Chapter 24: Old Subordinates

Shen Tang didn't understand; they had shared a meal in harmony, and after eating, he had even voluntarily treated her leg, so why did Lu Xingzhou suddenly cut ties afterward?

Besides, she waited for Liu Qingcang to report the matter of the apprentices to the City Lord, but the issue went nowhere. She didn't know if Liu Qingcang had discovered this approach was useless and had already given up.

Although the intense conflicts of these past few days seemed to have calmed down and entered a development phase, Shen Tang still sensed that the atmosphere felt even more like a storm brewing.

Across the manor, the old Huo family residence had been closed up and desolate for some time due to a murder and the lack of a head of the household. But in the last two days, someone from the main family had returned; carriages and horses clogged the gate, countless Xiazhou notables came to pay their respects, and day after day, music played and noise was deafening.

After learning the situation, she found that the one returning was the Huo family's sixth young master, with guards as numerous as clouds and powerful. Shen Tang also followed Lu Xingzhou's advice and instructed her disciples to stay indoors as much as possible recently to avoid attracting trouble.

Shen Tang also noticed that before leaving, Lu Xingzhou had temporarily withdrawn the array that stole spiritual energy from the Huo residence, seemingly not wanting to arouse the other party's suspicion.

"Did he suddenly want to treat my leg because of this?" Shen Tang asked Du Gu Qingli, "Did he feel spiritual energy was unusable, or did he feel he was losing out on the extra rent I paid?"

Du Gu Qingli considered for a moment: "I think he simply wanted to treat you; before, you were just a tenant, and he didn't want to expend too much effort."

"Then what is it now?"

The word "lover" spoken by Sheng Yuanyao flashed through Du Gu Qingli's mind, and she pressed her lips together without answering.

Anyway, you've both touched the leg.

Shen Tang asked again: "Then why did he suddenly leave?"

Du Gu Qingli: "Are you a curious baby?"

Shen Tang: "..."

Du Gu Qingli's face was expressionless, but she felt slightly pleased inside.

Shen Tang glared at her indignantly for a while and asked: "Previously, when Sheng Yuanyao investigated the Huo family murder, did she ever list Lu Xingzhou as a suspect?"

Du Gu Qingli said: "Yes; the day we first met was when Sheng Yuanyao went up Danxia Mountain to investigate, checking whether Lu Xingzhou had an alibi at the time of the murder."

"Later, the Demon Suppression Bureau closed the case without making it public; do you know what conclusion they reached?"

"When you asked me to investigate Lu Xingzhou earlier, I already inquired; the report submitted by Sheng Yuanyao stated that the murderer must be Huo Shang, the seventh young master of the Huo family who died ten years ago, returning to take revenge after mastering his skills."

At this point, the two exchanged a glance, the same thought springing to their minds, and spoke in unison: "He is Huo Shang?!"

Shen Tang murmured to herself: "If he is Huo Shang, that explains where he got the temperament of a noble young master; even if he was unloved as a child, he still received education relevant to noble families..."

In fact, Sheng Yuanyao still harbored this suspicion to this day, which is why she pointed out to him that day, "Is it not good to be alive?" and later reminded him to avoid the Huo family.

The reason for the suspicion was the same: the education one receives from childhood determines one's temperament, and Lu Xingzhou clearly should not have come from a humble background. No one would have thought he was a student from a modern ivory tower, naturally possessing a gentle, scholarly air; moreover, Lu Xingzhou was not merely a student back then; after graduation, he had always held management positions, giving him even more presence.

All speculation anyone could make could only point toward Huo Shang.

Previously, Lu Xingzhou felt that Shen Tang and the others did not resemble the Tianxing Sword Sect; apart from Du Gu Qingli's style being off, Shen Tang's temperament was also a major point of suspicion. The Tianxing Sword Sect was a sect of swordsmen, yet Shen Tang seemed like a young lady from a great family; this difference in temperament was very obvious.

One could see how similar this pair was, even in the doubts they aroused in others.

Shen Tang continued reasoning: "Given the interlocking schemes he has demonstrated, if he is Huo Shang, then the Huo family murder was certainly not as simple as killing a few servants to vent anger; rather, he wanted to lure the Huo family members over to kill them... Severing the tendons of the Huo family's old steward was also to attract the Huo family to bring healing medicines. Such medicines are hard to find, but easy for the Huo family to obtain; this was his most convenient plan. He wanted to seize the medicine to treat his leg!"

Du Gu Qingli was stunned into silence: "Just the two of them, master and disciple, dare to plot against the Huo family?"

"This is his dangerous wall... he didn't want to implicate you or me." Shen Tang leaned back in her chair, gazing out the window somewhat absentmindedly: "I finally understand his retreat, and I understand why he wanted to treat my leg before leaving; he was afraid that if his plot failed, he could at least leave me a prescription."

Du Gu Qingli looked at her: "Your tone... you want to help him?"

Shen Tang said softly: "Don't you?"

Du Gu Qingli almost blurted out that it had nothing to do with her, but somehow, the words to disassociate herself never came out; she only said: "My mission is to protect you, and I do not wish for you to blindly involve yourself in trouble."

Shen Tang smiled: "In other words, if it weren't for the mission, you personally would be quite willing to lend a hand?"

Du Gu Qingli kept a straight face: "The Huo family are not good people, and Master also despises them."

Shen Tang said calmly: "Actually, whether I help him or not, this trouble was already coming to our door. Since Liu Qingcang is mixing with Huo Yu, he will naturally use Huo Yu's hand to deal with us."

Du Gu Qingli nodded: "Yes."

Shen Tang added: "Tell me, how does the Huo family's trouble compare to my trouble?"

Du Gu Qingli blurted out: "Not worth mentioning."

Shen Tang's eyes were deep and dark: "Then how could I fear adding one more trouble that is not worth mentioning..."

Du Gu Qingli pressed her lips and said nothing.

"Master, weren't you originally planning to use the Tianxing Sword Sect as hired hands? Specifically using that very mediocre spiritual energy theft effect to coax them into renting rooms was just for this purpose."

Lu Xingzhou: "..."

A Nuo sighed: "But what is with this performance of yours now, not wanting to implicate them? Even if you want to disassociate yourself, at this point, you can't anymore! Even without you, just saying that Liu Qingcang has a grudge against the Shen family merchant house, he would still seek Huo Liu's help to deal with Shen Tang."

Lu Xingzhou said gloomily: "Huo Liu came for the matter of Huo Shang in the end; what is Liu Qingcang? How could his grudge make Huo Liu prioritize it... Moreover, Liu Qingcang hates me far more than he hates Shen Tang; if he really incites Huo Liu to deal with someone, it would be me first. Now that we have moved out, the first wave of attacks will inevitably fall on us; I will use this to create some incidents to tie up Huo Liu's attention and prevent him from focusing on Shen Tang."

A Nuo looked at him strangely: "This completely overturns your previous plan, putting yourself right in the eye of the storm."

"I originally had two plans. First, it was never certain I could fool someone into being a hired hand; did I really wait for a fool to come knocking before acting? Second, using others as hired hands is generally not good; others are innocent, and this is my own business."

"Just fool yourself."

"I say, you little thing, before you were calling me 'sister' again and again, saying I was your own sister..."

"I called Sister Yu before too, and I still ran away with you."

"..."

A Nuo said: "Anyway, if you don't use hired hands and rely only on the two of us, how will you achieve your goal?"

"Of course there is still a way." Lu Xingzhou sneered: "I didn't expect that after so many years, with such good resources, Huo Liu only reached sixth grade; truly laughable."

A Nuo also laughed: "Indeed, he is a cowardly gourd."

Lu Xingzhou's conditions versus Huo Yu's conditions; Huo Yu was even two years older. Lu Xingzhou, with a body full of injuries and illnesses, could cultivate to seventh grade, yet Huo Yu, with such excellent resources, was only one grade higher in strength... Truly, I don't know where he gets the face to pretend, claiming to be a top noble family.

Even she, A Nuo, had reached fifth grade; it seems the great Huo family head's ability to raise children is not even as good as Lu Xingzhou's.

"However, he has many treasures on hand; there must still be powerful magical artifacts, so we cannot underestimate him." Lu Xingzhou lightly tapped the armrest of his chair: "Additionally, the two attendants on his left and right are both fifth grade..."

Just hearing about their strength made the situation extremely troublesome: two fifth-grade guards, Huo Yu himself at sixth grade with a body full of treasures, and the rest of the guard team were none easy to mess with, with a large number of seventh or eighth grades. Even Liu Qingcang was a fifth-grade Wu Xiu, and City Lord Xu Bingkun was also a fifth grade.

Here, pitifully, there was only a fifth-grade child and a seventh-grade cripple.

This was just one young master coming out, yet it already felt like an ant trying to shake a tree.

Lu Xingzhou showed little grave expression, leisurely wheeling his chair out of the inn's street corner and drawing a pattern on the wall's base.

That night, a black-clad man appeared in the inn room like a ghost: "You are the one who wants to buy the Impermanence Soul-Taker?... Eh? My Lord Judge, how is it you..."

A'nuo sat on a windowsill eating a sweet potato, her small feet swinging back and forth, waving a hand to greet him.

"Ah, My Lord A'nuo, you are here too..."

Lu Xingzhou said: "Don't... I am no longer the Judge. Now I am a client, seeking your hall to hire an assassin."

The black-clad man: "..."

What to do when the leader becomes a client? The organization training never covered this...

"What, when others hire assassins to kill me, you all take the job, but when I hire assassins to kill others, you go silent?"

The black-clad man helplessly said: "Regarding Liu Qingcang hiring an assassin to kill you, we simply did not know it was you at first. After all, your name has many duplicates; we truly never thought the traitor who worked half a year in Liu Qingcang's Danxia Gang would be you. What merit does Liu Qingcang have? Who is he to have you as an aide... Who could have imagined this..."

"Flattering me now won't get you promoted."

"Truly not... Anyway, if I were the one on the mission, seeing it was you, I would have definitely retreated..."

"Forget it. I know that the ones on the mission happened to be those idiots, which is why they dared to truly strike at me. Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, he even tried to deceive me into thinking it was an order from the King of Hell, hoping I would spare his life."

"Then..." The black-clad man wiped sweat: "My Lord... oh no, Mr. Lu, since you have told me the full story of this mission's failure, may I... may I report it?"

"No... Of course, not as the Judge ordering you, but as a suggestion. If my friends find out you actually took a contract to kill me, you will die very miserably."

Eight years of painstaking effort; naturally, the Hall of Yama would not contain only opponents and competitors, but also friends of true loyalty, and former subordinates who still respected him like the person before him.

He, Lu Xingzhou, was not such a failure as a person.

But as Lu Xingzhou spoke these words, the thought that brushed through his mind was... If Yuan Muyu knew, would she kill you?

The black-clad man sighed: "I understand. Who does Mr. want to kill this time? Liu Qingcang? We will return immediately to draft a plan and present his head to your command within three days."

"Did I not teach you to conduct thorough investigations before taking a mission and have a clear understanding? Previously, you dared to act recklessly without even investigating if it was a namesake. Now, you do not even know Liu Qingcang is following Huo Yu. You kill? On what grounds do you kill? To deliver a head?"

"I..."

The more Lu Xingzhou spoke, the more angered he became, slapping the armrest: "I have been gone for less than a year, and the rules of the Hall of Yama have become so lax? Simply a mess! How did those people do their work! Yuan..."

He closed his mouth halfway through, his expression unreadable.

Does my presence or absence truly make no difference to you?

(End of this chapter)