Lu Qian’s actions caused no physical harm, but were incredibly insulting.
Zhu froze on the spot because of what Lu Qian did.
Among Zhu’s guards, someone suddenly shouted angrily—like a grave had been dug up—and charged forward, thrusting his sword straight at Lu Qian’s heart.
Standing beside Lu Qian was a towering figure, a Wu General even taller by several inches than Lu Qian himself, who sneered fiercely.
It really was a sneer, not just a cold smile.
His laugh was filled with wild beast-like ferocity.
He took a step forward, standing in front of Lu Qian, spreading his two huge palms—bigger than a folding fan—like small shields blocking the guard’s sword.
With a faint ‘ding’ sound, the sword, swung with all the power of the guard who’d reached the ninth heaven of the Meridian Stage, only left a pale white mark on the Wu General’s palm.
Lu Qian’s eyes widened as he praised, “Lucky. What’s your name and cultivation level?”
The Wu General casually pressed his palm against the stunned guard’s chest, slamming him so hard his chest caved in.
The sounds of breaking bones were like popping beans, and the guard spat out a mouthful of blood before flying backward.
“My lord, I am Yu Dianhu, captain of these thirty-six brothers,” Yu Dianhu bowed to Lu Qian, lightly pounding his right fist on his chest. “As for cultivation, I’m at the third realm of the ‘Unbreakable Mani Body’, roughly equal to first or second stage fighters at the early Jing Meridian level. Yuan Gang strikes can’t pierce my body, and no one can withstand a single strike from me.”
To be on par with the early Jing Meridian stage?
A formidable expert, a great expert!
And his surname is Yu?
Lu Qian understood now.
The Wu Generals were the Emperor’s royal guards and honor guards at the Imperial City.
Some were carefully selected from the elite Yulin Army, but others—the most intimate and close—were like those little eunuchs at the Imperial Guard’s Office.
They were orphans brought up and rigorously trained from a young age, with huge resources poured into cultivating these “true insiders.”
In the formal organization, Wu Generals were subordinate to the Imperial Guard’s Office, directly managed by the Chief Official.
Currently, that chief was Yu Changle, so it was natural that these orphans raised as Wu Generals also carried the surname “Yu.”
“Your name has the character for ‘Tiger’ in it? I like that.” Lu Qian looked at Yu Dianhu happily, still twisting Zhu’s face. “Have you married yet?”
Yu Dianhu smiled sheepishly. “Not married yet, busy training. No time. The Chief says women only create cracks in our hearts. If our hearts have flaws, our skills fall by more than half.”
Lu Qian laughed and shook his head, then twisted Zhu’s face hard again. “That’s partly true, but also not quite. From now on, your life belongs to me. Later, I’ll find you a suitable young lady to marry, start a family, have children. Your descendants will all be looked after by my Tianyang Manor.”
Lu Qian clearly told Yu Dianhu and the other thirty-five Wu Generals that they were no longer Wu Generals.
They were sent to Lu Qian and now belonged to Tianyang Manor.
By the rules of the Dayin dynasty, these thirty-six men and their descendants were forever bonded to Tianyang Manor as hereditary servants and retainers.
If Tianyang Manor prospered, they would wear gold and jewels, enjoying honor and wealth.
If Tianyang Manor fell, they and their entire families would share the same fate, facing death and hardship.
Beastly fierceness flashed in Yu Dianhu’s eyes.
He stared intently at Lu Qian and loudly declared, “I understand, my lord. From now on, anyone who dares harm you will have to trample over our brothers’ corpses to get to you.”
Lu Qian smiled and finally let go of Zhu’s face.
He stepped back two paces, looking at the pale white skin on Zhu's face, now darkening with a bluish bruise.
Lu Qian nodded. “Young Master Zhu, you and I have long been enemies ever since you tried to kill me multiple times, haven’t we?”
Zhu finally came to his senses from his shock.
He stared at Lu Qian and said word by word, “Aren’t you afraid of the Prime Minister’s Mansion?”
“Among the noble families, as long as no one dies in a fight, it’s just a fine. Even if someone dies, you either pay ten times the fine or handle revenge yourselves.” Lu Qian smiled wryly. “Do you think I’m afraid of your revenge? You’ve been scheming against me behind my back all this time, so why should I be scared of you now?”
Zhu almost jumped up in fury, yelling, “We are descendants of sages! Aren’t you afraid of the world’s scholars and their endless gossip?”
Lu Qian raised his palm and slapped Zhu hard.
Zhu tumbled out of his wheelchair, vomiting blood and convulsing on the ground.
“I am from the eunuch faction! We eunuchs, what do we fear from scholars’ petty gossip?” Lu Qian clasped his hands behind his back, laughing loudly, then turned and strode away. “You Zhu family’s younger generation isn’t capable—too soft, no guts... let your elders come negotiate with me!”
Lu Qian had suddenly come to love the title “eunuch faction.”
Being able to hit whoever you want, curse whoever you want, and rampage without consequence—it truly was the world’s best shield!
After Lu Qian left, the tavern erupted into chaos.
Many low-ranking scholars drinking and dining downstairs hurried upstairs.
Some came with ill intent, looking for trouble.
Others tried to curry favor by asking questions, and still others glanced at the messy scene and hurriedly ran off, spreading the news of Lu Qian’s brutal beating of two sons of noble families inside the tavern, nearly killing them, to every corner.
Meanwhile, at Kunpeng Lane, about a dozen miles from Liude Residence, in a branch of the Jiuyin Sect, a secret underground chamber.
Incense smoke wrapped around the Jiuyin Ghost Mother’s altar.
Shi Wuyou knelt solemnly before the statue with the third disciple Duan Fangyu, hands clasped, softly reciting secret invocations to the Ghost Mother.
The secret chants were obscure and complex.
Activated by Shi Wuyou and Duan Fangyu’s yin and soft Yuan Gang, the chanting sounded continuous, echoing between the stone walls.
It felt as if the air itself was filled with buzzing green-headed flies, causing irritation and restless blood to surge within the body.
The great horse Shi Wuyou had ridden when storming into Liude Residence had transformed back into an ordinary gray warhorse, apart from being somewhat bigger in size.
The horse rolled its eyeballs, standing in a corner of the secret chamber, trying hard to lift its foreleg, opening its mouth to nibble slowly at its own hoof.
Just as Lu Qian finished beating Zhu and Zhu Yu, laughing as he left Qiaotou Tavern, the altar lantern flickered.
A soft sigh sounded, and a shabby, dim red lantern, looking weak and flickering, appeared out of thin air atop the altar.
Then, the candle inside the red lantern hissed and went out; the lantern shattered utterly.
With two sharp ‘claps’, a pair of blood-colored embroidered shoes dropped out from within the shattered red lantern.
One landed on the altar, the other seemed unsteady, slipping off and rolling in front of Shi Wuyou.
Shi Wuyou and Duan Fangyu exchanged glances, but this ghostly thing, escaping from the Imperial City, had still found them precisely.
Perhaps it was the altar, the Ghost Mother statue, or the secret incantations at work.
“Master,” Duan Fangyu hurriedly reminded Shi Wuyou.
This was the “Ghost Mother” the nine elders had encountered somehow a few months ago and accepted back.
Shi Wuyou stopped chanting, slowly standing, gazing coldly at the two embroidered shoes exuding terrifying evil power, causing the temperature in the chamber to drop sharply.
“I am aware that the Jiuyin Sect’s history is not long, rising in the late previous dynasty, with only some three thousand years of tradition,” Shi Wuyou said calmly. “But my Jiuyin Sect’s sacred texts descend from the ancient immortal sect known as the Youming Sect.”
“So I understand that the so-called Jiuyin Ghost Mother is not a real entity existing somewhere.”
“The concept of the Jiuyin Ghost Mother originates from the Youming Sect’s supreme achievement in the ‘Nine Yin Ghost Refinement’ lineage. Once achieved, you can transform into the Nine Yin True Ghost, command the Nine Yin underworld Qi, and control millions of ghosts. But that’s just a legend.”
“In the three thousand years of Jiuyin Sect history, no one has ever succeeded in forging the ‘Jiuyin Ghost Mother’s Profound Scripture’. Not even entry-level.”
“One previous sect leader, with great wisdom, used the Jiuyin Ghost Mother as a totem for the followers’ worship, gathering their faith and loyalty, making them hell-bent and fearless. That’s how the Jiuyin Sect flourished at the late period of the last dynasty.”
“This was passed down only within the sect leader's lineage; the elders didn’t know.”
“Because they didn’t understand, they truly believed there was a Jiuyin Ghost Mother. They didn’t know it was just a fabrication by the sect leader’s line.”
Shi Wuyou looked at the two embroidered shoes with cold eyes, saying, “But whether the Jiuyin Ghost Mother truly exists is irrelevant. The world is all about trading interests. You can manipulate those fools to die for you, so I see you have demands on my Jiuyin Sect.”
“Having demands is good. As long as what you offer is sufficient, I will have the entire sect worship you, recognize you as the Ghost Mother, even obey your commands.”
Shi Wuyou kept his hands behind his back, concealed in his sleeves.
His left hand clenched a dusty little bell, while the right grasped a palm-sized jade talisman intricately carved with a terrifying ghost face pattern.
These were Jiuyin Sect’s heirlooms, passed down over three thousand years.
Shi Wuyou bringing them here today was a sign of serious preparation.
The two embroidered shoes remained silent a moment, then the one on the altar ‘clapped’ and jumped to the floor.
The two shoes pressed together, and wisps of blue smoke slowly rose from them.
A woman’s figure, strikingly similar to a Green Sparrow, emerged slowly from the smoke.
She was hazy, flickering like a mirage, as if a breeze could blow her away entirely.
“What benefits do you desire?” came a cold, graceful voice, as if laced with hooks capable of tearing out one’s heart and soul bit by bit.
“Longevity! Enlightenment! Attainment! Immortality!” Shi Wuyou stared at the woman’s form, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
He clenched his fists and shouted hoarsely, “Immortality! Immortality! Eternal and unending! Everlasting freedom!”
“Is there truly anything eternal and unchanging in this world?” The woman’s figure chuckled darkly, laughing briefly before slowly nodding. “But giving you a chance at longevity — that’s not difficult.”
“Only, to gain longevity, you first need to kill someone for me!” The woman’s shadow said softly, “A man named Lu Qian.”
“He cannot live. He must die.”
Shi Wuyou’s gaze hardened. “I am not like those foolish elders to be toyed with at will. Show me some benefits first, then we can talk.”
The woman sighed deeply after a long pause. “Such is humanity... especially men... Ha, ha, ha, ha-ha!”
The embroidered shoes flipped over, and with a sharp ‘clap,’ a fist-sized, golden, dazzling little incense burner, adorned with countless tiny jewels and dazzling brilliance, flew out from one of the shoes.
“It contains nine ‘Treasure Flame Spirit Pills’. When taken, these will shatter the sacred heavenly mechanisms, cut off the immortal path, but inside the pill’s spirit, will help you forge an immortal foundation, extend your life by eight hundred years, completely transform your body, turning you into a profound Yin ghost body.”
“You must kill Lu Qian as soon as possible. He has become my burden, and must be cut off, or I will suffer endless poison fire day and night... as if trapped in an unending hell, unbearable pain!”
(End of Chapter)