Jun Beiyue genuinely wanted to say that Baili Weisheng’s condition dragging on this long was entirely his own fault — he’d brought it on himself, and it served him right.

Waking up and immediately cracking jokes, daring to make a joke like that — clearly, he was pretty much fully recovered.

Just as Jun Beiyue was about to speak up and fire back a sharp retort, Ziqing rushed forward first, asking with concern, “Are you all right? What exactly happened to you?”

Seeing this, Jun Beiyue’s expression turned three degrees colder. Baili Weisheng had never been one to know when to quit — he raised an eyebrow at Jun Beiyue, clearly showing off on purpose.

Who was to blame that right before Jun Beiyue had nearly died and fallen unconscious, he’d first lost Ziqing — and once Ziqing came back, he’d made a full recovery too? Getting the beauty’s concern never came easily for him.

It was infuriating enough to drive him mad!

He wasn’t some fool like Xuanyuan Lige — he had no intention of competing with Jun Beiyue over a woman. He simply thought of her as a sister, staying close to her — what could Jun Beiyue possibly do about that?

Delighted with himself, Baili Weisheng laughed. “I’m fine, much better now.”

“Were you asleep this whole time, or unconscious? When exactly did you slip into unconsciousness!” Ziqing pressed urgently.

Baili Weisheng could only shake his head — truthfully, he had no idea either. To be precise, he’d simply fallen asleep, and somewhere along the way, slipped into unconsciousness without realizing it.

“Heh heh, young man, if you hadn’t been discovered in time, who knows — you might have just slipped away for good, unconscious the whole while,” the Dream Clan leader said with a chuckle, clearly quite fond of this young man’s temperament.

A real man ought to be just like this — optimistic and cheerful. Someone like that, even standing at the edge of ruin, would still live vibrantly, never truly broken down.

In truth, the moment the golden scales had fully surfaced, Baili Weisheng’s consciousness had already begun to clear. Hearing the Dream Clan leader’s words, he sat up immediately, got down, and bowed respectfully. “Dream Clan leader, this great kindness needs no thanks in words. Should you ever need this humble one’s help, I will spare no effort.”

The Dream Clan leader, equally modest, replied repeatedly, “Mister Baili, you flatter me. It was nothing more than a small effort on my part. Besides, this old man doesn’t fully understand your condition either — and I’m even more puzzled about those golden scales…”

“It was thanks to the Dream Clan leader’s seal that my golden scales were awakened. I absorbed the power of the scales, and that’s what allowed me to regain consciousness!” Baili Weisheng explained. He understood his own body better than anyone — along the journey, he truly hadn’t realized he’d simply drifted into unconsciousness without noticing his body’s deterioration.

“Ah, I see!” the Dream Clan leader said, suddenly understanding. “So in that case, it was actually you who saved yourself!”

“No, no! Without the clan leader’s help, these golden scales of mine would likely never have been awakened at all,” Baili Weisheng said with a smile.

The old man and the young man went back and forth modestly deferring to one another, while everyone around them stood utterly dumbfounded. After quite some time, once Baili Weisheng finished being humble and turned to look around, Ziqing finally couldn’t help but exclaim, “You wretched scholar, you can actually move!”

Only then did Baili Weisheng pause, realizing he was, in fact, standing up. He stood stunned for a long moment, then suddenly burst into a wild flurry of excited movement.

“I can move!”

“Hahaha, I don’t have to just lie there anymore!”

“Goodness, that scared the hell out of me! I really thought I’d be stuck lying down forever!”

Overjoyed, he grabbed Ziqing by both shoulders, nearly lifting her clean off the ground. “Little Qingqing, do you have any idea how worried I was? Lying there for the rest of my life — that would’ve been worse than death!”

Er…

So he really had been worried, really had been afraid after all!

Everyone had assumed he was simply carefree by nature, completely unbothered by any of it!

Just as Baili Weisheng was about to shake Ziqing dizzy, Jun Beiyue promptly pulled her back, saying coldly, “Keep putting your hands on her and this prince will put you right back down.”

Ziqing held back a laugh. Only then did Baili Weisheng settle down, his face still full of joy.

“So it was the power of the golden scales. Young man, you’re an orphan from the isolated island — how did you come to carry Golden Jiao blood?” the elderly Dream Clan leader asked, puzzled.

“I’ve been an orphan since I was young — I don’t know myself,” Baili Weisheng answered honestly, then added teasingly, “Never expected this old worn-out body of mine to be hiding such powerful strength!”

As he spoke, a flash of sorrow flickered briefly through his eyes, gone in an instant — no one caught it clearly.

Just how much power did those golden scales actually hold? Could it sustain him for a lifetime? No one but himself would ever know.

Seeing Baili Weisheng was fine now, Old Meng Five could no longer hold back and spoke up. “Clan leader, please, let’s all take a seat in the main hall. The matter of the Qiankun Poison Pouch can’t be delayed any longer.”

The words were direct enough.

Everyone returned to the main hall and took their seats in order. The Dream Clan leader sat at the head. To his right sat the Great Elder and Old Meng Five in sequence; to his left sat Jun Beiyue, Ziqing, and Xiong Bao, with Baili Weisheng and his disciple seated furthest back.

“Clan leader, given this is a major clan matter, shall we have the younger disciples join us as well?” the Great Elder finally spoke up.

Clan — family and clan both. That’s what the word meant.

So even though they were father and sons, most of the time the elders still addressed their old father formally as “clan leader.”

The disciples the Great Elder referred to included not only the direct bloodline descendants but also disciples selected from among the wider clan membership.

As the Great Elder had said, what they were about to discuss was indeed a major clan matter — at the very least, the direct descendants and senior disciples ought to be present.

Hearing the Great Elder’s words, both Ziqing and Jun Beiyue’s expressions clearly showed reluctance. Given Ziqing’s unusual origins, if the matter were made public within the clan, who could guarantee it wouldn’t leak beyond the Dream Clan entirely?

If word got out, all the careful precautions they’d taken so painstakingly would be for nothing!

Right now, they weren’t yet powerful enough to stand against Nanzhao’s beast clan — this was no time for reckless overconfidence. Besides, they still hoped to uncover the secret of the isolated island, a secret even the Nanzhao royal family itself might not fully know.

Jun Beiyue was just about to speak, when unexpectedly, the Dream Clan leader refused outright. “This matter is no small thing — it concerns a great deal. This old man would prefer… that it remain strictly a family matter.”

As he spoke, the Dream Clan leader deliberately glanced at the Great Elder. A man who had lived long enough to become truly shrewd, and inherently perceptive besides, he understood exactly what schemes his sons were each harboring in their hearts — he’d simply been maintaining balance all along, hoping to preserve peace until he’d settled on his successor.

Now that his most gifted daughter had returned, and with him growing old, he no longer wished to dwell on all those old unpleasant grievances from the past. The position of clan leader ought to go to whoever was most capable.

As for these sons of his, he intended to finally make his true position clear to them as well.

A family matter?

A cold smile flickered across the Great Elder’s lips, though he remained outwardly deferential. “Then let’s have the younger ones join us.”

The Dream Clan leader nodded in approval, then turned to a nearby guard. “Go and bring Second Brother and Third Brother here as well.”

Given this arrangement, this family meeting seemed to be shaping up as something quite formal indeed.

Family carried its own warmth, but also its own rules, its own constraints, even its own burdens — especially in a family this large.

Ziqing glanced at Jun Beiyue, unable to deny that this was the first family council she’d ever experienced in her life. Having always been alone, doing things entirely her own way, she suddenly felt a flicker of uncertainty.

Jun Beiyue took her hand and held it gently, murmuring low, “I’m here. It’s all right.”

Before long, the younger generation — Meng Duo’er and the others — had all arrived, and Old Meng Two and Old Meng Three were brought in under guard as well. And so, this family council began…