Different I

Lu Sheng thought for a moment, then took the initiative to approach the nearest jianghu person.

"Brother." An ingot of silver appeared in his hand, which he held up for the man to see.

"What do you want?" The jianghu person stared at him warily.

"I just wanted to ask, why have so many people come here looking for something?"

Lu Sheng wore a puzzled expression.

"You came without even knowing that? Get lost!"

The man looked at him as though he were an idiot.

Seeing him turn to leave, Lu Sheng took another gold ingot from his purse and held them out together.

The gold made the man stop. He weighed it in his hand, then looked Lu Sheng over. Seeing that Lu Sheng did not seem to be here to fight him for scraps, he said,

"You came to join the fun without knowing anything? We came because we heard that last night, many experts were exorcising spirits here. Halfway through the fight, a strange treasure emerged, and everything went into chaos. An expert ran off with the treasure, while everyone else chased after him. This place became ruins too.

"We came to drink a mouthful of broth from the ground and make a fortune off the dead."

"Making a fortune off the dead?" Lu Sheng understood. These people had come specifically to strip valuables from corpses.

He did not know what had happened last night. But for it to draw so many people and forces together, it could not have been a minor matter.

"These people all know some of the inside story. People like Duanmu Wan and Yan Kai, whose purposes in coming to Nine Links City are unknown—they may be figures on the same level as demons and ghosts." Lu Sheng pondered inwardly. Letting the man go, he made several more rounds nearby and saw several patches of black matter that looked like melted steel.

He did not linger and soon hurried back toward Lu Estate.

When he returned to Lu Estate and had just entered through the gates, a servant came to report.

"Young Master, Miss Duanmu has come again. She is waiting for you in the reception hall," the servant said quietly.

Duanmu Wan had come? Lu Sheng's heart tightened as he recalled what she had said when he first met her. His spirits lifted, and he strode toward the reception hall.

Upon entering, Lu Sheng immediately spotted Duanmu Wan's distinctive figure and attire. In this era, there were few women who dared dress as she did, even in brothels and pleasure quarters.

She sat in a wooden chair, delicately sipping tea from a white porcelain cup. Her bamboo hat rested to one side, while her gauzy outer garment had been undone, revealing the tight black martial outfit beneath.

Yet the outfit clung so tightly to her body that it traced every curve, like a second skin. Her breasts, hips, and legs in particular looked almost as though she wore nothing at all, scarcely different from being naked. The surrounding maidservants and guards did not dare look directly at her, their faces burning red.

"Miss Duanmu, it has been a long time. What exactly did you mean by what you said before?" Lu Sheng went straight to the point the moment they met. He waved away the idlers around them, then fixed his bright gaze on Duanmu Wan, showing no restraint before her seductive attire.

Duanmu Wan smiled and raised her head, studying Lu Sheng with a trace of strange interest. "Young Master Sheng, I trust you have been well. It is cause for celebration that you survived this great calamity. You need not worry now; things are much safer."

"What do you mean, Miss?" Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes. Duanmu Wan clearly knew quite a bit of the inside story.

"Nothing much." Duanmu Wan set down her teacup, clapped lightly once, and rose to her feet.

Duanmu Wan smiled. "Since the people nearby have withdrawn and you did not die in that earlier disaster, you are qualified to learn a little of the inside story."

"Please enlighten me, Miss." Lu Sheng focused his mind. What he feared most was that she would refuse to speak.

Supporting her chin with one hand, Duanmu Wan smiled. "Since Young Master Sheng did not die, you must already have encountered the demon and ghost factions. Those filthy, sinister things are not so easy to deal with. Without special methods, no one can survive their pursuit."

"Demons and ghosts. Could you explain in more detail, Miss? Where do these demons and ghosts come from, and what are their aims?" Lu Sheng asked in a low voice.

"Do not rush." Duanmu Wan gave a soft laugh, slowly circled to Lu Sheng's side, and reached out to gently touch his cheek.

Her movements were light and soft, like a veil brushing over him. If he did not pay close attention, he could barely detect it—itchy, tingling, like flirtation between lovers.

"Miss Duanmu, you have yet to explain the inside story." Lu Sheng took a light step back, avoiding her teasing. "If there are things you need to conceal, there was no need for you to come looking for me. I assume you have your own purpose as well?"

Duanmu Wan immediately broke into a coquettish laugh, trembling like a blossom in the wind.

Pfft! "Young Master Sheng truly is no ordinary man. The first time I saw you, I found myself somewhat drawn to you.

"At the time, I merely tried my luck and placed a small wager on you. I never expected you to truly survive. What a pleasant surprise. You do not know this, but after learning that you had lived, even while fighting between life and death, I still kept you in my heart." Duanmu Wan's words overflowed with tenderness, her tone seeming capable of melting even an iron-hearted man into a pool of water.

Lu Sheng suppressed the anger in his heart. Though he allowed her to press against him, he remained calm. "Could it be that Miss has fallen for this young master?"

"Who knows?" Duanmu Wan smiled, took a step back, and turned gracefully in a circle.

"This little woman likes you very much, Young Master. Whenever I see you, I think of the one I loved most. Unfortunately, he died too early, and all the admiration in my heart had nowhere to go." As she spoke, a trace of loneliness and self-contempt flashed through Duanmu Wan's almond-shaped eyes.

Lu Sheng was certain he had not seen wrongly. It was self-contempt—the peculiar emotion possessed by those who felt inferior. It had appeared on the mysterious Duanmu Wan before him. Clearly, the person she mentioned had possessed an identity, strength, and status far beyond the ordinary.

"Now, can Miss Duanmu tell me what demons and ghosts truly are? And what sort of people are you?"

Duanmu Wan smiled, lightly walked behind Lu Sheng, and pressed her entire body against his back.

"Whenever I see you, Young Master, I cannot help imagining that you are him. Ah..." She let out a long sigh, heavy with sorrow and resentment.

"Does Young Master know why, when demons run rampant and ghosts appear in endless streams in this world, most people can still live stable and peaceful lives? Just as you lived an ordinary life for more than ten years."

Lu Sheng's gaze sharpened. "Someone is protecting us?"

"Yes. Let us call it protection. This world is so arduous; people must be given at least a little hope and comfort."

"This world can be said to belong to two great powers."

"Which two great powers?"

"Demons, and aristocratic families." Duanmu Wan simply raised two fingers. "Demons are monsters like the demons and ghosts you have encountered. Aristocratic families are spirit exorcists like me and Yan Kai, people born with power in their bodies."

"Born with power? Is it not acquired through cultivation?" Lu Sheng's heart sank, though he still clung to a trace of hope.

"No." Duanmu Wan laughed coquettishly. "I know that Young Master still harbors a little hope, but unfortunately, there are no cultivation methods in this world that can contend with demons. We aristocratic families need no such methods, nor do we possess any cultivation arts.

"What we practice is merely the development and use of the special power we are born with, using it to fight demons. Ordinary people can only ever remain ordinary people."

Lu Sheng fell silent.

This was the truth he least wanted to hear.

Duanmu Wan continued, "There are two ruling classes beneath heaven: one is demons, and the other is aristocratic families. Our powers are inborn and far surpass those of mortals. The gap is immense, immensely vast. We are born with power; even the weakest among us possesses strength utterly unimaginable to ordinary people."

"I do not believe ordinary people have no chance at all." Lu Sheng slowly shook his head.

"Young Master is truly adorable." Duanmu Wan laughed coquettishly. "You must understand that there is no spiritual energy from stories in this world, nor any immortal qi. There is nothing in the air we breathe. The only thing we can rely on is ourselves.

"Martial artists cultivate inner qi from the food they eat. The power and abilities we aristocratic families are born with lie hidden deep within our bloodlines. The gap is present from birth."

She gently released Lu Sheng and moved to his side, her delicate hand lightly stroking his sturdy chest.

"Two great powers in Nine Links City had been fighting over a precious treasure. One of those powers was the mighty force that controlled demons and ghosts. It was also the force that chose the Xu Family and your Lu Estate as sacrifices."

"May I ask what this force is called, Miss?" Lu Sheng's spirits immediately rose. Knowing they had reached a crucial point, he digested the information he had heard and quickly asked.

"Juan Ren Estate." Duanmu Wan gently rested her lovely head against Lu Sheng's arm. "They are called Juan Ren Estate, an old force that has entrenched itself in this area for many, many years.

"They control quite a few ghost creatures. Earlier, they chose the head of Young Master's Lu Family as a sacrificial offering. The emergence of such a precious treasure required many sacrifices—many, many sacrifices."

"Then since my father did not die, will they come looking for us again?" Lu Sheng asked in return.

"Hee hee hee... If they come looking for you, Young Master, then come find Wan'er~~~" Duanmu Wan suddenly laughed coquettishly.

"Miss Duanmu jests." Lu Sheng broke free from her caress and turned to face her directly. "I wonder whether you have any other inner cultivation manuals, not the Life Nurturing Technique."

He did not know whether Duanmu Wan's words were true or false. But regardless, if he could obtain a new and stronger inner cultivation art from her, then this meeting would have been worthwhile.

"Inner cultivation manuals? Are those things useful?" Duanmu Wan smoothed her beautiful hair. "What is so entertaining about inner cultivation?"

"Miss Wan'er jests. What price must I pay to obtain such an inner cultivation manual? Please tell me plainly," Lu Sheng said in a deep voice.