Chapter 136: The Missing Young Master
Upon arriving at Lu Ward, Lu Wei was both surprised and delighted by Lu Song’s sudden advancement in rank. After discussing it with Lu Xin, the two unanimously agreed that it was Lu Xian’s guidance to Lu Song that played the decisive role!
This made Lu Lin and the others both extremely envious and overjoyed, as if they too could advance in rank at any moment.
“Don’t daydream.” Lu Wei dashed cold water on them, reminding them: “From Yellow Rank to Black Rank is just a difference in True Qi usage methods, so Lu Song was able to have an enlightenment under the Vice Sect Master’s pointers. If you want to advance to Earth Rank, you must open the Ren and Du Meridians, and there’s no shortcut at all—you have to grind it out day and night for real!”
Although he said that, in truth Lu Wei was extremely impressed with Lu Xian. Don’t let this Vice Sect Master’s eccentric ways fool you—he was indeed a renowned Heavenly Rank Grandmaster, and when it came to teaching disciples, he was far superior to them, these Earth Rank Grandmasters!
Although he still couldn’t understand how simply looking at bamboo could have such a great effect, Lu Wei had secretly made up his mind that tonight he would also find a bamboo stalk and study it carefully…
If even Lu Wei was like this, there was no need to mention Lu Lin and the others. Just thinking about how they could go to the Small Bamboo Forest again this evening to listen to Lu Xian’s teachings made their hearts burn with excitement; they only felt that this day was endlessly long and they just couldn’t wait until sunset.
Finally, when the sun had shifted to the west, the few of them could no longer sit still. Lu Xin was considerate and didn’t force them to stay and do their assignments; he let them go early.
The four bowed to Lu Xin, then dashed out of the study room like a puff of smoke, practically jogging all the way to the Small Bamboo Forest.
The clan members they met on the road saw the direction they were heading and knew that the four were going to seek guidance from the Vice Sect Master; they couldn’t help but be extremely envious—this was a privilege even the stewards couldn’t obtain!
The way they looked at the four became even more respectful. These four were already prodigies of exceptional talent, and now with a Heavenly Rank Grandmaster to teach them, advancing to Earth Rank was surely guaranteed, and even becoming Grandmasters was no pipe dream!
Almost everyone secretly made up their minds in their hearts: they absolutely must not offend these four young men, but instead should cozy up to them well—there would definitely be great benefits in the future!
The reason it was “almost” was because not everyone thought that way.
When the four passed by the Finance Department, Lu Jian happened to be coming out from inside. Seeing their figures, Lu Jian stopped in his tracks, clearly not wanting to run into them.
Standing beside Lu Jian was a fair-faced man in his twenties or thirties—it was none other than Lu Ren, the one who had rudely humiliated Lu Xin at the welcoming banquet when Lu Yun’s family entered the capital, only to be secretly tripped by Lu Yun and eat dirt like a dog.
Looking at those four glorious young men, Lu Ren’s eyes were full of jealousy, especially since Lu Xin’s son was among them, which made him feel utterly uncomfortable all over. Seeing that Lu Jian seemed to share his feelings, Lu Ren was first stunned, then realized: this Third Steward, who had just been reinstated, must be thinking of his own son.
If Lu Xin hadn’t meddled, then among those four who were about to receive the admiring gazes of the clan members as they went to accept the Heavenly Rank Grandmaster’s guidance, Lu Feng’s figure should definitely have been there. But now, Lu Feng was completely without news, and his spot had been taken by Lu Xin’s son…
Lu Jian had only that one son in Lu Feng, so how could he feel anything but upset?
“Fourth Brother,” Lu Ren called softly twice. “Fourth Brother.”
Only then did Lu Jian come back to his senses, saying expressionlessly: “I’ve only just been reinstated, and many in the clan still aren’t convinced. Your matter can wait a couple of days.”
“Everyone in the clan knows that Fourth Brother has the Elder Council backing him—even the Clan Leader can’t touch you.” Lu Ren was anxious; he had only seen that the Finance Department’s manager had lost quite a few people and wanted to hug Lu Jian’s thigh to snag an assignment in the Finance Department. In his view, this was just a matter of Lu Jian nodding his head—no need to hesitate at all. “Fourth Brother is going to be Clan Leader in the future, and by then you’ll surely need a few loyal brothers to run errands for you, wave the flags, and cheer, right?”
“Heh, escaping this calamity is already thanking my lucky stars—how dare I aspire to be Clan Leader?” Lu Jian shook his head and brushed him off. This time, having reflected deeply, he was determined to properly clean up his own patch of land, so how could he let a black sheep like Lu Ren get involved again?
Lu Ren stuck to him shamelessly like a medicated patch, following behind Lu Jian all the way to his home’s doorway, but Lu Jian still wouldn’t budge. With no other choice, Lu Ren slunk away awkwardly, though he didn’t lose heart—as long as he kept pestering Lu Jian, sooner or later he’d annoy him into agreeing.
Seeing the medicated-patch-like Lu Ren finally scram, Lu Jian breathed a sigh of relief. Upon returning home, the maid hurried forward to help him change clothes. But Lu Jian’s gaze fell on the grim-faced Steward Zhang, and the brows he had just relaxed furrowed tightly again.
After the maid withdrew, Lu Jian couldn’t wait to ask: “Any news from Qin Prefecture?”
“Master…” Steward Zhang had a mournful face and hesitated for a long time before having to tell the truth: “Second Master in Qin Prefecture sent a letter, and there is no news of Young Master.”
“Ah…” Lu Jian instantly felt his hands and feet turn ice-cold, nearly unable to stand steady.
By rights, Lu Feng should have arrived in Qin Prefecture in half a month, but Lu Jian had waited and waited with no news of his safe arrival, which made him anxious at heart. Though he hated that useless thing enough to strangle him, in the end, he only had this one son—how could he not worry sick?
A few days ago, Lu Jian finally couldn’t hold back and had Steward Zhang write a letter inquiring in Qin Prefecture. The letter hadn’t even been sent out for a few days when his brother in Qin Prefecture sent back this news…
“Could it be that beast was dissatisfied with my arrangements and secretly ran off somewhere else to have fun?” Lu Jian absolutely refused to think the worst.
“This…” Steward Zhang wanted to comfort him but, given the gravity of the matter, had to tell the truth: “Before he set out, this lowly one instructed all the guards that they absolutely could not indulge Young Master’s whims—they had to get him to Qin Prefecture as quickly as possible.” He swallowed hard and said with great difficulty: “Even if Young Master threw a tantrum and insisted on going somewhere else, they would at least send word back…”
Steward Zhang had half a sentence left unsaid: now Lu Feng hadn’t arrived in Qin Prefecture, and those guards hadn’t sent any word either—it was most likely that something had gone wrong. And it was… a huge problem!
How could Lu Jian not understand his meaning? That face, which had only just regained its vigor, instantly turned ashen; he shook his hand neurotically and said in a deep voice: “Don’t scare yourself. Feng’er will be fine!” With that, he grabbed Steward Zhang’s arm fiercely and snarled: “Go immediately send people to inquire along the route—they took the official road, with all those inns, restaurants, and teahouses along the way; someone must have seen them!”
“This lowly one has already given the orders…” Steward Zhang grimaced in pain, then corrected himself: “This lowly one will personally take men to investigate right away and definitely find Young Master!”
“Go quickly!” Only then did Lu Jian release his grip, barking: “If you don’t find Young Master, don’t come back!”
“Yes, yes…” Steward Zhang scrambled out in a panic, taking men to search for traces of his family’s Young Master.
It was a long time after Steward Zhang left that Lu Jian gradually calmed down and began to piece together the causes and effects. Actually, with just a moment of calm, he had to admit that Steward Zhang was right: the chance that Lu Feng had run off somewhere else was extremely small, while the chance of an accident was extremely high!
If Lu Feng had met with an accident, who could be responsible? Highway robbers, or revenge from an enemy?
The answer was also very clear. The guards Steward Zhang sent out were all shrewd, capable, and highly skilled in martial arts, with several Black Rank Experts among them—ordinary thieves were no match for them at all. And those organized bandit groups with real clout, even if they dared to rob Lu Feng, absolutely wouldn’t slaughter a scion of noble clans to the last man, because that would be courting death!
Therefore, the greater possibility was revenge from an enemy. What enemy did Lu Feng have who hated him to the bone and had the strength to take out those guards? A name immediately popped into Lu Jian’s mind—Lu Xin!
“Lu Xin, I hope it’s just a false alarm.” Lu Jian muttered to himself with a ferocious expression: “Otherwise, I’ll slaughter your whole family!”
