Chapter 317: The Liu Family Noble Seeks an Escort

As soon as "Lu Zhigang" sat down, the page boy jumped three zhang high, as if stung by a bee.

"You, you, you... Young Master, the precious jade is warning us, he has poison on him!"

The page boy Xiao Xu pointed at the glowing jade ornament on his body, panicking and speaking incoherently, his words becoming stuttered.

Liu Fengji was much calmer than him and gave a shout, "Sit down, don't make such a fuss."

He turned to Zhou You, nodded, and said, "I didn't expect you to be a Poison Martial Artist; breaking through to Martial Master is not simple at all!"

With a single sentence, he displayed his extensive knowledge and experience.

"Your page boy carries a treasure like the Poison-Detecting Jade with him; you are not simple either."

Zhou You glanced at the page boy Xiao Xu; the items on this child were worth more than the entire valuation of the Shen Family Trading Firm.

The Poison-Detecting Jade, as the name suggests, glows to warn of danger as soon as a poisonous object approaches.

Gems and precious jades are harder currencies than gold and silver, and especially those with special properties are priceless and rare.

When Zhou You visited the Qi Family, he had seen Qi Fengzhang showing off a piece of his own pendant jade; this jade could change according to the owner's mood, automatically casting a faint light to calm the mind and soothe emotions.

That piece of jade, like the page boy's Poison-Detecting Jade, was a priceless treasure.

Liu Fengji smiled faintly, "Just a little trinket; jade is dead, but people are alive."

"A truly powerful Poison Martial Artist can restrain their poison marks so that even the Poison-Detecting Jade cannot detect them."

Zhou You smiled and did not take it seriously; to reach the level the other party spoke of, one would at least need to be at the Strong Martial level, which was too far from him.

Liu Fengji looked at Zhou You and smiled, "Meeting is fate; I am Liu Fengji from Fucheng."

"Hmm, I am Lu Zhigang."

When "Lu Zhigang" announced his name, the master and servant looked blank; clearly, they had never heard of his nickname.

Strange. Du Yan Lu Zhigang was somewhat famous in Fucheng; how could they have not heard of him? There were only two explanations... First, Liu Fengji was lying, and he was not from Fucheng at all.

Second, the circle he belonged to was too high and too far from the level where Lu Zhigang had made a name for himself, so they would never have noticed.

"Brother Lu, the Wu people are wreaking havoc nearby. Since we have met, why not travel together and look out for each other?"

Liu Fengji politely invited the other party.

"Forget it!"

"Lu Zhigang" said bluntly, "With my skills, I can come and go as I please alone. If I travel with you, it would be no different than carrying two burdens."

"Brother Liu, don't take offense at my directness, but with the Wu people's power growing, everyone is struggling to survive; let us each seek our own path!"

Liu Fengji's expression changed slightly upon hearing this; he had thought meeting "Lu Zhigang" was an opportunity, but he had overlooked his own situation.

That's right, he was merely at the Qi and Blood stage, alone and outside; what value did he have to make someone offer help?

He was certain that someone traveling alone in the Wu people's territory must have extraordinary abilities, and he had to seize this opportunity.

"Turning misfortune into fortune—could this be my chance?"

Liu Fengji gritted his teeth, "Brother Lu, have you ever heard of the Liu Family of Fucheng?"

One of the top aristocratic families in Su Cheng, a powerhouse among powerhouses, whose family history could be traced back to the Seventy-two Ancestral Tribes of the ancient era.

Their ancestors had once been wealthy, and they remained wealthy to this day, which was truly extraordinary.

Don't look at the Xu Family or the Qi Family as local emperors in Gongliang City; in front of the Liu Family, they were nothing but little brothers.

"So it is a disciple of the Liu Family!" "Lu Zhigang" cupped his hands, his attitude becoming very polite, and he stood up instantly, "Farewell!"

He realized in an instant that the Strong Martial expert who had covered their retreat in Zunyang City earlier was none other than this Liu Fengji.

A Liu Family disciple, if they were core direct lineage, would indeed have the qualifications to have a Strong Martial expert sacrifice themselves to cover them.

But why would he run into the other party here? Liu Fengji's smile froze; he had not expected "Lu Zhigang" to be so decisive, turning around and leaving the moment he learned his identity.

The page boy on the side was also dumbfounded; shouldn't a normal person respectfully kneel and salute upon hearing his Young Master's identity? "Brother Lu, wait, aren't you curious why I appeared here?"

Liu Fengji waved his hand, "Don't worry, I swear on my life that it is very safe here."

"..."

"Lu Zhigang" sat back down, looking at him with suspicion.

"I was assigned by the family to guard Zunyang City, and this time, facing a fierce attack by the Wu army, destruction was inevitable."

"That Strong Martial expert was a loyal servant of the family who sacrificed himself to carve out a path of blood for me."

"The people around me were scattered, and only the page boy who has followed me since childhood, Xiao Xu, remains."

Liu Fengji's explanation did not satisfy "Lu Zhigang."

"Lu Zhigang" then asked in return, "I saw the fire falling with my own eyes, and the people inside were scattered everywhere; how did you get here?"

The atmosphere became heavy, and a sense of sorrow arose.

Liu Fengji said in a dejected tone, "That was a diversion. The group that Uncle Lie took away were my family's Personal Guard; without them, it would have been impossible to deceive the eyes and ears of the Wu people."

Understood! This was a plan of the Golden Cicada Sheds its Shell; the fire-wielding Strong Martial expert had deliberately taken the elites away to attract the Wu people's pursuit.

The true master, Liu Fengji, had taken people and left secretly while their attention was diverted.

But in doing so, the fate of those "shed shells" was miserable; facing the search and siege of the Wu army, there was no possibility of survival.

"The Personal Guard was my greatest foundation, with 2 Intermediate Martial Masters, 11 Intermediate Martial Masters, and 37 Primary Martial Masters."

"Now that they have all been lost here, what face do I, Liu Fengji, have to see their families?"

When Liu Fengji said this, he could not help but feel a surge of grief.

Damn!

"Lu Zhigang" did not recover for a long while; so many martial experts had been treated as consumables and left behind as a shield for Liu Fengji's escape, which brought a huge shock to his heart.

Those martial masters had gone through trials and tribulations, finally promoting to Primary, Intermediate, or even Advanced levels, only to end up as pawns.

The aristocratic families had such power to arbitrarily drive them to their deaths.

If that was the case, what was the point of martial artists practicing their fists and martial arts through the heat and cold, struggling to improve their strength? At this moment, the tragic Corpse Mountain and Sea of Blood of Zunyang City appeared before his eyes.

A sense of desolation rose in "Lu Zhigang's" heart; Heaven and Earth are heartless, treating all things as straw dogs.

Even a powerful warrior capable of unleashing the Flaming Double Palms and moving freely through the midst of ten thousand troops still had to stay behind for Liu Fengji to intercept the powerful Giant of the Shaman Tribe, and his life or death was currently unknown.

He was immersed in his own mind and could not speak for a long time.

Liu Fengji noticed his lapse in composure, thinking to himself that he hadn't said anything, so why had the other party suddenly zoned out? He waited for a moment, and seeing Lu Zhigang slightly regain his senses, he opened his mouth to invite him, "Brother Lu, if you help me escape this place and return to Fucheng, I will do everything in my power to satisfy one request of yours."

It was precisely because they were in this wilderness, with only two or three listeners and such a simple environment, that this statement seemed so unremarkable.

If this were in another place, such as the Liu family in Fucheng, a promise from Liu Fengji would be no different from the Divine Dragon summoned after collecting the seven Dragon Balls.

The pageboy Xiao Xu's eyes went round, and he looked at Lu Zhigang in astonishment; what virtue or ability did this guy have? (End of chapter)