Chapter 168: Are You Here to Collect a Debt Too?

One could see the walls covered in writing such as, "Ji Haitao, you bastard, pay back the money!"

"Ji, you cutthroat, selling fake Cultivation Methods to harm people!"

"A life for a life, pay back your debts!" and similar phrases.

These were still relatively mild; there were more hysterical curses, unbearable to hear, such as the vicious words, "Kill your whole family."

Seeing this, Lu Yu seemed to understand why that old man did not dare to return.

Just facing these words filled with resentment would require immense courage, right?

Finally, Lu Yu arrived at the 6th floor. Just as he prepared to look for room 601, the scene before his eyes truly gave him a shock.

He saw a room ahead where the door had already vanished, leaving the interior completely exposed.

The walls on both sides of the doorway were likewise covered in various curses and debt-collection demands.

"Could it be here?" A sense of foreboding welled up in Lu Yu's heart. He walked forward and looked into the room through the empty doorway; it was completely hollow inside.

Not only that, the floor, walls, and even the ceiling were covered in all sorts of hair-raising curse words and terrifying drawings, making one shudder.

Lu Yu did not step into the room, because he felt there was no need to.

In such a state, it was clearly impossible for anyone to still be living there.

That old man might have anticipated that the gift he sent might not be accepted by his family, but he certainly did not expect that his family was no longer here.

"Creak." Just then, a door-opening sound came from not far away. A middle-aged woman poked her head out, looked Lu Yu up and down, and asked, "Are you here to collect a debt too?"

Lu Yu turned to look at her, nodded, and said, "Yes, where did this family go?"

Originally, he had intended to leave right then, but since someone had appeared, he might as well ask.

If he could find out their whereabouts, he would deliver the item; if he couldn't, he would just have to let it go, as he had already done his best.

"They left." The woman glanced at the room missing its door. "They left a long time ago."

"Left a long time ago?"

"Yeah, it's been about two or three years, I think." The woman recalled for a moment and continued, "After the incident happened back then, that old man ran off without a trace, leaving behind his son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter.

Come to think of it, that old geezer is really no good; he ran away fast enough, but he ruined his family.

Every day, several groups of people would come to cause trouble, either demanding money back or shouting about a life for a life.

Later, the man of this house wanted to sell the place, but hmph, no one dared to buy it. Even as the price dropped again and again, slashed in half and then slashed again, there were still no takers.

Later on, I don't even know which day it was, they just suddenly disappeared. No one knows where they went. Some say they went to live in another city.

As for this house, it was torn apart by those debt collectors; whatever could be taken was taken, and in the end, it turned into the state you see now."

"I see." Lu Yu nodded; this was roughly the same as what he had thought.

He just didn't know if this family's relocation had gone smoothly, or if they had arrived at their destination safely.

"Young man," the woman looked at Lu Yu curiously, "how much money do they owe you?"

"A few thousand," Lu Yu said dismissively.

"Then you've lost quite a bit." A trace of sympathy appeared in the woman's eyes. "Most people were only cheated out of a few hundred back then; actually, if that money could have been returned later, it wouldn't have been a big deal.

But who would have thought that someone would actually die after practicing that old man's fake Cultivation Method? That matter blew up instantly.

You have no idea how much of a stir it caused at the time; we residents living nearby suffered along with them. One morning when I got up, I found my door lock had been..."

"Thank you." Lu Yu smiled at the woman and turned to walk toward the stairs.

"Hey?" Seeing this, the woman opened her door and said with some reluctance, "Leaving already?"

"Chat a bit more?"

"What a pity, it's not easy to run into a sucker, and they're just leaving like that."

After the woman muttered a few words, she closed her door with a "bang."

"This old man really is a menace," Lu Yu thought, the face of the old man who sold the Cultivation Method appearing in his mind, and he couldn't help but sigh softly.

He not only harmed others but also dragged his own family into such a miserable state.

The key is, this old man still hasn't repented; he sold fake Cultivation Methods to cheat people in Yongan City, and after going to Zhou Family Fort, he went right back to his old trade.

I really don't know whether to call it "staying true to his original intent" or "a dog that can't stop eating dung."

"Forget it, my task is considered complete. I'll go back to Zhou Family Fort later and explain the situation here to him. Anyway, he can't go back on his promise to give me the Cultivation Method." Thinking this, Lu Yu put on his mask again and walked toward the direction of the city gates.

The moment he left the city, his keen senses immediately detected several gazes landing on him, and he even heard someone say, "Quick, go notify Brother Sheng."

"Interesting." The corners of Lu Yu's mouth lifted slightly. It seemed his guess was correct; someone really had been watching him outside the city. Could it be people from that Shengda Merchant Guild?

He kept his eyes straight ahead and walked along the wide road directly toward the Wasteland.

Inside the Shengda Merchant Guild, Sheng Yuan sat there with a gloomy face.

There were over a dozen people sitting in the room. Although there were many people, the atmosphere was suffocatingly oppressive and frighteningly quiet.

Everyone present looked at one another, not daring to speak easily.

Everyone in their hearts knew that just a short while ago, Sheng Yuan had suffered a quiet defeat in full view of everyone.

Everyone knew the power behind the Merchant Guild, and Sheng Yuan had even specifically pointed it out at the time.

He had thought that recruiting that In-Jin Martial Artist was a sure thing, but the guy who popped up from nowhere had actually been so unappreciative and refused directly.

Actually, reaching this point was still acceptable. It wasn't like he just didn't want to join the Merchant Guild for now; there were many In-Jin Martial Artists in the Merchant Guild, so one more or less didn't matter.

At worst, they could investigate the guy's background later to see where he actually came from.

However, what they never expected was that over an hour ago, someone saw that guy enter the city under the guidance of Liu Yong. Everyone knew what this meant.

And because of this, Sheng Yuan's mood was terrible.

"Brother Sheng," a middle-aged man who looked to be in his early forties with deep-set eyes couldn't help but speak, "Since that person is so unappreciative, I think there's no use in keeping him."

"Brother Yan is right." Someone quickly echoed.

"That bunch from the Martial Arts Association is truly ambitious, thinking that just by relying on the few of them, they can contend with our Merchant Guild? I don't think there's any need to keep Liu Yong and those few either; let's find an opportunity to finish them all off."

"That's right, I think we should just finish off that guy Song Tian as well."

Hearing these words, everyone was stunned.

"This, this wouldn't be good, would it? Regardless of anything else, he is the Branch President; if we finish him off and the people above find out, it will be troublesome."

Although the strength of the Yongan City Martial Dao Branch is relatively weak, it has the Headquarters backing it up.

Even though there is a vast disparity in strength compared to the Awakened Association, it is still easy for them to deal with a few C-Class Awakened.

When that time comes, it is very likely that they will be treated as discarded pawns and thrown away.