Notes on Longevity

Chapter 225 Lu Ya's First Meeting with Yang Chenghan: A Flying Blade Kills Silently
"Twenty-five years old."

Yang Chenghan muttered to himself. As he followed Zhao Yunchu's figure, who was holding Wandou's hand, running towards the outside of the building, and as he turned around and saw the crowd of people looking up at the door, along with the noisy exclamations and the magnificent and long melody, he seemed to see something.

He was a handsome young man dressed in a thin blue robe, sitting on the roof of a tavern several meters high. However, with his eyes slightly closed and his black hair fluttering in the wind, a faint sadness filled his brows. This gloomy expression seemed somewhat out of place with the magnificent flute music he was playing.

Beside him stood a four-foot-three-inch green longsword, seemingly soaring to the heavens and looking down upon all living beings; at his waist, a wind chime made of three or five thumb-sized copper bells swayed gently, the crisp sound of the bells intertwining with the sound of the flute, causing people in the city to stop and linger.

The brightly lit and bustling city of Huangzhou fell silent at this moment. People looked up at the young man playing the flute on the rooftop, and countless guesses arose in their minds: "Who is this person?"

The martial arts practitioners gathered outside Ya Xiang Lou all frowned, wondering, "What wind blew him here?"

Just then, the shouts of dragons roaring and tigers howling reached their ears, and the hurried footsteps made these martial arts practitioners feel a sudden panic.

As the shouts grew louder, onlookers, either consciously or out of fear, parted to make way. As the footsteps and shouts drew closer, tall and imposing figures came into view.

Upon hearing the familiar flute music, Zhao Yunchu passed through the group of martial arts practitioners. Leading Wandou and Lihua, she stared at the handsome young man on the rooftop, waving happily and shouting, "Brother Lu!"

However, the young man named Lu Ya seemed to be still lost in the sounds of the flute and wind chimes, and he did not hear Zhao Yunchu's calls at all.

However, Zhao Yunchu's voice terrified the burly man, the scholar, and the group of martial arts practitioners. To their surprise, this woman actually had some kind of relationship with Lu Ya.

The tall figures had now arrived in front of Zhao Yunchu. The man in the lead clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Miss, the hundred guards of the Zhao residence are late. Please punish them!"

"Please punish me, Miss."

The leading man was seven feet five inches tall, with a physique like a fierce beast, broad shoulders and a thick waist, and his face appeared both bluish and reddish under the city lights.

As the head guard called out "Miss" and the other guards responded respectfully, the burly man and the scholar who had just bullied the man immediately lost their temper. They never imagined that the family of the person they had just bullied would have such a person. As the saying goes, a person of blood and courage will turn red with anger; a person of bone and courage will turn blue with anger. Even if all the martial arts practitioners present joined forces, they would have to pay a considerable price to kill such a person, not to mention that there was also Lu Ya.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Yunchu quickly helped the man up, and shyly hugged his strong arm, laughing, "Brother Qin, it has nothing to do with you. It's our fault for always causing you trouble."

The guard surnamed Qin smiled slightly upon hearing this, then glared angrily at the group of martial arts practitioners in front of him. However, when he saw Yang Chenghan walk out of the building, he immediately removed Zhao Yunchu's hand from his and bowed, saying, "Young Master Chenghan, you have been frightened."

Yang Chenghan was staring at Lu Ya on the roof. When he heard someone call his name, he was clearly startled for a moment. Then he looked at Zhao Yunchu, who was standing next to the tall, fierce man, and asked, "This is..."

"Brother Chenghan, this is Brother Qin, the head of our family's guards."

Zhao Yunchu stood beside the man looking like a dwarf, while Yang Chenghan returned the greeting, saying, "Brother Qin."

Upon seeing this, the guard surnamed Qin quickly stepped forward to stop him, saying, "Young Master, you mustn't do this. I am a guard, and it is my duty. Besides, you are the son of Master Yang, and it is really unacceptable for you to call me Brother Qin. My name is Hua, so please just call me Qin Hua."

After saying this, Qin Hua bowed to Yang Chenghan again, and Yang Chenghan nodded and replied, "Understood." As Yang Chenghan's voice fell, Lu Ya's flute playing on the rooftop gradually stopped. He then raised his sword, placed the flute at his waist, and swept his clear eyes around. A murmur of surprise rippled through the crowd: "Young Master Lu!"

Upon hearing the sound, Yang Chenghan and Qin Hua stopped exchanging pleasantries and turned to look.

Their eyes met, and Lu Ya suddenly smiled when he saw Yang Chenghan. Then he crossed his arms and held his sword to his chest, with the full moon supporting him from behind. He murmured softly, "A flute and a sword, a lifetime of passion, bearing the name of madness for fifteen years. Senior Yang, your son has lost your former glory."

Lu Ya's mutterings confused Zhao Yunchu, so she called out, "Brother Lu, what are you doing up there?"

"nothing."

Lu Ya replied, "I heard you were being bullied, so I came to check on you."

Zhao Yunchu was about to reply when the scholar interrupted him, bowing respectfully to Lu Ya and saying, "Young Master Lu, there's a misunderstanding here."

Before the scholar could finish speaking, Lu Ya coldly stared at him after hearing the voice. The scholar was stunned by Lu Ya standing on the rooftop with the bright moon above his head: "I don't want to know about any misunderstandings. I have been in Huangzhou City for many years and have been raised by this little girl's father, so you don't need to explain anything."

As he spoke, Lu Ya suddenly jumped off the roof, carrying his sword and heading straight for Zhao Yunchu. When he arrived, he reached out and stroked her hand, saying to the scholar, "I must give her an explanation for what happened today."

"Young Master Lu"

Just as the scholar was about to speak, a flying blade appeared out of nowhere and headed straight for his throat. The crowd gasped, and the scholar fell to the ground.

Blood stained the blue stone as several figures landed on the rooftop where Lu Ya had just been standing, some crouching, some standing. Finally, one of them spoke up: "Lu Ya, although we lost the duel to you, you can't treat us like this, can you?"

"That's right."

"It's so late, we were just about to rest, but then you started playing your flute, and we all rushed here like we didn't care about our lives."

The people who were speaking were about the same age as Lu Ya, but compared to their lively words and tone, Lu Ya was much more composed.

"I can't control that much. It's your fault for disturbing my peace and quiet."

Lu Ya chatted amiably with the others, while Yang Chenghan, Zhao Yunchu, Wan Dou, Li Hua, and a group of martial arts practitioners were terrified by the scholar whose blood was spilled all over the ground.

The martial arts practitioners were afraid because of Lu Ya's skill; they all knew that none of those present could withstand more than a few moves from him. Therefore, they remained silent in the face of the scholar's silent death. Yang Chenghan and his group, however, felt a different kind of fear. Although Yang Chenghan was the son of a former martial arts villain, they had distanced themselves from the martial world for over a decade, living a life of seclusion. Even when Yang Chenghan eventually became a merchant, it was under the condition that no one would die. As for Zhao Yunchu and his group, although they knew a thing or two about the martial world, the fear still welled up within them when it all unfolded before their eyes. Therefore, while their outward fear differed from their inner trembling at this sudden death, their inner terror was the same.

(End of this chapter)