"I... I don't admire him that much," Tie Ruo Nan stutteringly said, once again, her cheeks flushed. "And anyway, you're the greatest hero in the Southern Border, Father!"
"Thank you for saying that, daughter, even if it is praise that I feel like I do not deserve. But, like I said, it seems like Zuo Chen was only here to extort them after he had heard of what had gone on the mountain, not before that. So, he isn't the man that we are searching for. Did you happen to find anything?"
Tie Ruo Nan related what she had heard. Tie Xue Leng noted many amateur mistakes that she had made while interviewing people, which he pointed out. However, he was left speechless when she got to the point about the alchemical solutions in the water.
"I'm sorry," Tie Xue Leng said, incredulous. "Are you pulling my leg here? Is this payback for all of the jokes that I made?"
"No, Father," Tie Ruo Nan said. "I thought that it was hard to believe as well, but I've heard it from too many sources for it to be just a rumor. There has to be some sort of foundation or seed of truth to it, right? If everyone is saying so... have you heard of anything like this in the past?"
Tie Xue Leng admitted that he had never heard of anything even vaguely similar to this. There were demonic Gu Masters who used aphrodisiacs as well; the Flower Wine Monk had used the Mist Perspiring Butterfly as an example to ensnare his women.
However, naturally, dumping such things into the water would greatly dilute them and their effect. Not to mention, you couldn't target anyone in particular. He couldn't see why anyone would even want to do something like that.
"Perhaps we'll find more details in the Bai Clan," Tie Ruo Nan said, finally giving up.
"Indeed," Tie Xue Leng said.
Both of them made their way to the Bai Clan.
However, while the Bai Clan was about the same size as the Xiong Clan, and also without proper wall surrounding the village, they seemed to be in much higher spirits than the Xiong.
'What on Earth is going on here?' Tie Ruo Nan wondered.
The two of them had basically been allowed to walk into the village without any resistance.
With the Xiong Clan, where an elder had come to greet them, Rank 5 Gu Masters were the kings of the mortal world, after all, and no one would dare risk offending one.
That was why an elder had come out to greet them in person at the Xiong Clan, but the Bai Clan did not follow their example. They seemed to have gotten word from the Xiong Clan that they had arrived, and so the two of them were simply waved in.
It was a far less cumbersome process, but it did also make Tie Ruo Nan's thoughts swirl in her head as to why this was happening.
It looked like a great portion of the village was busy with something else, and it seemed almost that they did not have the time to pay attention to them, as if a visiting Rank 5 Gu Master was something that this village could ignore.
"Oh, about that," someone replied to her. "We were accepting our new external elder."
"External elder?" Tie Ruo Nan asked.
Large clans like the Tie Clan did accept elders from different clans to become external elders. However, it was odd to think of a small clan like the Bai Clan accepting one, especially when they had been so thoroughly decimated already.
"Yes, it's quite the story," the man answered her. He seemed to be wondering whether or not he should actually be telling this kind of story to outsiders, before deciding that it couldn't hurt when Tie Xue Leng handed him a primeval stone. "A few days ago, the White Form Immortal Snake, one of our signature gu, which had been left behind by our ancestor, left the place where it was being kept. We thought that our ancestor had abandoned us... and this was merely a sign of their dissatisfaction with us. However, it turned out that the gu in question found someone who had wandered onto the mountain and was accepted by this Gu. There's a legend in our Bai Clan Village that whoever would be accepted by them would lead our clan to great prosperity. Even though this person wasn't from our village, the fact that they had gained the recognition of our ancestor told us all that we needed to know, and we welcomed them as an external elder."
Tie Ruo Nan tried to process this information. This was completely new, and so must have been quite a recent event. She had also not heard of any sort of legend or tale regarding the Bai village, though many clans had some sort of similar tale regarding an old ancestor. More times than not it was just fanciful wishing from a downtrodden clan, but there were times indeed when it turned out to be true.
"Is it possible to meet with this external elder?" Tie Xue Leng asked.
In ordinary circumstances, a visitor wouldn't be able to so casually, but with his authority as a Rank 5 Gu Master, he would have been able to secure a meeting - the only question was when. They didn't intend to stay in Bai Clan Village for too long, after all. It was a bit rude to demand a meeting the moment that they walked in, but at the same time, not exactly beyond reason for Tie Xue Leng.
"Sure, sure, but I think they might be busy. You'll have to ask someone over there," he said, pointing towards what remained of the Bai Clan's Clan Hall. Its roof had caved in and none of its windows were intact, but it was a semi-functioning building currently even if it couldn't properly hold off the elements or fend off the rats and other vermin that scoured the villages for any remaining crumbs.
"And if you don't mind me asking," Tie Ruo Nan asked, "what was the name of this person who suddenly became your external elder? Maybe the two of them had heard of him."
"Oh, someone who I've never met before, but maybe you guys have heard of... oh wait. that's right, it's a woman, not a man. Her name is Ling Ding Ching."
"Ling Ding Ching - can't say I've ever heard of a name like that," Tie Xue Leng said, but this could be a new person or an old lone cultivator. "Thank you for your time."
The two of them set off to go meet with this Ling Ding Chng and wandered into the Bai clan's clan hall.
The door was at the very least still functioning, and the clan member guarding it bowed his head lightly before opening it up so that they could step inside.
The smell of damp and rotting wood, as well as something else, still permeated through the air. The numerous incense candles lit in the place only masked the odor - they did not remove it.
The people inside seemed to be somewhat used to this though, as there was a large crowd gathered in the building around one person. As the crowd parted, Tie Ruo Nan got a glimpse of someone with radiant white hair and glowing skin - even with a small glance she could tell that this was a peerless beauty.
Upon sensing the Rank 5 aura permeating throughout the room, many of the Bai Clansmen turned around to see what the source was before doing a double-take at Tie Xue Leng's appearance. Some of them seemed to not know who he was, but as Tie Xue Leng motioned for them to step aside, they complied.
"Are you Lady Ling Ding Ching?" Tie Xue Leng asked the woman in the center.
With a frosty scowl, the woman answered, "Indeed I am. Who's asking?"