[A.B.P.P.E.] Bk 2 - Chapter 64 - First Hu Clan Meeting

Yin Hu didn’t move from his spot until the flying stag completely disappeared into the horizon. No white, eerie fog remnant or anything else that would indicate that it may have tried to trick him into thinking it left. This included surveying the entire area with his perception skill multiple times in case an illusion had been activated or an array had been set up where they had settled into. 

Only when he was positive there was nothing did he turn back to the collected Hu Clan. 

Everyone was around the campfire, sitting on chairs he had thrown out of his rice bag, and wondering what he had stopped them for exactly. 

Only Jun knew and he had made sure to let her know to keep quiet until he came. 

Just one or two weeks away. That’s it and we’ll break out of this cursed place once and for all. 

This entire nightmare run would finally be over. Yin Hu would get to relax and recover from the endless headaches he had suffered while trying to make their way through the Bleak Forests. Hopefully he could find some basic comforts back at civilization. Maybe even a lovely wife if he got lucky. 

Yin Hu smiled slightly, better practiced at hiding his expressions after these past few months of practice… Or had it been a year already?

How long had he been in this cultivation world?

It didn’t really matter at the end of the day. All he knew was that entering the current Righteous Bloc would be a world of difference from the horrors he had heard about and seen with his own eyes within the Silver Mountain Gang and the Demonic Bloc. Skull pyramids were still something he never had the misfortune of seeing in real life. Though that couldn’t be said about his little girls. 

Could he even blame them for being so… chaotic? 

That type of trauma hurt for the long run, even if they never noticed it for decades. 

Yet, now that they were so close to their destination, they needed to figure out how they were going to explain everything they had with them. 

Aliases, fake story, were they merchants? Rogue cultivators? Was there baggage with either? How were they going to explain how they had literal dragons, an overpowered Warg, a ghost, and a Spirit that was supposedly super strong and would be recognized by the eldest current living generation. 

Yin Hu turned and walked toward the group. 

Everyone stopped speaking and waited for him to start or do something to kick off the discussion. 

He pulled out his throne and sat, waving at Jun to stand up and speak. “Jun. Go ahead.”

The whole plan was to train her for this role in leadership and decision making. Dealing with people that were stronger, older, and of varying beliefs, strengths, and weaknesses. All of which would affect the way they made decisions and how she would have to plan around and for them. It would get complicated, but this made for a great starting point for that very purpose. 

Jun cleared her throat. “So… Uhm.. We… Uhm…” she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Likely getting a tongue lashing from the She-Devil. Yin Hu could feel her presence around the camp at all times. “We need a plan of action. Identities to hide our Hu Clan’s lineage and subsequent connections. We can’t just walk in without an idea of what we want to use as our background story.”

Silence met her as everyone stared without saying anything. 

It was only moments later before Rong shifted forward. “Why?”

Zhong Da, Wu Xui, and even Da Ruis nodded in agreement with him. Whispering the same question now that it had been said out loud. 

“W-Why what?”

“Why do we have to hide our identity?” Rong scratched the back of his head. “I don’t think anyone could actually fight us. Or they shouldn’t at least, that would be suicide–”

The rest of the party agreed with him, including Shui who joined just to annoy Jun.  

“–I’m unsure of what you and Lady Shui had gone through before the… arrival of your ancestor, but you don’t need to hide anymore. We are here. I am here. Your ancestor is likely the strongest being alive in this realm, maybe even further. Zhong Da and Wu Xui are both powerful, even more so now that they gained such an incredible boost from the Patriarch when saving their lives. And Da Ruis has enough knowledge in his cranium to fill an entire sect’s grand library.”

Jun stumbled over her words unsure what she was supposed to say or how to say it. She turned back to him, eyes begging for help. 

Yin Hu needed to intervene or this might crush her leadership confidence. “My orders. No one should recognize us. No one knows how strong are. I want peace and silence. Not a thousand bootlickers clamoring for scraps from me every moment of my days and nights.” 

Rong blinked his wide eyes and tilted his head sideways, but said nothing else. 

It was a strange expression. One that Yin Hu had not expected from the Spirit. Not that he was going to ask. As long as he did his role well, then there was no problem.

“Yes,” Jun found a lifeline and held on to it for dear life. “Ancestor wants silence and quiet. Our previous plan had been to hide our identities as travelling merchants when it had been just me and Ancestor, but as you can tell, that won’t work anymore. So, we need to figure out a plan of action that fits better.”

“I see…” Rong whispered to himself and leaned back. His mind going elsewhere. 

Yet, that didn’t mean the party was convinced. 

If anything Da Ruis looked like he was turning red just from the suggestions, but he held his tongue lest he be reprimanded. 

Yin Hu noticed, but let him stew in silence for now. He needed Jun to gain some confidence and then he would address what the old ghost wanted to say. 

Considering how they met, it was likely not going to be anything good. Cultivators had a way with overdramatizing everything around them to levels that never needed to be reached. Like ambushing a strangers party and kidnapping their kids to forcefully throw them into your Inheritance Instance and give them your lineage because you thought you were going to die soon rather than actually finding someone willing. 

There was an entire world filled with people that would bow and scrape before Da Ruis if given the chance to learn under his tutelage. Even a few old monsters considering the vast font of knowledge the ancient ghost had. 

But delaying his opinion didn’t mean silencing him. 

Yin Hu wasn’t creating a dictatorship and, quite frankly, he knew too little about the world to do something as foolish as that. 

He needed contributing members within his Hu Clan. Members that would make the right decisions based around a foundation of ethics and morals that were derived from him as the Patriarch and leader of the group. 

Murdering nine generations for looking at you wrong was not something he wanted to deal with after the fact. 

Neither was burning down an entire sect for saying the wrong word or two. 

Cultivators were volatile like that. Being the ones to commit the atrocities or having other groups trying to do the same to them all fell under the same umbrella to Yin Hu. 

“...that’s what I think. Though it would be difficult to disguise Mr. Cupcake because he is so large.”

Yin Hu blinked. He had missed everything Jun had just said. He cleared the mental fog and surveyed the group that looked unconvinced. 

Of them all, Da Ruis looked ready to explode.