What Do You Want? Say It Yourself

The two men immediately summoned a carriage.

They raced all the way to the morgue the Martial Dao Bureau had established in the western part of the city. The moment they entered, they saw Qi Haifeng standing guard outside the autopsy room, looking utterly distraught.

At the sight of them, Young Master Qi rushed over as though he had seen his saviors, tears and snot streaming down his face.

"Second Master, Manager Liu's death truly had nothing to do with me!"

Over the past few days, Red Elegance Manor had already executed more than a dozen gang Martial Warriors. Even his Grade-Eight father had nearly lost his head.

That was why his family had been willing to produce a treasured Grade-Eight true martial art, tasking Lü Chenggong and the others with probing the strength of White Ape Martial Academy's higher-ups.

And, while they were at it, seeing whether there were any Martial Warriors who used spears.

Yet they had never expected that after leaving just last night, both of their close collaborators would perish. Lü Chenggong's death hardly mattered, but Manager Liu's involvement was far too significant.

He had heard that the last time Red Elegance Manor lost merely one maidservant, a whole crowd of Grade Martial Artists had been buried alongside her.

This time, not only had he failed to complete his mission, he had lost both the lady and the army. If he did not quickly cling to a powerful thigh, the end awaiting him would be nothing good.

Lu Zhengquan did not spare any attention for this minor Fishermen's Gang supervisor.

Without a word, he led his nephew hurriedly into the autopsy room.

Though they had already received certain news, the sight of Liu Jin's headless corpse still made their backs tighten.

Those Head-Chopping Bandits again!

Over the past several decades, no fewer than a hundred members of the Lu Family in Lin County had died at the hands of those bandits.

With his brows tightly furrowed, he instructed Lu Xuanlin:

"Find someone to bring the body. We're going to Red Elegance Manor."

Then he looked at Qi Haifeng, who was watching the two of them pitifully from the side.

"You there, come with us too!"

The moment he heard that he had to go as well, Qi Haifeng nearly wet himself. He had come to cling to a powerful thigh and seek protection, not to rush headlong toward death.

But at this point, whether he stuck out his head or pulled it back, the blade would fall all the same.

He might as well obey. At least then, he still had a chance to live.

Red Elegance Manor.

When the three were led into the main hall by the guards, Qi Haifeng spotted a familiar back.

The other man seemed to be in rather dire straits now, kneeling on the floor as a whip lashed down on him relentlessly.

Smack! Smack, smack!

"I've raised a whole pack of useless pigs, and after more than twenty days, you still can't find so much as a ghost."

"Go into the city tomorrow. If you can't find him, don't bother coming back!"

Ever since her attempt to chop someone up had been thwarted last time, Hongxiu had realized that Third Master Lu was rather protective of his own.

She had no choice but to change methods.

She used the whip to lash these useless fools who could not accomplish anything and ruined everything they touched.

"Second Brother, what wind blew a busy man like you here?"

Lu Zhengkun, who had been idly playing with a jade bracelet, abruptly rose and strode toward the entrance.

"Third Brother!"

With matters weighing on his mind, Lu Zhengquan only gave a brief greeting.

"What happened?"

The smile on Lu Zhengkun's face slowly faded as he looked gravely toward his son beside them.

"Father, Uncle Liu is dead."

Liu Jin had served the Lu Family's third branch for over thirty years and had watched him grow up from childhood.

Now that Liu Jin had met disaster for the Lu Family, calling him Uncle was only proper.

With a crack.

The emerald bead the size of a longan in Lu Zhengkun's hand was instantly crushed into powder scattered across the floor. The remaining beads, having lost their string, clattered down one after another.

Liu Jin had merely been a dog he kept, but this dog had been useful. To sustain a Grandmaster's cultivation, the Lu Family needed a large number of obedient subordinates to put down deep roots and dig extensively throughout Lin County.

Manager Liu had been handy to use, and he did not make a sound even when beaten.

"What happened!"

Lu Zhengquan pointed behind him.

"He may know something."

Thud!

Qi Haifeng's legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees.

Up ahead, Qi Rui'an caught sight of his own son kneeling from the corner of his eye, and his wails became even more piercing.

A quarter of an hour later, in the study of Listening Rain Pavilion at Red Elegance Manor.

Qi Haifeng gave a detailed account of everything the three of them had recently done concerning White Ape Martial Academy.

After remaining silent for a long while, Lu Zhengkun finally turned to look at the two men.

"Three punches killed an Upper Ninth Rank Martial Warrior. In a quarter of an hour, Fierce Tiger Martial Hall was wiped out."

"You suspect that old bastard Xie Guang?"

Lu Zhengquan hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.

"If he still retains Grade-Eight combat strength, then only three people in our Lu Family can deal with that old undead thing."

Lu Zhengkun spoke slowly.

To forcefully kill a Grade-Eight Martial Warrior within the city, and in the other party's own lair at that, with four or five Ninth Rank Martial Warriors nearby guarding him... if they wanted a swift battle, they could only deploy a Seventh Rank Force Transformation martial master.

"I can't conveniently make a move..."

Lu Zhengquan shook his head.

As Lin County's Grade-Eight county commandant, he truly could not act within the city.

He also had access to some of the Zhou Martial Sage Dynasty's secrets, such as the Sky-Patrolling Raven, an alien species from beyond the domain that was everywhere in the city.

"Then only Eldest Brother and Second Uncle remain..."

"Second Uncle is getting old. We shouldn't trouble his elder self with something this risky."

"Eldest Brother's birthday banquet is coming up soon..."

"I've got it!"

Lu Zhengkun suddenly slapped the table.

He did not want to risk causing a huge disturbance within the city over an old Grade-Eight Martial Warrior, either.

"The Zhou Family has a mine outside the city. We can use it to set a trap."

"That iron mine is registered with the Martial Dao Bureau and protected by the Bandit Suppression Bureau."

"We aren't directly seizing the mine. We only need to lure White Ape Martial Academy's people out of the city."

"Congratulations!"

Looking at Su Xinghe, now dressed in the robes of an Inner Disciple, Zhou Hao spoke with a solemn, earnest expression.

He had watched this new disciple grow.

From stumbling along in the backyard of the Brokerage Guild to leaving everyone in the dust among White Ape Martial Academy's outer disciples, he had taken only a month and a half.

Though he was a little old.

That was already terrifying enough.

After all, Zhou Hao himself, a youthful genius the Zhou Family had kept hidden away for over a decade, had taken about the same amount of time to go from entering the school to Inner Tempering.

In another three to five years, Su Xinghe would definitely become his right-hand man.

"Thank you for the Martial Arts School's cultivation. Otherwise, I'd still be a little gang thug."

Su Xinghe clasped his fists.

This was their first conversation. It was clear that this young master bore immense pressure. At only eighteen, he already carried himself with the air of an old man.

"Mhm. Train your fists well and break through to become a Martial Warrior as soon as possible."

After speaking, Zhou Hao gave the Inner Disciple before him a deep look, then left the storeroom with Wu Yingcai.

Since the hall master was absent, Elder Xie had assigned him this task. It was also the first official matter he had taken over from his father, and he felt he had handled it fairly well.

Mm... I'm a little short on funds right now...

In a few days, I'll reward him with a few bottles of Qi-Replenishing Pills, to cultivate some sense of belonging.

"Haha..."

Xie Guang suddenly burst into hearty laughter from the side.

"Elder Xie..."

Su Xinghe looked at him in confusion.

"Can't I laugh because White Ape Martial Academy has found a treasure?"

"In just a month and a half, you've become an Inner Tempering apprentice. At the latest, within a year, our Martial Arts School will gain another Grade Martial Artist."

Xie Guang sighed inwardly.

They had originally agreed on three months, yet Su Xinghe's talent was even more monstrous than he had imagined. If his own cultivation had not declined so severely, he truly would have wanted to take him in as a final disciple.

But it was not too late now. He had decided that he must increase his "investment" in the future.

"Now that you've become an Inner Disciple, this old man doesn't have much that I can offer."

Xie Guang considered drawing out some items from his many years of collections that would suit an Inner Tempering apprentice.

In the end, he felt it would be better to let Su Xinghe make his own request.

"How about this? Tell me what you want."