Chapter 132: An Eye for an Eye

However, facing the other party's clumsy provocation, Lu Yuan's expression remained indifferent, and he smiled dismissively:

"The Demon Empress's life can be taken whenever I wish; why would I need to make a special trip? I let one or two of the subordinates you sent in to support you go; I'd like to see if that Demon Empress dares to come find me once she hears the news!"

Even after learning that the Demon Empress Xici had reached the realm of a so-called Heavenly Gang Grandmaster, Lu Yuan felt no great apprehension.

With Earthly Fiend Arts such as Invisibility, Earth Travel Technique, Obstacle Clothing, Sending Staff, and even Wind Control, Generating Light, Sprouting Head, and Body Immobilization at his disposal, no one in the world could threaten him anymore, not even a hidden top-tier expert like the Demon Empress Xici.

In fact, if he were to exert his full strength and infiltrate the palace to assassinate her, he would have roughly a seventy percent chance of killing her.

The only reason he did not do so was that there was no immediate necessity, or rather, the timing was not yet ripe.

After all, what currently endangered the hundreds of millions of people of Shenzhou was not just the Great Jin Dynasty represented by the Demon Empress Xici, but also the three great powers eyeing them like tigers.

If he were to assassinate the Demon Empress Xici now and cause the Jin Dynasty to collapse, the great powers would likely launch a massive invasion in an instant, spreading the flames of war across the land of Shenzhou and leading to the suffering of the masses.

Such a situation would not only create boundless sin and countless unjust souls, but it also did not align with his plans.

". You let my subordinates go?"

Hearing what Lu Yuan said, Mankeduo could not help but be stunned, then he smiled miserably:

"Good, good, good. You are worthy of being someone who has received an Immortal's inheritance; you are even more confident than I imagined. One last question before I die: where exactly does your Immortal art come from? Can you let me be a ghost who understands?"

Lu Yuan merely glanced at him:

"You had better be a ghost who remains in the dark!"

As the words fell, a 'chi' sound rang out.

A streak of sharp golden light shot out from his fingertips, instantly piercing through Mankeduo's throat.

Blood gushed from his throat like a fountain; his eyes widened in an instant, filled with resentment, fear, and regret. After convulsing violently for a long time, he suddenly fell backward and died, his breath cut off.

This Great Governor of the Niangan Office had thus met his end, dying without a sound.

Tap, tap, tap.

Just at this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps and shouting came from outside the courtyard, and then Chen Zhantang, Peng Yidao, and Lin Sheng were seen rushing in, holding blades and guns.

Seeing Lu Yuan standing safe and sound in the courtyard at a glance, the three were both shocked and delighted, and they hurried forward:

"Master! Are you alright?"

"This is outrageous! Who are the people outside and here, daring to attack the hall?"

Lu Yuan, who had not yet had time to destroy the evidence, turned his head and looked at the three helplessly:

"Didn't I tell you not to come back tonight?"

The pile of corpses outside, plus the two bodies in the courtyard, proved that a fierce battle had just taken place. Chen Zhantang and the other two suppressed the suspicion in their hearts and hurriedly said:

"Master, we finished the tasks as you said, but we couldn't set our minds at ease, so we gathered together to come back and check the situation."

"I see that the corpses outside all have the faces of the Golden Clan, not those of the Sha'e or Sunlight people. This, what is going on?"

Lu Yuan did not hide it and smiled faintly:

"They are people from the Niangan Office, sent specifically by the Demon Empress Xici to assassinate me."

The Niangan Office!?

Whether it was Chen Zhantang, Peng Yidao, or Lin Sheng, all knew what kind of place the Niangan Office was. They immediately widened their eyes and stepped forward to examine the corpse at Lu Yuan's feet in shock.

Looking at Mankeduo, who had died with his eyes wide open in a pool of blood, Lin Sheng said in shock:

"Isn't this person... the True Martial Grandmaster Mankeduo who came with the Governor Nayancheng a few days ago?"

Lu Yuan shook his head with a sigh:

"It is him. This person's actual identity is the Great Governor of the Niangan Office. As for this one who came with him, he should also be a Grandmaster expert from within the Jin Dynasty; he looks like he might be from the Shaman God Sect. I originally thought that the ones who coerced and bribed Liu Yishou were the Sha'e people or the Sunlight people; I didn't expect it to be these two..."

Hiss.

Chen Zhantang and the other two all gasped in unison.

Mankeduo was a True Martial Grandmaster; they had seen it with their own eyes that day.

As for the other one lying on the ground, since the Master had personally confirmed his Grandmaster cultivation, it could not be fake.

Two top-tier Grandmaster experts of the time had both died at the hands of Lu Yuan alone. This Master's true strength was terrifying to such a degree that they could not even imagine it!

As a man of the Jianghu, Peng Yidao knew the power of the Niangan Office well and asked with some trepidation:

"Master, since this person is the Great Governor of the Niangan Office and was personally dispatched by the Demon Empress Xici, if they all go and never return, will the imperial court..."

Lu Yuan laughed:

"What, do they dare to send a large army to encircle and attack? I would like to see if Xici dares to issue such an edict!"

Killing two Great Jin Dynasty Grandmasters was a feat that could be called terrifying to anyone in the world.

Anyone who was not a complete fool should understand that even if a large army were dispatched to encircle and suppress them in Jinjin City, it would be difficult to do anything to such a top-tier expert.

On the contrary, if they completely tore off the mask of civility, such an expert could, after breaking through the encirclement, act without restraint and wantonly infiltrate Tianjing, specifically targeting various princes, ministers, and nobles for beheading and assassination, making the entire imperial court live in constant fear.

The Jin Dynasty was currently tottering in the wind and rain and could not withstand such turmoil. Even if Xici knew the situation here clearly, she could do nothing to him.

"Alright."

Not giving the three too much time to be shocked, since manual labor had arrived, Lu Yuan did not hesitate to use it and immediately instructed:

"We can talk later. I will handle these two personally; the corpses of those people outside are left to you."

Peng Yidao and Lin Sheng immediately agreed and prepared to go out to handle it.

But Chen Zhantang remembered something, hurriedly took a letter from his bosom, and stepped forward:

"By the way, Master, this is a letter of apology I found in Liu Yishou's house. Please take a look."

"A letter of apology?"

Lu Yuan took the letter with slight surprise, unfolded it, and scanned it.

The handwriting on the letter was sloppy and messy, revealing the writer's panic and unease. In Liu Yishou's own voice, it roughly recounted how he had been coerced and threatened by the Sha'e people who held his family hostage to poison him, and how he had struggled before having to agree;

Then, later, a mysterious group of people had come to him, also forcing him to poison Lu Yuan, and so on and so forth.

The lines were filled with fear and dread. Finally, he specifically mentioned his worry that the Sha'e people might not keep their promise, and if his family were to die tragically, he hoped that whoever found this letter would expose the evil deeds of the Sha'e people to the world, which would count as his atonement.

After a simple scan, Lu Yuan's gaze became playful:

"Interesting. So my guess was right; it really was the Sha'e People who made the first move, and the Niangan Office happened to be thinking the same thing."

"I am sorry, Hall Master."

Chen Zhantang lowered his head deeply and said with immense shame:

"It is this disciple's fault for failing to judge a person correctly, resulting in bringing in a traitor like Liu Yishou as a cook. I almost harmed you; please punish me!"

Lu Yuan waved his hand dismissively:

"These flies are everywhere. No matter who brought them in, they would inevitably be coerced and threatened by them. It has nothing to do with you."

Chen Zhantang gritted his teeth, filled with immense resentment:

"They use underhanded tactics after failing in the ring. These Russians are as shameless and base as the Sunlight People. Hall Master, why don't you let me send this letter to the newspapers everywhere and announce the shameless face of the Russians to the world?"

Lu Yuan pondered for a moment, crushed the letter of apology in his hand into powder, and laughed:

"No need. These idiots who forget the pain once they've eaten, I will deal with them myself!"

In the blink of an eye, this restless night passed completely.

Although the battle at night was intense and even gunshots rang out, because the location of Guangwu Hall was relatively remote and there were no residential houses nearby, it did not attract the authorities.

And early the next morning, all the corpses inside Guangwu Hall were cleaned up, and not even a trace of blood could be seen, as if nothing had ever happened.

Meanwhile, just as the sky was brightening, as if they had heard rumors in the streets about Lu Yuan being poisoned, Wu Yixian of the Martial Arts Association and a group of elders, and even leaders of various forces such as Lin Xingchao, Gu Kanshan, the Golden Blade Group, the Boatmen's Guild, and even the authorities were greatly shocked and angry, and they all came to visit and inquire with concern.

However, upon arriving at the hall and seeing Lu Yuan in good spirits and unharmed, they immediately felt relieved and realized that the rumor of poisoning seemed to be Lu Yuan's strategy to lure the snake out of its hole.

Although Lu Yuan did not inform them of what happened last night, after learning that the head chef Liu Yishou had secretly poisoned him and then fled, the Martial Arts Association immediately suspected the Sha'e and Sunlight sides.

As a leading authority, Wu Yixian was even more furious and immediately used his status and prestige to demand that everyone in the Martial Arts Association go out to scout and find Liu Yishou's whereabouts, insisting that such a traitor must be caught and severely punished to serve as a warning to others.

Including Fan Zhenxiong representing the authorities, the Golden Blade Group, and even people from the Boatmen's Guild, all expressed their stance to cooperate with the Martial Arts Association to find him.

Therefore, after the people from various forces left Guangwu Hall, a massive search swept across the entire Jinjin. Thousands of people from various forces could be said to be scouring the mountains and seas, digging three feet into the ground, searching everywhere for Liu Yishou's whereabouts.

And at the same time.

Sha'e Concession.

"What?"

Early in the morning, looking at the leader of the Jin Clan secret agents reporting before him, Takov was shocked:

"That Lu Yuan wasn't poisoned at all?"

The secret agent said with a submissive expression:

"Yes. According to the news we gathered, that Hall Master Lu was not poisoned at all last night. The reason he sent out so many Gatekeepers and disciples was to set up a decoy, wanting to lure out the mastermind behind the scenes."

Takov's face was extremely ugly: "Are you sure he wasn't poisoned? Could this also be a decoy?"

"It shouldn't be. From this morning until now, many big figures from various forces have personally visited Guangwu Hall. If he were truly suffering from a deadly poison, I'm afraid he couldn't hide it from so many people's eyes."

The scout leader said:

"Moreover, according to our eyes left at Guangwu Hall, it seems a group of unidentified people snuck into the hall last night, and there were gunshots. We don't know which force it was."

"There were other people?"

Takov was startled:

"Could it be the Sunlight People? Did the eyes sent out see if it was their people?"

The scout said in a low voice: "Sorry, Mr. Takov. The eyes watching at night were afraid of being discovered by the disciples of Guangwu Hall and didn't dare to get too close, so they only vaguely saw and heard the commotion. We really don't know which side it was."

"Bastards, you bunch of trash, trash!"

Takov's chest heaved, his eyes filled with gloom and suspicion, roaring and cursing:

"Our arrangements were so secret, how could the mantis stalk the cicada while the oriole is behind happen? Did you bunch of scum leak the news in advance!"

The secret agent leader looked aggrieved: "Mr. Takov, we only knew the specific plan yesterday before Liu Yishou made his move. Where would we have the time to leak the secret?"

Takov's face was livid, and on his twitching cheeks, unwillingness, annoyance, and fear were intertwined.

The matter of poisoning and plotting against Lu Yuan was something Aojinniezi had entrusted entirely to him to handle to redeem his previous faults.

As long as this matter was handled properly, his previous mistakes could be wiped clean, and he could also cling to Aojinniezi's thigh because of it. Not to mention future success, at the very least, his future in the country would be bright and promising; it was an extremely rare opportunity to turn things around.

However, now, he had completely botched this matter.

He couldn't even imagine what kind of fate he would face when the news reached Aojinniezi's ears!

Just as he was full of fear, racking his brains to think of how to deal with and survive this crisis.

Ding-dong, ding-dong.

Outside the house, a doorbell suddenly rang. The agitated Takov asked with extreme annoyance:

"Who is it!"

However, there was no response from outside.

In extreme irritability, Takov frowned and immediately shouted:

"Moituo, Chaikojisi?"

Although his status as Consul had been stripped away, he still had two guards standing watch and at his beck and call in his daily life.

However, in the silence, the two guards who were usually on call did not respond with a single sound.

The garden villa where he lived was not far from the Consulate and the Military Intelligence Department. Normally, it was impossible for anyone to dare to act recklessly in this area, but such a situation was clearly extremely abnormal. As Takov felt a slight shock in his heart, he suddenly pulled out the short gun at his waist, flashed behind the sofa in the living room, and simultaneously signaled the secret agent leader to go open the door.

The secret agent leader also had the Martial Arts level of the Thunder Sound Realm. Under Takov's threatening gaze, he swallowed his saliva, also cautiously pulled out the Short Blade hidden in his sleeve, then moved with extreme caution to the side of the door, pressed against the wall, and then quickly turned the lock to open the door.

Then, the moment the door opened.

Sunlight poured in. Takov, who was hiding behind the sofa like he was facing a great enemy and aiming his gun, saw clearly that it was empty outside the door; there was nothing there.

What is going on?

An indescribable oppressive atmosphere emerged. Takov's eyes were manic, and he made a gesture again, signaling the secret agent to walk out the door to investigate.

This time, the secret agent had a face full of fear, shaking his head like a rattle, terrified that if he went out, he would fall into an ambush.

Takov was incomparably furious, viciously issuing a silent threat. Yet before the scout could even respond, a faint sound abruptly rang out in both of their ears:

"Freeze!"

The instant the word "freeze" entered their ears, whether it was Takov or the secret agent scout, they only felt as if their bodies and even their souls had instantly plummeted into an eternal, frost-sealed hell; regardless of muscle, nerve, Qi and blood, or even soul, everything—absolutely everything—was thoroughly frozen solid!

(End of chapter)