"Master Lu of the Four Rivers Gang? What do you want with him?" The big man's small eyes revealed surprise.
Bai Pu tightened his fingers, and the big man immediately began breathing rapidly, his eyes rolling back as he said with difficulty, "Spare... spare my life..."
Bai Pu loosened his grip slightly.
The big man finally knew better. He did not dare ask any more questions and obediently led the way.
Before long, Bai Pu arrived before a rather grand residence, with the words "Lu Mansion" prominently written above its gates. He waved the big man away and stepped forward to ask at the entrance, "Is this Lu Chuan's home?"
The gatekeeper gave Bai Pu a sidelong glance. Clearly disdainful of Bai Pu's ordinary military physician attire—changed into at the Wounded Soldier Camp—he retorted, "Where did you come from, that you dare address my master by name?"
Bai Pu smiled. "My name is Lu Pu, a twenty-second-generation descendant of the Wu County Lu Clan. If my calculations are correct, Lu Chuan is a generation junior to me. Why can't I call him by name?"
"Y-you... wait here!" The gatekeeper no longer dared act so arrogantly and hurried off to report. Before long, someone came to lead Bai Pu into the residence.
Lu Chuan was a thin old man in his fifties or sixties, with graying hair and beard. Dressed in a scholar's robe and wearing a Confucian cap, he looked less like the leader of a gang than a learned scholar steeped in the classics.
Upon seeing Bai Pu, Lu Chuan immediately asked, "Our Wu County Lu Clan has many descendants, yet I have never heard of one named Lu Pu. May I ask which branch you belong to, young friend?"
Bai Pu cupped his hands. "My grandfather, Lu Qing,