Chapter 43: Deterrence
Lu Xin told the brother and sister to go home first, and he went to the mountain top himself. He had originally planned to tamper with the corpses to make it look like he was the one who attacked them.
But when he saw the ground covered with corpses, his expression couldn’t help but freeze. “Light shines in all directions, transforming circle into square, righteous qi…”
These people were clearly all killed by the Lu Clan’s ultimate technique, the Heaven and Earth Righteous Law. There was no need for him to do anything extra. Lu Xin couldn’t help but laugh wryly, “This brat, he really prepared a scapegoat for me early on…”
Even so, Lu Xin felt incredibly relieved. Nothing could make him happier than seeing his son grow.
After carefully inspecting the scene, Lu Xin pondered for a moment, then turned and entered the thatched hut. He sat cross-legged inside in meditation, seemingly with no intention of leaving.
Time slowly passed, and gradually the sun began to set in the west. Two elongated shadows ascended the mountain path to the summit.
The two were one fat and one thin. The fat one was full of greed and lust, wearing a gaudy silk robe. The thin one had a fierce expression and his eyes gleamed, he was actually a Black Rank Expert.
The fat man fanned himself with a folding fan, sweating profusely as he complained, “How can Baozi and the others be so unreliable at their age! Whether they succeeded or failed, they should have at least reported back to the manor, making us run an extra trip.”
“Baozi has always been thorough in his work,” walking this short distance was nothing for that Black Rank Expert. He shook his head with a serious expression, “The Young Master was also worried that something might go wrong, so he sent us to take a look.”
“What could go wrong?” In the fat man’s opinion, with two Black Rank Experts providing support, they could conquer the world! “They must have seen how pretty that little lady was and were too busy enjoying themselves!” As he spoke, his eyes leered, and he chuckled, “Maybe we’ll get to see a live act…”
As they spoke, the two arrived beside the thatched hut. The fat man hid by the corner of the wall, stretched out his neck to look at the front of the house, and immediately lost his soul, slumping to the ground.
“What is it?” The thin man looked at him strangely, walked around the thatched hut, and was instantly dumbfounded – the Baozi they were talking about, the Big Guy, and another Black Rank Expert, were lying motionless on the ground with serious expressions! Beside them were eight or nine corpses, some were their own men, and some were human traffickers…
“Let’s go!” The thin man, after all, was an experienced hand and immediately realized something was terribly wrong. He said, turning to flee.
“Since you’ve come, stay!” A stern voice boomed out of nowhere. Lu Xin appeared in front of the hut. The moment before, he was still six or seven zhang away from the thin man. Before the words had even finished, he was already behind him, reaching out and lifting him into the air!
The thin man instinctively tried to resist, but found that all his meridians were frozen, and he couldn’t muster any strength at all!
“Earth Rank…” The thin man uttered these two words before he lost consciousness.
The fat man didn’t even have the courage to flee, he collapsed on the ground trembling like a sieve, stammering, “Spare, spare my life…”
Lu Xin glanced at him with disgust and said coldly, “Go back and tell Lu Feng that if he dares to lay a hand on my family again, Lu Xin will dismember him! Get out!”
The fat man felt as if he had been granted a general amnesty, scrambled to his feet, and fled down the mountain, tumbling and crawling.
.
A few days ago, Lu Feng devised a vicious plan to kidnap Lu Yun and her brother, forcing Lu Xin to return the money with interest. He then arranged for Baozi and others to collude with the human traffickers on this matter.
Today, an informant reported that Lu Ying had left Congshan Ward under the protection of two Yellow Rank guards. Baozi and another Black Rank Expert immediately set out! It should have been a sure thing, but by the afternoon, there was still no news back, and he began to feel uneasy.
People are often like this; when everything goes smoothly, they don’t think too much. But once they encounter a problem, it’s inevitable to expect the worst. Lu Feng then realized that Lu Xin was a favored person of the Xiahou Clan, and if he found out it was him who orchestrated it, there would likely be considerable trouble.
Of course, if everything went smoothly, the human traffickers would naturally take the blame, and Baozi would silence them afterward, leaving no evidence.
But the premise was that nothing could go wrong!
Lu Feng grew more anxious as he waited, and finally couldn’t resist sending his henchman Hu San and his last remaining Black Rank Expert to Funiu Mountain outside the city to see what was going on.
They waited until dark, and the person finally returned. Hu San stumbled in, not even bothering to take off his shoes before he fell to his knees before Lu Feng, his body trembling non-stop.
In the lamplight, Lu Feng saw that Hu San’s fat face, covered in sweat, was filled with panic. Lu Feng’s heart sank, and he asked sternly, “What happened?!”
“Young Master,” Hu San said with a choked sob, “Baozi and the others were killed, and You Qiang was also captured by Lu Xin!”
“What?!” Lu Feng felt dizzy, quickly supported himself on the low table, and asked in disbelief, “How many people were there?”
“Only Lu Xin…” Hu San trembled.
“Nonsense!” Lu Feng adamantly disbelieved. “He, Lu Xin, isn’t even an Earth Rank Grandmaster, how could he defeat my three Black Rank Experts?!”
“He is an Earth Rank Grandmaster…” Hu San said mournfully. “You Qiang was completely defenseless in his hands; he definitely has Earth Rank strength!” The Investigative Bureau categorizes martial artists into Earth, Black, Yellow, and Red Ranks. Although this system has only been in place for twenty years, the concept has already deeply ingrained itself. Hu San knew You Qiang was a Black Rank Peak Expert, yet Lu Xin could capture him with one sweep, making him understand that the opponent had certainly reached the Earth Rank standard as defined by the Investigative Bureau.
“What?!” Lu Feng suddenly slumped back, his handsome face flushing and paling. He picked up a tea cup, trying to conceal his panic, but his hand trembled, spilling tea soup all over himself.
The maid wanted to step forward to clean, but he roughly kicked her away. “Get lost!”
It must be known that the Lu Clan has only eight Earth Rank Grandmasters, all of whom have been appointed as Stewards. They wield immense power and influence within the clan! This is because they are Earth Rank, the supreme experts among tens of thousands, second only to a select few in this world!
How could I have so carelessly offended someone like this?! Although he believed Lu Xin wouldn’t dare come to North of the Luo River to settle the score with him, the mere thought of having offended an Earth Rank Grandmaster, a future Lu Clan Steward, made Lu Feng feel an immense headache.
After a long while, he calmed down and meticulously questioned the entire affair. After listening to Hu San’s detailed report, Lu Feng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Lu Xin also had many concerns and did not wish to publicize the matter.
“Although he is an Earth Rank Grandmaster, he is merely from a collateral lineage and there are no vacant Steward positions for him. Compared to my Father, he is still far too inferior,” Lu Feng muttered to himself. “It seems he doesn’t dare to make too much of a fuss and only dared to kill a few of my men to vent his anger…”
“As Young Master says,” Hu San quickly agreed. “If this really blew up, he wouldn’t have a good outcome!”
“This matter won’t be over…” Lu Feng rubbed his chin, his gaze flickering. “He must hate me now. Even if he doesn’t dare to flare up immediately, he will be a menace sooner or later!”
“Young Master, why not report it to Master,” Hu San suggested. “Even if Lu Xin has advanced to Earth Rank, it would be easy for Master to eliminate him!”
“No!” Lu Feng shook his head resolutely. “Not at least for now!” Saying this, he dejectedly supported his forehead with his hand. “How can I explain to Father before this hole is filled?!” He then sighed heavily. “And if my Father knew I instructed people to kidnap clan members, wouldn’t he hang me up and beat me?!”
“That is true…” Hu San nodded. All the things Lu Feng had done were kept secret from Lu Jian. If Lu Jian found out he had been so reckless, he would certainly not let him off lightly.
Moreover, since Lu Xin had captured You Qiang, how could Lu Feng twist the truth to Lu Jian? If the matter escalated, and they sent You Qiang to Sanwei Hall, even Lu Jian couldn’t protect Lu Feng!
“Go tell Manager He and Manager Chai to hurry things up on both sides,” Lu Feng ordered weakly. “I will also sell some things to see how much money I can gather, striving to fill this hole within a month…”
“Yes.” Hu San nodded in agreement.
“During this period, tell the men not to go south,” Lu Feng’s heart bled. Not to mention his subordinates being wiped out, even if they were alive, how could they be a match for an Earth Rank Grandmaster? When had the dignified Eldest Young Master Lu ever been so scared that he didn’t dare to leave his residence? His gaze gradually turned sinister. “When I get through this difficult period, I’ll see how I slowly deal with him!”
“Then let him hop around for a couple more days…” Hu San quickly chimed in. “We’ll settle the score after autumn!”
“En.” Lu Feng nodded, looked at the tea stains on himself, and his expression turned furious. “Where have all the people gone? Hurry and get me some clean clothes!”
Two pretty maids quickly entered, attending to the capricious master.
