Chapter 159

Lightning wolves storm Gu Yue village’s walls in heavy rain, and Gu Masters fight them off gate by gate. As a rank three clan elder, Fang Yuan commands the suppression of the western area, and a runner brings him the medicine hall’s injury report. The toll is severe. The wolf tide has struck the village more than ten times, and this is one of the worst the clan has recorded, so after reading it Fang Yuan burns the report to ash, since only elders are permitted to see it and the clan is already unsettled enough. ^{ch. 159}

In his aperture, his primeval essence has turned the white silver of a rank three Gu Master, and the black red residue left by the Man-beast Life Burial Gu’s side effect is gone, cleared by a Cleansing Water Gu he had earlier extorted from Gu Yue Chi Lian. The cure cost him aptitude. It fell from forty four percent C grade to a maximum capacity of forty two percent, a two percent drop he accepts as the price. Alongside the Sky Canopy Gu, the Stealth Scales Gu and the Four Flavors Liquor worm, his aperture now also holds the newly refined Blood Moon Gu, succeeding only on his second attempt after an earlier failure, its ingredients extorted from Chi Lian, and the Thunderwings Gu inked across his back as twin lightning tattoos. The Spring Autumn Cicada is recovering faster, which both pleases and worries him, since at rank three his aperture may not be able to contain it once fully healed, and keeping a rank six Gu outside his body risks drawing attention through its resonance with natural law. ^{ch. 159}

Called to the eastern gate, Fang Yuan flies there on lightning-formed wings from the Thunderwings Gu. A frenzy lightning wolf swings its tail at a young rank one Gu Master, and Fang Yuan swoops down and carries her clear before the blow lands. She is a former classmate he once extorted primeval stones from, and recognizing her rescuer leaves her gratitude overtaking her old resentment. He tells her to retreat, sets her down, and turns back into the fight. He throws a blood red moonblade from the Blood Moon Gu that opens a wound on the wolf and keeps it bleeding. ^{ch. 159}

From a distance, Gu Yue Bo watches and asks an aide what he makes of Fang Yuan. The aide, envious after spending half his life reaching only rank two himself, recounts Fang Yuan’s recent moves: surrendering the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, giving his elder’s payout to his uncle and aunt, fighting personally against the wolves, and saving clansmen, all of which have won him a rising reputation in the clan. Gu Yue Bo reads deeper. He judges the grass a deal struck with Chi Zhong and the gift to his uncle and aunt a political show rather than true feeling, but decides the actions still serve the clan. He orders the Hidden Hall’s investigation of Fang Yuan withdrawn for now, since the wolf tide needs every hand, though he still suspects Fang Yuan hides a great secret and means to resume the inquiry once the crisis passes. ^{ch. 159}