Pact of Chivalry

Ji Yuan actually managed to twist out a piece of twisted logic, but first he had to go along with Lord Lu's words—even students who deeply respect their teacher like to hear praise.

"Infer from one instance, cease killing upon hearing words. This shows Lord Lu has excellent comprehension paired with rare execution ability. However, Lord Lu, after all, gained spiritual intelligence through cultivation as a fierce tiger. Even if you learned worldly etiquette from ghost servants, you still don't understand worldly wisdom. Heh..."

At this, Ji Yuan chuckled.

"That Scholar Lu, though not a bookworm, is only slightly better than an ordinary scholar."

With that, Ji Yuan pointed at the group of young heroes in the distance.

"Why did these people come to hunt tigers in the mountains? Naturally, because Lord Lu once ate many people. Unlike hunters seeking tiger skin or medicine merchants seeking tiger bone, entering the mountains to hunt tigers is only to pacify the people, not for personal gain. At the root, Lord Lu ate people first, and the heroes entered the mountains afterward."

But here, Ji Yuan shifted his tone.

"Of course, these are all nonsense. If others want to kill me, I may kill them. If I stick out my neck to be killed, wouldn't I be a fool?"

These words pleased Lord Lu immensely, and even the tiger's head nodded slightly.

"However, as I said before, these people entered the mountains not for profit but for chivalry. Knowing full well there are tigers in the mountains, they still venture in. Lord Lu, do you think such people are many or few in this world?"

The fierce tiger outside the temple frowned, pondered briefly, then replied respectfully.

"To answer Master, they should be few!"

Ji Yuan smiled.

"People like Yan Fei, Luo Ningshuang, and Lu Chengfeng are all young heroes of the jianghu, possessing chivalrous hearts. Though they may have some youthful arrogance, as long as they abide by their conscience, cleansing the jianghu world in the future is not impossible. Lord Lu killing them would not be wrong, but the world might lose nine chivalrous individuals."

"These nine young heroes have solid martial foundations, but to Lord Lu, they are mere child's play, posing no real threat. That is why they sent word hoping Lord Lu would show mercy."

The tiger spirit did not speak. Ji Yuan, afraid he might overthink, quickly added, but his tone remained unhurried, even slightly humorous.

"Ji proposes an interesting pact with Lord Lu. Would Lord Lu do me the honor?"

"Master, please speak!"

This time, Lord Lu answered quickly.

"These nine people's chivalrous deeds today do not mean they will remain upright in character in the future. Even now, they have some intent to seek fame. Of course, young heroes seeking fame is understandable. Lord Lu may act as a witness. If in the future, any of these nine commit evil and cause suffering to living beings, you may bring them to justice again, whether by devouring or slaying, without violating the heavenly way. And if any among them truly deserves the title of righteous and benevolent hero, Lord Lu's actions today will offset past evil deeds and bring boundless merit. This is—an upright heart, unobstructed thoughts!"

"Roar..."

Lord Lu's tiger eyes gleamed, demonic qi surging. He felt as if many of his previous doubts and worries had been resolved. In his excitement, he couldn't help but let out a low roar.

He understood Master Ji's reasoning, and the implied meaning was clear: he, the fierce tiger spirit Lord Lu, had hope to transform!

Otherwise, how could he walk the mortal world to fulfill this pact?

For a moment, Lord Lu pondered deeper the profound meaning of Ji Yuan's words, "Cultivation is like being human—upright body, upright heart, upright path." He even vaguely grasped the meaning of "The path of heaven takes from the abundant to supplement the deficient; the path of man takes from the deficient to offer to the abundant." Truly, his thoughts were unobstructed.

Rather than saying Master was saving the nine people, it was more accurate to say Master was using these nine to gift him a tremendous opportunity, helping him fully comprehend!

"To hear Master's instruction again, Lord Lu offers a grateful bow!"

The excited and respectful tiger answered toward the temple, then turned his head to look at Lu Chengfeng and the others, startling the somewhat dazed group back to their senses.

"Lord Lu naturally obeys Master's command. May I ask if I need to escort them down the mountain?"

"No need, no need, no need! We can go down the mountain ourselves!"

Lu Chengfeng and the others quickly refused. Even knowing the tiger spirit wouldn't eat them now, they dared not stay near the demon.

Ji Yuan also took the opportunity to smoothly back down.

"Let them return on their own. The mortal world has deep prejudice against demons. Lord Lu, you should return to the mountain to cultivate!"

With his thoughts now unobstructed, Lord Lu was eager to dash away immediately. He only added that last sentence out of respect for Ji Yuan. Now that Ji Yuan told him to hurry back and cultivate, he thought Master was truly a celestial being.

Just as he was about to bow and leave quickly, Lord Lu had a sudden thought and spoke again to the Mountain God Temple.

"Having received Master's enlightenment today, Lord Lu has nothing to repay. But I can grant a favor to these few reckless... these young heroes..."

With that, the fierce tiger approached the young people, looked them up and down, and seeing them too scared to move, made a human-like smile with his tiger face and spoke.

"Today, when you go down the mountain, you may speak openly that the man-eating tiger in the mountains has been brought to justice. From now on, mountain guests need not fear being eaten by the tiger of Niu Kui Mountain."

After saying this, Lord Lu let out an "ow" and spat out a white tiger skin from his mouth, its fur stained with blood, as if freshly peeled.

Then, with a flicker of his tiger eyes, he turned and made a fierce tiger bow toward the Mountain God Temple.

"Master Ji, this student takes leave!"

Seeing that Ji Yuan didn't immediately say anything to refute him, the tiger spirit secretly rejoiced and quickly leaped away as if fleeing, leaving afterimages in the wind. If you say more, I won't hear—won't hear!

It was a good while after Lord Lu had gone far before the people inside and outside the temple collapsed as if they'd just taken a bath.

One side sighed in relief at having muddled through again, while the other was filled with the relief of survival.

But just as Ji Yuan relaxed, he suddenly felt numb and itchy all over, as if electrocuted. Lifting his hand, he could even see tiny electric arcs darting. In a daze, a phantom of a chess piece gathered at his index and middle fingers, then sank into his fingers and disappeared. Ji Yuan's body trembled with it.

By the time Ji Yuan came back to his senses, it was as if everything before had been an illusion. He stretched out his hand, looking left and right, but couldn't make sense of it.

After a while, the people outside the temple recovered their strength and hurried inside to bow in thanks to the beggar-like master, pulling the suspicious and paranoid Ji Yuan back to reality.

The campfire inside the Mountain God Temple was nearly out, leaving only a pile of red-hot charcoal. The five who could still stand all bowed with clasped hands. Yan Fei and the four severely injured ones thanked as best they could.

But they had to hurry down the mountain for medical treatment, so Lu Chengfeng, at the front, tentatively asked.

"Thank you, Mister Ji, for saving us. We regret not heeding your advice earlier, and we will remember this kindness for life! But our companion is badly injured and cannot stay long on the mountain. Will you come down with us?"

Fortunately, they hadn't forgotten their earlier promise, saving Ji Yuan the trouble of reminding them. He naturally wouldn't refuse this offer.

"My body is unwell. If it's convenient, I will follow you down the mountain."

These people were eager to have Ji Yuan accompany them; how could there be any inconvenience?

None of them—whether the young heroes who had narrowly escaped death or the master Ji Yuan—dared to remain on the mountain. They extinguished the temple's open flames and set off at once.

The others, aside from Ji Yuan, had trained in martial arts since childhood, so they weren't bothered by the slippery path and darkness.

The events of tonight left a deep impression on Lu Chengfeng, Yan Fei, and the rest. They now realized that demons, monsters, ghosts, and goblins truly existed in the world, as did transcendent masters, and a newfound reverence filled their hearts. Of course, the weight of their agreement also pressed heavily on them.

In the past, becoming a renowned hero was a dream; now, it seemed they'd have to think more about keeping their own skins intact!

The four carried the injured man, while Lu Chengfeng carried Ji Yuan. The group moved swiftly, their feet flying as they raced down the mountain toward Shuixian Town.

Asking for collections and recommendation tickets, and also asking everyone to invest in the new book on the client!!