Tie Xue Leng appreciated his daughter's enthusiasm, but enthusiasm wasn't going to be enough to carry them through what they needed to do. "Any good investigator always cos prepared. Have you managed to do any research on this mountain yourself?"
"Yes," Tie Ruo Nan said. "It has three clans upon it. The oldest is the Gu Yue Clan, which was founded about a thousand years ago. The others are the Xiong and the Bai clans. After the recent incident on the mountain, the Xiong and the Bai clans have nearly been decimated, and only the Gu Yue Clan currently has an appropriate leader."
"Yes," Tie Xue Leng said. "A young man by the na of Fang Yuan?"
"Yes, I've heard quite a bit about him," Tie Ruo Nan said. "When he was young, his parents had been killed, but he was taken in by his aunt and uncle. His uncle taught him martial arts from a very young age, which is how he beca a martial arts prodigy even before he enrolled in the academy. He was found to have B-grade talent by the clan and also exposed the acts of a demonic Gu Master, the Flower Wine Monk after he found the remnants of his inheritance. With the help of his clan, he was able to cultivate to Rank 4, becoming the youngest Clan Head in all of Gu Yue Village's history."
Tie Xue Leng only nodded, as this was all he had been expecting. Tie Ruo Nan, however, did not stop gushing about Fang Yuan.
"They say, though, that he is an extrely righteous and heroic individual. Tales of his deeds have traveled even beyond the mountain. Nearly everyone who talks about him has sothing positive to say! People are already saying that he'll soon beco a major beacon of the righteous path!"
Tie Xue Leng nodded. "Well, if you're that fascinated with him, maybe I'll see if I can marry you off to him once we get up there."
"Father!" Tie Ruo Nan exclaid, blushing deeply.
"What? You seem to be quite enamored with him," Tie Xue Leng said teasingly.
"Not in that way!" Tie Ruo Nan said, protesting. "I just wanted to et him because of his reputation, that's all. Besides, he's married and probably already has several concubines."
"Oh, so it would have been all right if he wasn't married?" Tie Xue Leng said.
"Father!"
"Haha. Relax. I only jest," Tie Xue Leng said. "However, given the fact that I am getting on in years, I would have liked to have seen you married off if possible before..." he trailed off. "...the final curtain falls."
Tie Ruo Nan's mood soured slightly.
Although she knew that her father was getting on in years, he rarely spoke about passing away. However, it was also true that he was not getting any younger as ti passed. "Hope isn't completely lost," Tie Ruo Nan said. "Maybe we'll find sothing like a Lifespan Gu for you, Father."
"Maybe."
The two of them began their journey up the mountain.
As they had expected, their movent was greatly impeded by the fact that most of the ice near the base had begun to lt, leading to massive pools of water that flowed down.
The water would either mix in with the soil, leading to mudslides that could swallow an entire mortal village, or sotis the pieces of ice would break into smaller pieces, leading to small glaciers cutting through the soil of the mountain.
Tie Ruo Nan watched as an entire family of bears was swept away like ants in a tide before her, clinging onto her father lest she be lost to nature's whims much like them.
Multiple tis, they would have been completely unable to progress, had it not been for Tie Xue Leng's Gu worms.
Once they reached about the middle of the mountain, such problems dispersed.
However, the destruction which had been caused was evident, as the scenery was extrely sparse. Little other than small patches of moss grew here and there.
'It's almost like visiting a graveyard,' Tie Xue Leng thought to himself. With the situation at the base of the mountain, traveling up was extrely difficult. Villages like these tended to rely upon the patronage of traveling rchant caravans. Without them, although they would not starve, they would be lacking several resources that they would not be able to get, and their growth would be greatly limited.
He didn't know when the rchant caravans usually ca around. But given the fact that spring had already passed, it was highly likely that whichever rchant caravan was coming towards this mountain had chosen another path.
Gu Yue Village was evident, even from a distance, given the fact that it was the only village that was still properly standing. However, before either of them went there, they chose to visit the Xiong as well as the Bai clans to see if there was any information they could get.
When the two of them went to visit the Xiong Clan, they felt that the clan was truly in a very sorry state. There was not even a fully circumscribing wall around the village - and while animals or other threats wandering in must've been low given current events, it could hardly be said that they were absent.
As they approached via the front gate, the sentries were imdiately alerted. Without a doubt, seeing that there was a Rank 5 Gu Master at their gates would have thrown them into quite a bit of disarray.
However, when they realized Tie Xue Leng's identity, they cald down sowhat, and one of the remaining elders offered to host them. While they were there, Tie Xue Lang respectfully declined, as they had co here for business. However, they did agree to sit down for lunch for the ti being.
While Tie Xue Leng spoke to the village elder about matters, Tie Ruo Nan conducted her own investigation.
She wasn't really sure where to start, but she had heard from her father that rchants tended to know quite a lot.
She visited a local supply store simply to ask a few questions, as well as see if there was anything worth buying. The Xiong Clan, much like the Bai Clan, had a good number of Gu worms that were going to starve anyway, and they did not have the ans to feed them. As such, they were on sale, even though they might not have been in ordinary circumstances.
Tie Ruo Nan didn't really see anything that caught her eye, but she still bought sothing with half a prival stone simply out of respect. The Gu Master who was in charge of the shop accepted it with a nod, no doubt noticing Tie Ruo Nan's strange appearance.
"Are you from the Tie Clan? That famous Tie Clan?"
"Yes, indeed," Tie Ruo Nan said. With the Tie Clan being so famous all across the Southern Border, oftentis just dropping their na was more than enough to get them out of sticky situations. Killing a Tie clansn would mark a Gu Master so that they would be hunted down no matter where they went.
"I actually wanted to know a little bit more about what had happened here..." Tie Ruo Nan began.
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