Chapter 160: Compromise
“Of course we know that with just the five of us, we can at most leave behind two of your corpses, but we can’t pry open your mouths.” As Lu Kan spoke, there was no change on his face, only that pair of eyes revealing a eerie cold light. “However, my Lu Clan’s retainers have already surrounded the Sihai Pawnshop at this moment. If we can’t pry open your mouths, we’ll just search it ourselves!”
“What?!” As soon as Gu Qi heard this, he said in shock and anger: “Don’t tell me you don’t know that attacking the Sihai Pawnshop will bring the frenzied revenge of my White Ape Society’s master!”
“Hahaha!” Lu Wei, who had been silent all along, burst into loud laughter upon hearing this, as if he had heard the biggest joke. “The Sihai Pawnshop in Yuhang City was burned to white ground by Xiahou Bupo, and Xuanyuan Wentian still had to obediently compensate the Xiahou Clan! We haven’t seen him come charging with a knife to their door.”
“Can you compare to the Xiahou Clan?” Earthwalker sneered: “Can the Sihai Pawnshop in Yuhang compare to the Sihai Pawnshop in the Capital City?” The Sihai Pawnshop in the Capital City records the White Ape Society and various clans’ shady deeds over the years. If those archives were made public, the Capital City’s Eight Great Clans would probably immediately turn against each other. Of course, the White Ape Society would also become the common target of the Eight Great Clans.
“You can try!” Lu Xia squeezed out a few icy words from between his teeth.
Earthwalker and Gu Qi both fell silent. If talking purely about top experts’ strength, the White Ape Society was not weaker than the major noble clans, but this group composed of commoner rabble, hiding in the shadows and making a living by killing, could never compare to the lofty Eight Great Clans. Even the weakest Mei Clan and Wei Clan were not something the White Ape Society could afford to provoke.
The reason the Eight Great Clans turned a blind eye to the White Ape Society’s existence was because there were too many shady things that needed someone to do for them. But there was an unspoken premise: the White Ape Society could not openly oppose the noble clans. Therefore, the White Ape Society would only accept commissions to assassinate direct lineage disciples of noble clans under the premise of ensuring no trouble would arise.
This was why Earthwalker and Gu Qi, even though the White Ape Society was clearly in the wrong and Lu Jian had guaranteed it would not bring them any trouble, still hesitated for a long time before accepting the commission to assassinate Lu Yun. So they made it seem like making a big fuss, using the Capital City White Ape Society’s strongest forces to assassinate Lu Yun. It was just to do it cleanly and neatly, leaving no leverage for the Lu Clan…
There was also an unspoken rule among the noble clans: without evidence, they could not point fingers at the White Ape Society. Otherwise, a semi-open assassin organization like the White Ape Society could not stand in a place like the Capital City. This was the greatest reward that the current White Ape Society master Xuanyuan Wentian gained from participating in the Baoen Temple Incident.
But now, the Capital City White Ape Society had not only been caught red-handed assassinating a Lu Clan core disciple, but two of their leaders were also surrounded by the enemy. If the Lu Clan wanted to strike at the Capital City White Ape Society, even Xuanyuan Wentian would not have much to say.
After hearing Lu Xia’s words, Earthwalker and Gu Qi’s expressions flickered, and the latter still said somewhat unconvinced: “It’s just one core disciple, is your Lu Clan really going to fully go to war with my White Ape Society for that?!”
“Look clearly,” Lu Wei pointed at Lu Xia with a mocking face: “He is the Lu Clan’s upright Second Steward. Assassinating him is equivalent to going to war with our clan!”
“You’re talking nonsense!” Gu Qi jumped up involuntarily: “The one we were clearly going to kill was Lu Yun!”
“Still spouting nonsense!” Lu Xia’s face darkened, and with a clanging sound, his precious sword left its sheath. He shouted sternly: “I’ve been chased and killed by you all the way. Can a light ‘we killed the wrong person’ brush this off?!”
“You’re clearly the ones fishing!” Gu Qi was exasperated. He was truly down on his luck; in less than half a year, he had fallen for it twice in a row!
“Enough!” Earthwalker stopped Gu Qi from continuing to speak. He stared fixedly at Lu Xiu: “I think you should have long guessed who hired us, right?”
“Whether we guessed or not is useless. What our clan wants is evidence!” Lu Kan said coldly.
“What if I say there’s no evidence?” Earthwalker shook his head. He was very clear that the Lu Clan was threatening him. Unless absolutely necessary, even the Xiahou Clan would not make a big move in the Capital City; that was extremely taboo.
“Then next year today will be the Capital City White Ape Society’s death anniversary!” Lu Xiu waved his hand, and Lu Xin and the other three charged at Gu Qi and Earthwalker.
The two blocked a few moves. Earthwalker swayed his figure, forcing back Lu Xin and Lu Wei who were attacking him by two steps, then sighed and changed his tune: “There is evidence.”
Hearing this, Lu Xiu also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Earthwalker had guessed exactly right; this was fundamentally a psychological contest. Unless absolutely necessary, the Lu Clan truly would not use retainers in the Capital City. But if the White Ape Society refused to cooperate, they might have no choice but to follow through.
As for future matters, they could be dealt with later…
Through this series of probes, Earthwalker thoroughly figured out the Lu Clan’s intentions. He knew that since they had spoken the words out loud, to maintain the Lu Clan’s reputation, no matter how many repercussions, they would first destroy the Capital City White Ape Society.
Between continuing to keep the secret or preserving the Capital City White Ape Society, Earthwalker chose the latter. He flicked an envelope from his sleeve and sent it to Lu Xiu.
Lu Xiu caught it with two fingers, observed it briefly, then opened it. The contents were exactly Lu Jian’s pledge, with his private seal and fingerprint on it.
“This is the pledge Lu Jian gave us, stating clearly that if the Lu Clan pursues it, he will take full responsibility.” Earthwalker said expressionlessly: “So, it doesn’t count as us betraying him.”
“Mm.” Lu Xiu handed the pledge to Lu Kan and Lu Xia. The two looked at it carefully, their faces suddenly changing with rage, gnashing their teeth: “This bastard!” Although they had followed the clan leader’s orders to participate in this action, they still found it hard to believe that Lu Jian would go mad enough to hire killers to assassinate their clan’s genius disciple. Only now, seeing the pledge handed over by Earthwalker, did they have no more doubts…
“Alright, we’ve handed over the evidence, so please honor your promise.” Earthwalker signaled Lu Wei and the others to clear the way.
Lu Xiu was just about to speak when Lu Kan interjected: “Physical evidence alone isn’t enough. At least one of you needs to stay and serve as a witness at our Lu Clan!” He grinned ferociously: “Don’t worry, our clan will give you the treatment you deserve. After giving testimony, we’ll escort you away politely and won’t trouble you further.”
“Pushing your luck!” Gu Qi was about to explode with anger.
“Fine.” But Earthwalker wasted no more words, glancing at Gu Qi: “You stay, explain things clearly to the Lu Clan, then come back.”
“I…” Gu Qi felt utterly frustrated. Could he be any unluckier? But under Earthwalker’s sharp gaze, he could only nod helplessly in compliance.
With both witness and physical evidence secured, the Lu Clan grandmasters no longer blocked him, letting Earthwalker leave alone.
“Let’s go, Second Leader.” Lu Wei glanced at the dejected Gu Qi and stood with Lu Xin one on his left and one on his right behind him.
“No need to be so cautious. The top leader has spoken; where could I run?” Gu Qi gave a self-mocking smile, then walked out of the Maple Forest under the escort of the five Lu Clan grandmasters.
At the hillside where the assassination occurred, Gu Qi’s pupils suddenly contracted again. On the mountain path, the carriage, the overturned manure cart, the assassins and guards, even the bloodstains were all gone.
If not for his exceptional sensitivity to the smell of blood, detecting the faint bloody scent in the air, he would truly suspect he had been dreaming before…
On the mountain path, more than a dozen carriages were slowly passing by, with bursts of laughter coming from the carriages from time to time. They appeared to be a group of Capital City disciples out for an autumn outing to enjoy the maples at Ten Mile Slope.
Lu Xiu did not want to be seen, so he said softly: “Let’s take another route.”
With that, the five led Gu Qi down the other side of the hillside, circled around, and appeared at the foot of the mountain.
At the foot of the mountain was a wide river surface. This river was called the Ten Mile River, one of the many tributaries of the Luo River. A large ship was moored at the shore of the Ten Mile River.
