Liu Rushuang (Please Keep Reading)

Lu Li hurried through one alley after another.

Recently, the Bridgehead Gang and the Dingzhuang Gang had been fighting fiercely, and there was hardly anyone on the streets.

No sooner had he thought that—

Than a furious shout suddenly rang out from the end of the alley.

"Brothers, chop those Bridgehead Gang scum to death!"

Right after that, more than a dozen Dingzhuang Gang members wielding broadswords charged out and surrounded five men from the Bridgehead Gang.

Those five Bridgehead Gang men were no pushovers either. They pressed back-to-back into a circle, weapons in hand as well.

The alley was narrow; with so many people, it was packed tight.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Crack!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Blades struck the walls and scattered sparks. Muffled groans and curses rose and fell one after another...

Lu Li stood at the corner, having long since slipped into the shadows.

He had originally wanted to stay and see whether he could pick up some scraps. He had been desperately poor these past two weeks, with only a few coins left on him.

But on second thought, he gave up.

If he got dragged in, who knew what might happen?

Staying away from trouble and not seeking it out was what he ought to do right now.

With that in mind, he decided that he could not fully reveal his mastery-level fist technique. To outsiders, he would only display his minor accomplishment in fist techniques.

Under special circumstances, he could reveal his major accomplishment in fist techniques. His mastery-level fist technique and major accomplishment in blade techniques would remain sealed away for now. This was not the time to compete for glory or show off.

He ran all the way to Top Scholar Street.

Only then did he slow down and head toward the Fellow Villagers Inn.

It had been half a month since Lu Li had last returned to the inn.

When Lu Li entered the courtyard, the noisy clamor fell into instant silence in just three breaths.

He discovered that most of his fellow villagers had already returned from work, cramming the small courtyard full.

And at that moment, every pair of eyes was fixed on him.

Lu Li froze. What was going on? Did they all know he had gone to the martial academy to learn martial arts?

"L... Lord Lu, you really became a martial warrior, sir?"

The speaker was Lu Agui from the same village. He was barely ten years older than Lu Li, and from childhood onward, he had loved bullying Lu Li more than anyone.

Lu Li looked over and saw Lu Agui's evasive gaze. His eyes held confusion and incomprehension, but even more than that, fear.

Lu Li ignored him. They were fellow villagers after all, and there was no deep grudge between them. He could not bring himself to bully fellow villagers just because he had learned martial arts.

"Lord Lu, this old man was muddleheaded before. Please don't take it to heart. I even held you when you were little."

For a moment, cries of "Lord" rose one after another.

Addressing martial warriors as "Lord" was a belief carved deep into the bones of Blackwater City's lowest poor.

Lu Li still said nothing and walked toward the inn's entrance.

After only two steps—

"Lord Lu, you're the first martial warrior from our Ox Family Village. We're all fellow villagers—you have to protect us!"

Lu Li frowned and looked around, seeing the longing, envy, reverence, pride, and enthusiasm in everyone's eyes...

Some even did not dare meet his gaze. He did not know whether they were truly afraid or merely pretending to be.

Who was he? An orphan with no one to rely on.

In his early years, he could not even afford food. If not for kindhearted Old Li giving him charity time and again, he did not know how many times he would have frozen or starved to death.

Half a month ago, his body had been weak as a sickly sapling, dark and skinny. After only half a month of martial training, his eyes now carried the distinctive sharpness of a martial warrior, and his body had grown sturdier as well.

Many people were still thinking that they had once given Lu Li half a bowl of leftover food. They wondered whether he had forgotten...

Yet not a single person mentioned the mockery and contempt they had shown him half a month ago.

Lu Li closed his eyes and lightly rubbed the space between his brows.

How could he possibly have the ability to protect such a large group of people?

Lu Li remained silent and quickened his pace into the inn.

Liu Rushuang had long been secretly observing the commotion in the courtyard from behind the door.

The moment Lu Li entered, she seized his arm with both hands and pulled him straight toward the inn's second floor.

Lu Li froze, somewhat at a loss.

What was going on!?

The instant he entered, Sister-in-law Liu had linked herself around his arm, while two things that seemed suspiciously like little white rabbits squeezed wildly against his right arm.

"Let go!"

"Brother Li, let's go upstairs first. We'll talk upstairs."

Just as Lu Li tried to pull free his right arm, Liu Rushuang not only refused to let go but pressed it tighter against her chest.

Lu Li wanted to shove her away with brute force, but he worried about hurting her. With others watching, he could only grit his teeth and quicken his pace, determined to see what trick she was playing.

When they reached the second floor, she did not stop.

This was Lu Li's first time going up to the inn's second floor.

He had previously slept in the large communal bunkroom on the first floor, where more than a dozen people squeezed onto one bed. He had heard that conditions on the second floor were somewhat better: four beds to a room, at five coins a day.

They went straight up to the third floor in one breath.

"The third floor is for female guests. The left half is guestrooms, while the right half is where I live."

Liu Rushuang was introducing it to him.

The moment they went upstairs, Lu Li saw many female guests. Though he could not name many of them, most were familiar faces.

When they saw Lu Li and Liu Rushuang come up to the third floor, they were all dumbfounded.

Hadn't the proprietress said men were not allowed on the third floor?

This man looked familiar. Was he that Lu Li?

That orphan who had just gone to a martial academy to take a master?

Why were the two of them embracing each other?

Lu Li opened his mouth, wanting to explain something, but in the end, he could not say a word.

He had not even gotten married yet, and Liu Rushuang had ruined his spotless reputation. If she did not give him a proper explanation today, this matter was not over.

At the door of a large room, Liu Rushuang unlocked it.

Then she pulled Lu Li inside and slid the bolt shut.

Inside was a large parlor, with two bedrooms at the back. The main hall looked quite spacious and bright.

Liu Rushuang pulled Lu Li to sit at a large round table, poured two cups of tea, and drank a sip herself first.

Lu Li accepted the tea and set it aside to cool without drinking it.

"Brother Li, are you afraid I poisoned you? How about you drink the cup in my hand instead?"

Lu Li raised his eyes, signaling for her to get to the point.

Liu Rushuang sighed and spoke the second sentence she had said since he entered. "Brother Li, I never expected you to really take a master at a martial academy."

"Get to the point."

Lu Li clicked his tongue. Didn't she used to call him A-Li?

Now she was calling him Brother Li?

Did she not even consider how old she was?

And besides, he had yet to settle the score over how she had tried to trick him into borrowing usury money from Baldy Jiao.

"Brother Li, about Zhang Baldy before, I had my own hardships too. Zhang Baldy forced me to provide him with two debt slaves seeking loans every month. I had no choice..."

"So you harmed me?"

Lu Li could not help sneering, a faint viciousness in his eyes.

At his words, Liu Rushuang's face trembled. Then, as if she had made some sort of decision, she dropped herself toward Lu Li's lap.

Lu Li hurriedly braced a hand against her back, stopping her from sitting down.

"What exactly are you trying to do? If you have something to say, say it!"

Lu Li was utterly speechless.

He glanced sideways at Liu Rushuang. Her face was covered in freckles, her skin sallow; she looked to be in her thirties, with a bloated figure. She had nothing where it mattered.

And this is supposed to test an official's resolve?

At his words, Liu Rushuang seemed to realize something. Without saying a word, she suddenly ran into a bedroom and shut the door.

Lu Li was dumbfounded again. What on earth was she trying to do?

Not long after, Liu Rushuang emerged wearing a close-fitting green dress. Her figure had completely transformed, with a full chest and curving hips.

Then she went to the dressing table, picked up a cloth, dipped it in water, and began wiping her face.

When Lu Li looked at Liu Rushuang again—

He saw a face as pure as jade, bright brows and clear eyes, skin whiter than snow, and eyes like autumn waters. Between every glance, she carried a young girl's distinctive stubbornness.

His gaze moved downward, and Lu Li went still for a moment.

No, was her figure really this explosive?

When he looked back up, she was actually seventy or eighty percent similar to the "Eldest Princess," and her figure was even three parts more voluptuous.