Young Master Zhu

Say it again: killing was easy. The hard part was killing without a sound.

Li Rui had lived for far too long.

Once a person grew bored, they would do all sorts of things, including chemical experiments. As a modern man, extracting ricin toxin was a simple matter for him.

Master and disciples spent every day together, so poisoning him was even easier. Li Rui knew Ma Yang's temperament too well; he did not even need to worry about accidentally harming Wang Zhao.

Ma Yang wanted to kill him, so he had no choice but to kill Ma Yang.

"Blame it on your bad fate."

Late at night.

Li Rui's room was thick with smoke, steam rising in waves.

He lay in a large wooden tub filled to the brim with hot water, squinting as he leaned back comfortably.

"Other than being expensive, medicinal herbs really have no flaws."

The cells deep within his body, once dried out by the ravages of time, became full and vigorous again. Even his dull, shriveled skin had regained its glow.

His martial bones were like an engine that never stopped, seeming determined to squeeze every drop of medicinal strength dry. His physical strength grew at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Practicing martial arts had much in common with working out in his previous life.

Both stressed three parts training and seven parts eating.

And eating did not merely mean everyday food, but medicinal supplements as well. Unfortunately, the price of herbs in the city had risen again and again, forcing Li Rui to take the risk of going to the Black Market. Fortunately, this trip's gains were enough to last him a month, so it was not a loss.

The days passed one by one.

The tyranny of his martial bones became ever more apparent.

If not for the loose outer robes that concealed him every day, who would have imagined that Li Rui, an old man nearing seventy, had grown a body full of rippling muscle?

Li Rui hunched over, his hands habitually clasped behind his back as he strolled toward the kitchen.

He greeted everyone he met with practiced familiarity.

Without exaggeration, he had watched everyone in the residence grow up. Even Zhu Family Head Zhu Ping did not know the Zhu Family better than he did.

"Hey, Old Li."

Li Rui was walking along when he heard Yang Yong's voice.

Yang Yong sized him up, clicking his tongue repeatedly. "Old Li, tell me the truth. Did you sneak some ginseng?"

This was downright bizarre.

Ever since Old Li had started practicing martial arts, he truly had been growing younger and younger. A man in his seventies looked even more energetic than Yang Yong, who was only sixty.

People throughout Zhu Residence were saying that Old Li had secretly eaten the Longevity Star's Peach and would live to ninety.

Incredible. Even that turtle in the Zhu Family pond seemed to be only eighty.

Seeing that Li Rui ignored him, Yang Yong hurried two steps forward to catch up. "Old Li, if you really have some secret recipe, share it with your brother."

A woman's face, a man's kidneys.

At his age, even if he went to a brothel, he could only stare helplessly if a woman stripped naked and lay on the bed.

He was counting on getting something from Li Rui to restore his former vigor.

Li Rui shot Yang Yong a glance. "You know that old turtle in the Zhu Family pond? Stew it, and I guarantee you'll return to youth."

Yang Yong immediately found himself in a bind.

If Master Zhu of the Zhu Family found out he had stolen the turtle, he would definitely be beaten to death.

It was far too costly.

Seeing Yang Yong seriously considering it, Li Rui was so annoyed he laughed and kicked Yang Yong. "You brat, all you ever think about is what's between your legs."

Yang Yong gave a chuckle.

Like Li Rui, he was a guard with no family or home. More than half the silver he earned went into brothels. But as he had grown older over the past few years, he had turned into a silver spearhead—pretty to look at but useless in action.

They were all lowborn folk. Who cared so much about propriety, righteousness, and shame? A day of pleasure was a day gained.

As far as he knew, Old Li had been the one who visited most often in the Zhu Family's early years.

Li Rui had long entered the sage-like state of having no desires and no demands.

When he had first transmigrated, he had enthusiastically indulged in the feudal cultural industry. Now, he was in sage mode.

Women?

They would only slow the speed at which he drew his blade.

"By the way, Old Yang, do you have any more powerful Cultivation Methods?"

Yang Yong immediately perked up. "One Eight Section Brocade isn't enough for you to practice?!"

Li Rui said, "I'm trying to live a few more years."

"..." Yang Yong rolled his eyes. "There is one, but it's a bit troublesome."

As he spoke, he made a gesture of weighing silver in his hand.

"How much?"

"At least this much."

Yang Yong held up eight fingers. "And that's still the martial school's internal price."

Eight taels?!

Li Rui sucked in a sharp breath.

Heartless merchants!

Those martial schools in Clear River had joined forces to monopolize the market. If one wanted to learn martial arts, unless it was a family inheritance, one could only go to a martial school. The tuition was outrageously high, something ordinary families simply could not afford.

All his savings had gone toward buying medicine. Right now, he truly could not produce eight taels of silver.

"One penny can stump a hero."

Li Rui could only give up. The Eight Section Brocade was still passable for now; he would wait until he had saved enough money before making further plans.

Just as he and Yang Yong were talking, a burst of firecrackers sounded outside the gates.

Yang Yong was puzzled. "It's neither New Year nor any festival. Why are they setting off firecrackers?"

Li Rui gave him the answer. "Young Master Zhu has returned."

Hearing that it was Young Master Zhu, Zhu Yue, a trace of envy flashed through Yang Yong's eyes.

It was said that when this Young Master Zhu had been born, a divine bird had announced the happy news. He had been intelligent from childhood: learning characters at one, composing poems at three, practicing martial arts at five, Entering Rank at ten, and at fifteen, being noticed by a High Master from Anning Prefecture's Huaqing Sect and accepted as his disciple.

The entire Zhu Family had basked in his glory and taken great pride in him.

All of that had been made up by the Zhu Family.

Li Rui had been there at the time. What divine bird? Master Zhu of the Zhu Family did have a myna he usually took out for walks. As for learning characters at one, that was even more absurd. When that Young Master Zhu was one, he had still been following behind Li Rui's backside showing off birds. What characters could he possibly have known?

It was true that he had become a disciple of Huaqing Sect, but not because some High Master had taken a liking to him. Master Zhu had spent silver.

Yang Yong said, "I heard Huaqing Sect's High Masters are like immortals. When that High Master came to the Zhu Family back then, he crossed the Clear Water River on foot. He truly used the Water-Walking Technique."

This time, Li Rui did not refute him.

Because he had also been there that day.

He still remembered that Huaqing Sect elder's Water-Walking Technique.

After the elder left, Li Rui had even deliberately jumped into the water to take a look. It was not like Qiu Qianzhang, who had hidden stakes beneath the surface. It should have been genuine skill.

Huaqing Sect was a major martial sect of Anning Prefecture. Even the authorities had to show it some respect.

It was far beyond what martial schools and gangs in Clear River could compare to.

To put it this way, within a hundred li of Huaqing Sect, even constables from Anning Prefecture needed official documents to enter.

But judging by the time, it seemed not yet time for him to return.

Elsewhere.

A clatter of hoofbeats rang out before the gates of Zhu Residence.

Four unusually handsome young men and women dressed in luxurious clothes rode magnificent red horses up to the gates of Zhu Residence.

A tall, handsome young man turned his head and said, "We're here. This is my home. Senior Brother, Junior Brother, Junior Sister, since we'll be in Clear River for the next few days, why not stay here for the time being?"

"We are all guests, so we shall follow Junior Brother Zhu's arrangements."

Another youngster, who appeared somewhat older, nodded with a smile.

That young man was the Zhu Family's prodigy—Zhu Yue.

Those who had come with him were all disciples of Huaqing Sect.