Published: March 4, 2025
Chapter Fifteen: Crisis
“I can’t say for sure.” Wu Qianqian hesitated for a moment, uncertain.
“Oh? Can’t say for sure? What do you mean by that?” Kong Jingfeng looked at his niece with interest, smiling as he asked.
“The performances of the three were drastically different from what the rumors suggested.” Wu Qianqian furrowed her delicate brows and said, “According to the rumors, Stone Thousand Mountain is mature and steady, capable of handling things independently and meticulously. But this time, upon seeing him, I was greatly disappointed.”
“And that second disciple, Chu Yang, was rumored to be taciturn, awkward, and reclusive. However, today he seemed to have hidden talent; he appeared timid and afraid of trouble, but deep down…” Wu Qianqian thought for a moment but couldn’t find suitable words, so she finally said, “In short… this person is very strange, I can’t see through him. As for the third disciple, Tan Tan, he truly lives up to the rumors—completely out of touch.”
After finishing her words, both of them fell into silence, tightly frowning and saying nothing. After a long while, Wu Yunliang stood up and slowly walked to the wall. He reached out to unveil a large mural, revealing a white paper behind it.
On the white paper, there was a column of names on the left side, with a total of forty names from top to bottom. Behind each name, a red check mark was marked.
There were more than a dozen with two check marks, and two individuals occupying the first and second positions had three check marks behind their names. These names were: Xue Ye Meng and Qin Mushang.
Li Jianyin’s name was in the nineteenth position, while Stone Thousand Mountain’s name was in the thirteenth position. However, there were no names for Chu Yang and Tan Tan.
Wu Yunliang took a pen and paused for a moment, then drew a red line through Li Jianyin’s name, erasing it.
Then, he carefully considered and wrote two characters at the bottom: Chu Yang.
Next, he added a question mark after Chu Yang’s name. He stepped back two paces, frowned and thought for a bit, then waved his pen to erase Chu Yang's name again, leaving just a question mark.
“This matter is likely to cause a huge uproar.” Kong Jingfeng frowned and said, “Our Sky Tower is already unstable internally, and now this incident has also implicated Junior Brother Meng…”
“Junior Brother Meng cannot be implicated. With his temperament, unless the Sky Tower is destroyed, he wouldn’t care about anything else.” Wu Yunliang shook his head, speaking with certainty. Then his expression darkened as he said, “Is Stone Thousand Mountain really that unworthy?” There was an unmistakable hint of disappointment in his tone.
“Yes.” Wu Qianqian had a very poor impression of Stone Thousand Mountain. This person, who was usually praised for being “mature and steady,” in her mind, was simply a total fool, blind to reality.
Hopeless!
Wu Yunliang sighed deeply.
The two didn’t say much about this matter, clearly not taking it to heart. After all, it was just a brawl among juniors, unrelated to the bigger picture. Now, both of their faces showed worry, evidently troubled by something else.
Wu Yunliang waved his hand, and Wu Qianqian understood, silently retreating.
Only the two of them remained in the study.
“Eldest Brother, my suggestion…” Kong Jingfeng tentatively began.
“Not in a hurry.” Wu Yunliang waved his hand, his expression anxious.
Kong Jingfeng remained silent for a moment before speaking heavily, “Our Sky Tower, in our generation, is only the seventh generation. The first generation founder established the sect, rising among the top seven sects of the lower three heavens, enjoying royal patronage! What glory and honor that was! But the second generation broke ties with the Great Zhao royal family, and from then on, our reputation plummeted, with sect masters hunted down and half of them perishing. It was only in the later years of the second generation founder, when he inadvertently helped the royal family, that the old ties were broken, allowing us to recuperate and return to Nine Peaks and One Garden.”