Chapter 68: Xie Tian
“That must be it!” the Round-faced Man exclaimed in astonishment. “A character like that doesn’t appear once in decades. How did we have to run into him? What rotten luck!”
“It’s just that Lu Clan’s lackey got lucky,” the Pointed-faced Man sneered. “Once they come out of the manor, I don’t believe they’ll run into another savior!”
“Wrong. The ones who got lucky are you two.” A cold voice exploded in their ears.
The two jumped up in shock, hurriedly waving their weapons and looking around, only to see a youth in a green robe with handsome features walking leisurely toward them through the white poplars. “That girl already spared your lives, but you still won’t give up. You truly deserve to die!”
Recognizing that this youth was one of their targets, the two immediately calmed down and grinned ferociously. “Kid, you think you’re her?”
“Let’s see your masterful moves!” The Pointed-faced Man grinned and raised his weapon, attacking Lu Yun from both sides together with the Round-faced Man!
Lu Yun smiled coldly, waving his sleeves with both hands. The two immediately felt themselves enveloped in a fierce gale and were ruthlessly flung to the ground.
“So, you’re just like her…” The two men lay collapsed on the ground, their bodies feeling as if they’d been crushed by stone, unable even to lift a finger.
Only then did they understand that Lu Yun’s words were completely true. That girl had just given them a way to live, but unfortunately… they hadn’t cherished it.
“Who are you?” Lu Yun walked up to the two and looked down at them imperiously.
“Heh heh, no matter how high your martial arts, you won’t pry open our mouths!” The two men laughed weirdly. They were assassins trained specially and weren’t afraid of torture.
“…” Lu Yun didn’t bother with more words. He slowly bent down, first pointing a finger at the Pointed-faced Man’s mute acupoint, then staring intently into the Round-faced Man’s eyes.
The Round-faced Man saw demonic light flashing in Lu Yun’s eyes, as if piercing straight into his heart. He immediately felt a wave of daze.
At this moment, Lu Yun formed a strange mudra with his right hand and pointed a finger at his glabella. The Round-faced Man grunted dully, his expression falling into confusion.
Lu Yun’s ghostly voice pierced straight into the depths of his mind. “You must be honest with me. You cannot say half a lie!”
“I…” The Round-faced Man’s eyes struggled for a moment, but soon they went blank as he said, “I must be honest with you. I won’t say half a lie.”
“Tell me, what is your identity?” Lu Yun’s voice echoed eerily.
“I am a Yellow Rank assassin from the White Ape Society’s Luojing branch…” the Round-faced Man answered woodenly.
“White Ape Society?” Lu Yun frowned slightly, his voice quickly returning to calm. “Who hired you to kill me?”
“It was Hu San. He is a hanger-on of Lu Feng, son of the Lu Clan’s Third Steward.” The Round-faced Man answered, “He offered double the price to take the lives of you and your mother and the other one.”
“Where is he now?” Lu Yun asked slowly.
“I don’t know…” The Round-faced Man shook his head blankly.
Lu Yun was about to ask more, but the Round-faced Man suddenly protruded his eyeballs like that Big Guy last time, his body convulsing before he became completely idiotic.
Lu Yun shook his head and sighed. It seemed this Soul Seizing Finger could only ask questions the target knew. If they couldn’t think of an answer, they turned into idiots.
Calming himself a bit, Lu Yun turned his gaze to the Pointed-faced Man. Having witnessed what he did to the Round-faced Man, the Pointed-faced Man’s eyes were full of terror.
Lu Yun released his mute acupoint, and the Pointed-faced Man screamed, “I know where Lu Feng is! Just spare me!”
“You speak first. I’ll consider it after.” Lu Yun looked at his slender palm.
“He’s hiding in his father’s Qing Feng Garden!” The Pointed-faced Man hurriedly spilled everything. “Ever since that incident at the Yuhang branch, the higher-ups ordered us to confirm the employer’s identity before acting! So I secretly followed Hu San and saw him enter Qing Feng Garden!”
“Does your White Ape Society have any Grandmasters in the Capital City?” Lu Yun asked again.
“No.” The Pointed-faced Man hurriedly said, “Only two Grandmasters stationed there. That’s the understanding between the White Ape Society and the various clans. Our Grandmasters don’t enter the Capital City, don’t touch their core descendants, and they won’t act against us.”
“What harmony.” Lu Yun sneered with a laugh, demonic light flashing in his eyes as he formed that mudra again.
“Didn’t you say you’d spare me?!” The Pointed-faced Man screamed in terror.
“I only said I’d consider it.” Lu Yun’s finger slowly pointed at the Pointed-faced Man’s glabella, his face expressionless. “And the result of my consideration is, you still die…”
“Even as a ghost I’ll…” The Pointed-faced Man’s furious roar gradually weakened, his eyes slowly going blank…
.
For Lu Yun, taking out two assassins was effortless, but destroying evidence like this still took him quite some effort.
Once he finished cleaning up the scene, he hurried back to Cuihe Garden.
By now, Cuihe Garden was filled with guests. Dozens of ladies had brought their children to celebrate the birthday of the Xie Family’s eldest daughter. The elders were having tea and chatting in the Flower Hall, while the young ones chatted and played in the courtyard.
Lu Yun didn’t recognize any of these people and had no interest in mingling, so he wanted to push through the crowd to find Lu Ying. Suddenly, someone patted his shoulder. Turning back, he saw Cui Ninger in a pink dress looking at him happily.
“Where did you go?” Seeing him again after a month, Cui Ninger seemed especially delighted and asked crisply, “I’ve been looking for you forever.”
“Oh, just went out for some air.” Lu Yun said softly.
“Ugh, long time no see and you’re still the same.” Dissatisfied with his indifference, Cui Ninger pouted. “I was going to introduce you to some beauties, but forget it now.”
“I’ve always been like this.” Lu Yun remained composed. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll head in.”
“Don’t you dare leave!” Cui Ninger stomped her foot in anger. “If you leave, I’ll cry to everyone and say you bullied me!”
Lu Yun rolled his eyes, ignoring her threat, and was about to walk away.
Cui Ninger’s expression was splendid. Just as she was about to say more, a man’s voice said, “Who dares bully my little Ninger sister?”
“…” Cui Ninger’s face immediately darkened. Turning to the man with a feather fan and silk turban dressed like a playboy Young Master, she said, “Xie Tian, I’ve warned you not to call me that!”
“You can hit me, scold me all you want, but you can’t stop me from calling you… little Ninger sister…” Xie Tian lightly fanned himself, winking at Cui Ninger. Then he squinted at Lu Yun. “Kid, you’re smart enough. Get lost!”
Lu Yun had indeed been about to leave, but at those words, he didn’t budge. Ignoring Xie Tian, he frowned at Cui Ninger. “So this is why you’re stopping me?”
“I…” Cui Ninger hadn’t expected Lu Yun to see through her little scheme at a glance. She lowered her head and fiddled with her skirt ties, tacitly admitting it.
“Kid, be sensible. You can’t afford to make our Xie Third Bro jealous.” A Young Master behind Xie Tian sneered a reminder to Lu Yun. “Watch out or you’ll regret it!”
Xie Tian looked at Lu Yun smugly. “Scram already!”
“I only know how to walk and run. I don’t know how to roll.” Lu Yun smiled faintly. “How about Xie Third Young Master demonstrates?”
“You!” Xie Tian exploded with rage. He’d never seen Lu Yun before and assumed he was some collateral lineage kid from who-knows-where, come to Cuihe Garden to schmooze. He hadn’t expected this small fry to dare challenge him. For a moment, he was so angry he didn’t know what to say, pointing at Lu Yun with his feather fan and grinding his teeth. “What nerve!”
“My nerve has always been big.” Lu Yun said calmly. “Xie Third Young Master, whatever you’ve got—civil or martial—bring it on.”
“Good! Good!” Xie Tian laughed in extreme anger. “Today, this Young Master will teach you kid what heaven and earth really mean!”
“Quick, come see! Xie Third Young Master is about to lose it!” The Young Masters and Misses in the courtyard all loved chaos. Seeing Xie Tian clash with an unfamiliar kid, they crowded around excitedly to watch the show!
“Where’d this kid come from, picking a fight with that jerk? Things are about to get ugly!” The Young Masters all knew Xie Tian was full of dirty tricks, ruthless and cunning.
“Just don’t ruin that face of his…” The Misses sized up Lu Yun and realized he was a rare handsome young guy. They felt pity for him, but no one dared stop Xie Tian, all afraid of getting burned.
