House in the inner sect grounds, Green Blade Forest Sect.

It didn’t take long for the response from Ye Shao to arrive. Just a few seconds after he closed the door, another troop of guards came up from the courtyard, heading towards the patriarch’s room at a quickened pace.

Cao Yang put up his most serious face and left the doorway to receive the men.

Most of the guards in the clan were still loyal to him and, by extension, the main house. But the rising second branch of Ye Shao’s had twisted some of the loyalties of the old guards while recruiting new ones to swell their ranks.

These newly-arrived ones were from that group. They were a mix of youngsters and familiar faces, led by a relatively-young officer of Ye Shao’s named Li Zhelan.

“Old Yang.” said the boy, his eyes squinting in annoyance. “The lord felt a disturbance nearby, which we determined to be in the patriarch’s room. Stand aside and let us do our inspection.”

Cao Yang didn’t budge, staring down at Li Zhelan. “Monk San Zheng is… performing a new mystic art to purge the poison from the patriarch. He has given me instructions not to be disturbed.”

“Is that so? The new mystic art might be dangerous. Isn’t it your job to make sure the patriarch is safe at all times? If you won’t do it, then let us take a look.”

With that, Li Zheng tried again to pass through once more only to be blocked by Cao Yang’s spear.

“Nobody. Goes. In.” he said, emphasising every syllable.

His men formed up behind him, while the other guards had nervous looks on their faces. Cao Yang was seldom this scary unless they were in training. Li Zheng glared at him, “You-”.

“What have you done?!”

A cry had sounded from the room. It was San Zheng’s voice.

“What is that?!” exclaimed Li Zheng. Before he could he figure it out himself another voice followed suit, loud yet apologetic.

“It’s temporary, temporary! We just need to-”

“Foreign devil! If your mystic arts have corrupted the patriarch, I will destroy you!”

“Who’s in there with the monk?!” said Li Zheng. “I am going in.”

With that, he pushed his way through the distracted Cao Yang and the rest of his men.

‘The young master… If he’s seen…’

Before Li Zheng could reach for the door, Cao Yang’s hand had already grabbed his shoulder. With a mighty pull, he threw Li Zheng back to the guards. His men had parted or ducked out of the way of his flight, while the other guards caught their leader with their bodies in a mighty crash.

He took up position between the groups once more.

“Nobody goes in the room.” he said intimidatingly. “Men, protect the door. Whoever tries to go in, kill them.” With that, he leveled his greatspear to point at the terrified, prone guards.

‘Whatever you’re doing there, San Zheng, do it fast.’

When he heard the noise outside, Aryon knew he forgot to cast the Sanctum spell before starting.

‘You’re getting old again, old man.’

“How will this help father?!” exclaimed Ye Kang. “Look at him!”

Aryon did look at the ‘patriarch’. That is, he looked at the creature that was currently the patriarch.

He didn’t have any spell in his books to purge poisons from the body, so he had to be creative.

So with a touch of his hand and a few words, he polymorphed the patriarch into a gelatinous cube.

The bouncy, squishy new form of the patriarch had occupied a large part of the room’s space, such that the bed and table near where he laid before were now engulfed within his new mass. They floated within the body like fish in an aquarium.

“I am looking.” he said, calmly. “Look there.”

He pointed towards the translucent, bluish cube. Specifically where a black, inky fluid was mixed in the ooze’s own slime. Like black oil in clear water, it stood out clearly in the translucent body.

“I’d wager that that’s the poison.” said Aryon. “This new form will digest the poison and neutralize it. Give it a minute or three.”

“Can this be undone?!” said the old monk. He was quite angry, to the point where even he can feel the power leaking out of him.

“It can. Just-”

There was a crash outside, followed by some stern words from the head guard. Then came the tell-tale clash of weapons.

“It won’t be long until Ye Shao knows of this.” said the monk.

“Let him know.” said Aryon. He watched as the black liquid slowly shrank before his sight. “We’ll have a surprise for him.”

The situation outside the room had ballooned into a huge melee.

When the alarm was sounded by Ye Shao’s men, guards from all over the mansion came over to answer. Yet not all of them took the same side. The main branch guards heeded Cao Yang’s commands and kept Ye Shao’s men at bay, while others were trying to break through them.

Cao Yang’s spear struck out like a viper, hitting arms and legs here and there. He didn’t go for the kill, aiming instead to cripple the foe. He fought his way into the mansion courtyard, followed by his men and leaving a trail of defeated guards at his wake.

The battle in the courtyard was intense, but the winning side was clear. The main branch guards were old veterans who had served under Ye Long during his service in the army. Led by Cao Yang and having both great personal strength and group coordination, they were able to push back the other guards to the entrance.

A cordon had formed from his men, cutting the courtyard in half and preventing passage to the main house. Cao Yang strode out before it, staring down the other side that had just regrouped.

Neither side made a move, only staring each other down, until a new factor entered the scene.

Ye Shao himself had arrived from the neighboring mansion, accompanied by more of his guards and several imperial soldiers. Two-eye catching figures that flanked the lord’s sides caught Cao Yang’s attention.

‘Nascent Soul cultivators. Probably the prince’s men.’

“Cao Yang.” began the lord as he arrived before his gathered men. “Are you rebelling against the family? It would be a shame to remove such an old and trusted friend of my brother from our service.”

“Your men tried to enter the patriarch’s room without permission.” said Cao Yang coldly in reply. He looked at Ye Shao as one does his most hated foe.

“Hmph. As my followers, they naturally share my concerns about my brother. I’ve let you and the monk keep watch over him for a long time. Yet for all that time he’s never gotten up.’

The lord stepped forward, looking straight at Cao Yang. “Could it be that you’re to blame for his long sickness?”

‘He’s trying to goad me.’ thought Cao Yang. ‘And it’s working.’

He tightened the grip on his spear. He was never the most diplomatic amongst the officers under Ye Long. “No one comes into the main house until the patriarch is well.” said he, pointing the greatspear towards Ye Shao.

“I am his brother. You cannot deny me the right to see my own family.” said Ye Shao. “Move or I’ll-”

“You’ll what, brother?”

The voice that just shouted was old and weak, but hearing it gave Cao Yang a surge of strength. The crowd of guards, from both sides, shuffled turned as one towards the speaker.

From out the main house came a monk supporting an underweight man, followed by an armoured figure and an adolescent boy. Upon seeing that pitiful figure near the monk, Cao Yan couldn’t help but give a cry.

“Patriarch!”