Chapter 174: Distinguishing Good from Evil

Lu Yu witnessed this scene and secretly found it amusing.

Originally, he had thought this old man was already disheartened and had thoughts of seeking death; after all, as the saying goes, "there is no greater sorrow than a dead heart," and if that were truly the case, he would have been at a complete loss.

But he hadn't expected that this old man's desire to survive was actually quite strong.

"Little brother..." the old man's pleading voice, laced with sobs, continued.

"That's enough."

Lu Yu frowned slightly and said with a hint of impatience, "Considering you kept your promise this time, I won't hold those previous matters against you. But if there is a next time, and you dare to pass off inferior goods again, don't blame me for turning hostile."

"I won't, I absolutely won't." The old man felt a sense of relief, as if he had just returned from the gates of hell, and he glanced at the three corpses on the ground with lingering fear.

He had only wanted Lu Yu to help him vent his anger and break the legs of these three men; he never imagined this little brother would be so ruthless as to take their lives directly.

But then again, these three fellows truly deserved their fate; relying on their Powerful and Vigorous Strength, they engaged in collecting protection fees in the Shantytown, bullied men and women, and committed all sorts of evil, with each of them having several lives on their hands.

It was just that...

"Eh? Little brother?" Seeing Lu Yu turn to leave, the old man panicked and asked urgently, "You're leaving already?"

"Otherwise?" Lu Yu turned his head to look at him and retorted, "I've already solved the trouble for you; why would I stay here if I'm not leaving? Don't tell me you're expecting me to help you clean this place up?"

"That's not it, little brother."

The old man looked troubled and stammered, "These three people were able to run rampant here because they had someone backing them.

Most of the protection fees they collected on a daily basis were handed over to those people.

You killed them, and it won't be long before this news reaches the ears of those people above, and by then..."

"What?" Lu Yu's tone turned cold, "You want me to go and take care of those people above as well?"

"No, no." The old man shivered in fear and said, on the verge of tears, "How would I have the guts for that? I meant, little brother, since you've done a good deed, you should see it through to the end; just take me in.

Look at me, living here all alone, miserable and helpless, without a meal in sight, and the key thing is that my leg is broken, so even getting up to go to the bathroom is a struggle."

"This old man..." Lu Yu felt a sense of helplessness.

In fact, when he left earlier, he had been thinking about asking this old man if he wanted to go with him.

His own Zhai was so large, how much effort would it take to arrange for a few people to look after him?

Compared to the Secret Manuals he could get from him, it was simply too good a deal.

As it turned out, the old man had said he wanted to be left alone at the time. Now, however, the situation had done a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

Lu Yu looked at the old man and asked, "Weren't you quite afraid of me just now? Aren't you afraid that if you come back to the Zhai with me, your life will be even worse than it is here?"

"How could that be?" The old man smiled obsequiously and said, "Little brother, I can tell at a glance that you are the kind of person who is reasonable and distinguishes between good and evil; how could you possibly do such a thing? Besides, I won't be going for nothing."

"Oh?" The corners of Lu Yu's mouth lifted slightly, and he asked with interest, "In what way won't it be for nothing?"

"Every seven days, I will give you an authentic Incomplete Secret Manual." When the old man said this, he had an expression of extreme pain on his face.

"Incomplete?" Lu Yu sneered upon hearing this and said, "Giving me one complete Secret Manual a week wouldn't be too much."

"Little brother, I would like to, too." The old man hurriedly complained, "You also know that I left in such a hurry that I didn't have time to bring many things with me.

Later, I was hiding everywhere, and even the Ancient Books I carried with me were lost in large numbers.

The two I gave you earlier were the ones I managed to keep with the greatest of difficulty."

"Heh." Lu Yu gave a light laugh. He had dealt with this old man several times; others might tell nine truths and one lie, but this guy was the opposite—nine lies and one truth.

"How about this: every three days, I want an Incomplete Secret Manual, and every five days, I want a complete Secret Manual. If you agree, I'll take you back to the Zhai; if you don't, then forget it."

"Five days, this... this is too difficult." The old man looked anxious, "Little brother, I really don't have that many Ancient Books on me?"

"So that means you're not willing?" After saying this, Lu Yu turned around and prepared to leave.

"Hey, hey, hey." The old man was so anxious he was about to cry, "Fine, fine, fine, little brother, I'll agree to it, okay? But I'll say this first: I really don't have many complete Secret Manuals; at the rate of one every five days, it won't be long before I won't be able to produce any more."

"We'll talk about that when the time comes." Lu Yu replied indifferently. Regardless, he would squeeze everything out of this old man's belly first.

"Good, good." The heavy stone in the old man's heart finally landed.

In truth, if he hadn't been absolutely desperate, he wouldn't have wanted to leave this place.

But now, forced by the situation, if he stayed here and waited for the people behind Wang Li to show up, it would be a disaster.

It was better to run away quickly, and who should he run with? The little brother in front of him was the best choice.

For one, he had what the other party wanted, and for another, Lu Yu seemed easy to talk to and was a person who could be reasoned with.

"Little brother, come over and help me up; I need to pack my things. Don't worry, there isn't much, it'll be done in a moment." The old man's face was full of smiles.

Lu Yu walked over helplessly and helped the old man stand up.

After fussing for five or six minutes, the old man stuffed everything he wanted to take into a box about a meter long, all the while acting mysterious.

Lu Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking that if there were any more complete Secret Manuals, they were nine times out of ten in this box.

Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that the old man still remembered some in his head.

So, for the long term, it was better to pretend he didn't know.

Because the old man had difficulty moving, Lu Yu had no choice but to carry him on his back and leave Zhou Family Fort.

When they came out, Lu Yu thought the old man would be a bit sentimental, but the facts proved he had thought too much.

Not only was the old man not the least bit sentimental, but he even urged him to hurry up.

It wasn't until Zhou Family Fort had completely disappeared from sight that the old man on his back let out a sigh of relief and immediately asked, "By the way, little brother, I haven't asked you yet, where is the place you live?"

"Lu Family Fort." Lu Yu answered briefly.

"Lu Family Fort?" The old man was stunned for a moment, then his face showed joy.

In this day and age, a Zhai that could be called a Fort, even if its conditions might not compare to Zhou Family Fort, was certainly much better than an ordinary small Zhai.

But then, he searched his memory carefully, frowned, and muttered to himself, "I haven't heard of any Zhai nearby with that name? There is one called Lu Family Stockade, though."

"That's right, it is that Lu Family Stockade, but it has been renamed Lu Family Fort now." Lu Yu replied.

"It's called Lu Family Fort now?" The old man was completely confused.

"Look, it's right ahead." Lu Yu signaled for him to look forward.