White Cloud

The next day.

The horrific scene inside the city tower was discovered by the guards at the city gate, and the sound of the horn instantly spread throughout Luoxia City.

The martial artists within Luoxia City were all taken aback. They emerged from their respective establishments and appeared on the streets, looking in the direction of the City Lord's mansion, confused.

They exchanged glances and decided to go to the City Lord's mansion to see what was happening.

In an instant, martial artists appeared like fish in a flowing river.

However, before they could get close to the City Lord's mansion, they were blocked by a human wall formed by a group of guards.

In the middle stood a general, clad in armor and wearing a helmet, holding a crescent blade in his hand. His sharp gaze swept over the martial artists, and he sternly shouted, "The City Lord's mansion ahead is a restricted area. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to approach."

A martial artist asked, "Commander Liao, do you know what happened at the City Lord's mansion that caused the horn to be blown? It hasn't been blown for many years."

Commander Liao said coldly, "You will know soon enough."

A guard ran down from the city tower and whispered something into Commander Liao's ear. Commander Liao's eyes flickered, he took a deep breath, and then loudly declared, "Today, until the murderer of the City Lord is identified, Luoxia City is only open for entry, not for exit."

The faces of the many martial artists were shocked. City Lord Cheng Yan was actually dead?

They wondered who dared to kill an official appointed by the imperial court. Come to think of it, something similar seemed to have happened in Mount Qi, but the victim was only a county magistrate, which was nothing compared to the City Lord.

Moreover, the imperial court's attitude towards the deceased county magistrate didn't seem to be particularly important, as they had already appointed someone else to govern Qishan Commandery.

Speaking of Mount Qi being changed to Qishan Commandery, to these martial artists, it didn't seem much different.

It was already a barren place.

No matter how it was changed, it would still be the same.

Brocade Tower.

After a night of rest, Lu Wenxiu's injuries had recovered somewhat, thanks to the ointment and medicinal soup Li Xiufang had used, both made with extremely precious ingredients.

When they learned of the news from the City Lord's mansion, they were greatly alarmed. Without much thought, they knew it must have been Lu Zhaojin.

Lu Wenxiu glanced at Li Xiufang's reaction and couldn't help but say, "Why don't you just yield to him and have him take you back to the Li Family?"

Li Xiufang did have some regrets, but after interacting with Lu Zhaojin these past few days, she understood what kind of person he was. Therefore, she shook her head at Lu Wenxiu's suggestion, "This is not something that can be resolved by yielding."

She didn't want to dwell on the matter and said indifferently, "Forget it, the old man should be the one worrying. What does it have to do with me?"

Seeing that Lu Wenxiu's complexion had improved considerably, Li Xiufang felt a little relieved. "I had planned to return to Luoshui City today, but now Luoxia City is under heavy guard and we can't leave. Judging by your injuries, you should be fully recovered in another two days, so let's rest here for a couple of days before leaving."

Li Xiufang informed Lu Wenxiu that she was going to leave the Brocade Tower to check the situation at the City Lord's mansion and to inquire about the progress of the guards, whether they had caught the murderer of the City Lord, Lu Zhaojin.

Lu Wenxiu nodded, knowing that following Li Xiufang now would only be a burden, so she didn't go along.

As Li Xiufang walked out of the Brocade Tower, she saw teams of soldiers searching the streets and alleys. She didn't know who they were looking for, but they were asking everyone questions, generally about where they had been and whom they had seen yesterday.

On her way to the City Lord's mansion, Li Xiufang encountered Commander Liao. When he saw Li Xiufang, his eyes lit up, and a smile appeared on his stern face as he called out to her, "Mistress Xiufang."

Li Xiufang frowned slightly, feeling a bit disgusted with him. Every time they met, his undisguised, strange gaze seemed to want to penetrate her clothes and see what was underneath.

Commander Liao also asked some irrelevant questions: where she had been yesterday, whom she had seen, and what she had done. Finally, he even asked if she had time tomorrow, as he wanted to invite her to the top floor of the Spring Breeze Tower, the best viewing spot, to watch the sunset.

How could Li Xiufang not know Commander Liao's sinister intentions? She naturally couldn't agree. So, while answering his questions, she subtly inquired and learned that not only the City Lord had died in the city tower, but also several members of the Xu family, one of whom was an elder of the Xu family. They had already sent people to inform the Xu family.

Li Xiufang's heart skipped a beat. She remembered what Lu Zhaojin had said yesterday, and she didn't expect it to come true so quickly. She had indeed repaid Lu Wenxiu's favor.

Commander Liao noticed Li Xiufang's slight reaction and thought of the commotion between the Li Family and the Xu Family in Luoshui Commandery. As if catching a fleeting spark of inspiration, he looked into Li Xiufang's eyes and asked sharply, "Mistress Xiufang, you haven't hidden anything, have you?"

Li Xiufang shook her head, "Of course not."

She had not hidden anything related to Lu Zhaojin, and she reported everything to Commander Liao, weaving a plausible story.

Although there might still be flaws, it would take them some time to investigate and find Lu Zhaojin.

By the time Luoxia City was reopened, she and Lu Wenxiu would have already left.

Commander Liao wouldn't be able to do anything about it then.

After killing Cheng Yan last night, Lu Zhaojin did not stay in Luoxia City. He traveled northeast overnight to find Zhao Jinzhi as soon as possible.

He had a map from Li Xiufang, which helped him navigate well.

However, the mountain paths were difficult to traverse, especially at night. It was pitch black, and he couldn't find a place to stay. Not wanting to spend the night in the wilderness and be bitten by mosquitoes, he pressed on.

As dawn broke and the morning sun rose, Lu Zhaojin emerged from the forest and finally saw a main road. Looking further into the distance, he spotted a teahouse. It was very simple, with just a piece of cloth propped up by a few wooden sticks for shade.

There was a flag at the entrance with the character "tea" written on it.

Lu Zhaojin found it quite interesting, and since he had been traveling through the mountains all night, he was thirsty, so he headed towards the teahouse.

As he got closer, he noticed two tables of people drinking tea. One table had a single person, dressed in coarse linen clothes and wearing a bamboo hat, pulled low so that Lu Zhaojin could only see his chin.

However, Lu Zhaojin glanced at the treasured sword on the table and then looked away, thinking that this sword was extraordinary, even better than the Cold Edge sword, and must be a famous sword.

The other table had four people, all wearing identical blue-trimmed white casual clothes, likely disciples of a major sect. Although they were drinking tea and talking softly, one of them kept glancing at the figure wearing the bamboo hat, for reasons unknown.

The shopkeeper, holding a plate of appetizers, emerged from the room. Seeing a new customer, he showed a brief moment of surprise before a cheerful smile spread across his face. He gestured for Lu Zhaojin to take a seat quickly. First, he served a plate of appetizers to the person wearing a bamboo hat, then approached Lu Zhaojin to ask what he needed.

Before Lu Zhaojin could speak, the person wearing the bamboo hat spoke up, "Shopkeeper, your appetizer isn't right."

The shopkeeper offered Lu Zhaojin an apologetic smile, asking him to wait a moment while he quickly handled the situation before attending to him. "May I ask what the customer finds to be incorrect?"

The person picked up a edamame bean with their chopsticks and said calmly, "The ingredients are wrong."

The shopkeeper extended his right hand, as if to take the edamame bean and taste it himself to find out what was wrong. However, his left hand was stealthily reaching behind him, where a sharp cleaver was sheathed. His left hand was already closing around the hilt of the knife.

The shopkeeper drew his knife, ready to strike.

Suddenly, a sword's hum echoed through the air. A longsword pierced through the shopkeeper's chest and back. The raised cleaver ultimately failed to strike, falling from his hand to the ground.

"I knew this kid would be cautious and wouldn't fall for the trap."

"Attack! Capture that brat and force him to reveal the whereabouts of the sword manual."

"Senior brother, where is that brat?"

"Kill him too, so this matter doesn't get out and tarnish the reputation of my White Cloud Villa."