Meeting's Over (Part II)

Fang Zhou's eyes went wide, his usual graceful demeanor in gross disrepair as he quickly stood up from his chair and shouted in disbelief, "What?!"

Spirit Springs were mystical pools of the purest clarity, praised by humans as a gift from the world that seeped up from its heart below.

Spirit Springs produced 1,000 spirit stones a year. For poor cities, these worldly resources were incredible treasures that could support them.

Besides the spirit stone flow they generated, Spirit Springs were more known for their second property: They could hold up to 10,000 spirit stones. This was incredibly important because once a spirit stone left a spirit spring, they would naturally dissipate. So, a city could use them to act as a preservation vault of sorts.

Although cities would use spirit springs for their annuity and preservation, other parties may simply be overjoyed when they stumbled upon 10,000 spirit stones, taking as much as they could.

Despite Fang Zhou's outburst, Fang Gu calmly looked at his son.

"I'm sure you remember that Li Ting's grandfather, the former Li Clan Head, had lost his leg to the Night Wolves in Hilden Forest when he was young. At that time, the Li Clan was furious and nearly wiped out all of the Night Wolves on the outskirts of the forest, and they commissioned our Fang Clan to periodically cull them from then on."

In response to his father's statement, Fang Zhou nodded, recalling the elderly man often seen on formal occasions in his wooden wheelchair.

"Every decade, we send three groups of ten cultivators into the forest. Normally, we would lose one or two cultivators on these missions–an unlucky few killed by the wolves while the others had simply disappeared. We dismissed these cases as those few cultivators having gone too far into the forest and having been killed by a beast. That changed two decades ago."

Fang Zhou was starting to see where the conversation was going as he patiently listened to his father who was telling him about the incident that the clan had long covered up.

Of course, it was hard to cover up its existence, but those who lived in Jade City did not know why there was so much loss that day–except for the fact that it had occurred in the forest. Since Steward Lang had only arrived after Zhou was born, he wouldn't know of it either.

"The group we had sent that year decided to clean up Hilden Forest once and for all. At that time, it was only a Class 1 Wilderness Zone like the Spiral Plains, but we had never ventured close to its center before. So, we sent this group to venture to the forest's center, and we waited. And waited. It took about a week until we determined that our men would not return."

Fang Zhou continued to listen, noting that everything his father had said so far was public knowledge. He wondered when he would get to the good part.

"That's when we sent a grand elder, two great elders, and five council elders to identify the whereabouts of our cultivators. Although the grand elder stayed on the outskirts in case one of our cultivators found their way back, the rest ventured deep inside. They were never to be seen again."

The Fang Clan had lost a lot of manpower from this mission, and to this day, they had trouble nurturing cultivators to fill in their positions.

Before Fang Zhou found himself growing bored by the conversation, his father whispered to him some surprising information.

"However, the grand elder that was sent out on that mission did find one of the cultivators from the original group, and that grand elder was Grand Elder He. Grand Elder He, who is very loyal to the Fang Clan, decided to report this directly to me. Together, we decided that it was best not to reveal the existence of the spring to the other elders or the Li Clan. That way, we can focus on the evil in the center of the forest. As the Fang Clan, we have a duty to prioritize the safety and prosperity of Jade City."

Fang Gu knew that he had gained his son's attention from these lines, their eyes connecting.

"The cultivator Grand Elder He found was one of the fastest cultivators of our clan. A peak Energy Circulation realm cultivator, who was the closest of his generation to becoming an elder by breaking through to the Energy Infusion realm. He was a peculiar cultivator because instead of reinforcing his strength throughout his body, he had focused his energy circulation entirely on his legs and feet, enhancing his speed, agility, and dexterity for better land traversal."

Fang Gu paused for a moment, creating silence to usher in his next statement.

"Grand Elder He had found him just barely inside the forest. His corpse had little skin that was not eaten, but he still had a traveling bag that was safely kept. Inside the bag were 200 translucent pearls glowing with a hint of light blue–they were spirit stones, and they were fresh from a spring, having been picked in the week prior."

At this point, Fang Zhou had a puzzled expression on his face. When his father noticed, he paused his speech to let him ask.

"Why are you so sure that it was a spirit spring? Couldn't he have simply stumbled upon an artifact that held spirit stones?"

Fang Gu smiled as he prepared his explanation. 

"That artifact would be too precious and there would be no reason for him not to take it with him. Moreover, they were perfect spirit stones–they were complete and had not undergone any dissipation whatsoever. As you know, the first dissipation of a spirit stone upon leaving its source takes 7 days."

With a look of realization dawning on his son's face, Fang Gu continued. 

"Now, we are unsure as to how the cultivator survived and got to the outskirts, but I believe that he had long known of the location of the spring, and he had likely left his fellow cultivators to get to it to take out some spirit stones for himself. However, he likely encountered trouble when he tried to rejoin the group–maybe they had already died, or he had been unlucky enough to run into a dangerous beast on the way, changing his mind and trying to leave the forest by himself."

Besides the unexpected news, Fang Zhou agreed with his father's logical way of thinking, but that left two great questions. 

"So, where is the spirit spring, and what the heck is in the center of the forest? Surely, you must know by now."

Looking into his son's eyes, Fang Gu calmly replied, "I don't know."

"…"

The dining hall became silent as Fang Zhou's eyes twitched.

After twenty years, how did Jade City still not have a clue as to what was going on next door?

However, it now made sense that the clan had raised Hilden Forest's status from a Class 1 to a Class 2 Wilderness Zone just before he was born. By doing so, the clan could ask for help from the Grand Desmia Council. Likely, the clan had been waiting all this while for one of the council members to help them out of this situation, but of course, they would never be in a hurry to take a request seriously. So, the problem had never been addressed until now, when Hilden Forest's secret showed itself again. 

When his father stopped speaking, Fang Zhou realized that he would not receive any further information. As Fang Zhou got up to leave for his house arrest at his residence, Fang Gu spoke softly in his mind. 

'Don't let me down, Son.' 

———

Fang Zhou's eyes were closed as he calmly sat in his room, faint traces of energy swirling around his body.

When he had first discovered that Li Ting was in Hilden Forest from his mother, he had already connected the dots to the anomaly at its center. Although he had hired spies to scout it out to look for traces of Li Ting, none of them had ever returned.

"So, did you do as I ask?"

Fang Zhou posed this question to the corner of his room by the entrance. It looked like a completely normal space, but he soon received a reply.

"Yes, Young Master."

Steward Lang came into view as he gave a light bow.

"It truly is a pleasure to serve a true cultivation prodigy such as yourself."

"Save it."

A subtle, mischievous smile appeared on Steward Lang's face as his pace of beard grooming quickened.

"Yes, Young Master. I discovered that the Madame had indeed left her residence yesterday. Judging by her Hidden Shadows' movements, she is heading for Hilden Forest. I apologize I couldn't confirm this sooner, but her four maidservants have been doing their best to keep this tightly under wraps."

Fang Zhou acknowledged the information with a slight nod. His mother was one of the three most mysterious people he knew. She always appeared to understand what was going on, including his own doings, but she never mentioned them. However, her actions were sometimes contradictory.

"According to the information you gave me on how the Madame had to use a precious Rare Material to tell you about Hilden Forest, I can't say that the current predicament is good."

Steward Lang's facial expression was slightly anxious, but Fang Zhou ignored it. Although the old man ran some of his errands, he was sly enough to provide only the information he wanted and in the way in which he wanted it to be conveyed. However, it didn't matter. Steward Lang was the best person for Fang Zhou to rely on–he had already proven his loyalty.

Thinking of Steward Lang, Fang Zhou remembered that he had interrupted his outing with his sister. With all that was happening, he hoped that she would be able to enjoy the rest of the day.

Then again, she had probably already sold off the Purple Dewdrop Grass that he had given her, spending it on frivolous things in the overly luxurious shops. 

Easing the smile playing on his lips, Fang Zhou looked at the person who was supposed to watch over him during his house arrest before matter-of-factly stating, "Then, I guess I need to disobey Father's orders."

Although Steward Lang's credibility was on the line, he responded with a gentle smile, his eyes deeply connecting with Fang Zhou's. 

"No, you won't be disobeying him."