The night was like a veil. It covered all of Beiluo City in a misty glow.
Lu Changkong was in his cold, hard armor, and was riding on a Ferghana horse. He took in a deep breath, and smelled the thick stench of blood.
He trembled slightly.
Could it be that… Mo Tianyu had correctly predicted his son’s fate?
Had Lu Fan really fallen into the hands of the three major aristocratic families and Sword Sect?
His back suddenly slouched a little.
Luo Yue quietly followed behind Lu Changkong. He also clearly smelled the blood in the air.
He was holding the horse’s reins tightly, and his face was extremely grim.
The sound of wheels rolling against the tiles could be heard as the carriage was pulled along by the horses, drowning out the sound of their hooves.
Mo Tianyu pulled the curtain back and hopped out of the horse carriage, a huge wine flask at his waist. He inhaled deeply, and smelled the stench of blood.
“This city has suffered numerous killings,” he exclaimed. “I had predicted tremendous misfortune, and it looks I didn’t get it wrong this time… I really wish my prediction hadn’t proved correct, but, unfortunately, we can’t change the will of the heavens. City Master Lu, don’t be too sad.”
He then took the flask from around his waist, took a mouthful of wine, and sprayed it out of his mouth. The strong smell of alcohol washed away the smell of blood in the air.
He went to sit on the driver’s seat, dragging his straw sandals. His Confucianist robe was open and revealed his chest as he staggered along, looking unruly and licentious.
Lu Changkong glanced at Mo Tianyu, his eyes blazing. He looked like he wanted to kill Mo Tianyu.
Lu Changkong pulled out his sword with great fury, ready to slice him to pieces and splatter his blood all across the ground.
Mo Tianyu wasn’t afraid in the slightest. He took another mouthful of wine, burped, and burst into loud laughter.
“That’s right. The Farmer Clan has fallen, but it’s still one of the Hundred Schools of Philosophy. Since you’re a descendant, you still out to possess some of the domineering spirit that people from the Hundred Schools of Philosophy have…”
Lu Changkong narrowed his eyes. “Sir, please don’t spout nonsense like that,” he said in an expressionless voice. “One must be mindful of his words and actions.”
“Luo, come along. Let’s return to Lu Manor.
“If anything has happened to Fan, I will raise an army and destroy Zhongnan’s Sword Sect, even if I have to relinquish Beiluo City!” Lu Changkong declared loudly, then picked up the reins and whipped the horse hard across its back.
The sound of its galloping filled the air as it sped toward Lu Manor.
Luo Yue’s eyes were blazing as he placed a hand on the long sword at his waist and shouted in a low voice, “I vow to follow City Master Lu to the very end!”
The three hundred horsemen followed behind him.
Mo Tianyu was left alone on the main street of Beiluo City, sitting on the driver’s seat of the carriage and holding a wine flask in one hand.
He watched the whole troop gallop past him and leave him in the dust. He started laughing.
Then he made the coachman race to catch up with them.
…
Lu Changkong’s face had initially been extremely grim.
But…
As he rode the horse through Beiluo City, the expression on his face became one of doubt and puzzlement.
He finally came to a spot where many Ironblood soldiers were cleaning up corpses, and his gaze hardened.
He pulled on the reins to slow the horse down, and it neighed, its hooves falling against the tiles and sounding like a heavy rain.
Lu Changkong hopped off the horse and quickly started making his way toward the Ironblood soldiers.
Some of them saw Lu Changkong coming their way, and had excited looks on their faces.
The City Master is back?
“We greet City Master!” The Ironblood soldiers fell on one knee.
“How’s Young Master?
“What happened? Where are the rest of the guards that are supposed to be guarding the city wall?”
“How’s the battle in front?”
“What are the casualties?”
Lu Changkong frowned, a cold expression on his face, and asked the Ironblood soldiers a series of questions.
The Ironblood soldiers, who were all kneeling on one knee, were dumbstruck by all the questions Lu Changkong shot at them from under the visor of his helmet. They all stuttered and couldn’t manage to get out a single word.
Luo Yue was behind Lu Changkong and couldn’t stand their stunned silence any longer.
His eyes widened in anger as he took one step forward and roared loudly like a lion.
“You were asked a question! What? Are you all scared silly?! What are you stammering about?!”
The soldiers trembled.
“Reporting to the City Master,” one soldier finally managed to speak up.
“The battle within the city… ended a long time ago.”
Lu Changkong was stunned.
But before he could ask another question, the soldier started recounting what happened.
“The three major aristocratic families, the Lius, the Zhus, and the Chens, were accused of rebellion by Young Master Lu. He wiped out their families, as well as all the strong fighters from Sword Sect. Hundreds of Confucianists insulted Young Master Lu on Beiluo Lake, so after arresting them all, Young Master Lu gave orders to execute them all too…”
The soldier spoke fairly quickly, but every word he said sounded like a blast of thunder in Lu Changkong and Luo Yue’s ears.
What on earth?!
The soldier from earlier had given them a completely different report.
Why was everything the other way around?
Lu Changkong’s lips trembled slightly. “Are you telling the truth?”
The soldier was already on the verge of tears, so why would he give a false report?
“So why are there so few soldiers guarding the city gate? Where are the rest of them? What are our causalities?”
The soldier clasped his fist in one hand and replied, “Reporting to City Master. In this battle…eighteen have been injured, and three are dead. As for the rest… Assistant General Luo has ordered them to clean up the dead bodies.”
There was a sudden shocked exclamation from the horse carriage following behind Lu Changkong’s three hundred horsemen.
“That’s impossible! Five out of the Seven Heroes of Sword Sect came, so how were you able to gain victory?”
It was the voice of Mo Tianyu, who was raising his doubts from inside the horse carriage.
Lu Changkong’s face instantly fell. His expression became cold after he heard what Mo Tianyu said.
“Mo Tianyu, I said before that you need to mind what you say and do. Just because you made a prediction, my son doesn’t deserve to live?”
Luo Yue also shot Mo Tianyu a nasty look.
“If you weren’t the top disciple of the Imperial Advisor, I’d kill you,” Lu Changkong calmly added on.
Mo Tianyu wasn’t stupid. He knew he shouldn’t have said that, but his pride wouldn’t allow him to admit he was wrong, so he merely clasped his hands together and bowed slightly in an attempt to make peace.
After that, he pulled out the three copper coins from his robe and studied them carefully.
Had he miscalculated again?!
Lu Changkong took a deep breath and turned back toward the soldiers. His expression softened, and he closed his eyes.
“Good, that’s great… as long as Fan’er is well.”
He didn’t know what happened, but it seemed like Lu Fan had taken care of everything.
After finding out that Lu Fan was safe, Lu Changkong was no longer in a hurry to return to Lu Manor.
He was going to help Lu Fan clean up the mess.
…
“Five out of the Seven Heroes of Sword Sect came to attack Beiluo City, so unless Lu Changkong was there and had used his elite group of three hundred martial arts practitioners to surround them and fight back… given the power of the Beiluo City city guards, Lu Ping’an surely should’ve been doomed!”
“I don’t believe it…”
Inside the horse carriage…
Mo Tianyu scratched his disheveled head and held the coins in his hand. He took a mouthful of wine, threw the coins into the air, and sprayed them with wine.
The copper coins spun about in the liquid, then landed back in his palm.
He narrowed his eyes and used the moonlight shining through the window to look carefully at the divination result.
“It still says tremendous misfortune. Lu Changkong’s son… was supposed to meet with great trouble, and shouldn’t have survived it.”
Mo Tianyu put away the copper coins and scratched his head in frustration.
“No, I have to do this in front of Young Master Lu. I’m going to tell his fortune and calculate his fate!”
“Go to Lu Manor,” he instructed the coachman.
…
At Lu Manor…
In Lu Fan’s courtyard…
Jing Yue was carrying his wooden sword box and sitting cross-legged on the ground.
He looked up at the night sky full of stars and seemed a little upset.
He managed to survive.
When he recalled how Lu Fan had remained seated in his wheelchair, looking at him coldly, his heart jolted with fear again.
He thought he’d be spared if he surrendered. But Lu Fan had asked for a reason to spare his life, which had chilled him.
And if he hadn’t come up with a reason, Lu Fan would’ve killed him.
Any influence the Sword Sect had in Beiluo City had been completely eliminated by Lu Fan’s incomparable power.
Four of the Seven Heroes of Sword Sect had been killed.
As for him, if he hadn’t acted quickly and handed over the Sword Sect’s transfusion technique and other sword techniques in exchange for his life, then… even if he surrendered, he still would’ve lost his neck.
Because… he knew too much.
The night was cold, just like Jing Yue’s heart.
Jing Yue was no longer one of the Seven Heroes of Sword Sect. He had a new identity now…
He was Young Master Lu’s slave.
He had no position and no status.
That’s right. In order to stay alive, Jing Yue didn’t just give away Sword Sect’s transfusion techniques and sword techniques—he sold himself along with them.
But he didn’t really feel humiliated by this.
Instead, he thought what he always did:
Isn’t being alive… a good thing?
He lifted his head and saw Ning Zhao, who was dressed in white and sitting cross-legged on the roof of Lu Fan’s room. The moonlight shone down on her body, and made her look like a fairy that had fallen from the heavens. Her beauty was unparalleled.
Ning Zhao had her eyes closed and was calibrating her Qi. She could feel him looking at her, and her eyelashes fluttered as she opened her eyes.
She glanced coldly at Jing Yue.
Jing Yue’s face froze, and he looked at Ning Zhao with a stiff smile on his face.
Suddenly…
Ning Zhao lifted her head and frowned as she looked around the outside of the manor.
Jing Yue sat in the courtyard, and his eyes also narrowed.
Outside Lu Manor…
The elegant carriage drawn by five horses slowly came to a stop, and the horses neighed.
Mo Tianyu alighted, his hair still messy, carrying a flask of wine.
He saw that the main gate of Lu Manor was shut fast, and his eyes narrowed.
His grip tightened around the flask in his hands, and he stepped on the driver’s seat in his straw sandals. He elegantly flew up into the air and landed on the roof of Lu Manor.
He stepped lightly on the roof tiles and headed deep inside Lu Manor.