Chapter 591: Arriving at the Gate
The night was dark, another moonless night.
A man carrying a lantern in his hand, dressed in a white daoist robe, looking about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, hummed a tune as he walked down the slope along the steps.
On both sides of the slope, stone carvings were placed at intervals, each carved into the shape of white egrets in various poses.
His name was Li Ling, but because his elder brother also cultivated in the White Egret Sect, most people in the sect preferred to call him Li Er.
Recently, Li Er's days had been going quite well.
Because his brother, the cultivator whom people in the White Egret Sect were more accustomed to calling Li Da, had recently seemed to gain considerable favor from the higher-ranking elders, receiving quite a bit of guidance. As a result, Li Da's cultivation realm had advanced from the peak of the Qi Circulation Realm to the early Martial Spring Realm within just a few months.
One had to know that in a cultivation sect the size of the White Egret Sect, the Martial Spring Realm was already an absolute pillar of strength.
With Li Da, a Martial Spring Realm cultivator, as his backing, Li Er's status within the White Egret Sect naturally received a certain boost.
But there was one thing Li Er had never told anyone.
That was, ever since his elder brother broke through to the early Martial Spring Realm, Li Er had always felt that his brother's temperament had become somewhat strange.
However, Li Er thought this was normal. After all, his elder brother was now a Martial Spring Realm cultivator, and his strength and status were no longer what they used to be.
One had to know that in the secular dynasties, for a Qi Circulation Realm cultivator like himself, ordinary mortals had to respectfully address him as "Upper Immortal."
Now that his elder brother had also stepped into the Martial Spring Realm, surely his own future in the White Egret Sect would be bright!
With these random thoughts drifting through his mind, a smile involuntarily crept across Li Er's lips.
At that moment, he was heading toward the gates of the White Egret Sect. As a managing disciple in the sect's Enforcement Hall, one of his routine duties was overseeing the disciples assigned to guard the mountain gate.
Li Er was now going for a spot check.
Carrying his lantern toward the mountain gate, Li Er heard from a distance the laughter of the two early Body Forging Realm disciples, who had only joined the White Egret Sect last year and were now on night duty guarding the entrance.
Seeing this, Li Er paused briefly, smacked his lips as he looked toward the mountain gate, then let out a cold sneer.
These little bastards, they hadn't even been in the sect for a few days and already had no discipline.
Today, he had to straighten them out.
Thinking this, Li Er first let out a couple of coughs.
The two guarding disciples immediately shuddered, then fell silent, cautiously looking in the direction of the lantern's light.
Li Er didn't immediately scold them. He just walked over to the mountain gate, stopped in front of the two disciples, and stared at them silently.
"G-greetings, Manager Li!"
After a stifling silence lingered among them for a while, one of the guarding disciples spoke up first.
"Greetings, Manager Li!"
The other disciple quickly followed.
"Why aren't you laughing? Weren't you so fond of laughing before?"
Li Er said coldly, his voice low.
"..."
The two early Body Forging Realm disciples, who hadn't even been in the White Egret Sect for a full year, dared not speak. They kept their heads down, staring intently at their own toes.
"As punishment, the two of you will guard the mountain gate for three more nights."
Li Er said.
"But Manager Li, guarding the mountain gate for three consecutive nights means we'll miss the morning training..."
"You dare to haggle?"
Li Er cut off the early Body Forging Realm disciple who had spoken, his voice harsh.
"This disciple wouldn't dare..."
The guarding disciple's voice immediately dropped.
That's right, take down these little bastards.
Thinking this, Li Er puffed out his chest a bit, like a victorious rooster.
Just then, from the steps outside the White Egret Sect's mountain gate, the sound of scattered footsteps suddenly rang out.
Li Er and the two guarding disciples all looked toward the area beyond the gate.
By the faint light cast from his lantern, they could barely make out the figures appearing outside the gate, all wearing white daoist robes.
Li Er suddenly remembered something. Earlier that afternoon, he had heard from Manager Qian, who was also in the Enforcement Hall, that a few Body Forging Realm disciples had gone down the mountain on a mission a couple of days ago. They were supposed to return by noon today, but by the afternoon, there was still no sign of them.
Manager Qian wasn't worried that anything had happened to them. After all, in this area spanning tens of thousands of li, no one dared to provoke the flourishing White Egret Sect.
This Manager Qian just felt that these new little bastards in the sect had no idea how lucky they were.
They needed a good scolding.
Thinking this, Li Er started walking toward the mountain gate: "What's going on? Why are you coming up the mountain so late?"
"Sorry..."
A very gentle, cultured voice came from outside the gate.
"Sorry my ass! All of you, get out and don't come back until tomorrow morning."
Li Er continued to curse.
"I'm afraid that won't work."
The gentle voice replied.
"You dare to talk back..."
Li Er took a few more steps forward, lifting his foot as if to kick the leader, the figure who had just spoken.
But just as he raised his foot, Li Er quickly realized something was off.
At this close distance, he could clearly see the color of the other person's daoist robe.
Although the robe was also white, it seemed a shade cooler and paler than the white egret sect robes he was wearing.
He pulled back his half-extended foot and extended the lantern a little further forward.
On the sleeves of that person's robe, there seemed to be embroidery.
It was a cloud crane pattern, embroidered with gilded silk threads...
White daoist robe and gilded cloud crane patterns.
This combination already made Li Er think of something.
He looked up in shock, and what met his eyes was the unfamiliar, gentle face of a young man.
Li Er's gaze then shifted slightly to look behind the gentle young man, and he saw a swordsman dressed in a cyan daoist robe, with free-spirited brows and sharply defined features.
Who were these people...?
Before he could fully process it, the next moment, a token was raised before his eyes.
It was a jade token. At the bottom, a lifelike cloud crane was carved, and above the crane, four large characters were engraved: "Dao Sect Wanderer."
"I am Li Haoran, the Dao Sect Wanderer of the Kongshan Sect. Following the orders of our sect leader, I have come to visit the White Egret Sect. I hope your sect's members will cooperate."
Li Haoran said softly. Then he put away his token and led the group of Kongshan Sect disciples behind him through the mountain gate.
Leaving Li Er standing there, dumbfounded.