Kunpeng District was in utter chaos.
Flames flickered, thick smoke billowed, and silhouetted figures rushed about trying to put out the fire.
Civilians and soldiers darted everywhere in panic.
In the darkness, Xiong Taidou moved swiftly and silently through a pitch-black alley.
When he burst out of the Grand Chancellor’s mansion, he no longer spat blood.
Instead, his expression was incredibly relaxed, and his footsteps light, like someone leisurely strolling on a countryside outing.
At the far eastern edge of Kunpeng District, beside the military rapid road running along the canal, Xiong Taidou came to a halt.
He tilted his head, listening carefully to the sounds around him for a moment before smiling and standing tall.
From the shadows, Lu Tai suddenly sprang out without a sound and calmly positioned himself just three zhang (about twenty meters) in front of Xiong Taidou.
The two locked eyes for a moment.
Xiong Taidou cracked a reluctant grin and cupped his fist toward Lu Tai. “Senior brother!”
Only after Xiong Taidou finished his greeting did Lu Tai smile slightly and return the gesture. “Not at all. You entered the sect many years before me. I should be the one calling you senior brother.”
Xiong Taidou looked a bit gloomy as he gazed at Lu Tai. “I wouldn’t dare. The sect’s rules are strict. You’re inner-door true disciple; I’m just outer-door protector. No one dares to break protocol. Tsk tsk…”
Shaking his head, Xiong Taidou rubbed the part of his body that Lu Tai had just struck with a heavy fist and grinned, “Not bad. The Canghai Strength of the Jingyang Lu clan packs some force. Heh heh, you actually managed to hurt me!”
Lu Tai sheathed his sword, looking at Xiong Taidou with ease. “I only used thirty percent of my power. What about you?”
Xiong Taidou’s eyes rolled wildly, and he gave a strange laugh. “You guess.”
The two fell silent, exchanged a glance, and Lu Tai waved a hand at Xiong Taidou. “Well then, we part ways here. The follow-up at Anping Prefecture is in your hands. It’ll be tough battles before this matter is settled.”
Xiong Taidou patted his chest lightly, utterly unconcerned. “Don’t worry, nothing will go wrong. In Gaoking, aside from those useless so-called death warriors, we haven’t shown even half our true strength.”
“Just watch the fun at Anping Prefecture… Heh heh, with the current state of the Dayin Court, who dares to lead the army there? If I don’t beat them black and blue, then I’m his grandson. Heh heh… Oh, right!”
Xiong Taidou suddenly inhaled deeply and stepped forward two paces, eyes burning with fierce intent as he stared at Lu Tai.
Lu Tai clenched his fists tightly, warily watching Xiong Taidou’s body tense up. “What’s this? Some sudden change?”
Xiong Taidou pointed at Lu Tai with a serious voice. “I wanted to deal with this two days ago, but with the major event tonight and strict sect discipline, I dared not act rashly. So I let it slide for two days.”
“You have a nephew named Lu San.”
Lu Tai narrowed his eyes and said solemnly, “Lu San… yes, that’s my nephew. There’s no way he would bear a grudge against you, right?”
Xiong Taidou looked at Lu Tai strangely. “That nephew of yours is sixteen, in the Meridian Expansion Realm, with such talent… If you want to protect him, then we’ll have to fight. My only grandnephew, Xiong Dingtian, the current headmaster of the Xiong Martial Hall in Gaoking, should have died by his hand.”
“Besides Xiong Dingtian, several of my outer-door disciples have all been killed cleanly!”
“I’ve thought it over carefully. This can only have been done by Lu San.”
Lu Tai’s eyes darkened as he stared at Xiong Taidou. “You want to kill him?”
Xiong Taidou shook his head, his neck joints making a series of heavy cracking noises. “Do you want to protect him or not? Hmph, you don’t really think that all my sixty years of hard cultivation in the sect was wasted, do you? You’re no match for me.”
Lu Tai lightly tapped the hilt of his sword.
He frowned deeply, pondering for quite some time before letting out a slow sigh. “Actually, though he’s my nephew, we weren’t close over the years.”
“Although he’s listed in the genealogy of the Lu family branch of my Tian’en Marquisate, when the Tian’en Marquisate split off from the Laiguo Duke House back then, blood ties-wise, he should have stayed with the Laiguo Duke House.”
“But then, the eldest branch of the Laiguo Duke House had a certain old lord’s grandnephew who took over the hereditary Feathered Forest Lieutenant position left by his grandfather. As for me, after being granted marquisate for my merits, by imperial rules I could no longer linger with the Laiguo Duke House. So during the family's division, Lu San was assigned to my Tian’en Marquisate branch.”
“That meant Lu San, being part of my Tian’en Marquisate line, no longer had a chance to reclaim his grandfather’s Feathered Forest Lieutenant inheritance from the Laiguo Duke House.”
“Ha! The Emperor’s close ministers commanding over thirty thousand soldiers on the northern border—such a position in the Feathered Forest Army is an absolutely top high-ranking generalship. They stand by the Emperor year-round and could rise to the top in a single step. It’s one of the best positions in Gaoking City!”
Lu Tai sneered with contempt and shook his head. “The grand Duke House bullying a mere child. Tsk tsk!”
Xiong Taidou looked baffled at Lu Tai. “What exactly are you trying to say? I’m a rough guy, not used to all these winding words.”
Lu Tai folded his arms.
Seeing Lu Tai like that, Xiong Taidou let out a breath of relief.
His tense body relaxed slightly—this stance from Lu Tai meant he wasn’t about to launch a surprise attack, so it must symbolize some goodwill toward him.
“The reason I said so much is to convince myself to let you go kill Lu San.”
Lu Tai’s face turned cold. “After all, no matter where he was supposed to be, he’s a Lu. Bloodwise, he’s my nephew. His name even appears in our Tian’en Marquisate’s Lu family genealogy.”
“If you kill him, it’s like slapping me in the face.”
Xiong Taidou’s gaze became scattered as he stared at Lu Tai. “So, are you agreeing or not?”
Lu Tai looked up at the sky, which was covered in thick black clouds.
After a long silence, he slowly said, “I’ve said before, he shouldn’t have been part of the Tian’en Marquisate… Hmm, I remember, back then his father, Lu Chan, actually beat me up once.”
“When I was still studying martial arts at the clan school, after class, we would gamble a bit. I wanted to cheat a couple of clan brothers out of two hundred copper coins… And Lu Chan beat me up badly for it.”
“Later on, I was unable to focus on my studies and enlisted in the Feathered Forest Army early.”
“Because of youthful foolishness and violation of military discipline, his grandfather Lu Xiu had me punished severely with twenty military rods.”
“No leniency for family. So…”
Lu Tai took a deep breath and shook his head hard.
He opened his arms and looked at Xiong Taidou with a deep gaze, voice low and slow. “I try to convince myself that Lu San isn’t my real son, nor a nephew I’m close to. His father beat me; his grandfather beat me.”
“But when I was young, my family was poor—extremely poor. Among the Lu clan of Jingyang, my branch was like the lowest of the low.”
“When I was gravely ill, Lu Chan took money out to buy my medicine.”
“In the Feathered Forest Army, Lu Xiu personally taught me spear techniques and even used his salary to buy medicine for my training.”
“I remember very clearly, Uncle Xiu then said—The Laiguo Duke House is declining generation after generation. It’s rare to have someone like me still willing to shed blood and sweat to cultivate the martial way.”
“Actually, I never thought much about the damn Lu family’s legacy or glory.”
“I was just desperately poor, trying to fight for a future.”
“But I was a poor student, couldn’t do business, and had no chance at officialdom through filial merit. Aside from my broken body, enlisting and fighting for a future was all I had.”
“Though I had my own fate, I have to admit it was Uncle Xiu who helped me stand firm in the Feathered Forest Army.”
“Even more, you know? When I married my current wife, the bride price was all money that Lu Chan emptied from his private stash and lent to me.”
Xiong Taidou’s expression grew cruel and fierce as he glared at Lu Tai. “So, you still won’t agree?”
Lu Tai took a deep breath.
Suddenly, a terrifying sound like ocean waves crashing echoed from his body.
His skin turned a faint dark gold, a Vajra symbol appeared between his brows, and he suddenly grew more than a foot taller.
He sneered coldly at Xiong Taidou. “Damn you! Who gave you the guts to scheme against my Lu family’s people?”
“I’m an inner-door true disciple!”
“You’re just an outer-door protector!”
“My master who personally taught me outranks your master by a hundred times. I am a Tian’en Marquis of the Great Yin, commanding millions of elite soldiers on the northern border. You’re nothing but a wild hermit!”
“You dare negotiate with me?”
Before Xiong Taidou could react, Lu Tai stretched out a long arm, grabbed his shoulder, and like a parent tossing a baby, hoisted him over his head, slamming him down hard onto the military rapid road paved with three-foot-thick stone slabs.
Then he rained heavy punches down on him relentlessly.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The ground trembled slightly.
Despite Xiong Taidou’s body being unharmed even against volley crossbow fire, a few heavy blows from Lu Tai cracked seven or eight bones.
Half of his face caved in, and blood continuously sprayed from his mouth.
Lu Tai’s brutal punches left Xiong Taidou powerless to fight back, completely drained of strength, collapsing on the ground unable to move.
Straightening his clothes calmly, Lu Tai looked down at Xiong Taidou lying there in shock and said leisurely, “Sixty years of hard cultivation? Hmm? This is all you have? No wonder you’re just an outer-door protector while I’m the inner-door true disciple! You simply can’t compare!”
“Alright, get back to Anping Prefecture and launch according to the sect plan.”
“The sect’s discipline is strict. If you dare sabotage the sect’s arrangements, watch your skin!”
“Also, in Gaoking City, I won’t allow you to bully Lu San. One strike for every time I see you!”
Xiong Taidou glared furiously at Lu Tai. “You won’t allow me to bully the weak? What about my disciples then?”
Lu Tai hesitated but nodded. “Since Lu San killed your juniors, it’s only right that your disciples retaliate.”
“However, you owe me a favor. Remember, I allow your disciples to openly seek revenge on Lu San, but you owe me a huge favor!”
Xiong Taidou looked at Lu Tai in frustration and spat out a mouthful of old blood.
After taking such a beating and breaking seven or eight bones, he still owed a favor?
But thinking of Lu Tai’s terrifying fists, Xiong Taidou felt a chill down his spine, losing any courage to argue.
Inner-door true disciple—this was truly beyond the standing of an outer-door protector like him.
“Fine, it’s settled then. The Anping Prefecture affair will surely go off without a hitch.” Xiong Taidou gritted his teeth through the pain of broken bones, stood up, walked to the canal, and stomped hard, breaking a large hole in the ice.
He spat blood forcefully beside the icy hole.
(End of Chapter)