu shook his head, but avoided the question, "Do you know the story of Ren Zu?"
The subordinate was stunned, not expecting this answer. At once he did not know how to reply.
Jia Fu continued, "Ren Zu had the Rules and Regulation Gu, and could capture all the ten thousand Gu in the world, obtaining strength but losing wisdom. At that point his net still contained three Gu. He opened and saw that they were the Attitude Gu, Belief Gu and Suspicion Gu respectively. Ren Zu was unwilling to let them go, thus the three Gu could only bet with him. Once Ren Zu opens the net, they would run out in three different directions, and whoever is captured by Ren Zu would be subdued. Guess, who did Ren Zu capture in the end?"
The trusted aide thought, and answered, "It's the Attitude Gu!"
"Do you know why?" Jia Fu asked. The loyal subordinate shook his head.
Jia Fu laughed, "Because attitude means everything. No matter if father 'believes' or 'suspects', I have already displayed my 'attitude'. Jia Jin Sheng went missing, and I immediately conducted investigations in the caravan. Once I had a clue, I rushed towards the Gu Yue clan without stop. At the village, I risked the danger of being attacked by them and interrogated them on the spot. I did not even sit down, and to prove Fang Yuan's words, I went as far as to use the Rank four Bamboo Gentleman."
"Once I get back, I will even spend a ton of money to employ the divine investigator, inviting Tie Leng Xue to investigate this matter. Regardless of whether Jia Jin Sheng is dead or alive, as his brother I have already done all that I should, my attitude shows everything! I have thought it through earlier, we do not need a scapegoat. We shall go back in this honest state, because I was not at fault for this matter! Finding a scapegoat, that might just be a trap by Jia Gui. If I can find a scapegoat, he can also find someone to overturn the case."
His subordinate was shocked and said, "Master, you really suspect that young master Jia Gui was behind this?"
"Hmph, who else but him can do something so perfectly?" Saying so, Jia Fu's face distorted, anger bursting from his eyes, "Before this, I was thinking about our blood relationship and did not do such a thing to him. But since he is so devious, I will have to pay him back an eye for an eye, don't blame me for being unscrupulous!"
Fang Yuan stood on the hillside as he silently watched the Treasure Brass Toad leaped away.
Not long ago, Fang Yuan was standing on the hill holding an umbrella, sending the caravan off. But now he was here again, watching Jia Fu leave.
"The trouble from killing Jia Jin Sheng is finally settled. The divine investigator Tie Leng Xue will arrive two years from now. By that time, I must be fully prepared." Fang Yuan was aware of the incident that would occur in the future.
The night wind blew over with the fresh cool air of the mountains, penetrating with a kind of fragrance.
Fang Yuan breathed in, feeling more refreshed.
He looked into the distance, his field of view wide. The unrestrained mountains were picturesque, looking tranquil and auspicious under the moon.