At the next clan elder meeting, a message had come from the Bai Clan that they had accepted the Gu Yue's proposal, and there were smiles all around.
"It truly does seem that the Gu Yue Clan is the number one clan on Qing Mao Mountain!"
"We will be the only clan on Qing Mao now."
There was a round of laughter at this.
Fang Yuan, however, was unmoved. "I'm afraid that there is bad news. Before I say what I mean, I need to tell everyone that this is a highly confidential secret of the clan and anyone who leaks it to an outsider will be killed."
The laughter died down at that as the mood turned grim. A secret like that meant that the clan's future had to be at stake, otherwise there would not be such an extreme punishment.
"Some of you may be wondering why I left for some time," Fang Yuan said. They did not openly say anything to him when he came back, but he knew that the other elders had greatly annoyed Qing Shu and Fang Zheng, although they had done a reasonable enough job of holding down the fort while he was gone. "There is a reason for my absence. I had left Qing Mao Mountain and had gone to a neighboring region, namely Bei Gu Mountain."
Many of them frowned at this. "Why would our clan leader leave to some random location for no reason? Did he think that this was the appropriate time to go on a picnic or vacation?" This was their thought process.
"It was necessary for me to do so because our clan's spirit spring is dying." There were gasps at this declaration.
"Clan leader, surely you must be mistaken. The spirit spring has not shown-"
Fang Yuan held up his hand. "It has not shown any signs yet, but it will soon enough. We thought that we had gotten lucky and had been spared the fate of the Bai and the Xiong clans when it came to our spirit springs. However, it just looks like our fate was delayed compared to theirs." He did not mention the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, which was the actual reason why their spirit spring wasn't dying out faster.
"Without our spirit spring, our clan will be like a rootless weed, scattering in the wind."
"Even with our clan's strength, it will be difficult for us to survive."
"We won't be able to collect enough Hope Gu for new Gu Masters."
Fang Yuan raised up his hand to indicate that they should remain silent. "Our spirit spring will still survive for a while. We do not need to panic. And that's why I'm getting to why I had gone to Bei Gu Mountain, because although we have one home, it doesn't mean that we cannot find another."
Fang Yuan took out the book made by the Flesh Bone Lord and had it passed around the room. After glancing at it, many of the elders frowned.
"I've never heard of such a tale before..."
"A Gu Yue clan elder running away with a Bai clan elder's daughter? That would have been quite scandalous and the talk of the town, even if it happened several centuries ago."
"All of you are correct," Fang Yuan said. "That never happened. This is a forgery. However, the rest of the book is genuine. There was an inheritance on Bei Gu Mountain." Fang Yuan removed several Bone Spear Gu and Spiral Bone Gu. "I was able to retrieve them from there." He passed these new gu worms around, and the elders examined them with curiosity. "They feed upon milk, and we found a large milk spring on Bei Gu Mountain as well, which can feed these gu worms in perpetuity as well as ourselves."
"Are these offensive gu worms?"
"Short-range at that, but they are powerful."
"I think our Moonlight Gu are still superior..."
"Not only that," Fang Yuan added, "I have found the location of a fresh spirit spring there." At these words, many of the elders' eyes lit up. A fresh primeval spring!
If that was true, then that meant that their clan was saved.
"Elder Qing Shu has been running calculations on how we can possibly move ourselves to Bei Gu Mountain," Fang Yuan said. "It would invite too much suspicion if we were to all leave at once. As such, we are going to send a first wave of Gu Masters as a hunting party, and we will follow this course."
Qing Shu took out a map and traced a path which skirted the river at several points. "The river will mean fresh water will be easy to obtain. However, there are several beasts we may have to deal with, including crocodiles. After that, we need to pass through this forest and mountain here until finally, we get to Bei Gu Mountain. The journey on foot will take between three weeks and a month, depending on how lucky we are." That was the difference in between flying with a Rank 5 gu worm and trying to travel alongside the road. The speed of both just could not be compared.
"It will be an extremely dangerous journey," one of the elders said. Surviving in the wilderness was not easy. Tales from the merchant caravan, which came to Gu Yue village every year, was more than enough evidence for the same.
Although mortals were the ones who died the most, even Gu Masters and elders also perished along the journey.
"It will be risky," Qing Shu said.
"Indeed," Fang Yuan said. "However, I will be going alongside this first batch of travelers." The discussion then moved on to further logistical planning. There were things that Qing Shu hadn't considered, such as rope and oil.
"I have two questions," one of the elders said. "One, isn't there a clan which lives nearby Bei Gu Mountain? Aren't we basically setting up our tent in someone's backyard? Wouldn't they start to oppose us and wouldn't this lead to a fight?"
Fang Yuan laughed coldly. "So what if they do? Before the strength of a Rank 5 Gu Master, what can they do?" He then waved the book around. "And as I said, as far as anyone knows, we always had a claim to Bei Gu Mountain. But you don't need to worry. I've already spoken with the Bei clan head. We have an agreement, and they've even agreed to help us settle in when we get there."
Many of the Gu Yue villagers were astonished. What kind of courtesy was that? Not only were the Bei Clan allowing the Gu Yue Clan to basically squat in their backyard, but they had even built a hotel for them and prepared refreshments!
"You don't need to concern yourselves with the details," Fang Yuan said. "However, this is a combined effort of the Gu Yue and the Bei clans in order to seize the mountain."
The elders fell into silence, wondering what it was that Fang Yuan had promised them to get them to cooperate. The mere threat of him attacking them would be one thing, but the Bei Clan certainly had to have a trump card, otherwise it would not have survived for so long. The price would be high if the Bei Clan had agreed like this.
However, if Fang Yuan said it would be all right, then it would likely be all right, many of them felt.