Lu Jian was the clan leader of the Lu family. He was happy managing the clan and planned to retire in old age and prosperity.
A couple of more years from now and he would have no more cares and troubles like he did tonight.
At his advanced age of 169 years old right now, having that buffer of 31 more years indeed sounded pretty promising to his ears.
'If only the lot of my Clan Elders could successfully cultivate to the 5th Stage and replace me already, then I could...' Lu Jian sighed and halted his thoughts right there.
Thinking about this only made him more dispirited.�
"Ehem... Why are we not hurrying up, Patriarch?" A voice asked behind Lu Jian. This Family Elder was curious since it has been more than five minutes and the party has yet to leave the Patriarch's mansion.
"If you are so excited to go there yourself, then you have my permission to scout ahead, Elder Lu Dong." Lu Jian admonished briefly with no emotion whatsoever in his voice.
"I follow the wise decision of the Patriarch. Please forgive my impatience." Elder Lu Dong apologized and waited alongside his fellows in silence.
Although he received some thinly concealed jeers from his fellow Elders and garnered not a few amused smiles from these counterparts but Elder Lu Dong was an old dog already.
Getting this unhealthy attention from a number archaic dying bones like himself mattered little to him.
Now if it were some gorgeous youngling instead, especially a maiden in her freshest bloom, then that would be a whole different story altogether.
"Lu Su..." The Patriarch called after a minute had elapsed into their wait.
"What is it, Patriarch?" Lu Su answered.
"Are you sure that the Elders of the Yan family or their forces have really not mobilized into the dwelling of Lu Chen?"
"Our spies tell the same news, Patriarch. No faction from the Yan family was deployed tonight.
Everything is quiet as can be in their territory and no change has been seen after Lu Chen's conflict with Yan Kang." Lu Su reported.
"Hmmm..." Patriarch Lu Jian nodded and once more lapsed into easy silence. This action has only resulted in the Elders to helplessly look at one another in quiet assent.
There were four of them Elders here in the grand halls of the Patriarch's residence. And among this group of superpowers in the clan of Lu, only one woman stood tall amidst this masculine breed.
From the beginning up until now, this old lady has yet to utter any word. Boredom could be seen decorating her face because she totally knew that this was nothing more but a great waste of her time.
A few minutes more of inaction and the lady could finally not continue to dawdle in here.
"If we are still not going, Patriarch... then I would like to take my leave and check the situation in Lu Chen's household myself." The brave lady broke the stillness.
"I beg to disagree, Patriarch! What if the attackers are still there? You'd be in great danger, Fen'er! Let's just wait in here a little bit more to ensure that everything is okay before we meddle in Lu Chen's affair!"
Another old man reacted strongly against the lady's suggestion.
The pair of old grandpa and grandma looked at each other and although both were wrinkled and bowed already by time but the love and affection they felt for each other still persevered through the harsh passage of years.
"Nothing can happen to me, Lu Jing. If it was an agent from the League of Shadow Assassins, I doubt that we could see Lu Chen's remains even if we wanted to. The crime has all but finished by now."
Lu Fen replied frankly. Even though her words were a bit too tame against that dark guild but that did not mean that she condoned the actions of those cowards.
This was certainly not the first time that a thing like this happened in Nexus City.
Feuds always ended in bloodbath and even Patriarchs were not saved at all from the destruction that would ensue in the aftermath.
Now if the messenger from the Demonic Sword Sect would intervene and put a stop to it all then it would have no doubt bore a better outcome.
Alas, that wretched fool was happy to tolerate assassinations and would go as far as quench any obvious retaliation or any clan wars within the city.
The Demonic Sword Sect's Emissary Duan Ru would have had no second thoughts in sacrificing the life of one man than completely disrupt the order of Nexus.
Everyone knew that that evil man was only here for two things. To cultivate in peace and to have an endless supply of one special item. The priceless blood of a virgin.
"I still wouldn't allow you to go, Fen'er! End of discussion!" Elder Lu Jing closed his mind on the topic. He did not even want to entertain such a stupid notion to exist.
"But Lu Jing, I can t..." Elder Lu Fen wanted to continue but alas, the Patriarch of the Lu Family mitigated the damage before it could escalate further.
"We should wait a little bit more, Lu Fen. Let us stay here for five more minutes and then we shall go." Lu Jian could only compromise. He did not like someone of his retinue to go on a trip on her own.
If something happened to even one of the Clan Elders, the Lu family's strength within the city would surely be affected also. Especially if this demise would befall upon Elder Lu Fen.
One should know that Lu Fen was the strongest influence of Lu, just next to that of the Patriarch.
Five minutes quickly passed by and the group finally left to visit Lu Chen's home. Or whatever was left of it that is. They did not take anyone with them in the hope to be as inconspicuous as possible.
It was not like their people could help them against a true bloodied assassin which could kill anybody in the army of thousands and just as easily escape if he wanted to.
So the Four Elders and the Patriarch went on foot and traversed the distance from the Patriarch's domain to Lu Chen's own in just a matter of less than 60 breaths.
Mortal Shedding Experts can be as fast as the wind if they so wished.
When they arrived, they saw that the front gates of the courtyard were still closed and so they could only skip that part entirely and jump in like the very thieves of the night that they feared themselves.
If only that huge formation above them could attack and defend like the one inside the Demonic Sword Sect, the Lu Family would have been better prepared against these criminals that thrived in the night.
Alas, all this array could do was condense the spiritual essence of the world to enrich the people cultivating within its borders.
The name fully implied the function of this formation also. Spirit Gathering Array.
"THUD!" Five sets of feet landed on the eerie residence and it did not take long for all eyes to occupy the lone man who sat on the ground as if in extreme agony.
This man was sitting in a darkened portion of the courtyard and it was difficult to see his countenance completely.
"Are you Lu Chen? How are you still alive?" the Patriarch asked a pair of questions in his disbelief. His eyes could not believe the reality of the situation at all.
Although he could not discern if this was really Lu Chen yet but since it was hard to think of any alternative, this person could only be Lu Family's Lu Chen!
Especially because Lu Jian could sense a 4th stage Mortal Shedding Realm cultivation in this man.
'How?! This is incredible!'
'No one ever escaped from the dark clutches of that Dark Assassin Guild at all! Not that i could remember!' Patriarch Lu Jian was stunned inside.
Perhaps some lucky fool did escape in the long history of the Nexus but that mattered little since in recent memory until now, Patriarch Lu Jian has yet to hear the League fail in killing their target.
"Why... are you so disappointed to see that I'm still alive, Patriarch? I almost died tonight!" Clark roared in a voice filled with pain.
He added much flair and style that anyone would be fooled with how epic his performance was. Clark was of course pretty aware that this man was the current Patriarch of Lu.
He grew up getting bored of looking at this man's face in the history lessons of the clan.
'Tsk tsk... You're much uglier in person, my dear Patriarch.' Clark wanted to smile but hid it in time.
He tried standing up but he could still feel an uncomfortable sting on his groin so he contented on sitting on the ground instead.
Although his health had long ago returned to a hundred percent but that did not mean that he could not anymore feel the hurt of his recently injured part.
It reminded him over and over again of his big miscalculation!
'DAMN! Why does it still hurt even now?!'