Knocking the Mountain to Shake the Tiger

Lu Huaiqian had made it clear.

From then on, there was no need to hide anything concerning the Lu Family from Lu Jing'an.

Therefore, Chen Xuan would not hide this from Lu Jing'an either.

"That's right. Third Master's side has discovered Nine-Fingered Yama's trail."

When Lu Jing'an heard that Nine-Fingered Yama had been found,

he immediately grew somewhat nervous.

"Master, be careful tomorrow."

"There's no need to keep someone like that alive."

"Use whatever means are necessary. We have the numbers."

Chen Xuan chuckled. "I'm not that rigid."

"Besides, he was already wounded by gunfire when he was surrounded."

"He's at the end of a powerful crossbow now."

"I'm only going tomorrow to hold the line and prevent him from escaping in case something goes wrong."

Hearing this, Lu Jing'an was immediately relieved.

Chen Xuan suddenly thought of something and said to Lu Jing'an, "The master said you wanted to see Nine-Fingered Yama?"

Lu Jing'an nodded and explained, "That's right. I want to see what the man who tried to kill me looks like."

Naturally, Lu Jing'an could not tell Chen Xuan the truth.

He could not tell Chen Xuan that he actually wanted to see whether the other man had any Affixes on him.

Chen Xuan did not ask further and merely nodded. "Once this is settled, I'll have someone take you over."

"Thank you, Master." Lu Jing'an thanked him again.

After that, Lu Jing'an practiced Tongbei Fist alone for another two hours.

Chen Xuan watched everything.

He became increasingly satisfied with Lu Jing'an as his disciple.

Lu Jing'an was working so hard because he had his eye on that red Affix.

The First Blood Transformation had already been achieved. Next came one hundred hours of fist practice.

Once he achieved that, he could obtain the red [Fist Master] Affix.

This was an Affix that could grant an additional 10 points of attack power.

Only deep into the night

did Lu Jing'an return to his room to rest.

Lying on his bed, Lu Jing'an summoned his Attribute Panel once again.

[Name: Lu Jing'an]

[Attack: 5]

[Defense: 5]

[Agility: 1]

[Spirit: 3]

[Techniques: Standing Stake (Beginner) (Attack +1+1, Defense +1+1, Spirit +1+1), Tongbei Fist (Beginner) (Attack +3)]

[Affixes: Clear as Fire (Green), Extraordinary Physique (Green) (Attack +2, Defense +2)]

"Once Beginner Tongbei Fist is unleashed, it grants an additional 3 points of attack power."

"If I can obtain the red Affix bonus, that will be 13 points of attack power."

"Adding my original 5 points makes 18 points of attack power."

"Put simply, that's equivalent to the attack power of eighteen of my former selves."

"Just thinking about it is intoxicating."

The night passed without incident.

The next day.

Lu Jing'an still rose early to practice his stance and fists.

As for Nine-Fingered Yama, Lu Jing'an did not take the matter too seriously.

Third Uncle had formidable Red Poles under him, along with Security Officers from the Security Station armed to the teeth.

On top of that, the other man had been injured long ago.

Under such circumstances, it would be a miracle if Nine-Fingered Yama could escape.

The real danger of someone like Nine-Fingered Yama lay in when he was hiding in the dark.

Once exposed beneath the sunlight, his threat was nearly zero.

Sure enough, around noon,

someone came into the courtyard to fetch Lu Jing'an.

Lu Jing'an had been waiting already.

He changed into a well-fitting set of clothes and got into a sedan with the man.

The sedan passed through streets and alleys.

At last, it stopped at an intersection.

Lu Jing'an got out, took a look around, and muttered,

"Wenhe Street. Where the rich live."

The wealthy people of Yinshan County were all concentrated around Wenhe Street.

Those with both money and power lived near Cloth Alley, where the Lu Family was located.

The poor and ordinary people instead lived in places like Guihe Road.

It had to be said that the more people lacked something, the more they pursued it.

Following the guide ahead, Lu Jing'an soon arrived before a residence surrounded layer upon layer.

Seeing Lu Jing'an arrive, the crowd automatically parted to form a passage.

After passing through the crowd,

Lu Jing'an first spotted Chen Xuan.

"Master, are you all right?" Lu Jing'an asked with concern.

Chen Xuan shook his head. "He was shot full of holes. I didn't even need to make a move."

Lu Jing'an thought that was only reasonable.

They had utterly crushed him in both manpower and firepower.

Who was going to play lone-hero hand-to-hand combat with him?

"Master, where is he?" Lu Jing'an asked.

Chen Xuan pointed toward a spot not far away covered by a white sheet.

Lu Jing'an walked over.

He directly ordered someone to lift the white sheet.

Sure enough, it was just as Chen Xuan had said.

The man had nearly been blasted to pieces.

His body had at least several hundred bullet holes of varying sizes.

Lu Jing'an looked at his right hand. Sure enough, it had only four fingers.

Lu Jing'an had just finished examining the right hand

when the prompt he had been waiting for appeared before him.

[Detected a soul that can be Refined/Repaired. Collect it?]

Looking at the prompt,

Lu Jing'an could not help but frown slightly.

This was not what Lu Jing'an had expected.

Lu Jing'an had originally thought he could collect Affixes.

But what did this prompt mean?

Although he did not understand what it meant,

Lu Jing'an still chose to collect it.

The instant Lu Jing'an made his choice,

he saw a black shadow fly out from the battered corpse and be directly absorbed into the Striving Furnace.

Then a prompt appeared.

[Refine] or [Repair].

Looking at the prompt, Lu Jing'an did not choose immediately.

This differed somewhat from what he had expected.

Lu Jing'an was worried there might be other changes.

So he decided to wait until he got home before making a choice.

His purpose had been achieved.

Lu Jing'an had someone cover the body with the white sheet again, then turned to leave.

However, just as Lu Jing'an turned around, he heard someone calling him.

"Nephew Lu, Nephew Lu, wait, wait..."

Lu Jing'an looked in the direction of the voice.

He saw a plump middle-aged man in a silk mandarin jacket patterned with round flowers being firmly held back by two Security Officers.

His head was covered in sweat, his face deathly pale, and he was desperately waving in this direction.

It was none other than Lin Shouxin, head of the Lin Family.

The Lin Shouxin who had been determined to stuff his daughter into the Lu Family.

Lu Jing'an raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the [Lin Mansion] plaque hanging above the residence gate. A trace of amusement curled at his lips.

"So this was where they had cast the net." Understanding dawned on him.

They had driven Nine-Fingered Yama to the Lin Mansion's gates and shot him dead.

This step-by-step, pressing intimidation was undoubtedly meant for the Lin Family to see.

His father and Third Uncle truly had seasoned, ruthless methods.

Though they had said they would not touch the Lin Family for now and would wait for it to expose its own flaws,

that did not prevent them from delivering a brutal warning first and leaving them unable to sleep day or night.

Lu Jing'an waved his hand, and only then did the Security Officers let him through.

Lin Shouxin seemed to have been granted a pardon. He nearly stumbled and crawled as he rushed over.

His steps were unsteady, and he nearly slipped on the bloodstains on the ground, looking utterly wretched.

He rushed before Lu Jing'an without even bothering to straighten his disheveled clothing.

He pulled out a handkerchief and continuously wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his voice trembling visibly.

"N-Nephew Lu, you must stand up for our Lin Family and put in a good word before Bureau Chief Lu!"

He pointed at the white sheet on the ground, his fingers shaking.

"That damned wanted criminal had nowhere left to run and merely happened to die at my doorstep!

My Lin Family has been upright and clean for generations. We have absolutely no connection to such a desperate fugitive! Heaven can bear witness!"

Lu Jing'an wore an indifferent expression as he calmly watched Lin Shouxin perform, then slowly said,

"Uncle Lin, the Security Station will investigate this matter according to the law.

I'm merely an ordinary person. I cannot make such decisions.

I came here today only to put one matter of my heart to rest.

To see with my own eyes the final end of the man who sought to take my life."

After a pause, Lu Jing'an continued,

"As for why he happened to flee to Uncle Lin's residence,

the Security Station will surely investigate the reasons thoroughly and get to the bottom of it."

Lu Jing'an's tone was steady, yet every word was clear.

"When the Security Station handles a case, it has never wronged a good person, nor will it ever let a bad person go."

Upon hearing this, all color instantly drained from Lin Shouxin's face.

Cold sweat flowed even more heavily, nearly soaking through his collar.

He was so anxious he nearly stamped his feet. "Nephew Lu!

H-how would I know why he ran to my home?

This was purely a coincidence, an enormous coincidence!

Our two families have known each other for years. Even if my Lin Family had the courage of heaven itself,

we would not dare, nor could we possibly, have any ties to a murderer who tried to assassinate you, Nephew Lu!"

Lu Jing'an did not wish to say more to him and merely repeated, "Uncle Lin, remain calm. Trust that the Security Station will uncover everything and give your Lin Family justice."

Lu Jing'an had barely finished speaking

when he heard a string of indignant foreign words.