Chapter 383: Things Are Not What They Used to Be; Bestowing Both Favor and Might

A moment later, the Old Housekeeper returned to invite the two inside, and Liu Fengji requested they enter to meet.

"Old Housekeeper, I have a favor to ask of you!"

Zhou You spoke up suddenly.

The Old Housekeeper stopped in his tracks, turned around, and bowed slightly, "Please, enlighten me."

"I am here for a visit today; I ask that you keep it a secret and not let too many people know."

The fact that Lu Zhigang rescued Liu Fengji was known only to the parties involved; once leaked, Dayin Mountain would not let him off.

"This old servant understands. The young master also dislikes trouble, and the servants in the house will not wag their tongues."

After walking for a while, Zhang Huaimin saw a row of reception halls ahead and reminded Zhou You, "We've arrived!"

This was the area for receiving outside guests; most of the guests waiting to be received had an extraordinary air, all being leaders in their respective trades.

Among them were also people from several martial arts schools, their gazes sharp, and the martial masters were all experts in the middle or late stages.

"Old Housekeeper, is it our turn yet?"

The people in the reception hall saw the Old Housekeeper arrive and approached him with very eager expressions to ask.

Several martial masters among them recognized Zhang Huaimin and immediately imagined many scenarios in their minds; could it be that Zhang Huaimin had climbed a high branch and actually opened a path to the Liu family? "It is a misunderstanding. This old servant is taking a few guests inside; you all should wait a while longer!"

Zhang Huaimin shut his mouth; he had made a blunder, as it turned out the location was not here.

Suddenly, he noticed the atmosphere around them was wrong; the looks everyone in the reception hall cast toward them were filled with shock and curiosity.

What kind of status did they have to be able to go into the deeper areas of the mansion? Among these people, there was no lack of industry giants, famous martial masters, or even great scholars and literati; just being able to enter the door as a guest was already supreme glory—few in the entire Fucheng had such a privilege! Yet, there were unfamiliar faces cutting ahead of them to enter the inner sanctum.

The Old Housekeeper maintained a polite attitude, apologized to the crowd, and continued to lead Zhou You further inside.

The second gate was the second large gate leading inward from the main entrance.

Great families had a standard of layered gates and courtyards; the larger the area and the more partitions, the more complex the gates, with some having standards of nine, eighteen, or even twenty-seven gates.

The Xu Family and Qi Family in Gongliang City had as many as five or six layers of gates.

It is said that for a great family, one gate is one world, separating areas with different courtyard walls; people living behind one gate would spend their daily lives within the bounds of those walls, and some servants were even born and died within them without ever stepping half a step beyond the gates.

Each layer of gates was guarded by Gate Guests, all of whom were powerful individuals.

Zhang Huaimin had dared to act up at the main entrance, but he became somewhat well-behaved upon reaching the second gate.

Although he bragged and took pride in having once been a great family's Gate Guest, that was a small family, completely incomparable to the Liu family.

Just at the second gate, there were 4 Advanced Martial Masters on guard, each with a gaze as sharp as a needle prick.

The Old Housekeeper knocked on the door, and the Gate Guests greeted him and opened the gate, taking two extra looks at Zhou You and Zhang Huaimin.

An Intermediate Martial Master and a Primary Martial Master—no matter how you looked at them, they didn't seem like newly recruited Gate Guests!

To be led by the Old Housekeeper into the second gate, they were clearly at least well-connected; hmm, he would inquire about them later.

Just as Zhou You thought he would have to keep walking like this, clearing levels as if playing a game, the Old Housekeeper told him they had arrived.

The place where Liu Fengji was waiting for him was by a stone pond inside the second gate.

"Brother Lu, why did it take you so long to come find me?"

Liu Fengji was no longer the man he once was; being in his family, although he wore casual attire, an air of nobility emanated from him.

No matter how one looked at him, one could not recall his former disheveled state! "Young Master Liu, this is my sworn brother, Zhang Huaimin; we have come to pay a visit together."

Liu Fengji nodded at him, signaling for them to find a place to sit.

Zhang Huaimin was very quiet, finding a stone stool that wouldn't hinder their conversation but wasn't too far away, and sat down.

Beside the stone pond, a waterfall cascaded through a rockery, bringing cool air and water mist.

The surrounding tree shade swayed, covering most of the ground, and the stone stools seemed to have grown out of the ground, appearing chaotic but actually possessing a certain distribution characteristic of being orderly within disorder.

After sitting down, Zhou You cupped his hands and said, "Young Master Liu, I have a favor to ask of you." He placed the binding belt in front of him, "I need the Poison Dragon Saliva, and I am willing to redeem it with the promise from back then."

"Let's not mention that for now!"

Liu Fengji glanced at the binding belt and turned to the little page boy Xu'er, "Serve tea!"

He turned back and said to Zhou You, "Brother Lu, after I returned home, I inquired about your affairs and took the liberty of resolving some hidden dangers for you."

"The death of Prison Officer Guo of the Zhenxiong Yu was once suspected to be related to you..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Huaimin's body tensed up.

The death of Prison Officer Guo was indeed related to Zhou You; he had thought it was smoothed over, but he hadn't expected there to be loose ends.

The night before the incident, Zhang Huaimin had invited Prison Officer Guo to drink, and Zhou You was present at the time, with witnesses nearby.

Afterward, Prison Officer Guo was killed by a poison snake.

If someone were determined to make the connection, the Lu Zhigang persona that Zhou You had assumed would be a prime suspect.

Behind this was the massive entity of the Fucheng City Gate Guard; if they really wanted to pursue it, both Zhou You and Zhang Huaimin would be in trouble.

"I have smoothed everything over for you; from now on, no one will ever dare to link you to this matter again."

Liu Fengji smiled slightly.

Zhou You remained silent in response; with that one understated sentence, he didn't know how much of the great family's power had been mobilized.

He cupped his hands, "Many thanks!"

If only life could always be like that first meeting!

Back then, Liu Fengji was being hunted and was in a wretched state, with only one page boy by his side; when he asked for help, his attitude was very humble, and he appeared very respectful to the talented and approachable.

Now, meeting again at the Liu family in Fucheng, although the face was familiar, he had already begun to use schemes and tactics.

Liu Fengji pointing out this matter, while seemingly resolving trouble for him, was actually telling Zhou You that he had him completely figured out.

There was even an implied meaning: he could resolve trouble for him without any effort, and the reverse was also true.

A very classic technique of controlling others!

"There is also the Thousand Faces Hall; I have also sent word that anyone who attempts to put a bounty on you must first notify my Liu family."

Zhou You had been active in Fucheng for some time, and situations involving killing and making enemies were inevitable; he hadn't seen any bounties yet, and it turned out this was the reason.

"Many thanks!"

Zhou You did not wait for the other party to speak, "As the saying goes, things shouldn't go past three. You have helped me with two matters; adding one more to make it three, how about we fulfill one of my promises?"

He pointed to Zhang Huaimin beside him, "This sworn brother of mine has great talent; could you accept him into the Liu family as a Gate Guest?"

Zhang Huaimin was startled; he had not expected Zhou You to still be keeping his affairs in mind.

What were the first two matters? First, settling the City Gate Guard; second, settling the Thousand-Face Hall. Both organizations were massive, world-spanning powers. For Zhou You to place the resolution of his own employment problem on par with them made old Zhang feel ashamed! "Brother Lu values loyalty; I will certainly help you achieve your goal."

Liu Fengji nodded toward Zhang Huaimin, "Master Zhang, which layer of the gate would you like to guard? I forgot to tell you, my Liu family has eleven layers of gates."

"Guarding the main gate will do."

Zhang Huaimin's old face flushed red; he naturally knew that the further in the gate was, the higher the treatment for a Gate Guest.

But he also knew his own weight; he was on par with Lan Zhirou, so being able to guard the main gate was already enough.

"Mm, from now on, the safety of the Liu family gates is entrusted to you."

Liu Fengji turned to Zhou You, "Brother Lu, do you really think that a promise for which I used a personal item as a token is only worth this much?"

Isn't it? (End of chapter)