“What’s the meaning of this, First Brother?” Gao Diao demanded an explanation from Kaitou Daiki without his signature cackle, his gaze pointed at the unconscious servant boy.

A sect elder had publicly intimidated a young servant into wetting themselves and fainting from fright.

Elders would ordinarily not perpetrate such a disgraceful act as it damaged their prestige as an elder. This truth was truer for the First Elder as he cared the most about his own majesty.

Kaitou Daiki’s jaw clenched as his eyes darted to Hideaki Akiyoshi.

Understanding his hint, Gao Diao turned his question to the young man with a narrowed stare, “What’s going on?”

Hideaki Akiyoshi stepped closer to Gao Diao and quietly explained the circumstances surrounding the servant boy Migiwara Puchi.

“Che! Is this the true reason you set all this up? Just because a little disciple figured out the secret of your stones?” Gao Diao scoffed at the First Elder.

“Hmph. Of course not. The situation is, indeed, as grim as I’ve described. Sorting out this other little issue at the same time is just a matter of convenience. And who knows? Maybe it’s all connected.”

Gao Diao rolled his eyes.

“Che che che, how cautious First Brother is! The hidden experts that cleaned us out must have hired a Qi Flourishing servant to earn a small profit so that they can afford a camel ride out of Ryuga, che che che…”

How ridiculous!

The ‘Rusty Robber’ and his crew were rich enough to purchase the entire stock of more than a dozen vendors while being skillful enough to disappear countless valuable items from the other vendors with none being the wiser.

With such capabilities, there was absolutely no logical reason to open such a shop, especially after alerting the entire sect to their presence. It would not even serve as an adequate distraction for them to escape.

Assuming they figured out the trick surrounding the tribulation stones’ gathering, they would have utilized it before they performed the robbery and in a much quieter fashion.

Publicly trading with the entire sect in such a blatant manner was the complete opposite action of someone in hiding.

Kaitou Daiki definitely knew all this, but after Hideaki Akiyoshi explained how the shop had been operating for several days and on such a massive scale, he felt a sense of crisis.

Thus, the First Elder was taking advantage of the current situation to seize the ambitious disciple that came up with this plan and foil his ‘get rich quick’ scheme before it bore fruit.

Kaitou Daiki ignored Gao Diao’s sarcasm.

He silently motioned to a vice elder to awaken the sleeping boy.

Witnessing the scene escalate, the three other elders approached the two bickering brothers. “What happened? Is this servant boy involved in this mess somehow?”

“Che che che che che, listen to this, brothers…” he repeated what Hideaki Akiyoshi told him.

Black lines appeared on their faces.

“Did you waste all our time just to cover for your oversight, First Brother? These two matters are obviously unrelated!”

“Indeed. This is a bit inappropriate, First Brother.”

“Ho ho ho, what a smart disciple! They learned how the tribulation stones work and are trying to profit! How admirable, ho ho ho…”

Blacker lines appeared on Kenja’s face.

While the elders erected a barrier to prevent others from hearing them, the elders’ disciples were not excluded from the barrier. Thus, Kenja heard everything they discussed, causing him to feel a whirlwind of different emotions.

The two matters were not only connected, but the source of their troubles was the same person!

Ignoring the fact that it was Snail’s sticky fingers that caused such a grand misunderstanding that resulted in gathering all of the thousands of disciples in the sect together, it seemed the First Elder’s hidden agenda was directly related to him and his schemes.

And Snail carried none of that blame.

Kenja was not the only one to comprehend the truth.

“Look at what you dragged me into, disciple. Because of you, I’m going to be labeled as an accomplice and a fugitive! Woe is the Supreme Me… adopting an unfilial criminal for a disciple…wuwuwuwu…” Snail’s alligator tears wet Kenja’s earlobe.

A murderous twinkle appeared in Kenja’s eyes.

This Snail was already labeled as such seconds earlier. He was taking advantage of this new information to kick Kenja while he was down, pretending as if he would have a righteous reputation if it were not for him.

If only he could beat this shameless troublemaker to death.

Sakura could not stop herself from vibrating at Snail.

“Pfft, don’t besmirch my good name! Don’t you regret now? You gave yourself to a sinner. If you beg me, I might be willing to take care of you while disciple serves his prison sentence.”

Sakura trembled angrily in her sheath, but Kenja could somehow tell her shaking was out of anger and not because she was speaking.

Talking with Snail would only shorten one’s lifespan.

“Brothers misunderstand. One cannot be too cautious concerning the sect’s safety. I am ensuring the peace and stability of the sect,” Kaitou Daiki coughed awkwardly, not believing a single word of his flowery explanation. His cruel indifference shriveled up at the accusatory eyes of his brothers.

A vice elder greeted the elders from outside of the barrier, “The suspicious disciples have been rounded up. We await elders’ orders.”

Kaitou Daiki let out another cough. “Good, good.”

With a wave of his hand, Migawari Puchi who had just been roused from his sleep by a different vice elder was pulled to him. Kaitou Daiki patted him a couple of times on the shoulder reassuringly.

“Come, Little Puchi. This old man needs your help protecting the sect from outsiders.”

He decided to take a softer approach.

Waking up, the servant boy was terrified upon remembering what had happened.

Immediately afterwards, he was suddenly flown through the air uncontrollably until he landed next to the man who had scared him unconscious.

And now, this ever-fearsome and all-powerful First Elder was smiling at him in an off-putting manner while seeking his help.

Out of fear, he nodded his head vehemently, fearful any other response would land him in deeper trouble.

“Good boy,” he stated while observing the other elders nervously, “Come this way.”

Walking in the direction that the reporting vice elder came from, he led Migawari Puchi while grasping onto his shoulder.

The elders and their disciples followed.

Ahead, a group of disciples had been excluded from the rest and forced to kneel on the grass with their limbs bound by rope. A couple of vice elders supervised them from the side.

Upon nearing them, Kenja could see the group was composed of thirteen male outer sect disciples and one female inner sect disciple. They were at varying stages in their cultivation, but Kenja felt that their auras were somewhat ambiguous and restrained.

“Their meridians and dantians have been blocked. Right now, they’re just slightly stronger than the average mortal, incapable of utilizing any Qi,” Snail explained without being asked.

In front of each kneeling individual lay one or two items Kenja was unacquainted with.

One was an odd feather, another was a strangely-shaped hammer, a third was a large, silver leaf, and there were many others.

Some of them had a block of wax no longer than one’s fingernail with a barely visible wick.

They reminded Kenja of the transmission candle that Hideaki Akiyoshi had tormented him with earlier.