Recruitment I

The group carried Lu Sheng to his bedroom and summoned the Lu Estate's personal physician to examine him.

The physician entered the room and emerged again shortly after.

"No serious harm. He merely exhausted his strength, and his lower abdomen took a heavy blow. The Young Master has a robust constitution; as long as his internal organs were not injured, it is nothing to worry about."

Only then did Lu Quan'an let out a breath of relief.

Lu Sheng had acted personally this time. It had truly been too rash.

As the Lu Family's Young Master, what would they do if something happened to him? "Quan'an, this was also forced upon us."

Uncle sighed.

"As for this matter, I intend to report it to the imperial court myself, bypassing the prefect. Song Duanchi, as the parent official of this city, said earlier that he would report it to the court, but even now... As Deputy Commander, I have repeatedly asked Commander Yang Duanrui to submit a memorial, yet he has always evaded it."

"Could there be some hidden reason behind it?" Lu Quan'an asked gravely.

"I do not know. And that girl Qingqing... there is still no news of those missing people." Uncle shook his head.

The two stood guard outside the door, feeling that they ought to do something, yet not knowing what they could do.

This matter had already surpassed anything they could imagine.

Though they had heard of such things happening elsewhere before, when it truly happened to their own family, they no longer knew what to do.

"How about..." Lu Quan'an pondered. "We post a reward notice and recruit people capable of resolving such supernatural matters."

"Under a heavy reward, brave men are bound to emerge. It may work. These matters are already causing such an uproar that they cannot be covered up anyway."

Uncle nodded.

After discussing it carefully, the two settled on the matter.

Before long, servants of the Lu Estate carried stacks of red paper and posted them outside the Lu Family's gates and on nearby public notice walls.

The red notices were soon pasted up in several important locations with heavy foot traffic.

They drew many passersby to stop and read.

Several days later.

At the city gates.

On the busy main road, crowded with people and rushing carts, a merchant caravan hauling gray goods slowly stopped before the gates. The caravan leader began calling for the cargo to be unloaded, waiting for laborers to move it.

The caravan was merely passing through Nine Links City, and only part of its goods needed unloading.

As the leader called out orders, a tall figure and a short figure jumped down from one of the caravan's carriages.

Both wore Daoist robes. The taller one was a ruddy-faced middle-aged man with a square face. A treasured sword was strapped to his back, and he wore black shoes with white cloth soles.

The woman was likewise dressed as a Daoist, but she was pretty. Though a faint trace of fatigue showed on her face, one could still tell that she had received a fine education. In times like these, such a bearing could only come from a wealthy household.

"Brother Yan, this is Nine Links City."

Her voice was crisp and clear, like that of an eleven- or twelve-year-old girl just finding her voice.

"Yes, this should be the Nine Links City that person mentioned. Rong Rong, you have suffered on this journey as well."

The Daoist nodded and looked around.

Very soon, he noticed a red notice posted by the city gates.

The notice had drawn quite a crowd. Even two soldiers guarding the gates had gone over to chat with the others.

Everyone wore looks of surprise and envy.

"Traveling with Brother Yan, I did not feel it was that hard. That notice looks like a reward posting. Let us go take a look first. Perhaps someone has already run into trouble and posted it to ask for help."

Having traveled far and wide with Yan Kai, Rong Rong had gained considerable experience in such matters.

Several incidents they had encountered before had been discovered through notices, allowing them to find the afflicted households at the first opportunity.

Yan Kai nodded.

"Come, let us take a look."

The two entered through the city gates and soon squeezed toward where the notice was posted.

"...It is the Lu Estate. The city has truly been unsafe lately. Even the Lu Family has run into trouble."

"The Lu Family? Someone escaped from there before. I caught a glimpse of him—it seemed to be the Lu Family's former guard captain. The entire estate is in a panic."

"I have not seen Yu Jie come out to shop for several days. Could something really have happened?"

The people around them chatted in scattered fragments, each adding a word or two.

Yan Kai listened carefully as he raised his eyes to read the posted notice.

'Reward of five hundred gold pieces, seeking extraordinary people of unusual talents.

Strange incidents have recently occurred throughout the city, with people vanishing from time to time.

Previously, there was the Xu Family massacre and the Wang Family Village well-jumping case. Now, there are the sounds of a woman crying at midnight within our Lu Estate.

To restore peace to our household, we offer a reward of five hundred taels of gold, equivalent to five thousand taels of silver, for investigating this matter thoroughly and finding the missing people.'

The notice was written very simply, and its meaning was clear.

Below it was an additional notice detailing the beginning and end of the midnight crying incident at the Lu Estate.

It laid out in full the disappearances that had occurred at the Lu Estate.

Yan Kai read through it carefully, his brows drawing together slightly.

"This is the one. We are going to the Lu Family."

Rong Rong had also finished reading the notice beside him.

"Just in time—we are looking for that ghostly thing too, and we can earn some travel money along the way."

"We walk the Dao, not for wealth." Yan Kai said sternly.

"Yes, yes, yes." Rong Rong stuck out her tongue and quickly fell silent. She knew that Brother Yan could not stand repaying kindness with demands for reward.

Without another word, Yan Kai stepped forward and tore down the notice.

The Lu Estate servant standing guard nearby brightened at once, instantly perking up.

"Please come this way, you two!"

Yan Kai nodded.

He took Rong Rong with him and followed the servant toward the Lu Estate.

The crowd that had been watching the excitement immediately burst into an uproar, and quite a few busybodies followed them all the way.

They wanted to see whether they were truly going to the Lu Family.

This man and woman in Daoist robes looked as though they had some real skills.

Yan Kai paid no mind to whether anyone followed behind him. His expression did not change as he walked, turning a blind eye to it all. He was clearly long accustomed to being watched.

Rong Rong, meanwhile, took the initiative to draw the servant into conversation, asking about the Lu Estate.

Before long, the two boarded a carriage. After it turned left and right and traveled for some time, it came to a stop.

The moment they got down, someone specially assigned to guide them led them into a grand residence. Inside were artificial mountains and flowing water, little bridges and gardens, birdsong and fragrant flowers. Everything was arranged with utmost elegance and wealth.

Yan Kai kept his gaze straight ahead as he led Rong Rong onward. Before long, they arrived at a reception hall.

"Welcome, welcome."

A pale-faced middle-aged man with a worried expression sat inside the reception hall.

The man had a prosperous build and wore a pale moon-white robe embroidered with silver-edged copper-coin patterns. The long beard beneath his chin was groomed meticulously, neat and clean.

It was Lu Quan'an, who had only just come from Lu Sheng's side.

"Were you two the ones who tore down the notice at the city gates?" Lu Quan'an carefully assessed them.

Both were Daoists. The man's complexion was ruddy and lustrous, his forehead full, his gaze stern, his waist straight and back erect. Put him in a scholar's robe, and he would possess quite the air of a famed gentleman.

The woman was pretty, carrying a trace of innocent liveliness. Her lively eyes kept darting around, making her look like some young lady who had secretly run away from home and disguised herself.

"That is correct. This Daoist is Yan Kai. Yan as in color, Kai as in begin. My Daoist name is Returning Yang Child."

Yan Kai introduced himself.

"This is this Daoist's Junior Apprentice Sister, Duan Rong. The two of us have come because of the disappearances mentioned in the Lu Estate's posted notice."

"Please, sit. Please sit."

Lu Quan'an gestured with his hand.

Yan Kai and the other sat down. Servant girls swiftly brought tea and refreshments.

"I have already written the specifics in great detail on the notice. If Daoist Returning Yang Child wishes to accept this reward, you must first meet my son, Lu Sheng.

The Lu Family's reward this time will be reviewed by him." Lu Quan'an spoke softly. "Of course, if you truly have the ability, regardless of whether this matter succeeds or fails, one hundred taels of silver will be presented afterward."

After hearing this, Yan Kai and Duan Rongrong both agreed.

Lu Quan'an then asked a little about Yan Kai and Rong Rong's origins, where they were from, their ages, and where they resided.

Yan Kai answered each question in turn.

After resting for a short while, several more people who had answered the notice arrived at the reception hall.

Among those who came later were two monks from Red Lotus Temple, while another was a Daoist like Yan Kai.

The last was a wandering swordsman with twin short blades at the waist. The person had handsome features, but upon closer inspection, was actually a woman disguised as a man.

After waiting a while longer, Lu Quan'an saw that nearly everyone had arrived. He invited them to rise and led them toward the separate courtyard where Lu Sheng was staying.

The Lu Family had many separate courtyards and occupied a vast area. Part of the residence even extended right up to the city walls, taking up a full third of Nine Links City's most prosperous district. Its immense wealth was plain to see.

Among the city's five great families, the Lu Family was the richest.

The group followed Lu Quan'an toward Yellow Crane Courtyard.

Along the way, they saw guards and servants armed with swords and sabers stationed everywhere between the courtyards.

Each of these guards and servants was broad-waisted and thick-armed, powerfully built, standing ramrod straight. One glance was enough to tell that they had undergone military training.

Yan Kai's expression gradually turned somewhat grave as he observed them along the way.

"This Lu Family is rather formidable..."

Duan Rongrong did not understand.

"They are just rich and powerful. They are much like the families we encountered before. What is so formidable about them?"

Yan Kai shook his head.

"It is not that. The Lu Family should have military connections. Otherwise, their servants and guards would not carry themselves with such bearing. Their military discipline is strict. Only people who regularly receive training in military camps can maintain such spirit and bearing at all times.

This is not the posture retired veterans can possess."

"They have military connections! Yet a family like this still had to post notices begging for help. It seems the trouble they have stirred up is no small matter."

Duan Rongrong clicked her tongue in amazement after hearing this.

After walking more than a hundred paces, the group soon entered Yellow Crane Courtyard.

Yellow Crane Courtyard stood right beside the Training Ground, and they could faintly hear the shouted calls of guards drilling there.

Lu Sheng, the Lu Family's Young Master, was seated in a reclining chair, half lying down. His face was pale, his body wrapped in a thick blanket, and the air still carried a distinct medicinal scent. He did not appear to be in very good spirits.

Yan Kai carefully studied Lu Sheng. At a glance, he saw that the vigor in the man's eyes was weak, like that of a patient whose injuries had yet to heal.

"Greetings, brave friends."

Lu Sheng coughed twice and cupped his hands toward the group.

"As you can see, my health is poor and my injuries have not healed, so I will not rise to greet you all."

"Young Master Sheng is too courteous."

Master Zhen Tan of Red Lotus Temple stepped forward and spoke.

"The Lu Family has always been one of Red Lotus Temple's devout patrons. When this incident occurred, the abbot instructed us to come specially and see whether there was anywhere we could lend a hand."

"Thank you, Master. Please also convey my thanks to the Red Lotus Temple's abbot."

Lu Sheng returned the smile.

The other Daoist then began asking about the case.

Lu Sheng answered each question in turn.

Yan Kai and Rong Rong listened attentively from the side, while also studying Lu Sheng.

"He was invaded by Yin Qi, and he was injured only recently."

After observing carefully, Yan Kai discerned the abnormality in the Young Master Lu's body.