She wasn't sure where she was going to go to look for Fang Yuan, but the most obvious spot was Gu Yue Village. If Fang Yuan had abandoned Shang Clan City and had decided to just run away in order to get away from his debts, then he would, without a doubt, have gone to Gu Yue Village before disappearing and tried to extract as much wealth as he could from that area before he disappeared. Especially the Dollhouse. If all of those things were still there once she got there, it would signify that Fang Yuan had not left of his own volition and abandoned everything to go seek out his fortune elsewhere and was probably in trouble somehow.
The Shang Clan intelligence network had stated that Fang Yuan had not gone back to Gu Yue Village, and messages from Gu Yue Village, namely from his brother Fang Zheng, seemed to also suggest that. But Fang Yuan could have very well snuck in there if he was able to avoid Shang Clan security while leaving Shang Clan City. He had many methods in order to disguise himself and take things from the village that he needed before hopping off.
Since the Dollhouse was only a secret known to her, Fang Yuan, and Fang Zheng, it meant that if anyone had gone ahead and taken it, it was likely it would go unnoticed. She doubted that Fang Zheng was someone who went down routinely to check up on it. The boy trusted his elder brother blindly, being nearly ensnared within Fang Yuan's grip as was Shang Xin Ci.
Once Bai Ning Bing's primeval essence had recovered to some degree, she mounted the White Form Immortal Snake and took off. This time, though, there was a thunderstorm along the way which forced her to take a detour.
She ordinarily could have gone through something like a lightning storm with no issue if she had a proper mount as a Rank 4 Gu Master. But she was trying to control the White Form Immortal Snake using only her Rank 4 Primeval Essence. It was draining in ways that she wouldn't be able to handle it and deal with the weather simultaneously.
As such, she couldn't risk it and had to find shelter down below.
While she was sitting there, waiting for the storm to pass as well as for her primeval essence to recover, she quickly realized something.
She was not alone here.
There were without a doubt several other humans in the area, and if they were wandering about the wilderness, then they could not be mortals. They had to be Gu Masters to have survived and gotten to this point.
She recalled seeing a village out in the distance before she had landed. However, with the speed and ferocity with which the thunderstorm had approached, Bai Ning Bing did not have the opportunity to be selective about where she was headed.
Bai Ning Bing thought searched through her memories but finding that she couldn't recall any significant location or village or clan in this area. Then again, she was a bit off the beaten path, and it was hardly like she had memorized the location of every single village or knew every single clan within the Southern Border.
If Fang Yuan were here, he would probably somehow know the answer, she thought to herself. He somehow seemed to know everything at every single turn, even things he shouldn't have.
'Heh... if he were here he would know what clan this was, what their specialty products were, and would also somehow know that the clan leader like wearing a specific kind of red underwear and would've already packed some before leaving Shang Clan City just in case and somehow trade it for a rare gu worm that cannot be found elsewhere...' she mused.
Even so, Bai Ning Bing was not worried, at least not initially. She was Rank 4 Upper Stage after all, and she had several first-class gu worms with her. Most clan heads weren't nearly as used to fighting as she was.
Leaving that aside, the mere appearance of the White Form Immortal Snake was more than enough to make most ordinary Gu Masters immediately give up on the idea of trying to fight her.
Once the thunderstorm had cleared and she was getting ready to leave, two Rank 4 auras approached the mouth of her cave. She immediately readied herself to fight, cursing her bad luck.
Both of the Gu Masters were Rank 4 Middle Stage. One of them was a balding man in his fifties, while the other was someone who looked about five years younger than the first one but had a long, flowing beard.
Bai Ning Bing snorted as she projected her voice.
"The two of you, don't move closer. Otherwise I'll be forced to attack!"
The two men froze in their tracks. They hadn't expected there to be a woman's voice.
"Ah, Fairy, may we happen to know your name?" one of them muttered. "You are currently upon the jurisdiction of the Zhu Tribe-"
"Not just the Zhu Tribe," the other man piped up very quickly. "This is also the Jun Clan's territory. Identify yourself."
Bai Ning Bing considered the situation.
These two were allegedly Righteous Path Gu Masters. Now that she thought about it, the names Zhu and Jun had come up certain times during her business in Shang Clan City, but there were a myriad number of clans, and there was no way that she could have kept track of all of them in such a short time.
"My name is Ling Ding Ching," Bai Ning Bing said. "An elder of the Bei Clan."
"Ling Ding Ching?" came a derisive snort. "Don't joke with me - that blatantly screams 'fake name!'"
Bai Ning Bing sighed. Maybe she should've thought of a better name.
"I assure you that my identity is true," Bai Ning Bing said. "I only landed in this area because of the thunderstorm. I assure you that I will be quickly on my way once allowed to leave. I have no reason to quarrel with either of your villages."
"Perhaps not, but our apologies, Fairy, that we cannot allow you to leave," a fourth voice called out from a spot that Bai Ning Bing couldn't clearly see.
"What?" Bai Ning Bing snorted, preparing to fight.
The others could sense her killing intent and also readied themselves. Bai Ning Bing released a portion of the White Form Immortal Snake's aura, and the two men leapt back.
"Rank 5!"
"Rank 5 Gu Worm!?"
They were now completely on edge.
"I want to leave, stand aside and there will be no trouble," Bai Ning Bing said.
As these words left her mouth, a figure descended from a tree - someone who had been hidden until now. This person had '4' written on their belt as well, but from the rest of his clothing did not seem to be a righteous path Gu Master. Despite this, the two people whom Bai Ning Bing assumed were clan heads did not strike him. "There's no need to be afraid. She is but a paper tiger. You may possess a Rank 5 gu worm, but can you use it? With a Rank 4 cultivation, can you truly bring out its strength?"
"And who might you be?" Bai Ning Bing asked.
"My name is Xiang Xie, Fairy, and though this greatly pains me, you will be our guest, wiling or not, for the next few days," the man said. There was a cold glint in his eyes. "It would be for the best that you cooperate... for your own sake."