Chapter 3
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The Missing Steward
Lu Xingzhou leisurely took a roasted sweet potato from the little Daoist boy and slowly ate it. “Originally, given our shared history, I wouldn’t have pursued your unauthorized occupation of this land, and living together would have been fine… But since you’re so eager to drive me away, then I’m sorry, but turn left outside, head down the slope. That’s your territory. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
Liu Yan’er snapped, “Even if the land is yours, the buildings are ours! Why should we leave?”
“Oh?” Lu Xingzhou chuckled. “If you build on someone else’s privately owned land, do you think the current dynasty’s laws will protect it?”
Everyone looked at Sheng Yuanyao. Sheng Yuanyao remained expressionless.
Judging by her demeanor, the law probably would side with Lu Xingzhou, and even if they tore down their own buildings, it would be in vain. Liu Qingtian’s face cycled between green and pale, before he finally forced out, “I’ll buy it from you. Name your price.”
“Now do you understand why I’ve been staying here?” Lu Xingzhou smiled. “Actually, I suggest Miss Liu change her name to ‘Ruyan’ (如烟 – like smoke). Her charisma would immediately rise, and a bit of overconfidence would seem more normal then.”
Liu Yan’er didn’t understand a single word, looking somewhat bewildered.
Lu Xingzhou finally spoke plainly: “So, this is my home. It’s not for sale.”
“You!”
“Ahem.” Sheng Yuanyao finally interjected, speaking fairly. “Well, you can’t be faulted for tearing down buildings, but you also can’t just take possession and claim them as your home… Since I, the Commander, have encountered this, I shall mediate. It would be best for all parties to negotiate.”
Lu Xingzhou gave Sheng Yuanyao a resentful look. Sheng Yuanyao turned her head away.
No wonder he said he looked affectionate even at a dog.
That look just now gave her the impression that they had a very close relationship and that she was letting him down by not siding with him, making her heart pound… But what relationship do we even have? I’m here to investigate your case, you know!
She didn’t know how it had come to this. Being handsome was truly cheating.
Liu Qingtian finally said, “Commander Sheng is fair. Xingzhou, we’ll buy this land deed from you at double the market price. We won’t let you suffer a loss. What do you say?”
Lu Xingzhou smiled faintly. “Five times. And I want spirit stones of equivalent value, not vulgar gold or silver.”
Liu Qingtian was furious. “Aren’t you going too far?!”
Lu Xingzhou said indifferently, “I hope Gang Leader Liu understands one thing… you are the ones who need this place, not me who needs the buildings. If not for giving face to Commander Sheng, I could simply tear this place down and rebuild a Daoist temple. What is there to negotiate with you?”
The Liu father and daughter’s faces flushed purple with anger.
Actually, five times the market price was something the Danxia Gang could afford. But upon closer calculation, it seemed all the money Lu Xingzhou had earned for the Danxia Gang over the past six months would be taken back, not a single cent less.
It was as if they had returned to the time before Lu Xingzhou had ever arrived.
Had he calculated this? Was even Sheng Yuanyao’s mysterious appearance part of his plan?
A chill ran through Liu Qingtian’s heart as he looked at the grim-faced Bai Chi.
The situation was different now than starting from scratch. Lu Xingzhou had already trained the Danxia Gang’s alchemy apprentices, establishing a complete system from herb collection to proportioning, refining, quality inspection, and classification. All the elixir formulas were there, and now they had Bai Chi, who was even more skilled at alchemy than Lu Xingzhou. It would be quick to earn the money back. It was better to truly bleed a bit and buy the territory to avoid further complications.
Thinking this, Liu Qingtian resolutely said, “Five times it is. Take the money and get lost!”
“No rush.” Lu Xingzhou smiled. “There’s also some compensation I need to discuss with Gang Leader Liu.”
In this world, there was no such thing as severance pay. Liu Qingtian was so angry his voice trembled. “What other tricks do you have?”
Lu Xingzhou slowly said, “Gang Leader Liu forcibly demolished my Daoist temple without permission to build the gang’s headquarters… My Daoist temple was built with excellent timber, and there were also some old items within, imbued with sentimental value, priceless to me…”
Liu Qingtian felt a lump in his throat, almost unable to speak. Locals all knew that Daoist temple was long dilapidated and worthless. But how could he prove it now? Especially with “old items”—wasn’t he just saying whatever he pleased?!
“Pfft…” Sheng Yuanyao managed to hold it in, but one of her burly subordinates couldn’t help but laugh aloud.
Being abandoned after being used, he deserves this retribution. It’s quite satisfying to watch.
They had even forgotten they were here to investigate Lu Xingzhou’s murder suspicion.
Lu Xingzhou leisurely said, “My demands aren’t high… Your esteemed gang was already called the Danxia Gang before you largely settled on this mountain, wasn’t it because your original headquarters were not far outside the mountain? Hmm… adjacent to the Huo family’s old manor. That place isn’t big, spiritual energy is sparse, and it’s fallen into disrepair over the years, not very valuable. How about exchanging it for this place?”
The Huo family again… Sheng Yuanyao’s heart stirred. She eyed Lu Xingzhou’s face suspiciously for a long time, but his expression remained normal, showing nothing particular.
…
Liu Qingtian agreed to this compensation.
The Danxia Gang was originally a small gang, their original headquarters only accommodating a few hundred people. Furthermore, it had fallen into disrepair over the years, its beams worm-eaten, looking as if it could collapse at any moment. They had planned to dispose of it anyway. Since this could get rid of Lu Xingzhou, he saved himself a lot of trouble, and the exchange was immediately concluded.
Tucking the spirit stones and the new land deed into his spatial ring, the little Daoist boy pushed the wheelchair. The master and disciple, under the murderous gazes of the Liu father and daughter, smiled and left the Danxia Gang, leaving behind a scattering of sweet potato peels.
Looking back at the Liu father and daughter’s expressions, both looked like they were about to crack open, smoke practically rising from their heads.
Liu Qingtian’s voice transmission entered Lu Xingzhou’s ear: “Don’t think Sheng Yuanyao can protect you forever! I’ll soon make you pay for what happened today!”
Lu Xingzhou smiled faintly: “I’ll be waiting.”
The little Daoist boy also turned and grinned, making a face at them, then pushed the wheelchair away, nonchalant.
From beginning to end, Lu Xingzhou hadn’t even spared Bai Chi a glance.
Sheng Yuanyao was full of curiosity about this master and disciple. She even felt that Lu Xingzhou’s ultimate goal was that so-called dilapidated old manor. She desperately wanted to follow up and ask some questions, but she had to restrain herself and investigate the case first.
There wasn’t much to investigate in the case. Yesterday, at weishi, Lu Xingzhou had indeed returned to the mountain, witnessed by countless Danxia Gang disciples along the way. The Liu father and daughter couldn’t have arranged this beforehand, so they couldn’t even frame him.
Sheng Yuanyao felt a bit stifled, feeling as though her presence here had purely been to lend Lu Xingzhou support, completely taken advantage of… If she hadn’t been standing there, what good would Lu Xingzhou’s land deed have done? He would have been buried in the mountain long ago. In a world of cultivators and gang conflicts, who talks about laws?
Yet, no matter how she looked at it, it seemed like a coincidence. It couldn’t have been planned by him, could it…? Who knew when the Liu father and daughter would come to drive him away? How could the timing be so perfectly precise?
But she still instinctively felt something was off, especially with Lu Xingzhou demanding the gang’s old headquarters, which was adjacent to the Huo family. She couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something fishy here. Sheng Yuanyao was too lazy to investigate further at the Danxia Gang. She instructed her two subordinates to continue collecting evidence and rushed down the mountain to pursue Lu Xingzhou.
She chased all the way to the foot of the mountain but saw no one. Could a little Daoist boy pushing a wheelchair really be that fast?
Puzzled, Sheng Yuanyao tried chasing in the direction of the Danxia Gang’s original headquarters.
As she approached the intersection leading to the Huo family’s old manor, Sheng Yuanyao’s heart suddenly leaped, and her eyes widened.
The so-called “missing” Old Steward Huo stumbled into the intersection, ragged and covered in wounds. Dried blood stained his body, making him look grotesque and terrifying.
He was screaming maniacally, “It’s him! He’s back, coming for my life!”
Immediately, Demon Suppressing Bureau subordinates stationed there surrounded him and brought him under control. “Who did you say came back?”
Old Steward Huo looked confused for a long time, as if he couldn’t remember anything, then painfully clutched his forehead, struggling fiercely. “It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me who killed you back then! Go find the Grand Tutor!”
He had completely gone mad.
The Demon Suppressing Bureau subordinates groaned, looking up helplessly at Sheng Yuanyao, who stood silently at the intersection with a frown.
Sheng Yuanyao turned and went into a nearby house, retrieved paper and brush, and quickly drew a vivid portrait of Lu Xingzhou. “Is the person who returned, him?”
Old Steward Huo looked at it blankly for a long time, only muttering, “Not me, not me…”
If the killer truly were Lu Xingzhou, this portrait would surely provoke Old Steward Huo even more, but his reaction was certainly not that of recognition. Sheng Yuanyao had a splitting headache and could only instruct her subordinates: “Keep him securely guarded for now, and arrange for medical treatment. Assign people to ask the elderly locals what major incident the Huo family was involved in years ago, and who they might have offended?”
Before, it was thought to be an ordinary murder case, which would have been fine. But now it seemed to involve the Huo family’s past, and that was troublesome.
The Huo family was no ordinary household. Old Master Huo was the current Grand Tutor of the dynasty, and the current family head was a First-Rank Marquis. Could the old secrets of such a noble and powerful family be casually investigated?
She had planned to solve the case first and then inform the capital, but that wouldn’t work now. Sheng Yuanyao took up her brush and wrote a letter, instructing someone to send it to the Huo family in the capital. She looked up at the setting sun outside the window, and Lu Xingzhou’s figure still floated in her mind.
She just had a feeling that the clues to this matter could still be found with him… Even if not, couldn’t she at least get him to treat Old Steward Huo’s madness?
– Mochinuna.
