Reconciliation

Flower Night House.

The warm yellow lamplight made one's heart itch, and from time to time came the coquettish laughter of women.

Zhu Family Head Zhu Ping raised his wine cup with a broad grin. "Old Brother Li, you hid it from me bitterly. Had I known earlier, I never would have been willing to let you go."

A pretty young married woman with full, rounded thighs sat on Li Rui's lap.

His large hand gave her waist a hard squeeze.

The young woman shot the lecherous old man a bashful glance, laughing coquettishly without end.

"I merely broke through by luck."

Though Li Rui said so, his heart was full of emotion.

Master Zhu of the Zhu Family was actually calling him big brother. Before this, it had been something he would never have dared dream of.

Flower Night House was an even more unimaginable place.

"Though you've now gone to the Heaven and Earth Alliance, Old Brother, you can't cut off ties with the family. Come back often in the future."

Zhu Ping had cast aside his usual arrogance.

Those in business were best at saying pleasing things.

He did not mention Li Rui's work for the Zhu Family in the slightest. After all, no one liked having others bring up the days when they had been lowly servants.

"Old Brother, I heard from Wang Zhao that your body has needed some loosening up lately. Pick whichever girls you like in this establishment."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

Li Rui leaned back comfortably in the reclining chair as a pair of bonelessly soft hands kneaded his shoulders.

He had not expected Zhu Ping to be so generous.

Flower Night House was no common pleasure den, but a proper brothel.

A single night's stay cost at least eight taels of silver.

Even now that Li Rui had become the Heaven One Hall Master, he would still have been reluctant to throw money around so freely.

The next instant.

The private room rang with the laughter that only men understood, shared by Zhu Ping and Li Rui.

After several rounds of wine, once he saw that the atmosphere had been worked up enough, Zhu Ping took an exquisite little wooden box from his robes. "Old Brother, this pill is called the Tiger Bone Pill. It is an Eighth-Rank Spirit Pill."

Li Rui's pupils widened slightly, and his heart pounded wildly.

The moment Zhu Ping had brought out the pill, he had already sensed that it was extraordinary. Yet he had never expected it to be an Eighth-Rank Spirit Pill.

What a grand gesture!

"Only pills above the eighth rank can be called spirit pills. A single spirit pill costs at least five hundred taels."

The words of the Medicine Hall disciple echoed again in Li Rui's ears.

Five hundred taels. He really was willing to spend.

Even the Zhu Family's wealth would find that burdensome.

Zhu Ping chuckled, then called out toward the door.

Zhu Lie entered the private room, clearly unwilling.

"Old Brother Li previously had a few misunderstandings with my second brother, but we are family after all. I hope you can let bygones be bygones and wipe away everything from the past with one stroke."

As he spoke, he shot Zhu Lie a glare. "Why aren't you apologizing to Old Brother Li?"

During this time, he had specifically investigated the matters between Li Rui and Zhu Lie.

If he had not looked into it, he would not have known. Once he did, he found it far from simple.

There was a groom named Ma Yang, as well as a guard named Zhao San.

After offending Li Rui, they had both died for no apparent reason.

Though he could find no evidence proving that Li Rui had done it, Zhu Ping still trusted his instincts and concluded that it must have been Li Rui's work.

"Old Li usually looks so cheerful, yet his hand is so ruthless."

He had already acted with such ruthless savagery before shedding his servant status. Now that he had become a martial artist, who knew what he might do?

Zhu Ping did not want to be targeted by an Entering Rank martial artist. That was why he would rather pay a steep price to smooth this matter over.

Seeing that Zhu Lie still looked unwilling, he barked again, "If you still recognize me as your elder brother, apologize now."

The veins on Zhu Lie's face twitched. Only after a long while did he force out a few words through clenched teeth. "Old Li, I was in the wrong before. Please be magnanimous."

His attitude could hardly be called good, but for Second Master Zhu to apologize to Li Rui, once the Zhu Family's old groom, was already unprecedented.

Li Rui waved a hand. "They're all old matters. There's no need to mention them again. I stopped taking them to heart long ago."

Hearing Li Rui's words, Zhu Ping's smile grew even brighter. Only then did the huge stone in his heart finally fall to the ground.

Old men knew how to handle things with finesse.

They were all adults. There were no eternal friends, only eternal interests. Before profit, no grudge was beyond reconciliation.

What businessmen feared most was running into hotheaded fools—bull-headed types who treated the slightest slight as a heaven-shaking matter, ready to risk their lives at the drop of a hat rather than make peace. Zhu Ping despised such people most.

The Zhu family joining hands with Li Rui had been a win-win arrangement from the start.

Zhu Ping did not think Li Rui had any reason to refuse. He believed he had already lowered his stance enough and given Li Rui ample face.

What followed was another scene of host and guest enjoying themselves, with women's coquettish laughter ringing out without end.

A full hour later, Li Rui finally tucked the pills away, wrapped an arm around the plump woman, and headed toward the guest room in high spirits.

Only the Zhu brothers remained in the room.

Zhu Lie finally spoke, his face full of unwillingness. "Big Brother, he's just an old man with one foot in the grave. We could find a few people to bury him at night. Why does our family fear him so much?"

Zhu Ping's eyes turned cold.

Crack!

A crisp slap rang through the room.

"If you keep disregarding the rules like this, then don't bother returning to the Zhu family. I won't be your big brother either."

"Big Brother."

Zhu Lie clutched his cheek, his eyes filled with shock.

His big brother had actually struck him over a groom?!

Seeing his second brother's expression, Zhu Ping sighed softly, his tone easing somewhat. "Second Brother, the Zhu family is no longer the small household it once was. Make too many enemies, and retribution will surely come. If our enemies seek revenge, you and I may be fine—but what about the whole family, young and old?"

"Now that we're a great household, we must have the stomach of a great household. Do you understand?"

Zhu Lie clenched his fists tightly, his bones crackling as his knuckles turned white.

"Heh heh."

Zhu Ping said helplessly, "I know your temper, but Old Li is already a member of the Heaven and Earth Alliance."

"I might as well tell you this: one of the Heaven and Earth Alliance's alliance leaders has broken through."

Zhu Lie's eyes flew wide open.

One of the Heaven and Earth Alliance's alliance leaders had previously been Seventh Rank.

Broken through.

Did that not mean he had become a Sixth Rank Little Grandmaster?

Good heavens.

A Sixth Rank expert—even across all of Cloud Province, he could be counted as a notable figure.

"Do not ruin our relationship with the Heaven and Earth Alliance over such a trivial matter again."

"I do not wish to say this a second time."

With that, Zhu Ping flicked his sleeve and went downstairs.

Zhu Lie's face was dark and gloomy, his teeth clenched tight.

"Old Li, this isn't over. There's still plenty of time ahead. You may not be able to wait, but I can."

"I refuse to believe you can live another ten years!"

He had already made up his mind. Once Li Rui could only lie paralyzed in bed, he would personally smother Li Rui to death.

Inside a room draped with red curtains.

The voluptuous body lay flat upon the soft couch, eyes tightly shut, breathing even.

Li Rui stood calmly in the room.

After carefully confirming that the woman on the bed was not merely pretending to be unconscious, he nodded in satisfaction.

For a martial artist, knocking out a brothel woman too weak to truss a chicken was simplicity itself.

A cold gleam flashed through his eyes.

Zhu Lie's unwillingness and viciousness had been far too obvious just now.

"Since your heart still refuses to die, you can't blame me."

Take the gifts as usual, kill the man as usual.

He wanted it all!