"Why is it necessary to keep his cultivation a secret?" Shang Xin Ci asked.
If Fang Yuan wanted to keep it a secret, she would not breathe a word of it, but it seemed like it was more Wei Yang and her father who wanted to keep it a secret.
"I do not know what Fang Yuan's plans are, nor what the plans of the Shang Clan Supreme Elders are," Wei Yang admitted. "And it is normal to hold one's cards close to the chest, if for no other reason than that it makes it harder to tell what one is doing. As it is usually Immortals will not reveal themselves if only to make sure that they do not cause chaos and confusion."
Before Wei Yang could get much further, the guest of honor had finally arrived.
Shang Xin Ci turned around to see Fang Yuan.
Thankfully, he looked completely unharmed, putting all of her worries that he had somehow been injured away. Being a mortal, she could not see through the illusion covering his right eye.
He looked just as he had when he had left, his robes flowing in the wind and his demeanor that of a righteous hero as it had always been. His aura indeed was that of a Rank 5 Peak Stage Gu Master. He had a plain face, but to her, there was no face more beloved in the entire world. Her heart began to race.
She rushed over to greet him, wanting to embrace him, but then immediately paused halfway.
Was it really proper for her to hug Fang Yuan?
He was her teacher, after all. What would society say?
Not to mention he was an Immortal. Would he be affronted by some of her actions?
Shang Xin Ci may have been nice, but she was not a fool. She knew that part of the reason Wei Yang was telling her that Fang Yuan was Rank 6 was that it would be a mistake to offend him in any way.
Fang Yuan saw her. He also saw that she had hesitated midway to approaching him.
He stopped and simply opened his arms slightly.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Are you not going to give your teacher a welcome home hug?" he said.
Shang Xin Ci giggled before embracing Fang Yuan.
It lasted far shorter than she would have liked, but they couldn't stay standing there hugging each other all day now then, could they?
Once she left Fang Yuan's embrace, she couldn't help but feel a great wave of annoyance now that she knew that Fang Yuan was safe.
"Teacher, what happened? Why did you leave so suddenly like that? Our city has felt so empty without you," she said. "And... I was really worried."
"I had important business to attend to which I simply could not reveal to anyone else," Fang Yuan said. "Actually, speaking on that matter, there's something that I'd like to tell Wei Yang as well."
Wei Yang was a bit surprised. "To me?"
"Yes, as you may know, Xin Ci and I have created an organization known as the Beggar Sect," Fang Yuan said.
"Yes, about that..." Wen Yong said, trailing off slightly.
Shen Yan Fei was initially not too obstructive towards Shang Xin Ci's idea, as it was a chance for her to prove her worth, and she technically wasn't violating any clan rules. However, over time, it became clear that the Beggar Sect was not really contributing anything, and if nothing else, it was actually causing some unease among the Shang Clan elders.
After all, an organization outside of their own hierarchy was bound to be something that they were suspicious towards. Some members of the Beggar Sect had caused problems, as it was a bit harder to remove them from their places of begging knowing their affiliation with the sect. Minor altercations had occasionally broken out.
Although the beggars were not strong or influential in any way, they did carry a great deal of numbers. They could be annoying in various aspects simply from that.
As for useful information, they hadn't really managed to dig up anything that the Shang Clan's own intelligence service couldn't. If anything most of the information they uncovered was actually detrimental.
Say, for those beggars who agreed to tell certain men's wives about them going to brothels and causing domestic disputes in exchange for food...
Or those who told people's parents that their children were ditching school...
Or that one time they saw a Gu Master trying to make out with their gu worm...
...all of these were pointless pieces of information that
As such, Shang Yan Fei was about to make the decision to dissolve the organization entirely.
"Actually, they have managed to happen upon a very interesting piece of information," Fang Yuan said. "Something that I think would greatly interest you."
"Oh?" Wei Yang asked. "What is that?"
Fang Yuan explained the truth about Wu Ran, and Wei Yang's eyes widened.
"I see. To think that there was a snake hidden so deeply within Shang Clan City, without us even knowing," Wei Yang said. "About that... thank you for informing me of this, Fang Yuan. I will have this taken care of quickly."
"Good. Then once that is done... is something wrong?" Fang Yuan asked Shang Xin Ci. She was glancing behind Fang Yuan and also around him, as if she were looking for another person beside him. "Did you come here alone?"
"Yes, I did," Fang Yuan said. "What of it?"
"Oh, I just thought that Lady Ling Ding Ching would be here with you," Shang Xin Ci said.
That took Fang Yuan slightly by surprise.
"What? Ling Ding Ching is... she is not here?" Fang Yuan asked.
Shang Xin Ci shook her head.
"Initially, when we couldn't find you, she didn't say much. But after some time, she seemed to get frustrated and went out to look for you," Shang Xin Ci. "When I'd heard you'd returned, I assumed that she would be with you..."
Fang Yuan sighed inwardly. That was another little thing that he would have to take care of.
"Did you happen to know where she went?" he asked.
"No. I assumed that she might go to your new home on Bei Gu Mountain."
"She hasn't been there either," Fang Yuan said. She hadn't been on Qing Mao Mountain either, the two places she naturally would've gone to look. Meaning that she had likely gotten waylaid somewhere.
"I haven't heard much about her, actually," Shang Xin Ci said. There was now a worried tone in her voice. Before, she had been anxious about Fang Yuan's safety, and now she was anxious about Bai Ning Bing's safety. Although Shang Xin Ci and Bai Ning Bing were not close, she knew that Bai Ning Bing was close to Fang Yuan, even if she didn't know the full details of their relationship. And given how close they were, she knew that Fang Yuan must have naturally felt greatly sad and pained if he didn't know whether or not Bai Ning Bing was safe. "Ah... Teacher... I'm sorry I can't help you. You must be so worried..."
"All right then, relax. Don't worry about her," Fang Yuan said. "She must be somewhere in the area. I have my methods to find her, and I will try to track her down. Talk about being unlucky, though. I wanted to go see her, and she tried to go see me, and we completely missed each other as a result."
"Yes, it is a bit strange," Shang Xin Ci said.
A gentle wind blew through the courtyard as the two of them glanced at each other. There was more that Shang Xin Ci wanted to say, more feelings that her heart contained that were waiting to burst forward like a dam about to crack. However, instead of being agitated like earlier, it was now as tranquil as the surface of a lake on a windless night.
She simply said, "Teacher, I've long since missed you."
"And I've missed you, my favorite student," Fang Yuan said, smiling back at her.
"Favorite student?" Shang Xin Ci asked. "Teacher, I'm your only student, isn't that correct?"
"Well, yes, that's true," Fang Yuan said. "But I think that you would be anyone's favorite student regardless."
As soon as he said that, Shang Xin Ci did realize that Fang Yuan was basically just saying this in order to flatter her and to make her feel a bit more comfortable. But even if the praise might not have been entirely genuine, she appreciated it nonetheless.