Don't Cause Trouble Chapter 26: The Qianji Order

That day, Jiuxuan Peak was destined to be anything but peaceful.

When Xia Er woke up, the sky outside was already dark. He opened his eyes and, after a moment, muttered, "So it really was a dream."

His voice carried a mix of resignation and self-deprecating amusement.

"What dream?" Ye Su asked, standing beside him.

"?!"

Xia Er jumped up as if startled. That’s when he realized he’d been lying on the floor of the council hall. Beside him lay Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Sister, also out cold. Then he turned his head and saw his Master clutching his chest at the head of the table.

"Alright," Ye Su said, nudging Ming Liu Sha and Xiyu with her foot. "Get up, we’ve got things to talk about."

She had gotten Ming Liu Sha to carry Xia Er over and met up with Xiyu at the council hall entrance. But the moment she pulled out the purple pear burl wood and said they all had a share, they got so excited they passed out on the spot.

—Ridiculous.

Seeing that Ming Liu Sha and Xiyu weren’t waking up, Ye Su was about to give them another kick—

"Ye Su!" her Master suddenly shouted.

"Master?" Ye Su turned around and quietly retracted her foot, reflecting on how she probably shouldn’t be kicking people in front of the sect leader.

"You can talk all you want," Zhang Fengfeng stood up seriously, "but be careful with your feet. Don’t drop that thing."

Xiyu and Ming Liu Sha, just waking up: "…"

Ye Su followed her Master’s gaze and looked down at the box in her hands. Realizing what he meant, she quickly placed the purple pear burl wood box on the table.

"Master, please calm yourself first."

But how could Zhang Fengfeng possibly calm down? This was purple. pear. burl. wood.

He was willing to bet even Zhanjin Sect didn’t have a piece this big!

"This whole box was carved out from a single, hollowed-out piece," he said as he gently reached out to touch it, reluctant to look away even for a second.

"Our junior brother’s definitely from some wealthy family," Xiyu whispered.

But compared to the burl wood, Ye Su was more curious about something else.

"Master, how did you accept our junior brother? What kind of token did he bring you?"

Zhang Fengfeng snapped out of his daze. "It was one of our old sect tokens. That day, he pointed to your room and said he wanted to stay there. I told him it belonged to one of my disciples, and then… he just became your junior brother."

Ye Su: "…"

"What’s so special about Senior Sister’s room?" Ming Liu Sha asked slowly. They’d been in there plenty of times and hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

Zhang Fengfeng thought for a moment. "I think someone important used to live there. Your junior brother didn’t say much else."

"So you two just randomly decided to become master and disciple?" Ye Su could already picture how it went—one didn’t bother explaining, and the other couldn’t be bothered to ask.

Zhang Fengfeng stroked his beard, looking a bit guilty.

"If one room and a token can get us that jade plaque back, then it’s good for Qianji Sect. I’m already planning to build a new house near the council hall—you can move in there."

"Master, what token was it? We really need it back," Xia Er said, stepping closer.

Zhang Fengfeng pulled out a broken jade plaque from his storage pouch and pushed it toward Ye Su.

"It’s already returned, so it doesn’t matter anymore. The jade itself is high-quality—you keep it."

Ye Su looked down at the broken token on the table and picked up the two pieces to fit them together.

It was a deep green jade plaque, warm and smooth to the touch. On the front were three bold characters: "Qianji Sect."

The carving was sharp and powerful, brimming with wild, unrestrained energy. This kind of lavish use of liqing jade likely only existed during the height of the sect’s glory.

She turned it over, expecting a name—but instead, there was only a single character: "Order" (令).

Ye Su blinked. "The Qianji Order?"

There were many types of sect tokens, and the ones that bore names were usually used to track personal debts. If the person it belonged to was gone, their peak would have to honor the debt.

Qianji Sect must’ve followed a similar system. But there was one other kind of token—held only by the Sect Master—called the Qianji Order.

And since the founding of the sect, only one had ever existed.

"The Qianji Order gives its bearer the right to command any smith in Qianji Sect to do one thing," Zhang Fengfeng said, slipping back into his Sect Master tone. "Since he’s already made his request, now that the Order has been returned, it's the Sect Master’s responsibility to handle it."

"But Master, the Order was supposed to be unique. Why did you break it?" Xia Er leaned in to examine it. He remembered the last line of the sect rules clearly—As long as Qianji Sect stands, the bearer of the Qianji Order may command all disciples, including the Sect Master and Elders.

Zhang Fengfeng looked away awkwardly. "I dropped it by accident."

"Master, it’s a spiritual artifact crafted by the sect’s founder," Ye Su said flatly. "You can’t break it by dropping it."

"…Destroying it means you won’t be bound by it anymore," Zhang Fengfeng finally said, lifting his head to look at his disciples. "I didn’t expect all of you to have such talent in smithing. The sect is on the brink of collapse, and the Qianji Order—well, better to be rid of it than risk it being used against you."

The Qianji Order was a masterless item. Anyone who got their hands on it could use it to command the sect once.

Zhang Fengfeng never expected the long-lost token to resurface. His disciples were all unusually gifted, especially Ye Su.

If word got out that the Order had returned—and they had emerged as rising stars…

From the moment he saw the Order, Zhang Fengfeng had already made up his mind: It had to be destroyed.

……

"A relic made by the founder?" Xiyu leaned in curiously. "That must be something powerful."

"He banged on the gate at the bottom of the mountain for ages," Zhang Fengfeng stroked his beard. "But it is our Qianji Sect’s gate after all—tough as nails."

Ye Su said, "Master, let’s split the zili yǐng wood. Half for ourselves, and the other half can go to the Duty Hall. Disciples can exchange contribution points for it."

"The Duty Hall?" Zhang Fengfeng raised an eyebrow and nodded in agreement. After thinking it over, he added, "But there’s no one managing it right now. Also, your junior sister has a Xuan Yin body and high talent—she’ll probably earn points faster than the others. When that happens…"

"Each person can only redeem it once," Ye Su said calmly. She didn’t mind Ning Qian Yao getting her hands on the wood—if she wanted it, she’d have to contribute to the sect like everyone else.

"That works," Zhang Fengfeng nodded. "Also, let’s restrict who can redeem it—only disciples."

Ye Su raised her eyebrows. So he didn’t plan to give any to Elder Yang.

"Master, you hold onto the zili yǐng wood for now. No rush to reopen the Duty Hall. Let’s pick someone to manage it first," Ye Su said.

Zhang Fengfeng didn’t argue. "Good timing. I need someone to help cut the box anyway."

Once he carefully stored the wood away, something struck him. He turned to Ye Su. "Why did your junior brother suddenly give it to you?"

"Oh! I know this one!" Xia Er blurted out. "Because our senior sister is his for life now!"

He’d heard it loud and clear!

"Ye Su!" Zhang Fengfeng looked like he was ready to throw the wooden box in her face. "You gave up your entire life for a piece of material?"

"It’s just for refining a magic artifact," Ye Su replied with a smirk. "Besides, the stuff our junior brother casually hands out is enough to make the entire refining world go to war. Better it stays in the family—I’m the best one for the job."

Zhang Fengfeng opened his mouth… and found he had nothing to say. She wasn’t wrong. A refiner lives to chase the best materials.

Later, as the group left the strategy hall, Xia Er kicked a pebble on the path.

"Do you think Master is hiding something from us?"

Ming Liu Sha glanced at him. "Y-You j-just fi-gured that out?"

"I mean, destroying the Qianji Token feels kind of… excessive," Xia Er muttered.

"Let’s not talk about that again," Ye Su turned back and told them, "Pretend you never saw the Qianji Token."

They all agreed. Xia Er even covered his mouth dramatically. "I didn’t see anything."

Back in the cave behind the mountain, Ye Su took out the two broken halves of the Qianji Token.

She couldn’t understand why Master would believe that someone who possessed such an item could just be an ordinary mortal from a wealthy family.

Just looking at their junior brother's face—it was clear he wasn’t ordinary.

Ye Su thought about what Xia Er had said earlier. Her fingers curled slightly, tapping the candle holder absentmindedly.

Rather than say Master was being paranoid, maybe he was afraid of the Qianji Token falling into the wrong hands—people who might threaten the disciples of Qianji Sect.

She waved her hand, snuffing out the candle, and sat quietly in the dark.

Maybe they were all still too weak—and that’s why their master was keeping things from them.

December 10th, the Qianqing Rankings were due for a refresh.

Early that morning, Ming Liu Sha, Xiyu, and Xia Er gathered around a stone table in the courtyard, staring at the announcement section on a glowing jade tablet.

"Why hasn’t it updated yet?"

"Last month, it changed around this time."

"It’s different every month."

Ye Su wasn’t with them—she was in You Fushi’s room, teaching him how to write.

Just recently, she’d discovered that their junior brother was… illiterate.

Ye Su had been shocked at first, but then resigned herself to becoming his tutor.

Half a month later… progress was minimal.

"Lift your wrist. Sit up straight." Ye Su tapped his back, waist, and arm with a brush. "Junior brother, do you even have bones?"

You Fushi tossed the brush aside. "I’m done. Don’t want to write anymore."

After half an hour, the whole sheet was filled with messy squiggles that barely resembled writing.

"You won’t even be able to read your own cultivation techniques later." Ye Su sighed. How could someone with such a refined and noble face be a complete illiterate?

"You can read them for me," You Fushi said lazily, leaning back and glancing sideways at her.

"I won’t always be around." Ye Su smiled faintly. "If you’re illiterate, then learn to read properly."

He yawned again and wandered toward his bed, muttering, "I can read… I think I just forgot."

Ye Su smiled wryly. If she had known this would happen, she would’ve put her foot down when Master asked her to take him on.

"It’s out!"

Xiyu’s voice suddenly rang out in the courtyard, followed by Xia Er’s shout: "Senior sister, come look!"

Ye Su walked out. "The rankings updated?"

Ming Liu Sha enlarged the jade screen. "Yup."

They scrolled from the bottom up and soon found two familiar names:

——#289 – "Black Whip," by Ming Liu Sha (Qianji Sect)
——#288 – "Moon Lance," by Xia Er (Qianji Sect)

"Why are we ranked so low?" Xiyu frowned. "That guy Quan Jiaying’s blade wasn’t even that special, but he made the top 200."

"He used a self-developed wind pattern," Ye Su said, understanding the ranking system a bit better now. "Black Whip and Moon Lance are too standard."

"Quan Jiaying climbed even higher!" Xia Er pointed. "He’s at #150 now. Knocked out someone from the Zhanjin Sect."

"150?" Ye Su thought back to the blade she saw at the trial grounds. "He must’ve upgraded it afterward."

The version she saw shouldn’t have placed that high—maybe in the 150s at best.

"So many Zhanjin Sect people…" Xia Er scrolled through the rankings, a bit envious. "When will Qianji Sect dominate the charts again?"

"T-Totally nor-mal," Ming Liu Sha closed the display.

"Senior sister, what should we do now?" Xiyu asked.

"Now?" Ye Su said, "We wait. See if anyone comes looking for us."

"Senior sister, someone is looking for you."

Everyone turned at once: "?"

Ye Su glanced down—it was the message jade.

She activated it.

"Who is it?"

"Said his name is Quan Jiaying," a junior disciple’s confused voice came through. "Senior sister, should we let him in?"

"No need. I’ll go meet him." Ye Su stood, drew her sword, and looked at the others.

"Coming?"

Moments later, four people shot down the mountain—blades blazing.