Chapter 101: Dream Return to the Wind and Clouds of the City

The reason Lu Xingzhou did not go out was simple: he was waiting for Huo Lu.

Yang Dechang's message was just one sentence; Lu Xingzhou could not learn from it what Huo Lu had come to Menggui City to do.

And he had waited for the official letter from the Pill Office before going out; clearly arriving a few days later than Huo Lu, yet the young master had been sightseeing all the way and still had not arrived, while he had flown here and arrived first.

Lu Xingzhou did not want to find local Yama Hall assassins to work for him at every place he went, so after the fifth-grade assassin from Dongjiang came to report Pei Chuyun's information, he simply sent him ahead first, letting him connect with the Yama Hall personnel here to learn intelligence related to Huo Lu.

It was only at such a time that he properly asked the man's name; this assassin was called Ying Shuang.

He needed to wait for Ying Shuang's investigation news; before all information was unknown, Lu Xingzhou had never acted rashly.

If Pei Chuyun knew this principle, she probably would not have been blindly taken advantage of so many times.

Pei Chuyun had been watching for three days and truly did not want to watch anymore; this place was not like the broken little spot of Xiazhou, where there were plenty of things to visit in bustling great cities; what kind of thing was it to stubbornly squat here... but she had already watched for three days, the sunk cost was too high, and Pei Chuyun could not bear to let it go.

Just as she was utterly bored, she suddenly saw a black-robed person shake the bell outside Lu Xingzhou's cave dwelling.

Pei Chuyun's spirit perked up, and she saw the cave dwelling open a crack; the black-robed person slipped inside, and the cave dwelling closed again.

Pei Chuyun: "..."

She decided that if this black-robed person went in again and did not come out for three days, she would blow up the inn.

"My lord, the situation is not complicated," Ying Shuang said with a relaxed expression after taking a sip of tea: "Similar to our Dongjiang side, it is also a matter of a prefectural deputy..."

Lu Xingzhou waved his hand: "No, Dongjiang is not just a matter of a prefectural deputy; do not let yourself be deceived by reading too many reports. What is wrong with this Menggui prefectural deputy?"

"Uh..." Ying Shuang coughed twice dryly and continued: "It is a local wealthy family surnamed Qian; it is said they performed demonic arts, killing many infants to make some sort of Hundred Children Soup. The victims reported it to the prefecture, but the prefectural deputy protected them; not only did the Qian family suffer no consequences, but several victim families ended up with their homes destroyed and families broken."

Lu Xingzhou pressed his lips together: "And then?"

It was no wonder Ying Shuang's expression was relaxed; although the Yama Hall did not do such things itself, it belonged to the demonic path and had seen even more vicious deeds.

To put it plainly, most who play with the Ten Thousand Souls Banner are more vicious than this; Lu Xingzhou was an exception... yet in the eyes of outsiders, since Lu Xingzhou played with the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, he was one of the synonyms for viciousness.

Ying Shuang continued: "Originally the case was suppressed, and everything was calm. Only a commander surnamed Jing from the prefectural Town Demon Office pursued it desperately... ultimately hitting walls everywhere and unable to continue the investigation. The Town Demon Office claimed it was not under local jurisdiction, but in reality, no one could escape the web of human connections... he was simply not Sheng Yuanyao, lacking a good father."

Lu Xingzhou said: "So he was killed too?"

"Not at all; this man was actually tough. Since he could not investigate through official channels, he simply resigned from his post. On the night of New Year's Eve, he killed the entire Qian family clean, then took his blade to the prefectural deputy's home, cut off his head, hung it on the city gate, and strode away. He said that as the Town Demon Office, he was there to seek justice; since he could not seek it within the office, he would seek it outside himself..."

Lu Xingzhou gave a thumbs-up: "He is a man. What does this have to do with Huo Lu? Could it be that the person on the prefectural deputy's line is from the Huo family again?"

"Whether it is the Huo family is unclear, but the prefectural deputy post is vacant, and Huo Lu has set his sights on it; he has come to fill the vacancy."

"Previously, even the prefectural governor post in Dongjiang was vacant; did he not look down on it?"

"How can a poor place like Dongjiang compare to a bustling great city like Menggui City? Besides, Menggui City is half as close to the capital." Ying Shuang's smile seemed to hold deep meaning: "Furthermore, Huo Yu died in Xiazhou, and publicly it was said to be killed by demons; did the Huo family not truly suspect it was you, my lord? How would Huo Lu come running right under your nose..."

Lu Xingzhou snorted, his meaning unclear.

After a long while, he asked: "Then where is Huo Lu now?"

"He should arrive in another two or three days." Ying Shuang lowered his voice: "My lord, if you intend to plot against Huo Lu, you must strike before he accepts the prefectural deputy post. Once he formally fills the prefectural deputy position, it would be murder of an imperial court official; the nature would be different..."

"Hmm... how much force did he bring?"

"Huo Lu is coming to be an official, so he will not bring too many people. He himself is roughly fifth-grade mid-stage; his personal guard is roughly similar to Huo Yu's, all ordinary guards of below third grade, but there should be a path-protecting guardian of third grade or above."

"Third grade..." Lu Xingzhou lightly tapped the armrest and fell into deep thought.

Ying Shuang made a cutting gesture: "Should we simply contact our Yama Hall first-class assassins and carry out an assassination and behead him right away?"

Lu Xingzhou shook his head: "Such assassination and revenge is not what I want... otherwise, back then when I asked my sister... asked the Yama Lord to help me kill a few people, she would have been willing, but I did not do so."

"Does my lord wish to kill them personally?"

"Yes, I wish to personally break their pride, watch them step by step fall into the abyss, and struggle within fear." Lu Xingzhou sighed: "If I am to do these things, I must drag the Yama Hall to accompany me in slowly setting the trap; this is something I did not trouble the Yama Lord with, thinking to do it myself after leaving."

Ying Shuang said nothing.

Lu Xingzhou pondered for a moment and suddenly asked: "Regarding that Qian family performing demonic arts and being killed by Commander Jing... who was the demonic path behind it? Was it handled?"

Ying Shuang was stunned: "This should not have been investigated; ultimately it was suppressed and could not be investigated; Commander Jing might not even have known, and in the end could only kill the Qian family to finish it; others knew even less."

"The prefectural governor must know. Relying solely on a prefectural deputy to cover everything up and leave the Town Demon Office commander helpless?" Lu Xingzhou snorted: "If the prefectural governor has no major connection to this matter and merely protected and covered it up, that is one thing. If the prefectural governor is the true umbrella of protection, then this Great Qian is truly rotten through and through."

Ying Shuang hesitated: "My lord does not intend to get involved in this, does he?"

"Not exactly intending to get involved. I am thinking that Commander Jing served in the Town Demon Office for so long; he should not have failed to think of this point... him hanging his head on the city gate was very likely just a gesture; perhaps he is still investigating the prefectural governor in secret. You help me keep an eye out; if there are any clues regarding this person, I wish to speak with him."

Ying Shuang did not understand what this had to do with Huo Lu, but still accepted the order: "Yes. However, this should not be easy to find..."

Lu Xingzhou smiled: "It is fine; I will also try to find him."

Ying Shuang was even more confused; you are new here, with no personnel, how can you find him? Yet he said nothing and soon took his leave.

Seeing Ying Shuang depart, Lu Xingzhou turned to A Nuo and smiled: "Not complicated; there is no net of heaven and earth waiting for us; we can go out and stroll."

A Nuo jumped up, pushed the wheelchair, and ran: "The things here must be very delicious!"

Pei Chuyun, with tears streaming down her face, thought: You finally came out...

Suddenly, an embroidered shoe inside Lu Xingzhou's ring moved, and everyone was stunned.

No way, little demon girl, you really followed here and squatted for three days?

If you have such perseverance, why not do something else... even if you went to a brothel to be a Bodhisattva, you would be financially free by now...

"Master, Master, I want to eat this!"

Lu Xingzhou turned to look and saw a malt sugar stall, with patterns like the twelve zodiac animals made of sugar, strung on sticks, surrounded by a crowd of children. A Nuo also stared intently: "I want that pig."

So dragons, phoenixes, and the like did not sell as well as pigs; cuteness was the ultimate killer move.

Lu Xingzhou smiled and, accompanying the eager A Nuo, queued up and bought three pigs.

A Nuo stuffed the pig into her mouth and looked at her master strangely: "Why buy three?"

"Keep one as a souvenir." Lu Xingzhou chuckled and pinched her cheek: "Let's go, look at others."

In fact, even the second pig Lu Xingzhou did not eat; seeing A Nuo had finished hers, he handed his own to her as well.

A Nuo smiled until her eyes were invisible.

Pei Chuyun followed behind, watching A Nuo's round, chubby smiling face, silent and not knowing what she was thinking.

The whole pig was stuffed into the mouth, distorting the face...

Anuo had little interest in toys; the whole way she only looked at food, often leaving Lu Xingzhou's wheelchair behind to squat by a stall and wait. Pei Chuyun had plenty of chances to ambush Lu Xingzhou, but for some unknown reason, after following along she ended up doing nothing.

Lu Xingzhou also basically did nothing, just watched the child play with a smile, and the doting in his eyes left Pei Chuyun quite puzzled.

Wasn't he a vicious demonic-path senior…?

Over the years, how many people had the Yanluo Hall killed…? He even played with the Bai Fan.

Even the Ghost Boy, looking at him now, didn't seem ghostly. It was as if, as long as he was with her master, ghosts turned into people.

Silently following along the whole way, she discovered that master and disciple Lu Xingzhou seemed to have a definite destination; as they walked, they arrived at a large residence.

Bai Fan drifted faintly inside the large residence; passersby hurried past, all looking as though it brought bad luck.

Lu Xingzhou casually asked a passerby: "Excuse me, is this the Qian family residence?"

The passerby spat: "Looking for someone surnamed Qian? Don't bother, the whole line is dead."

That attitude… it was probably common knowledge that the Qian family had been up to something with that Hundred-Sons Soup business, yet Commander Jing had still been forced into such an extreme move. Lu Xingzhou shook his head: "I'm not looking for anyone surnamed Qian, just came to take a look… is there anyone still inside?"

"Don't know, probably some people from the Demon-Suppression Bureau are in there." The passerby didn't want to say more and hurried off.

Lu Xingzhou pondered for a moment, then directly pushed open the residence gate.

Inside there was not a single person; countless coffins were piled in the courtyard, Bai Fan everywhere, looking very eerie.

He figured the authorities had only collected the corpses; no one had the heart to keep vigil for them.

Lu Xingzhou took out the Bai Fan to test it; all the corpses' divine souls had been extinguished, nothing left to collect. He shook his head with a hint of regret, went to the first coffin, and casually flipped the lid open.

Inside lay a fat man whose whole body had turned black, his throat already slit; the black demonic-gong traces on the corpse were still very obvious.

"This demonic gong…" Lu Xingzhou examined it for a while, then shook his head slightly.

If the demonic gong involved body-tempering, his medical skill could roughly analyze from the corpse's physique what kind of art had been practiced, and thereby trace the source. If it was only Qi-refining, then once the dead body's Qi dispersed, it would be very hard to judge.

Unfortunately this corpse was a Qi-refining one; its muscles were so slack they weren't even a match for his, Lu Xingzhou's.

Lu Xingzhou thought for a moment, then suddenly said: "Black Flame."

The soul banner spoke: "Master."

"Can you sense the state of the residual souls here? If I set up a Nine Yin Cave-Gloom Array, could it briefly gather a bit of yin-soul spirit-light?"

Black Flame said: "Not too easy… Master, aren't you overestimating your soul banner's ability? This banner only holds a thousand souls after all…"

Lu Xingzhou: "…Right, I overestimated your ability."

Black Flame fell silent, as if only just remembering that he himself was the soul banner's main soul — a trash banner meant he was trash. But other masters' soul banners held ten thousand souls, so it was still the master's problem, wasn't it.

Anuo said: "Master, are you really going to handle this matter?"

"At the very least I need to know what's going on… Huo Lu will come to take over this mess, which should mean he knows the inside story; otherwise, given their nature of seeking advantage and avoiding harm, why would he come wade into this muddy water? So if the demonic cultivator behind this has teamed up with Huo Lu, it will make our business much harder to do." Lu Xingzhou said coldly: "Besides, someone who kills infants can no longer be counted as a person — they should have died long ago."

On a distant rooftop, Pei Chuyun stood quietly at a high place gazing afar, her lips pressed tightly together.

She might know who that person was.

Among those of the same path, not everyone had dealt with each other; each person's circle of contacts was different. Lu Xingzhou had never met the other party, but she might well recognize him.

But what did this matter have to do with her… If it really was an acquaintance, shouldn't they be joining forces to finish off Lu Xingzhou?

Anuo suddenly understood: "Master doesn't go out to block Huo Lu because you're afraid this person might already be together with Huo Lu?"

Lu Xingzhou helplessly sighed: "Little dummy, Huo Lu has a third-grade Dao-protector by his side — what would I block, block my ass? Investigating this case is to ally with Commander Jing; that's a man worth befriending… If I can help him resolve this case, of course he can help us out a bit too."

"Is that so?" A cold voice came from inside the residence: "But I don't trust you."

Lu Xingzhou broke into a brilliant smile, "thud" pulled out a jar of wine, and set it directly down on a coffin: "If I treat you to a drink, sir, can that earn a bit of trust?"

A big man carrying a long saber on his back strode out of the residence, his tiger-like eyes flashing like lightning, fixed tightly on Lu Xingzhou.

Lu Xingzhou nonchalantly set out a big bowl on the coffin, broke open the wine jar and poured: "This is brewed by myself from my own spirit spring; up to now I've only given it to one elder, and he probably hasn't drunk it yet. This first time entertaining a guest, I'm giving it to Commander Jing — the wine won't be wasted."

Pei Chuyun's face was expressionless.

No, I have drunk it.

Commander Jing's expression was also a bit odd; he strode over, plopped himself down on another coffin: "You… you're a weird one. Drinking calmly in front of all these coffins and corpses… who could believe you're a good person?"

Pei Chuyun nodded vigorously.

Lu Xingzhou laughed freely: "Sir, with one slash you slaughtered the entire Qian family, killed an official and hung his head on the city gate, wanted by the imperial court, refused by the world. Yet I believe you're a good man — what can be done about it?"

As he spoke, he kept pouring; the moment he finished the sentence, a bowl of wine was filled to the brim.

Lu Xingzhou gave a casual flick, and the wine bowl drifted to Commander Jing: "Please."

Commander Jing took it, secretly examined it, found no poison, but still cautiously refrained from drinking for the moment: "May I have your honored name, sir?"

Lu Xingzhou continued pouring wine for himself: "Heavenly Sword Sect, Alchemist Lu Xingzhou."

(End of chapter)