I Don't Eat Beef

"Young hero, let's talk this over..." Xiang He was afraid too. His Poison Dragon Hand had a notoriously vile reputation in the martial world—murdering entire families, betraying his master and ancestors, he had done it all. He had merely avoided capture thanks to the poison in his body and his formidable hand techniques.

"Fine, then let me ask you something. When you eat beef noodle soup, do you add chopped scallions?" Lu Xingshi could tell that what this man regretted was not kidnapping anyone, but being caught by Lu Xingshi.

"Do you eat them, young hero?" Xiang He asked cautiously.

"Are you nesting dolls or something? I'm asking you, not the other way around." Lu Xingshi snapped.

"Then I do!" Xiang He gritted his teeth. He had to pick one.

Hearing that, Lu Xingshi's expression turned regretful. "I'm sorry, but you answered incorrectly."

"The correct answer is that I don't eat beef, because eating cattle is against the law." With that, Lu Xingshi reached out and tapped the man's chest.

Inner Force surged into Xiang He's body in an instant, crippling the Inner Force he had cultivated for over a decade on the spot. It even injured his body so severely that he would never be able to cultivate it back. He had been reduced to a cripple.

Killing him would only dirty his hands.

Besides, even if Lu Xingshi did not act, someone else would.

As a modern man, he still found killing somewhat uncomfortable, especially when he held the advantage and could make the other man suffer far more by letting him live.

When the young woman saw Xiang He collapse helplessly onto the floor, she immediately drew the dagger at her waist and severed the tendons in his hands and feet. He was not only a cripple now, but a disabled one as well.

"Thank you for your help, brother!" The young lad rose and clasped his hands in salute, then introduced himself.

The man was Meng Hu, a disciple of the Iron Sword Sect. The woman was Shangguan Ru, the legitimate daughter of the local Shangguan Family.

"So you are a promising disciple of one of the Five Veins." Lu Xingshi returned the salute.

The Iron Sword Sect sounded rather unimpressive, but it was actually one of the Five Veins, with immense strength. It had merely shown signs of decline in recent years.

It was not only the Iron Sword Sect. The other four veins had weakened as well, seemingly due to the Imperial Court's deliberate suppression.

They were probably disciples of the younger generation who had only recently descended the mountain to gain experience.

Lu Xingshi did not ask how they had encountered Xiang He of the Poison Dragon Hand. They had merely met by chance, and since he had come across the matter, he had lent a hand.

It was not as though he could not beat the man. If this had happened when he had first started out, he would have left without hesitation. Helping within one's means did not mean risking one's life.

"I do not deserve such praise. To have been captured by the Poison Dragon Hand has disgraced my sect's reputation." Meng Hu looked ashamed.

"I disagree, Brother Meng. Xiang He only managed to take advantage of your youth. In three years' time, the Poison Dragon Hand will not even last a few sword strikes in your hands." Lu Xingshi had no idea who the Poison Dragon Hand was. He had only just entered the martial world, but he understood the principle of praising others generously.

"Brother Lu, you truly overestimate me." Meng Hu could not help but laugh bitterly at that. Lu Xingshi thought far too highly of him. How could three years be enough? He would need at least five or six years to catch up to an established expert like the Poison Dragon Hand.

"Then how should we deal with this one?" Lu Xingshi casually asked, glancing at Xiang He, who lay on the ground rolling his eyes like a dead fish.

"No need to bother with him. His enemies will come for him soon enough," Meng Hu said.

Lu Xingshi did not know Xiang He's circumstances, but Meng Hu did. This man had committed countless evils and naturally had enemies everywhere. Now that he had fallen from power, someone would certainly come to seek revenge.

"That makes sense, but what if, while being pursued, he falls off a cliff, achieves Great Accomplishment of Divine Skill, then comes back to kill us both?" Lu Xingshi had to consider that possibility.

...×N The diners in the restaurant were all speechless upon hearing Lu Xingshi's words. Leaving aside how Xiang He would escape pursuit, how could anyone survive after falling from a cliff?

"That is unlikely. There cannot be such things at the bottom of a cliff. The events in storybooks cannot be trusted." Meng Hu tactfully reminded Lu Xingshi not to mistake fiction for reality.

Lu Xingshi looked at the Cliff Fall Encounter Innate Trait marked Completed and dearly wanted to tell him it was real—and that he truly had achieved Great Accomplishment of Divine Skill.

The Eternal Youth Longevity Art and the Longevity Spring Return Art had both reached perfection, while the Longevity Eternal Youth True Art was already more than halfway complete.

"Fine. Even if he does achieve Great Accomplishment of Divine Skill, I'm not afraid of him." After grumbling that, Lu Xingshi secretly poisoned Xiang He.

When he had set out, he had not only made himself a firearm, but also poison, medicine for injuries, and all manner of other supplies.

Lu Xingshi figured that if one did not uproot the weeds, they would grow again with the spring breeze.

Though he felt there was something strange about that line of poetry. It seemed like it had not originally gone that way.

Too much time had passed since he transmigrated, and he had forgotten quite a few things.

Even if he wanted to be a literary plagiarist now, he did not have enough material to work with.

"I'm done eating, so I'll be on my way." Lu Xingshi wolfed down the rest of his meal and prepared to leave.

He still had to go to Saibei to find his master. What if he arrived too late and the old man had already kicked the bucket?

"Wait, Brother Lu. Today is my father's eightieth birthday. Please honor us with your presence..." Shangguan Ru immediately tried to keep him there. After all, he had saved her life, and it would be a good opportunity to invite him along for the celebration.

"Wait, your father's eightieth birthday? Let me work this out." Lu Xingshi's CPU was having trouble processing it. She was at most eighteen, while her father was eighty...

"Damn, a pear blossom tree pressing down on a begonia." Lu Xingshi blurted out the remark without thinking.

Shangguan Ru and Meng Hu could not understand what he meant. If there had been a scholar present, he might have laughed out loud, so the two of them were rather confused.

"What?" Shangguan Ru asked.

"Nothing. I'll pass on the banquet—I have things to do. I'll come next time for his ninetieth birthday." Lu Xingshi felt that, with that sort of vigor, the old man should have no trouble living another ten years.

Martial artists living longer was perfectly normal, especially those who cultivated both internally and externally.

If Murong Xuan had not died in an accident, he might even have been able to take walks by himself at a hundred and fifty.

Lu Xingshi was different. As one of the Game Villagers, he had no upper limit to his lifespan, so he could keep living forever.

Even if he did, it would not matter. He could change it.

"What could be so urgent, Brother Lu? The Shangguan Family has some small reputation in this region. Perhaps we can lend you a hand." Seeing how rushed Lu Xingshi was, Shangguan Ru asked.

Had Lu Xingshi not saved her, her fate would likely have been extremely miserable.

"Though I may not be much, I can still offer some assistance," Meng Hu added. He was a disciple of the Iron Sword Sect. His personal strength might not be enough, but his sect's influence certainly was.

"Oh, I'm going to Saibei to find someone." Lu Xingshi gave them a brief explanation, then said, "But you cannot help with that."

"This... is quite a coincidence. My martial uncles are also going to Saibei to look for our sect master." Meng Hu had not expected such a coincidence. "We happen to be passing through. Once Martial Uncle Shangguan's birthday banquet is over today, we will set off."