Recruitment II

Recruitment II

"So this was the source of the thing we were looking for?" Duan Rongrong asked softly.

"Not necessarily, with Yin Qi at this level of concentration." Yan Kai shook his head slightly.

At that moment, Lu Sheng had already begun asking the various extraordinary individuals to demonstrate the skills they excelled at.

The Daoist who had spoken earlier gave a chuckle.

"This is the skill this Daoist possesses."

He reached out and grabbed a stone from who knew where, clenched it in his hand, and squeezed hard.

Swish. Fine stone powder immediately squeezed out through the gaps between his fingers, drifting down on the wind.

The others who had come with him all looked at him in considerable surprise.

Clearly, even the strongest few experts in Nine Links City might not have been capable of such a feat.

The female wanderer disguised as a man narrowed her eyes solemnly as she stared at the Daoist.

Even Yan Kai began to take the Daoist seriously.

To crush stone into powder with sheer force required immensely powerful internal cultivation. He had not expected to encounter such an expert here.

Among the guards, servants, maids, and attendants nearby, some could not help letting out low cries of surprise.

Lu Sheng stared at the Daoist without speaking, merely frowning.

The Daoist chuckled.

"Well? Young Master, does this little skill of this Daoist meet your eye?"

Lu Sheng slowly exhaled.

Then his gaze abruptly sharpened.

"This is clearly the smell of fossil powder! Where did this swindling demon Daoist come from, daring to fool me? Seize him!"

Everyone around them froze.

Before they could react, two burly guards pounced forward and pinned the Daoist to the ground.

The Daoist shouted and struggled, but held down by the two men, where was the domineering inner strength he had displayed when crushing stone into powder?

He was nothing more than an ordinary man.

A burly guard at the side asked gruffly. He was one of the guards who had personally witnessed the Young Master display his might and destroy the female ghost the previous night. By now, he had become Lu Sheng's most utterly loyal supporter.

"Young Master, how should this man be dealt with? Shall we notify the authorities?"

Lu Sheng glanced disgustedly at the struggling Daoist on the ground.

"No need to send him to the authorities. Drag him out and chop him down."

"No! Young Master, I was only muddleheaded for a moment! I only wanted to earn some money to survive! I was just led astray by greed!"

The Daoist was instantly terrified upon hearing this and begged loudly for mercy. His whole body shook like a sieve, his face was deathly pale, and cold sweat streamed down him.

"Young Master, spare my life!!"

"Yes!"

The burly guard paid him no heed. He had the Daoist dragged out of the courtyard.

Beside the Training Ground was a torture chamber specifically used for executions.

The Lu Family was wealthy and powerful. If they executed a few people themselves, the authorities would simply turn a blind eye.

Yan Kai and the others watched in horror as the man was dragged away. Very soon, they faintly heard a scream from outside.

"Very well, everyone. Now that we have cleared out the fish-eyed impostor, please let the next person demonstrate their abilities."

Lu Sheng resumed his earlier gentle smile.

Those who remained gained a deeper understanding of the temperament of this Young Master of the Lu Family.

He looked frail and sickly, yet he could turn hostile at the drop of a hat. He acted decisively and struck ruthlessly. He truly was no ordinary person.

After a period of silence, the second person to step forward was Master Zhen Tan of Red Lotus Temple. The master's hands trembled slightly, but he still gathered his courage and stepped out.

"This poor monk... this poor monk suddenly remembered that there is urgent business at the temple—"

He had stepped out not to demonstrate his skills, but to prepare to slip away.

As Master Zhen Tan faced Lu Sheng, sweat was already beading on his forehead.

The younger monk behind him was in an even worse state. Not only was his forehead sweating, his face was pale and both legs shook without stopping.

"Since Master has urgent matters to attend to, then please go ahead."

Lu Sheng smiled, still gentle and courteous. He did not make things difficult for the two of them, immediately having a maid lead Master Zhen Tan and his companion away.

Three people were gone in an instant.

Only three remained: the wanderer, and Yan Kai's pair.

"Next, I'll go."

The female wanderer disguised as a man stepped forward and drew the twin blades at her waist.

"I specialize in lightness skills, short- and long-distance pursuit, as well as tracking and investigation. I should be able to help find missing people."

"Oh? In that case, how should I address you, miss?"

Lu Sheng asked with a smile.

"Zhuan Feng."

"Passing Wind?" Lu Sheng was taken aback.

The female wanderer swiftly wrote two characters on the Stone Table with her hand.

Only then did everyone realize that her surname was actually Zhuan.

"Then, Miss Zhuan Feng, how will you demonstrate your abilities?"

Lu Sheng revealed a trace of curiosity.

Zhuan Feng sniffed the air, crouched down, and carefully inspected the ground. Then she pressed her ear against the earth to listen.

Before long, she rose to her feet.

"I can tell that Young Master Lu, you people arrived here at this residence no more than two hours ago.

Before and after that, there should have been two groups of guards and maids entering and leaving to clean the place. There were no more than ten people, and it should have been about an hour ago.

Only then did Young Master arrive. And neither you nor any of the guards around you has entered the rooms of this residence.

Clearly, this courtyard was temporarily set aside specifically to test us. Even you had not had time to enter the rooms."

As soon as she finished speaking—

Lu Sheng and the others all widened their eyes. It was not just them; even the guards and maids standing nearby wore expressions as if they had seen a ghost.

She had merely lain on the ground, looked, listened, and sniffed, yet she had deduced so much.

Miss Zhuan Feng truly was an extraordinary person!

"Impressive!"

Lu Sheng clapped lightly.

"Miss Zhuan Feng, no matter how you deduced it, you have passed. Next are these two."

He looked toward Yan Kai and Duan Rongrong.

Yan Kai was fine, but Duan Rongrong's skin crawled beneath the gaze of this Young Master Lu.

Just moments ago, he had been all smiles, but he had turned hostile in an instant and immediately had that Daoist dragged away to be executed.

With someone like this, even if he smiled at you, how could you know whether he intended to kill you the very next moment? Duan Rongrong had already classified Young Master Lu as a dangerous person in her heart.

Yan Kai, however, remained calm as he stepped forward.

"If I am not mistaken."

His eyes shone as he fixed his gaze on Lu Sheng.

"Young Master Lu's injury was caused by an invasion of Yin Qi, was it not?"

"Oh?"

Lu Sheng raised his brows. This time, he was genuinely interested.

This man before him had actually seen something.

"The injury should be in your lower abdomen, though fortunately it did not harm your internal organs. However, once Yin Qi enters the body, if it is not expelled, it will eventually damage one's Yang Qi.

This is some Returning Yang Water made by this Daoist. If Young Master has the courage, you may drink it and see."

He took a small black porcelain bottle from his sleeve and handed it over.

A maid at the side hurriedly accepted it, placed it on a tray, and carried it before Lu Sheng.

"Remember to return the bottle after drinking it," Yan Kai added.

Lu Sheng looked at the porcelain bottle, picked it up, pulled out the wooden stopper, and held it beneath his nose for a sniff.

With just that breath, he felt much of the chill within his body disperse. A fiery scent bored into his nostrils from the bottle, making his entire body grow slightly warm.

He really had felt chilled all over after taking a palm strike to the lower abdomen and returning to his room to rest. The wound itself was secondary; the main issue was the chill that had continually coiled within him. Whether he consumed medicinal ingredients that nourished Yang or exercised beneath the sun, nothing worked.

After taking Yang-aligned medicine or exercising, he would feel warm all over and see a little effect. But once he rested, the chill within his body would return like spring snow melting and then freezing anew.

Looking at the porcelain bottle before him, Lu Sheng smiled. Without hesitation, he raised it and poured it into his mouth.

A faint taste of rust spread through his mouth. Accompanied by a pungent, stimulating scent, a stream of heat slid down his throat.

Lu Sheng let out a long breath. His entire body felt pleasantly warm, as though he were basking beneath the sun at nine or ten in the morning during summer, utterly comfortable from head to toe.

The previous chill melted rapidly beneath the sunlight like spring snow, and soon he could no longer feel it.

"Daoist Priest, you truly are remarkable." Lu Sheng now knew he had encountered a true expert. "I will include this bottle of Returning Yang Water in your payment."

"Then I have passed?"

Yan Kai asked.

"Of course! The three of you, come with me."

Lu Sheng slowly rose to his feet, supported by a guard, and led the three into an inner room of Yellow Crane Courtyard.

The maids all withdrew, and the guards left as well. Only the burly man from earlier remained, standing guard beside Lu Sheng.

Click.

The door shut.

There were only five people in the room.

"The exact course of events was like this."

Lu Sheng began from when the first disappearance had occurred.

Yan Kai and the other two listened carefully, asking about details from time to time.

Lu Sheng answered everything he knew one by one. For matters he did not know, the burly man beside him added what he could.

The conversation lasted a full half hour.

After learning all the details, Yan Kai lowered his head and pondered for a while.

Before long, he raised his head again.

"This type of ghostly creature Young Master encountered is called a demon ghost by this Daoist."

"A demon ghost? What is that?"

Lu Sheng asked in return. This was truly his first contact with the mysterious side of this world.

"A demon ghost is not formed from a person after death. Rather, it is a ghostly creature condensed from emotions such as human resentment, jealousy, hatred, injustice, and so on, absorbing certain mysterious powers from its surrounding environment." Yan Kai spoke gravely.

"One or two demon ghosts are manageable, but if they are left unchecked for too long, they will continuously spread and infect others, killing more people and transforming them into new demon ghosts.

Judging by the concentration of Yin Qi on Young Master's body, the demon ghost you encountered should have been left unchecked for quite some time."

"Left unchecked for some time? Then does that mean there could be an unknown number of demon ghosts within Nine Links City?"

Lu Sheng's expression changed slightly.

"That is highly possible." Yan Kai nodded. "Very well, leave this matter to this Daoist. Young Master only needs to recuperate at home. However, as for finding people—"

"I'll find them," Zhuan Feng spoke up. "I have encountered this sort of ghost-and-god affair a few times before, so I have some experience."

Lu Sheng nodded in agreement.

"Then Daoist Priest, is there anything I can do for you?"

He now believed that this Yan Kai Daoist Priest before him was likely one of the legendary professionals.

"This demon ghost is not something you can deal with. Since you have already provoked it, the most urgent matter is for you to move away from Nine Links City immediately, lest you become food that nourishes the demon ghost."

Yan Kai said calmly.

"Besides, we came here to investigate the full circumstances behind the Xu Family massacre."

"I would also like to offer what little strength I have."

Lu Sheng said earnestly.

"When this Daoist says there is no need, there is no need. No matter how many ordinary people come, it will be useless. Even if you have practiced some martial arts, you will only become a burden to us.

Martial arts are useless against ghosts!"

Yan Kai was utterly blunt, frowning as he spoke without courtesy.

Duan Rongrong broke out in cold sweat at the side. What if he provoked Young Master Lu's anger? Lu Sheng was about to speak, but Yan Kai cut him off.

"That is enough. This is not something ordinary people like you can meddle in."