In Emei, start by obtaining golden attributes.

Chapter 373 The snipe and the clam compete for the fisherman’s profit
After entering Tiannan Prefecture, Gu Shaoan followed the directions he received from passersby to the Emei Sect's headquarters.

The bluestone street in the north of the city is not the most bustling area in Tiannan Prefecture, but it is still relatively quiet and tidy.

The streets are lined with the residences of middle-class families or the warehouses and guild halls of some businesses.

Gu Shaoan followed the address and looked up to see a house covering an area of ​​about two acres standing quietly in the middle of the alley.

The courtyard wall is made of common blue bricks, about ten feet high, and covered with gray tiles. The vermilion gate is tightly closed, with the words "Emei Sect Residence" above the lintel. There is an ancient stone drum on each side of the gate, and the door knockers are also made of brass, which gives it a sense of order and grandeur that is different from ordinary houses.

At the entrance, two disciples of the Emei Sect stood on either side, their eyes constantly scanning the surroundings, creating a sense of unease and paranoia.

After glancing at the entrance of the encampment, Gu Shaoan's gaze swept across the surrounding streets and discovered that there were quite a few informants watching over the encampment. Their numbers were considerable, clearly indicating that they were not just informants from one faction.

As Gu Shaoan approached, all eyes on the street focused on him.

Gu Shaoan ignored this and walked step by step to the front of the Emei Sect's headquarters.

As they drew closer, the two Emei disciples at the entrance of the camp seemed to sense something and turned to look at Gu Shaoan.

When their gazes fell upon Gu Shaoan, the two Emei disciples were first taken aback, then their faces lit up with surprise and delight.

He immediately stepped forward and greeted the young sect leader with a bow: "Disciple greets the young sect leader."

Perhaps because of their joy, the two Emei disciples did not speak softly.

Upon hearing how the two addressed Gu Shaoan, Gu Shaoan heard a series of gasps of surprise.

Ignoring the reactions of the spies in the shadows, Gu Shaoan nodded and said, "Let's go inside and talk."

"Young Sect Leader, please!"

Guided by two Emei Sect disciples, Gu Shaoan entered the encampment.

As they walked, Gu Shaoan spoke up: "At the post station outside the city, I heard that the elders and disciples in the Tiannan Prefecture were poisoned. Is this true or false?"

A taller Emei disciple replied, "It is indeed true, Young Master. Three days ago, more than seventy disciples in the camp were poisoned. Even Senior Uncle Juejue and her disciple Junior Sister Jiangxue were poisoned. Although they took the antidote pills made by our Emei Sect, they were still unable to expel the toxins from their bodies."

A flash of coldness crossed Gu Shaoan's eyes.

As a prefecture, Tiannan Prefecture naturally had far more disciples than Linhai Town, which only had a handful or a dozen.

Within this Tiannan Prefecture garrison, there is at least one elder stationed there, and nearly a hundred disciples.

Gu Shaoan asked, "Do you know how you were poisoned?"

The tall Emei disciple shook his head and said, "I don't know, but half a month ago, some bandits suddenly appeared outside Tiannan Prefecture. When Uncle Juejue arrived and learned of this news, he led a group of fellow disciples out to suppress the bandits. However, after returning, he developed symptoms of poisoning that very night."

Another Emei Sect disciple hesitated for a moment before speaking up: "In addition, when we were clearing out the various factions in Tiannan Prefecture before the New Year, we had a conflict with the Baisha Gang. Many people in the area suspect that this poisoning incident was secretly planned by the Baisha Gang."

Upon hearing this, Gu Shaoan did not respond, but instead asked, "Where are Uncle-Master and Jiang Xue?"

The tall Emei Sect disciple replied, "Just in case, Senior Uncle Juequan, Junior Sister Jiangxue, and the poisoned fellow disciples are all in the backyard practicing their internal energy to expel the poison, while the other fellow disciples are guarding them."

Then, led by the two men, Gu Shaoan entered the backyard.

At this moment, there were still more than twenty Emei disciples guarding the backyard with weapons.

Most of them looked unwell, and some even had dark circles under their eyes, clearly due to lack of rest for several days in a row.

Before even stepping into the backyard, Gu Shaoan could already sense dozens of auras scattered throughout the various rooms in the backyard.

When they saw Gu Shaoan approaching with two Emei disciples, all the Emei disciples in the backyard showed joy on their faces.

"Meet the Young Master."

Shortly after these sounds subsided, figures emerged one after another from the previously closed rooms in the backyard.

They had obviously all heard the commotion caused by the disciples outside.

Immediately afterwards, the main room door opened, and Abbess Insulation stepped out, supported by Mei Jiangxue.

Seeing Abbess Wujue and Mei Jiangxue, Gu Shaoan flashed and instantly moved in front of them. As the Yitian Sword floated lightly against the door, Gu Shaoan placed his hands on Abbess Wujue and Mei Jiangxue's wrists respectively.

After confirming the presence of toxins in the two individuals' bodies by taking their pulses, Gu Shaoan's gaze swept over the faces of the Emei Sect disciples in the courtyard.

After confirming the situation, Gu Shaoan reached into his robes and took out a pill bottle. As he circulated his internal energy, ten pills were pulled out of the bottle by the energy and instantly turned into powder.

Subsequently, the medicinal powder, enveloped by Gu Shaoan's internal energy, transformed into dozens of streams of energy, which shot towards Abbess Wujue, Mei Jiangxue, and the poisoned disciples present.

Before anyone could react, the vital energy mixed with the medicinal powder had already entered their bodies (don't get the wrong idea).

After the Qi entered their bodies, Abbess Wujue and Mei Jiangxue did not feel any discomfort. On the contrary, they felt a warm sensation flowing rapidly through their bodies.

Ten breaths later, Mei Jiangxue and Abbess Juejian trembled slightly and each spat out a mouthful of reddish-purple poisonous blood.

As the toxins were expelled, the chest pain that Abbess Wujue and Mei Jiangxue had been enduring for the past few days vanished instantly.

The faces of the poisoned people immediately regained some color, no longer as pale as before.

Knowing that Gu Shaoan had helped them detoxify, the Emei disciples in the courtyard bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you, Young Master."

Mei Jiangxue, standing to the side, also stared at Gu Shaoan with wide, eager eyes.

Gu Shaoan simply nodded slightly in response, then turned to look at Abbess Juejue and Mei Jiangxue, whose expressions had also softened. "I only sent a letter back to Emei three days ago by carrier pigeon. Logically, the letter should have just arrived at the Emei Sect by now. Shaoan, how did you get here so quickly?"

In response to Abbess Wujue's question, Gu Shaoan replied, "I happened to have something to do in Baoding Prefecture. I set off seven days ago. I was just thinking that my uncle was bringing Jiangxue to Tiannan Prefecture for training, so I came here. I didn't expect to get here by accident."

Upon learning the reason, Abbess Wujue first looked enlightened.

Then, with a look of relief, he said, "Luckily, it was a lucky accident. Otherwise, your uncle, Jiang Xue, and these disciples would have suffered. I don't know how many more days this poison could last."

"If only I had brought more antidote pills with me when I came out."

The antidote pills used by all disciples and elders in the Emei Sect are prepared according to the prescription given by Gu Shaoan.

Its medicinal power is enough to neutralize 50% of the poisons in the martial arts world. Even when encountering some special poisons, those antidotes can temporarily suppress the spread of toxicity after poisoning.

If they had enough antidote pills, they could have suppressed the poison with them, instead of having to rely on internal energy to barely suppress the toxins in their bodies as they are now.

Gu Shaoan asked, "Does Martial Uncle know the identity of the person who poisoned you?"

The insulator shook her head: "It's hard to say."

Under Gu Shaoan's gaze, Abbess Juejue spoke slowly: "As you know, when it comes to the prefecture, the sect leader doesn't trust the elders to handle things. So, in the beginning, it was I who led the Emei disciples to purge the forces of those three religions and nine schools within Tiannan Prefecture and establish new rules for Emei."

“During the crackdown last year, we did encounter some troubles, including some of the businesses of the Baisha Gang in Zhanjiang Prefecture. There were some conflicts, but no physical violence was carried out.”

"But three days ago, during my mission to suppress bandits outside the city, I did see members of the White Sand Gang mixed in with the others."

Gu Shaoan asked, "Where is he?"

The Abbess shook her head and said, "We didn't find the body, but inside that mountain stronghold, one of our disciples found a plaque in the hands of the stronghold's leader."

As she spoke, Abbess Isolation took out a token from her bosom and handed it to Gu Shaoan.

The token is small, but it is exquisitely crafted with intricate details and the characters "霹雳" (thunderbolt) are even added on it.

"This is a token that only disciples of the Thunderbolt Hall of the White Sand Gang possess."

Looking at the token, Gu Shaoan's mind raced. After a long while, he finally looked away from the token in his hand and asked Abbess Wujue, "So, what you mean, Martial Aunt, is that the mastermind behind this is indeed the White Sand Gang?"

Upon hearing this, the insulator shook his head and said, "At first, I also thought that it might be because of interests that the White Sand Gang wanted to take action against us. But in the past few days of being poisoned, I have thought about it again and again, and I always feel that things are too strange."

"If the White Sand Gang really wanted to cause us trouble, or to protect those businesses in Tiannan Prefecture, they could have stepped forward last year when I cleaned up the gang forces in Tiannan Prefecture that were controlled by the White Sand Gang. There was no need to drag it out until now."

"As a first-rate force, as long as the business of the White Sand Gang is not too disgraceful, my Emei Sect will not make enemies for no reason. At worst, we will just arrange for our disciples to keep a close eye on them in secret."

"Moreover, if the White Sand Gang wanted to cause us trouble, they wouldn't go so far as to use poison in secret."

"After all, Hao Wantong of the White Sand Gang is not stupid. He must know the reputation of my Emei Sect. If he uses such a poisoning method, it means that he is going to fight my Emei Sect to the death."

Back when the Emei Sect was still a second-rate power, it was incredibly tough in its dealings with outsiders, and its attitude was one of unyielding to the death when faced with trouble.

Not to mention that the Emei Sect has now become a first-class force, and has a young sect leader like Gu Shaoan whose strength is enough to defeat masters like the Demon Master Pang Ban and Yuan Dongyuan.

Looking across the entire Wei Kingdom, let alone the White Sand Gang, even a force like Shaolin wouldn't dare to act rashly if it clashed with the Emei Sect.

As she spoke, Abbess Insulation looked at Gu Shaoan and said, "So I think it's really hard to say whether the White Sand Gang is the mastermind behind this matter."

Gu Shaoan asked, "Does Uncle-Master think that when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits?"

The insulator nodded: "That possibility cannot be ruled out."

Gu Shaoan's fingertips caressed the token, his mind churning with thoughts.

"When I came here, I asked the two senior sisters who had just led the way. They told me that these bandits had only appeared outside Tiannan Prefecture about half a month ago."

"Judging from the current situation, these bandits are very likely also arranged by the person behind the scenes."

"If you want to reap the benefits, you must first have the ability and qualifications to do so afterward."

"If the Emei Sect and the Baisha Gang were to fight, do you think any faction in Tiannan Prefecture would benefit?"

After pondering for a moment, Abbess Wujue shook her head and said, "Many forces in Tiannan Prefecture were not clean in the past. In addition, when I came to purge them, it happened to be when you, Shao'an, defeated the Demon Master Pang Ban and were at the height of your fame. So before I came to Tiannan Prefecture, 90% of the Jianghu forces had already withdrawn from Tiannan Prefecture."

"Even the Jinshan Sect, which was originally a second-rate power, moved its sect address from outside the city to the neighboring prefecture as a gesture of goodwill because it was worried that my Emei Sect would settle scores with it after it had colluded with the Beggars' Sect and the Long Dragon Fist."

"What remains in Tiannan Prefecture now are some small forces that used to have a decent reputation. It can be said that even if my Emei Sect clashes with the Baisha Gang, these forces will not gain any advantage."

Gu Shaoan said slowly, "Since the source of the problem is not Tiannan Prefecture, it is most likely still within the Baisha Gang."

Seemingly understanding Gu Shaoan's meaning, Abbess Wujue asked, "You want to go to the White Sand Gang?"

Gu Shaoan nodded and said, "The poison you have been given is called Heart-Severing Powder. It is made from Nine-Spider Black Intestine Grass and other medicines. Although Heart-Severing Powder is a potent medicine, it will not be fatal. It will only cause people to suffer the pain of having their intestines gnawed away for three months."

"Therefore, the person who poisoned you, my martial uncles, never intended to take your lives or to be an enemy of our Emei Sect from the very beginning."

They went to great lengths to poison him, but not with a lethal poison, leaving room for maneuver while also trying to incite conflict between the Emei Sect and the Baisha Gang.

In Gu Shaoan's view, this matter had a peculiar undertone.

"Is this a way to shift the blame, or do they want to use Emei as a tool?"

(End of this chapter)