Knife splashing

Chapter 117 Bath Encounter
"Let's go find a place to talk."

Seeing Li Yan's serious look, Sharifei hurriedly pulled the two of them into the city, turned left and right, and came to an inconspicuous inn.

This inn is not a gangster inn, so most of the guests are businessmen and the environment is quite elegant.

Sharifei led the two into the room, checked the corridor to see if there was anyone, then he closed the door, sat down and sighed: "Brother Lu San, although he is a taciturn person, he is a first-class hero!"

As he said this, he gave a thumbs up.

Li Yan frowned and asked, "Did the news leak out?"

Sharifei said in a deep voice: "I also inquired from many sources and found out that after we left, this guy returned to Wujiagou, left his name, and took the blame for the murder and arson."

"We went to the Fengwen Pavilion to get information. Although they are bound by the rules of the martial arts world and will not speak nonsense, they have revealed their true colors after all. This time, Lu San has completely exposed us."

"This brother is worth making friends with!"

Li Yan was silent for a moment, "What's the situation now?"

Sha Lifei whispered, "After all, so many people died. Chang'an has issued a warrant for arrest. The reward is generous, which has attracted many swordsmen, who have rushed to Shangzhou."

"The Manchuanguan Cao Gang no longer dared to protect him. They announced to the public that Lu San was just a worshiper and that what he did had nothing to do with them. They distanced themselves from the matter..."

Li Yan frowned, "Where's Lu San?"

Sharifei was speechless. "Of course he ran away. His whereabouts are unknown. Qiao Sanhu's people in Fengyang searched everywhere but couldn't find him."

"Rumor has it that he has left Shanzhou and sought refuge in Ezhou overnight."

"It's okay to run away."

Li Yan breathed a sigh of relief and sighed slightly.

To be honest, he is now considered an old hand in the world. Most of the people he meets claim to be righteous but are actually despicable and insidious behind the scenes. Many of them even harm their friends for their own benefit.

Recalling the childlike smile on Lu San's face when facing the fox in Heifenggou, Li Yan inexplicably felt uncomfortable.

"Forget it, there's no point thinking about it."

Seeing Li Yan's ugly face, Sharifei slammed the table and said, "Don't worry, I will always keep an eye on the movements of the martial arts world."

"If Brother Lu is arrested, we will hijack the prison van and the execution ground to save him. If he dies, we will avenge him!"

"Lao Sha, I'm putting this out there. Don't stop me!"

Although he was also touched, he said this more to reassure Li Yan, fearing that he would dwell on this and do something stupid again.

Li Yan glanced at it and said, "It's okay, I know what's going on."

Now that things have come to this, there is no point in thinking too much. Just do what you have to do in the future. If you find an opportunity, help Lu San get rid of the crime.

He could already imagine how reluctant the young man was when he left his hometown...

Thinking of this, Li Yan asked again: "Where are Old Mengtou and the others?"

"rest assured."

Sharifei smiled and said, "I just happened to have an opportunity. A wealthy merchant from Shangluo was transporting goods to Chang'an. I used some tricks to get Old Mengtou and his men in. We have the time and witnesses, so this matter has nothing to do with them."

"That's fine."

Li Yan nodded and said, "After a night's rest, we will leave Shangluo and head to Taibai Mountain!"

Sharifei smiled and said, "If there is anything you need to prepare, just let me know and I'll go and get it done."

Li Yan thought for a moment and said, "Just get some clean clothes."

Wang Daoxuan also stood up and said, "It's just right. My Taoist robe is torn and looks terrible. There are many people from the Xuanmen sect on Mount Taibai, and I can't let them laugh at me."

Sharifei rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "Hey, you two, we've been through a lot on this journey. I heard there's a nice bathhouse in Shangluo City where you can listen to music and take a bath. Why don't we go there and have some fun later?"

Wang Daoxuan was somewhat moved by what he heard, "Is it expensive?"

"What you said, Taoist..." Sharifei raised his eyebrows, "It must be expensive, but if it's expensive, you won't go?"

Wang Daoxuan replied honestly: "Go!"

Sharifei laughed, "That's it."

After saying that, he quickly pulled Wang Daoxuan away.

After they left, the room suddenly became quiet.

Li Yan smiled silently, then looked at his left hand and pulled up his sleeve. He saw a leather wrist guard tied on his wrist with a mechanism on it. With a slight flick, the dagger would pop out and fall into his hand.

When you are in the world, you should always have a backup plan before you go out.

This hidden knife was left by his father.

Although it has some fame, but here is the trick.

His father once said that a hidden knife should never be used easily.

When others know that you have this secret weapon, they will be on guard when you make a move, and there will be loopholes in their mentality when you make your move.

And every move must be a critical moment.

To put it bluntly, it is a kind of psychological deterrent. Its real power is not very great, and it can only hurt people by surprise.

This is the real mystery of the hidden knife.

So on weekdays, Li Yan rarely uses it.

What he was really looking at was the mark of the hook on the palm of his left hand.

At this moment, he could feel a ball of cold air flowing in his palm, moving along the line of the talisman.

This is the magical power from the underworld: the soul-catching rope.

All the supernatural powers in the world are condensed with the help of the six senses of mouth, eyes, ears, nose, body and mind, and most of them are used for sensing. I didn’t expect that there are also supernatural powers from the underworld that can be used to attack.

Of course, ordinary people cannot perceive this supernatural power.

Unless someone uses the Yin-Yang Eyes or the Qi-Seeing Eyes, they can see an invisible chain.

The greatest function of this magical power is to capture souls.

If it were more powerful, it could entangle and crush the soul.

It can also have a destructive effect on magical instruments.

Thinking of this, Li Yan concentrated his mind and urged himself.

Swish... There seemed to be the sound of chains in my ears, and at the same time, a cold and evil aura emerged from the palm of my hand, condensing without dissipating, waving like a snake.

A smile appeared on Li Yan's lips.

With his current level of skill, the Soul-Catching Rope can only be extended to one foot in length, which looks threatening.

But if you hide your hidden knife,

Then, he would have an additional terrifying Soul-Breaking Sword!

…………

Shangluo City, also known as "Shangluo", was first built in the Qin Dynasty.

This county town is surrounded by mountains and has water on three sides, which makes it an excellent feng shui, but this also limits the size of the city.

Three main streets, running horizontally and vertically, divide the entire city. The area is not large, but as the core of Shangzhou area, it is still extremely prosperous.

Most of those who can afford to buy a house in the city have some wealth. The truly poor people all live in the villages near Shangluo City.

Because of this, the whole town looks very clean.

The custom of bathing has existed since ancient times. It was popular among the people during the Song Dynasty. Many cities had "public bathhouses" where ordinary people could pay a few dollars to take a bath and also enjoy back-scrubbing services.

Many literati and scholars like to take baths, especially Dongpo, who not only likes to take baths, but also has high requirements for the bath scrubber. In "Ru Meng Ling·How Can Water Scale Be Accepted", he wrote:

How did scale ever suffer? Look closely at nothing.Send a message to wipe the back of the person, and do your best to shake your elbow every day.Light hands, light hands, the layman was originally innocent.

The general idea is that Mr. Dongpo met a master with heavy hands in a public bath in Sizhou, and complained: "Oh, master, you have to wave your hands and elbows all day long. Be gentler, be gentler. There is not much dirt on my body to begin with."

Of course, bathhouses are still divided into different levels. "Luo Tang" is the most luxurious bathhouse in the city. Not only is the environment elegant, but after taking a bath, you can also drink wine and tea, and listen to the girls singing a little song.

"Hey, girl, hold your hands tight..."

In the misty water, Wang Daoxuan was also complaining.

The "hot spring bath" is luxurious, and all the people who do the bathing are women. They do it gently and softly, and they focus on doing it in a subtle and silent way.

However, the three of them were dusty from the long journey and felt that their bodies were not clean enough, so Wang Daoxuan naturally felt that this "hot spring bath" was a lie.

The girl who was scrubbing the body was also angry.

Well, our "hot spring bath" is not without its visitors, but it is also a luxurious place. I don't know what happened to us today, but these three rough guys came here, covered in dirt, and their hands are sore from rubbing, but they are still not satisfied.

Thinking of this, the girl said softly: "If you are not satisfied, I will help you get someone else."

As she said this, she winked at the sister next to her.

The person who was giving Sharifei a bath nodded and left immediately.

Only the one next to Li Yan lowered his head and pretended not to see it.

Soon, two burly women came in, rolled up their sleeves, and rubbed Wang Daoxuan and Sha Lifei until they screamed.

"Master Dao, why are you so talkative!"

"Hahaha…"

After coming out of the bathroom, Sharifei was still complaining, which made Li Yan laugh.

Fortunately, after washing up, the three of them felt refreshed. They changed into casual robes and leaned on the soft couch in the side room facing the pool.

Soon, a servant brought wine and food.

In the middle of the pond opposite, there is a waterside pavilion and stage.

However, such places naturally cannot sing the powerful old Qinqiang, but sing Shangluo Daoqing Opera. It was originally a rap tune of Tang Taoist priests, and later spread among the people, with different characteristics in different places.

The song sung on the stage was "Daluotian", which told the story of two immortals, Lu Zu and Zi Yang, descending to the mortal world to enlighten Chong Mozi to become an immortal. However, Chong Mozi was obsessed with wine, sex, money and anger, and was very difficult to deal with...

The night wind was chilly. The three of them ate some food and drank some wine, listening to some music. They felt that all the tiredness from the past period of time was gone.

"I'll go take a look."

Sharifei was a restless person. He became annoyed by the music, so he turned around, opened the door and went out to see what new things this "hot spring bath" had.

But as soon as he opened the door, he quickly drew his head back and closed it, saying, "What a coincidence! I met an acquaintance."

Wang Daoxuan asked curiously, "Who is it?"

Sharifei whispered, "The guard of the Lu family, Feng Ping."

Li Yan seemed to be thinking about something. "The Lu family is a wealthy family in Shangluo. It's not surprising to meet them here. We have other things to do, so please ignore them."

Sharifi nodded, and simply lay down on the couch, drank a few glasses of wine, and soon he began to snore loudly...

…………

"Feng Ping, what's wrong?"

A tall young man asked.

"Sir, I met a familiar face." Feng Ping bowed respectfully and said, "He gave us a place to take shelter from the rain on the way. He is just a wanderer, so you don't need to pay attention to him."

"Humph, I told you not to come to this place."

Next to the young man was a young man who was obviously older, dressed in fancy clothes, had puffy bags under his eyes, and looked like he had indulged in alcohol and sex too much.

The "Tangyu" was luxurious in every way, but in his eyes, it was full of disdain, and he muttered: "This kind of place is only for servants, this young master would never even look at it in Chang'an..."

The two young men were none other than Lu Kang’s two sons.

Although Lu Kang had a successful career in the government, he was a lovesick man. He loved his first wife very much and never took a concubine in his entire life.

His two sons, the elder one was named Lu Xiaowen. Because he rose to high positions with him, he was not strictly disciplined and became a famous playboy in Chang'an City.

The younger one was named Lu Xiaowu. The couple had a son in their later years. But with the lessons of Lu Xiaowen, they took him very seriously and hired famous teachers to teach him since he was young. Both in terms of knowledge and interpersonal relationships, he was quite outstanding.

Hearing Lu Xiaowen's complaints, Lu Xiaowu shook his head slightly and whispered, "Brother, mother asked us to deal with the family business as soon as possible. The only one in Shangzhou who dares to take over is Qiao Sanhu."

"This man is overbearing and vicious. He asked us to come here to show us his power. Brother, please don't conflict with him..."

When Lu Xiaowen heard this, he was immediately annoyed and cursed inwardly: "This Qiao Sanhu went to Chang'an many years ago and begged to see me, so humble. Now he is shaking. It's really..."

"Big brother!"

Lu Xiaowu's face became solemn. "The situation is different now. Our Lu family is on the verge of death. You can't do anything reckless. If you can't stand it, go back first and let me talk to him."

"That won't work." Lu Xiaowen shook his head and said, "You are a cunning boy. Mother said that we should divide the family. I won't argue with you, but don't try to fool me."

After hearing this, Lu Xiaowu's eyes flashed with murderous intent, but his face remained expressionless. He patiently said, "Since big brother is worried, then follow me, but you must obey me and don't say a word."

"If you can't do it, I'll turn around and leave!"

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you."

Lu Xiaowen said impatiently.

After Lu Kang died, his mother took charge of the division of the family. He was unwilling to stay in this small Shangluo City and was anxious to get the silver and return to Chang'an.

He has many friends in Chang'an City. Relying on his old relationships, he can make a good living in any business!

Traveling all the way to Qi and Lu?
He didn't want to suffer this...

Feng Ping, who was standing next to him, shook his head secretly.

Led by the servant, the three of them arrived at a secluded courtyard behind the bath house. The facilities here were more luxurious, and it was an independent courtyard, so the price was even higher.

Qiao Sanhu had already taken a comfortable bath, drinking tea and humming a little tune. When he saw the two brothers coming in, he just glanced at them and said with a smile, "Oh, the two gentlemen are here. Come on, sit down, serve some tea!"

He rushed here from Fengyang just for the Lu family's property.

Under Lu Kang's protection, the Lu family has been thriving in recent years. In addition to a large number of shops, they also own an astonishing number of fields.

Other families dare not touch this piece of fat meat, for fear that others will accuse them of bullying orphans and widows.

It’s just a good deal for Qiao Sanhu.

Whether the snake can swallow the whale depends on how the conversation goes tonight...

…………

Two hours later, Li Yan and the other two came out of the hot spring and walked towards the inn while talking and chatting.

They have made plans to leave tomorrow.

Another two hours passed, and it was already late at night when the Lu brothers and their bodyguard Feng Ping came out of the bath, all with grim expressions on their faces.

"Lu Xiaowu, how can you agree to such a condition?"

Lu Xiaowen's face turned purple and he cursed without any hesitation.

"Brother, we have no choice."

Lu Xiaowu sighed, turned around and left.

And Lu Xiaowen snorted, got on the carriage next to him, and scolded: "Take me to Zuihualou, I am very angry now!"

Lu Xiaowu returned to the Lu Mansion and told Old Madam Lu everything that had happened.

"Ah~"

Madam Lu was also completely disappointed with her eldest son. "Let him go, Xiaowu. When do you decide to leave?"

A gleam of brilliance flashed in Lu Xiaowu's eyes, and he lowered his head and said, "Mother, father's fake funeral has deceived everyone."

"Without further delay, I will set out secretly tonight to escort my father's coffin to the treasure cave..."

(End of this chapter)