The entire banquet hall fell silent the moment those words were spoken.
Every gaze turned in unison toward the young man who had remained unusually calm from beginning to end.
Lu Guowei's outstretched hand, ready to shake Liu Dong's, froze awkwardly in midair. The carefully prepared smile on his face shattered inch by inch, leaving only the humiliation and indignation of having all his disguises stripped away in public.
The flattery and praise that had surrounded him moments ago now seemed to turn into invisible slaps, striking his face again and again without mercy.
Beside him, Zhang Lu's fingers tightened unconsciously around her wound. Her nails nearly dug into her flesh as towering waves surged through her heart.
At that moment, beneath countless burning stares, Lu Jue finally moved.
He slowly raised his eyelids, his calm and rippleless gaze sweeping over Liu Dong. He neither took pride in the other man's praise nor showed anger over their earlier conflict.
He glanced at the wrecked hall and the few neighbors still groaning, then finally let his gaze fall upon Zhang Lu and her parents, whose expressions were complicated.
"Enough. Both sides were at fault in this matter, so I won't get involved. As for the medical expenses, sort them out yourselves!"
Liu Dong was stunned upon hearing this. He had expected Lu Jue to fly into a rage and attack, or perhaps mock him coldly, but he had never imagined a response so completely outside his script.
"Brother Lu, how magnanimous! I'll definitely handle this matter properly!"
Lu Jue nodded and said nothing more, gently supporting the arm of his father, who was still somewhat dazed.
"Dad, let's go."
His voice was not loud, yet it rang clearly through the entire hall.
Father Lu rose to his feet almost instinctively, allowing his son to support him as he walked unsteadily toward the entrance.
Throughout the whole process, Lu Jue did not look at anyone else again. In deathly silence, he supported his father and calmly crossed the hall littered with cups and dishes, as though he had merely finished an ordinary family meal.
Only after their backs disappeared through the doors did the invisible pressure abruptly disperse.
"Hiss—"
No one knew who was the first to suck in a breath, but then suppressed discussion rose like a tide.
"Lu Jue must be stronger than Liu Dong. Otherwise, Liu Dong could never have been so respectful!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. There's always a higher mountain beyond the mountain!"
"Who would have thought Lu Jue was the true hidden dragon of our courtyard!"
"I always knew that kid Lu Jue would make something of himself!"
"Lu Guowei's expression just now was hilarious. I thought that Liu Dong guy was really showing him respect."
Everyone's gazes unconsciously fell upon the devastated Lu Guowei once more.
All the praise and envy from before had now turned into silent mockery.
Lu Guowei's earlier look of a petty man puffed up with success seemed so laughable and insignificant before Lu Jue's casual attitude.
Zhang Lu bit her lower lip hard, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on Lu Jue's departing back.
Two years ago, she had indeed taken a liking to Lu Jue because of his handsome appearance and had insisted that her father propose marriage.
After being rejected, she had not gone from love to hatred, but she had still suffered no small blow. In the final year of martial school, she threw herself into a fierce sprint and eventually achieved decent results, signing a ten-year contract with the Chen Family of Tianhai City.
She had thought that once she entered the martial hall, she and Lu Jue would be separated by an insurmountable gulf.
Yet what had just happened was like a heavy hammer, smashing her understanding to pieces.
Liu Dong's undisguised awe, his humble posture of being willing to take a beating—all of it pointed to an ironclad fact!
—Lu Jue was likely far stronger than Liu Dong. The level he stood upon might already be one she needed to look up to.
Now that she thought about it, perhaps his rejection back then had not stemmed from a young man's arrogance or ignorance. Perhaps he had long seen clearly that their paths of martial arts were destined from the very beginning never to intersect along the same trajectory.
Lu Jue had not even spared her a single glance. Like a cold wind passing through a hall, he had swept away all the dignity she had painstakingly maintained.
At that moment, she suddenly understood that true pride and vindication never required any grand proclamation, nor did it require savoring the fleeting pleasure of repaying every grievance.
It only took a light turn amid drifting clouds and gentle winds to turn all past contempt and doubt into silent reverence.
Perhaps this was the chasm between her and Lu Jue, one she would never be able to cross.
With that thought, Zhang Lu sharply drew in a breath, turned, pushed through the crowd, and hurried after him.
The evening breeze outside the hotel carried a chill, scattering the lingering smell of alcohol and the clamor of the banquet from her body.
She saw Lu Jue supporting his father as they stood quietly beneath a streetlamp, waiting for a taxi.
The father and son's backs looked especially peaceful in the night, as though they belonged to a different world from the wreckage and uproar inside the hotel.
Zhang Lu paused, tidied the slightly disheveled strands of hair and hem of her clothes from running, then stepped forward and asked:
"Xiao Jue, can I speak with you alone for a few moments?"
"Mm." Lu Jue glanced at her and nodded.
The two walked together to an unoccupied corner, where Zhang Lu suddenly asked:
"Xiao Jue, have you signed an agreement with any organization?"
Lu Jue hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "No. Why?"
Zhang Lu clenched her teeth, suddenly shrugged off her outer coat, and revealed the crisscrossing scars across her body. Some of the wounds were still faintly red, clearly recent.
"Xiao Jue, never casually sign an agreement with those Power Elites and Great Families."
Zhang Lu's voice trembled. She pointed at the old and new scars crossing her body, humiliation filling her eyes.
"My results were average back then, so I could only sign the lowest-tier ten-year contract with the Chen Family. I thought that once I had resources, I could leap from carp to dragon and completely change my fate. But in reality, I merely became one of their dogs."
"What they value is only the worth you can create for them during the contract period. However much they give you, they will squeeze tenfold or a hundredfold more out of you! If you fail a mission or fail to meet their expected progress, you'll be whipped at best and become a Medicine Person at worst!"
"Xiao Jue, I can tell that you're different from us. You won't sign that lowest-tier kind of agreement. But for someone as gifted as you, they'll use more generous terms and better prospects to win you over. Once you sign a contract, the shackles will only be heavier and harder to break free from than the ones on me!"
"Be careful of everything!"
Only after she finished did Lu Jue slowly speak.
"Thank you. I understand."
His voice was so steady that not a ripple stirred within it. He showed neither shock nor anger, nor did he reveal sympathy or pity, much less any urge to draw his blade and help.
He was not some saintly savior with the heart to deliver all living beings from suffering.
To him, she was ultimately only a somewhat familiar neighbor.
Still, what he had heard just now gave Lu Jue a deeper understanding of that so-called upper society.
Zhang Lu's experience was like a mirror, reflecting that on this path of martial arts, beyond the open competition of cultivation, there were also the hidden rules of Great Families swallowing people whole without spitting out even their bones.
Yet this did not make him afraid or angry. Instead, it was like a cold wind blowing away some of the mist, allowing him to see the dangers ahead more clearly.
"Looks like I need to not only increase my strength, but also establish my own channels for obtaining resources as soon as possible. For example, outside the city?"
Lu Jue mused inwardly. Even an organization like martial school, with its semi-official nature, was merely more moderate. In the end, one was still subject to others. True confidence had to come from one's own strength and resources fully under one's control.
With that thought, his heart was calm once more. He nodded at Zhang Lu and said, "Live well. There is hope for everything. Take care!"
After saying that, he did not linger. He turned and walked toward the taxi waiting by the roadside.
The night swallowed his figure, cutting off the clamor at the hotel entrance and Zhang Lu's complicated gaze along with it.
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