The elder thunderbolt tells his uncle that the darkmoon's power has not yet fully recovered, and that the youthfeathers will not be able to attack them anytime soon. He also tells him that he is planning to build a wall around the blue carp town and recruit experts to help keep it safe in times of trouble. He then gives the clan members the cultivation manuals he has obtained from the shrine and instructs them to make over one hundred copies of the manuals and place them in a library. Five days later, thunderbolt says, he will need to return home. He tells the elder clan members to take care of themselves on their way back, as they have only suffered superficial injuries. He says that if he ever needs his help with anything, he'll do so. The elder clan member tells thunderbolt that the northern palace has announced that it has wiped out all of the imperial guards. The northern barbarians have not attacked, and the northern guards have been deployed to defend against them. thunderbolt asks where the information came from, and he says that he will never know when he will no longer need his help. He adds that he wouldn't have noticed if he had not mentioned it. He goes on to say that he would have been surprised if thunderbolt hadn't told him about the 150,000 guards who had been killed near mount-beiming. The only other ones that could have taken out these guards are the Northern barbarians, he says