Junior brother?
So they were working as a gang!
Lu Sui's eyelid gave a slight twitch. The "sickly wretch" the woman mentioned should have meant him.
He silently steadied his breathing, gathered his stray thoughts to keep from getting distracted, and focused his hearing on the woman and the sounds around her.
"I told you long ago not to probe the Lu Family's secrets lightly."
Another source of long, even breaths was moving.
Details flooded into Lu Sui's mind.
This person took long strides but landed lightly, suggesting long legs and no lack of height.
His breathing was long and steady. He was probably a trained fighter.
Listening to his voice, his enunciation was clear, not muddy. At a blind guess, he was in his twenties, thirty at most...
A man, quite tall, a trained fighter, young... could he be the "last surviving bastard" my bargain-bin father mentioned?
Lu Sui's thoughts turned. The professional habits of his previous life came into play as he tried to piece together an "image" of the other man, bit by bit.
"I know all about the four great generals under Lu Yulin."
The woman said with a laugh:
"That 'Iron-Robed General,' Dou Xiaowen, specializes in external body-hardening arts, but he's getting old, and his Qi and Blood are declining. He may not be as formidable as the stories say;
"'Divine Eye' Yang Kunbing can recognize a hundred treasures at a glance. He's good at plucking melons, but his fighting skills are quite ordinary;
"'Mud Buddha' Duan Fusheng has connections everywhere, a thousand faces for a thousand people. He does warrant caution, but he follows Lu Yulin around every day, so he's easy to keep occupied;
"That only leaves Chai Sanjin, nicknamed the 'Eight-Armed Heavenly King.'"
Whoa! They investigated that thoroughly?
So Uncle Wen even had an imposing title like "Iron-Robed General"!
Lu Sui's heart lurched. These people had clearly come prepared.
"Senior sister, you've left out Saber-Wielding Ghost Lu Yulin. That man must never be underestimated."
The man said unhurriedly:
"My late father lost his head to him precisely because he underestimated him."
The woman said with tenderness like water:
"Don't worry, junior brother. I came down the mountain this time precisely to help you settle this old grudge."
The man chuckled:
"Whether that sickly wretch of the Lu Family, who does nothing but listen to opera, lives or dies doesn't actually matter.
"When I used the Suppression Art on him before, I only wanted to force Lu Yulin's hand and see whether he would open the Lu Family's secret hoard and use the Ginseng King to prolong his son's life.
"But his heart was too hard. He could watch Lu Sui suffer for half a year, tortured until he barely looked human, and still remain unmoved.
"My late father's defeat was no injustice."
A secret hoard? The Ginseng King?
Surprise showed on Lu Sui's face. Could every word of the "story" Uncle Wen had told him have been true?
That old dog speaking human words and guiding his great-great-grandfather?
Burning incense for forty-nine days and winning the Mountain God's favor?
None of that had been empty talk?!
Lu Sui could hardly hide his shock, even though he had accepted that this world held evil creatures and martial arts that reached the heavens.
Yet hearing about his great-great-grandfather Lu Ping'an's wondrous encounters, like something from a storybook or a storyteller's tale, still felt unreal, steeped in boundless fantasy.
"Junior brother, you're always mentioning the Lu Family's opportunity. Is it truly that extraordinary?"
The woman sounded half doubtful, seemingly thinking the same thing as Lu Sui:
"Sixty years ago, the Grand Protector of the Nine Ridges and Ten Mountains ordered the altars overturned and the temples razed, seized fortune to subdue the world, and drove away all those wretched wild gods and Outer Dao.
"All that remained were the calamities that couldn't be eradicated. There was simply no way to wipe them out, so they opened..."
At this point, the woman seemed afraid of violating some taboo and hesitated, falling silent.
"Anyway, those who can make a living and pass on their arts beyond the pass are all fellow practitioners of the Eight Great Sects. Even the occasional minor sect doesn't dare act out of line.
"Junior brother, you already have half a foot through the door. Why be so wary of a mere mortal like Lu Yulin?"
The man remained silent for a long time, as though thinking.
After a while, he lowered his voice:
"Senior sister, you and Master have shown me kindness as weighty as a mountain. I don't want to hide anything from you either.
"How about this? Let me tell you a story."
The woman was clearly interested in the man and wanted a romance with a younger man.
The slightest affection in his voice had her utterly bewitched.
When she answered, she deliberately pitched her voice sweetly, as though wheedling and acting coy:
"All right, junior brother, hurry and tell me. I'll sit closer to listen."
Then came the sound of a stool being moved.
That shameless pair, now they're even flirting!
With Lu Sui's current keen hearing, he could even sketch out the intimate scene in his mind: the shameless pair nestled together, their ears and temples brushing.
"Senior sister, the jianghu has Eight Great Sects, each with formidable methods. The lower nine trades also have eight sects. One is called the 'Skin Sect,' named because its members habitually beat skin drums and shook strings of bells to drum up business."
"Most were itinerant physicians or sellers of folk remedies. There was a physician surnamed Yu whose family had passed down a potent prescription for aborting ghost fetuses. He roamed the streets and alleys all day, and whenever some family's daughter had a swollen belly, he would hurry over to help resolve their troubles."
The woman asked curiously:
"Junior brother, could this Physician Yu even deal with a mortal carrying a ghost fetus? He must have been extremely skilled."
The man laughed:
"You misunderstand, senior sister. Aborting ghost fetuses was merely a business that couldn't bear the light of day. Many families' daughters had no self-respect, secretly sleeping with their lovers and conceiving, getting their bellies swollen."
"To save face, wealthy households would claim they had provoked a 'ghost calamity' and conceived a ghost fetus, then invite an itinerant physician over to perform rites and prescribe a couple of potent abortifacients..."
Listening, Lu Sui grumbled inwardly. Snakes had their paths, and rats had theirs.
For something like this, inviting a physician from a clinic would probably fail to conceal the scandal. It had to be an itinerant quack.
"...Physician Yu wandered about until he was forty. Passing through a place called Mute Village, where harsh mountains and foul waters bred unruly people, he found no business. He stayed for days without earning a thing, grew so hungry his chest stuck to his back, and collapsed outside a temple."
The man told the story at an unhurried pace:
"Perhaps his time hadn't come. Physician Yu was saved by a youth who had originally lived in Mute Village but had been driven out by his brothers and had no choice but to shelter in the Mountain God's temple."
"The youth gave Physician Yu water and shared a little food with him. Physician Yu thanked him over and over, saying he would surely repay this life-saving kindness someday."
"But the youth said that if he wanted to repay him, he could do it right then. Physician Yu found that strange and said with a bitter smile, 'My young benefactor, I have neither possessions to my name nor even a patch of ground to stand on. What could I possibly offer in thanks?'"
"The youth said he sought neither silver nor goods and needed nothing else. He only wanted Physician Yu to lend him half his 'fortune.'"
The woman gave a startled cry:
"Borrowing fortune? Isn't that a secret art of the Physiognomy Sect that's been lost for years?"
The man said evenly:
"Don't rush, senior sister. Hear me out."
He paused, an inexplicable note of bitterness entering his voice:
"Physician Yu felt he had spent most of his life destitute. What fortune could he possibly have? So he told the youth, 'My young benefactor, why speak of borrowing? Just take it.'"
"The youth was overjoyed and told Physician Yu his background. He had spent years eking out a living in the mountains, taking demons as brothers and wild gods as godfathers, and had learned a few tricks of the Qi Observation Art."
"He was certain Physician Yu possessed an 'Owl God' destiny, with the great ability to 'swallow Qi, nourish fortune, and devour Baleful Intent.' The reason he had suffered poverty and hardship for the first half of his life was that he had lacked 'food and drink' and failed to feed the 'Owl God,' so its powers couldn't manifest."
"Physician Yu was something of an old jianghu hand himself. How could he take the youth's words seriously? He thought it was all nonsense."
"Unexpectedly, the youth took out fifty taels of silver and fifty taels of gold, asked Physician Yu to be sure to return to the Mountain God's temple to find him fifty days later, and even knocked his head against the ground three times before him."
"Seeing how solemn the youth was, Physician Yu accepted the gold and silver in a daze and left."
"He had never touched so much money in his life. Suddenly rich, he ate, drank, whored, and gambled to his heart's content, and even left his seed behind."
"Originally, Physician Yu hadn't intended to go back. He kept feeling there was something uncanny about that youth, something that made his skin crawl. But now his lover was carrying his child. Feeding himself no longer meant feeding the whole family, so he had to think of ways to earn money."
"After turning it over and over in his mind, Physician Yu steeled his heart, stamped his foot, and decided to return to Mute Village and visit the Mountain God's temple again."
"He counted the days and hurried over on the forty-ninth day. The youth was delighted to see him arrive early and treated him to fine wine and food."
"Physician Yu was unguarded and was plied with drink until he was dead drunk. He slept until the following evening, and when he woke, the youth was nowhere beside him."
"Before Physician Yu could work out what was happening, three wild gods stepped into the temple. The instant they saw him, their expressions changed, and they flew into a rage, declaring that he had stolen their treasure and deserved ten thousand deaths!"
"Physician Yu had never seen any treasure and immediately explained, but the three wild gods refused to believe him and laid curses on him together!"
Wild gods, treasure...
Lu Sui frowned. This story sounded rather familiar.
The next moment, the man recited the three great curses in a venomous voice:
"First, I curse you and all your descendants to ply debased trades, the men as beggars, the women as whores!"
"Second, I curse you never to dwell in a grand three-room house, never to behold vermilion gates and lofty walls. Establish an estate and household, and your family shall be ruined and perish!"
"Third, I curse every one of you to meet an ill end, each fated to die a violent death!"
"After delivering the three curses, the wild gods swept their sleeves and left. Physician Yu was so terrified that he scrambled and crawled all the way home."
"Sure enough, within two years, the family wealth he had saved was squandered away. Physician Yu thought of returning to his old trade and selling medicine in the streets, but he muddled his words, offended a wealthy household, and had his leg broken."
"With no means of putting food on the table, he could only take his wife and child begging for a living. Without realizing it, he reached Mute Village again. The place was utterly different from before. Every household had built a tiled house, and the richest family was something else entirely."
"A grand courtyard estate three courtyards deep, a pair of stone lions at the entrance, every servant looking vigorous-even the steward receiving visitors had his nose in the air. Such splendor."
"Senior sister, guess whose home it was?"
Before the woman could answer, the man sneered, then spat out thick, bloody hatred as though his mouth were full of blood:
"It belonged to that very youth from back then! He had married, established himself, and gained wealth vast enough to flood the heavens!"
"His surname was Lu, and his name was 'Lu Ping'an'!"