The overall strength of the clan was increasing steadily. Even the clan members didn’t know the depth of their clan’s strength. The only complaint was the lack of resources. Although the number of clan members in the Outback mountains had increased and the raw materials for low tier products were abundant, the consumption of products was increased accordingly. But the peaceful times cannot always last. At this moment a clan member barged into the clan hall where Punya was about to leave for the day. Just anyone cannot barge into the clan hall and when the clan leader was reading the reports. Even in case of urgency, this seemingly rude behavior was punishable by the clan laws.
The member of the clan bowed and hurriedly spoke in a loud voice “Clan leader it’s bad. Really bad.” The clan member was panting really hard. It looked like he was running for his life when he reached the clan hall. Punya patted his back and sent a little bit of qi into the messenger’s body to reduce the panting. Although cultivators normally aren’t out of breath due to running, it depends upon their strength and usage of qi. If they don’t use qi while running or the movement technique, they can maintain their peak stage for a while. Although the movement technique uses a lot of qi, it also increases the speed by a significant proportion depending on its type and mastery. As Punya sent a bit of qi into the messenger, he calmed down slowly. It was obvious he was running a using a movement technique. He looked at Punya and said, “Thank you, clan leader.”
Punya nodded and asked “Why are you running? Even if it is an emergency, running around the clan hall is unbecoming of the Rijal clan.” The messenger seems to have remembered why he was running in the first place and said “Clan leader, it is terrible. The other two clans have started encroaching on our territory by mixing their members with the small clans and started assaulting our clan members. When a group of ten was found injured, the Battle hall chief started investigating personally and found that the small clan had members from the other two clans. When she beat the elder presiding there, he confessed that it was the members from other clans and he had to obey them because they gave hefty rewards and also threatened to wipe out their entire clans if they didn’t obey.”
The messenger finished the message in a single breath. Punya knew this would happen sooner or later. He just wished it would happen later so they could develop smoothly for a while. Everything was going great for the Rijal clan. Punya just sighed and was about to speak when his expression changed. Another messenger burst through the door and entered the clan hall. It was the same as the previous messenger. The newcomer was panting heavily and out of breath. He was speaking the same dialogue “Clan leader it’s bad. Really bad.”
Punya sighed again and patted his back giving him qi to recover. After a moment the panting became slow and the messenger looked at Punya and said “Clan leader, our restaurants and shops were attacked. Although there were no casualties, there were a few of our retainers injured and a few of our clan members with broken hands. A few of our restaurants were trashed because they claimed the food served was subpar and expensive. As for the shop they just made other excuses to trash our shops and injure our clan members. When reinforcement arrived the vandals were long gone. They seemed to know the time our clan reinforcement would arrive.
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The city lord’s people just watched and started acting only when our clan’s reinforcement was about to arrive.” The messenger began panting again when he had finished speaking. When Punya heard that he was in disbelief at first. It had been a long time since anyone had dared to attack their shop in the city. When Keshab had first taken the helm of the clan, such incidents had happened but they were dealt with swiftly. And now it felt like they were testing the clan again. Punya was already enraged because of the incident in Bareback mountains and the death of other clan members previously and now this had happened.
He looked at the two messengers and said “Go to the elders and invite them one by one. Tell them it is an emergency.” The two messengers nodded their heads and began running towards the elder’s residences. He alone could make decisions for this incident but he held back and tried to see the bigger picture. If he acted rashly, the consequences may be undesirable. After all, as a clan leader he couldn’t just act on his emotions, he had to see the overall situation and compare the profit and loss for the clan first. This was also why he didn’t want to become the clan leader at first. If it was up to him he would have mobilized all the clan members and hunt down the perpetrators.
If it were Radha, she would have already taken action. She hadn’t waged war in the Bareback mountains to save his face otherwise with her temper she would have started a massacre by now. Punya hated moments like this, he was powerless to take action even with all the power he had. As Punya was contemplating the elders started coming. They looked at Punya at first and seeing visible anger present on his face, didn’t ask anything and sat in their positions. It took a while for all the elders and a few deacons to arrive. When they all sat in their positions, Punya signaled for the first messenger to explain what he just said.
The first messenger stood in the center and started speaking nervously. This was the first time he had come face to face with all the elders and with nervousness he explained everything he had said to Punya. At first, rage filled their faces and a little bit of color drained their faces and one of the deacons hurriedly asked “Has the Battle hall chief taken any further action?” The messenger shook his head and replied “Not yet she sent me here first to know about your decision but the Battle hall members have gathered and are ready to move at a moment’s notice.” The reason Radha didn’t use the jade talisman for sending messages was that it would take time for those who entered the inner region to gather and if they were going to war everyone had to prepare. They couldn’t just reveal their strength if it wasn’t going to be a life-or-death moment.