Chapter 24: Old Subordinates

Shen Tang didn't understand. They were clearly enjoying their meal together, and he even actively treated her leg afterward. Why did Lu Xingzhou suddenly cut her off?

Furthermore, she waited for Liu Qingcang to report to the city lord about the matter concerning her apprentice, but there was no follow-up. She didn't know if Liu Qingcang had discovered this set of tactics was useless and had already given up.

Although the intense conflict of the past few days seemed to have calmed down and entered a period of development, Shen Tang still felt the atmosphere was even more like an impending storm.

The Ho family's old residence, separated by fields, had been desolate and closed up for several days because of the murder case and the absence of a core figure. These past couple of days, someone from the main family returned, and there was a constant stream of carriages and countless famous people from Xia State coming to pay respects. The sound of music filled the air daily, making it incredibly noisy.

She understood a little; the person who returned was the Ho family's Sixth Young Master. His guards were as numerous as clouds. Shen Tang also followed Lu Xingzhou's advice and urged her disciples not to go out recently to avoid causing trouble.

Shen Tang also noticed that before Lu Xingzhou left, he seemed to have temporarily put away the spiritual energy array he stole from the Ho family, apparently not wanting to alert the other party.

"He suddenly wanted to treat my leg, was it because of this?" Shen Tang asked Du Gu Qingli, "Did he feel that the spiritual energy couldn't be used and that I was losing out by paying extra rent?"

Du Gu Qingli considered for a moment. "I think he purely wanted to treat you. Before, you were just a tenant, and he didn't want to spend too much effort."

"Then what about now?"

A phrase "paramour" that Sheng Yuan Yao had said flashed through Du Gu Qingli's mind. She pursed her lips and didn't answer.

Anyway, you've already touched each other's legs.

Shen Tang asked again, "Then why did he suddenly leave?"

Du Gu Qingli said, "Are you a curious baby?"

Shen Tang: "......"

Du Gu Qingli's face was expressionless, but she felt a slight sense of satisfaction in her heart.

Shen Tang glared at her unhappily for a while, then asked, "Before, when Sheng Yuan Yao investigated the Ho family murder case, did he list Lu Xingzhou as a suspect?"

Du Gu Qingli said, "Yes, that day we first met was exactly when Sheng Yuan Yao went to Danxia Mountain to investigate if Lu Xingzhou had an alibi during the murder case."

"The Town Demon Division closed the case later and didn't announce it publicly. Do you know the outcome of the case?"

"When you asked me to investigate Lu Xingzhou before, I already inquired. Sheng Yuan Yao's report said that the murderer should be Ho Shang, the Ho family's Seventh Young Master who died young ten years ago, and he returned after learning sorcery to seek revenge."

At this point, the two exchanged glances. The same idea popped up in their minds, and they said in unison, "He is Ho Shang?!"

Shen Tang muttered in a low voice, "If he is Ho Shang, then it can explain where he got the temperament of a scion from a prominent family. Even if he wasn't favored in his childhood, he still received education related to prominent families..."

In fact, Sheng Yuan Yao still had this suspicion, which was why he pointedly said to him that day, "Isn't it good to be alive?" and later reminded him to avoid the Ho family.

The reason for the suspicion was the same: a person's temperament is determined by the education they receive from childhood. Lu Xingzhou clearly shouldn't have come from hardship. No one would have thought that he was a student from a modern ivory tower, naturally possessing a gentle, scholarly air. And Lu Xingzhou wasn't just a student initially; after graduation, he had always held management positions, making his demeanor even more refined.

All the possible guesses people could make only pointed towards Ho Shang.

Before, Lu Xingzhou felt that Shen Tang and the others were not like the Tianxing Sword Sect. Besides Du Gu Qingli's incorrect style, Shen Tang's temperament was also a significant point of doubt. The Tianxing Sword Sect was a sect of sword experts, yet Shen Tang was like a young lady from a wealthy family. This difference in temperament was very obvious.

Who knew how similar this pair was, even giving the bystanders the same points of doubt?

Shen Tang continued to analyze, "With the intricate scheme he displayed, if he is Ho Shang, then the Ho family murder case is absolutely not as simple as killing a few servants to vent anger. Instead, it was meant to lure the Ho family members to their deaths... Cutting off the Ho old housekeeper's hand tendons was also to attract the Ho family to bring healing medicine. This kind of medicine is not easy to find, but it is very easy for the Ho family. This was his most convenient scheme; he wanted to seize the medicine to treat his leg!"

Du Gu Qingli was stunned, "Just the two of them, master and disciple, dare to plot against the Ho family?"

"This is his dangerous plan... He doesn't want to involve you and me." Shen Tang leaned back in her chair, looking distractedly out the window. "Finally, I understand his withdrawal and why he wanted to treat my leg before leaving. He is afraid that if the scheme fails, he can at least leave me a prescription."

Du Gu Qingli looked at her. "Your tone... Do you want to help him?"

Shen Tang quietly said, "Don't you?"

Du Gu Qingli blurted out that it had nothing to do with her, but somehow, the clear words didn't come out. She only said, "My task is to protect you. I don't want you to blindly get involved in trouble."

Shen Tang smiled, "In other words, if it weren't for the task, you would personally be quite willing to lend a hand?"

Du Gu Qingli's face was stern. "The Ho family are not good people. Master also hates them."

Shen Tang said leisurely, "Actually, whether I help him or not, this trouble has already arrived. Since Liu Qingcang is involved with Ho Yu, he will of course use Ho Yu to deal with us."

Du Gu Qingli nodded, "Yes."

Shen Tang said again, "You say, how does the Ho family's trouble compare to my trouble?"

Du Gu Qingli blurted out, "Not worth mentioning."

Shen Tang's eyes were deep. "Then why would I be afraid of one more trouble that's not worth mentioning..."

Du Gu Qingli pursed her lips and didn't speak.

..........

"Master, you didn't just want to use the Tianxing Sword Sect as thugs, did you? You specifically used that very general spiritual energy stealing effect to coax them into renting a house, wasn't it just for this?"

Lu Xingzhou: "...... Can't sweet potato block your mouth?"

A Nuo sighed and said, "But what's with this attitude of not wanting to involve them now? Even if you want to cut ties, it's already too late! Even without you, just considering the enmity between Liu Qingcang and the Shen family, he will also find Ho Six to help deal with Shen Tang."

Lu Xingzhou sullenly said, "Ho Six is ultimately here for the matter concerning Ho Shang. What does Liu Qingcang count for? How could his enmity make Ho Six prioritize dealing with him... Furthermore, Liu Qingcang hates me much more than he hates Shen Tang. If he were truly to instigate Ho Six to deal with someone, it would be me first. Now that we are living outside, the first wave of attack will definitely fall on us. I will use this to distract Ho Six's attention and not let him pay attention to Shen Tang."

A Nuo looked at him strangely. "This will completely overturn your previous plan and put you in the line of fire yourself."

"Originally, I had two sets of plans. The first one wasn't even certain whether I could fool people into being thugs. Could I just wait until someone stupid enough to be fooled came to the door to act? Secondly, using others as thugs is never good. Others are innocent; this is my own matter."

"You're just deceiving yourself."

"I'm telling you, little thing, before you were calling me 'sister' one moment and 'my dear sister' the next..."

"I used to call Fish 'sister' too, but I didn't follow you."

"......"

A Nuo said, "Anyway, you're not using thugs. How will we achieve our goal with just the two of us?"

"Of course, there are still ways." Lu Xingzhou sneered. "I didn't expect that after so many years, with all those good resources, Ho Six would only have Six Pin strength. It's truly ridiculous."

A Nuo also laughed, "Indeed, a wort."

Considering Lu Xingzhou's condition and Ho Yu's condition, Ho Yu is still two years older. Lu Xingzhou, full of injuries, could cultivate to Seven Pin, but Ho Yu, with such good resources, was only one Pin higher in strength... He really didn't know where he got the face to pretend, claiming to be from a top prominent family.

She, A Nuo, was already Five Pin. It seemed the Ho family master's ability to raise children was still not as good as Lu Xingzhou's.

"But he has many treasures in his hands. There must still be powerful magic treasures. We cannot take him lightly." Lu Xingzhou gently tapped the armrest of his wheelchair. "Furthermore, the two attendants he brought, they are actually two Five Pin..."

Just listening to this strength was extremely troublesome. Two Five Pin guards, Ho Yu himself Six Pin and full of treasures, and the rest of the guard team was also not easy to provoke, with a large number of Seven and Eight Pin cultivators. Even Liu Qingcang is a Six Pin martial cultivator, and the city lord Xu Bingkun is also a Five Pin.

On this side, there was a pitiful Five Pin child and a Seven Pin cripple.

This was just a young master coming out, yet it already made people feel like ants trying to shake a tree.

Lu Xingzhou didn't show much seriousness. He leisurely wheeled his wheelchair out of the guest inn and stopped at the street corner, drawing a pattern on the wall root.

That night, a person in black appeared like a ghost in the guest inn room. "Are you the one who wants to buy the Impermanence Life Snatch? ...... Eh? Judge adult, why are you..."

A Nuo sat on the windowsill on one side, eating a sweet potato, her small feet swinging back and forth. She waved to him in greeting.

"Ah, Adult A Nuo, you are here too..."

Lu Xingzhou said, "Don't... I am no longer a judge. Now I am here as a customer, looking to buy a murder from the esteemed hall."

The person in black: "......"

The leader has become a customer. What should he do? The organization training didn't cover this...

"What? Others buy murder to kill me, and you all take the job. I buy murder to kill others, and you just stand there dumbfounded?"

The person in black said helplessly, "About Liu Qingcang buying murder to kill you, we had no idea it was you at first. After all, there are many people with your name. We really didn't think the 'traitor' Liu Qingcang mentioned, who worked in Danxia for half a year, would actually be you. What kind of virtue and ability does Liu Qingcang have? How many people could he be considered senior to that would require your assistance... Who would have thought of this..."

"Flattering me now won't get you promoted."

"Truly not... Anyway, if I had been assigned the mission, I would have certainly retreated upon seeing it was you..."

"Alright, I know it was exactly those idiotic people who were assigned the mission and dared to truly act against me. He saw the situation was bad and still deluded himself into thinking I was ordered by Yan Jun, wanting me to spare his life."

"Then..." The person in black wiped his sweat. "Adult... oh no, Mr. Lu, since you told me the beginning and end of this failed mission, can I... can I report it?"

"No... Of course, I'm not ordering you with my judge identity, but suggesting. If my friends know that you actually took a mission to kill me, you will die very ugly."

After eight years of painstaking effort, there were of course not only opponents and competitors within Yan Luo Hall, but also good friends with shared interests, and subordinates like Eye who still respected him greatly.

He, Lu Xingzhou, was not such a complete failure as a person.

But when Lu Xingzhou said this, a thought flashed through his mind: If Yuan Mu Yu knew, would she kill him?

The person in black sighed. "I know. Mr. Lu, who do you want to kill this time? Liu Qingcang? We'll go back and draft a plan. We'll deliver his head within three days."

"Have I not taught you that before taking a task, you need to investigate thoroughly and have a clear idea? Before, you didn't even investigate whether the names were the same and just dared to act randomly. Now, you don't even know that Liu Qingcang is following Ho Yu. You want to kill him? What are you relying on to kill him? Sending your head?"

"I..."

Lu Xingzhou became more and more angry as he spoke, patting the armrest of his wheelchair. "I've only been gone for less than a year, and the rules of Yan Luo Hall have become so lax? It's simply a mess! How are those people doing things! Yuan..."

He stopped in mid-sentence, his expression hard to describe.

Does it really make no difference to you whether I'm there or not?