Killing Monks

Lu Chengming continued, "Patriarch, why has the Lu family acted so domineeringly in Luoqing County for the past three hundred years?"

Lu Fei knew the answer.

He'd heard people say that since he was a child.

The Lu family is domineering, unreasonable, and tyrannical.

He didn't like this domineering attitude.

He thought it was just that his family was inherently domineering, and that it was due to his father and family members.

But now...

"It's to avoid suspicion."

He heard his own voice, which sounded very dry.

Lu Chengming neither nodded nor praised him for "finally understanding".

He simply sighed softly.

"If the Lu family has a good reputation," he said, "if they treat scholars with respect, are kind to fellow martial artists, and make friends with heroes from all directions."

"Then he is not a local tyrant."

"That's Lord Xinling."

Lord Xinling.

One of the Four Lords of the Warring States Period.

With three thousand retainers, he commanded respect and awe among the feudal lords.

The wise and virtuous men of the world flocked to him.

and then?

Then the King of Wei became jealous of him and stripped him of his military power.

He then died in despair, by drinking poison.

Lu Fei closed his eyes.

He finally understood.

The Lu family's "domineering" ways over the past three hundred years.

It's not because they are inherently cruel.

Rather, it is because they have to be.

The secret of the Imperial Seal lies hidden within this black knife.

That was a secret that could drive every ambitious person in the world mad.

The martial arts world will try to seize it, and the imperial court will try to take it away.

For three hundred years, countless eyes have been watching the Lu family from the shadows.

All the Lu family can do is become domineering, unreasonable, and offend many people!

To outsiders, the Lu family was seen as a group of short-sighted, self-destructive nouveau riche.

Then, generation after generation, the truth was left to rot in the ancestral hall.

Pass the black knife down.

Pass on the curse.

Let's keep walking down this road that seems to have no end.

"...The position of head of the family," Lu Fei said with a wry smile, "is really not easy to be."

you do not say?

There are lurking eyes outside and treacherous blades within.

Being the head of this household is really tough!

In the front yard, Lu Daobei was making arrangements in an orderly manner.

He instructed the servants of the Lu family to remove the red silk covering the courtyard and replace it with plain white mourning curtains.

The large red "囍" characters were peeled off one by one, revealing the original dark brown of the doorposts underneath. The wedding candles were removed and replaced with white candles.

A hall full of joy is gradually turning into a hall full of mourning.

The servants hurried along, but none of them made any unnecessary noise.

Tang Shuangshuang sat there, waiting for Lu Fei, her head down, feeling frustrated.

Lost in thought, I heard a trembling voice calling from behind me:

"Shuangshuang!"

Tang Shuangshuang turned around abruptly.

A middle-aged couple stood under the eaves.

The man was thin and haggard; he was her father, Tang Miao. The woman leaned against her husband, her eyes red-rimmed, her gaze filled with the shock and joy of having found what she had lost.

These are her parents.

"Father! Mother!"

Tang Shuangshuang could no longer hold back and threw herself into her mother's arms.

Mrs. Tang hugged her, touching her head and back, then cupped her daughter's face in her hands, examining her closely, tears streaming down her face: "You've lost weight...you've lost so much weight..."

Tang Miao stood to the side, wanting to say something, but her throat tightened, and she could only nod repeatedly: "It's alright, it's alright..."

They still don't fully understand what happened in the past ten days or so.

All I know is that I was suddenly taken hostage, then fell into a coma, and when I woke up, the entire mansion was covered in white.

But what does it matter?

My daughter is fine, and I am fine too.

In these chaotic times, what could be more fortunate than a family being able to live together in harmony?

Tang Shuangshuang leaned on her mother's shoulder, and the knot of anger that had been stuck in her chest finally began to dissipate.

Beside the table in the corner of the courtyard, the disheveled old Taoist priest was pouring a few peanuts into his palm.

He peeled the peanuts one by one, and the shells fell to his feet, piling up in a small heap.

Guangyuan and Chu Kuangjun stood to the side without saying a word.

The old Taoist priest tossed the peeled peanuts into his mouth, chewed them, and suddenly said, "This old Taoist priest is leaving."

He looked up, glanced at Guangyuan, then at Chu Kuangjun: "I find you two pleasing to the eye, and I've been eating and drinking with you for free for several days..."

He brushed the debris off his hands:

"Then I'll teach you a move or two."

Guangyuan and Chu Kuangjun exchanged a glance, both somewhat surprised.

This old Taoist priest was unfathomable; even Lu Chengyu respected him greatly. The white-haired witch's true energy froze in front of him.

A single word of advice from such a person is worth more than ten years of hard work for someone else.

"You go first." Guangyuan turned slightly to the side and gestured for him to go first. "Your master and the senior are old friends."

Chu Kuangjun did not refuse.

He stepped forward and bowed to the old Taoist priest:

"Senior, I want to become more like a man."

The old Taoist priest's hand, which was peeling peanuts, stopped in mid-air.

"?"

He raised his head and looked Chu Kuangjun up and down several times.

From her stunningly beautiful face to her slender and thin figure.

"You..." The old Taoist opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Then he suddenly laughed.

First, he silently curved the corners of his mouth, then a smile overflowed from the creases at the corners of his eyes, and finally turned into an unrestrained, hearty laugh.

The laughter was very hearty.

"You're much more interesting than your master," the old Taoist priest said, wiping his eyes after he'd had his fill of laughter.

Chu Kuangjun looked at him intently, waiting for him to continue.

"Your appearance is due to two factors: firstly, your natural features," the old Taoist priest said, his smile fading and his tone becoming more serious, "and secondly, the cultivation method you practice."

He paused:

"That technique wasn't meant to turn you into a 'man.' It was meant to reshape your physical constitution, to distance you from the ordinary body of this world."

"Once you have mastered your cultivation technique, you will naturally begin to explore your own path. At that time, your appearance will change according to your cultivation technique; you can grow into whatever you want."

Chu Kuangjun's eyes lit up: "Then I'll become the strongest man in the world!"

"I heard from a monk that the most muscular man in the world is Brother Chun! I want to become a muscular man like Brother Chun!"

The old Taoist priest did not laugh at him.

He simply nodded and said, "Then I wish you all the best."

Then he turned to Guangyuan.

"That's a strange little monk," he said casually, "and what about you?"

His gaze fell on Guangyuan's chest, where the bronze mirror was hidden close to his body.

he knows.

But he had no interest whatsoever.

Guangyuan didn't care.

He pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke: "I have a martial arts idea, but I don't know if it can come true. I would like to ask you for some guidance, senior."

"Speak," the old Taoist priest said, taking out another peanut. "As long as it's not weird, it's fine."

"I think……"

Guangyuan paused, as if organizing his thoughts:

"Is there a technique that can catch, neutralize, and circulate the force of an enemy's attack, and then combine it with one's own strength to counterattack?"

He looked up: "It will have several times the power of the enemy's attack."

The experienced peanut lingered at his lips.

He put down the unpeeled peanut, looked up, and stared intently at Guangyuan.

A sharp light suddenly shone in those cloudy eyes, which seemed perpetually sleepy.

He did not immediately evaluate whether it was "feasible" or "infeasible".

After a moment of silence, he slowly uttered four words: "Arrogant, useless."