Both men rose. With Lu Sheng leading and Senior Black following close behind, they exited the main hall through a side corridor.
Lu Sheng discreetly signaled for the others to remain where they were, and none followed. After a brief cough, Hong Mingzi stepped forward to take Lu Sheng’s place and maintain order.
Soon, Lu Sheng led Senior Black to a wide balcony atop the highest deck of the Crimson Whale.
The lake wind howled across the surface, lashing against their robes and whipping them in every direction.
Lu Sheng dismissed the disciples stationed nearby, leaving only himself and Senior Black facing the turbulent expanse.
“I saw Ashoka Manor’s Lord Officiator not long ago. Senior Black, what exactly did you mean earlier? Has the Lord Officiator gone missing?” Lu Sheng asked, feigning mild surprise as he frowned at the old man.
“My master disappeared on the very night you went to Windless Valley at Eastern Mountain. Lu Sheng, stop pretending—you can drop the act. The Shangyang Family can’t protect you anymore. If this situation grows any bigger, even Shangyang Jiuli won’t be able to smooth things over,” Senior Black said, his voice calmer now but his expression dark.
“Senior Black, what are you implying? The Lord Officiator’s strength is formidable. Are you suggesting his disappearance has something to do with me?” Lu Sheng replied with a solemn tone.
“I don’t care about your excuses. Just tell me exactly what happened that night. I’ll decide the truth myself!” Senior Black pressed.
Lu Sheng fell silent, pretending to think deeply. Then he began recounting the events of that night—but the version he offered was entirely false. He spoke as though he were merely an ordinary sect member who had heard a deafening boom deep within the forest and seen strange, uneven craters from afar. Frightened by the noise, he claimed he had not dared approach, instead finishing his transaction quickly and leaving. After that, the woods had fallen silent, and nothing more occurred.
“In that case, it sounds like even you have no idea what happened that night? You didn’t see what caused that loud boom?” Senior Black asked, frowning as he digested Lu Sheng’s account.
“Indeed,” Lu Sheng replied with a grave nod. “If the Lord Officiator is truly missing, could it be related to that explosion?”
“What about the others? Those mysterious men you traded with—how did you come into contact with them?” Senior Black pressed on.
“An old friend sought me out,” Lu Sheng said calmly. “He asked me to supply a batch of grain. The profit was good, so I agreed. Since it was the first transaction, I wanted to handle it personally to establish trust and start a long-term partnership. Who would’ve thought…” He shook his head lightly, a faint trace of helplessness flickering across his face.
“Then did you hear anything unusual? A large bird’s cry, or the roar of a bear?” Senior Black continued his interrogation.
“A bird’s cry? A bear’s roar?” Lu Sheng furrowed his brow as if searching his memory. “No… nothing like that.”
He shook his head slowly.
“However, I suggest you return to the scene and take another look,” Lu Sheng added, his tone earnest. “There may still be traces left behind. Those mysterious men may very well be connected to the explosion. If the Lord Officiator’s disappearance is related to that incident, then they’re the most likely link.”
“You think so too?” A faint hint of relief softened Senior Black’s single eye, as though he finally believed Lu Sheng was genuinely reexamining the event.
“If it’s related, then this is the only lead we have,” Lu Sheng said seriously.
“Alright. I’ll return to the scene and investigate more carefully,” Senior Black replied with a firm nod. Given everything, he had little choice but to agree. Lu Sheng’s strength, while impressive, could not possibly threaten the Lord Officiator—there was simply too vast a gulf between them. Even if his master had stood still and allowed Lu Sheng to strike him, breaking through the Officiator’s black membrane would have been impossible.
“Wait… something’s not right! You’re lying!!” Senior Black’s expression twisted violently. Without warning, he spun around and lunged at Lu Sheng in a frenzy.
“I’LL KILL YOU!!!”
His face was contorted with madness. His palms—curved like an eagle’s talons—shot toward Lu Sheng’s chest in a lightning-fast strike.
HOO…!
A sharp sound tore through the air as a layer of black membrane surged over Senior Black’s hands. The faint outline of black feathers spread across his body as he launched his vicious attack.
Lu Sheng had no time to think. In his current state, he couldn’t use the Ultimate Crimson Nine-Furies Skill at all. All he had was a mere needle-prick amount of Yin-Yang Jade Crane Aquarius Qi—barely enough to activate even with great effort. Resisting this sudden, lethal blow was impossible.
The attacker possessed at least Three-Vein strength. If the strike landed, Lu Sheng would be gravely wounded—if not killed outright.
His mind went blank as he instinctively retreated at full speed. But Senior Black was simply too fast. Without explosive inner force, Lu Sheng had zero chance of escaping. All he could do was watch helplessly as that blackened palm hurtled toward his chest.
Closer… closer… every heartbeat pushed the situation nearer to catastrophe.
CHI!!!
Suddenly, a sharp, piercing sound sliced through the air like metal grinding against stone.
A blurred green silhouette flashed past and appeared behind Senior Black. A single hand clamped down on his shoulder.
“Black Crow, what gall you have!?”
Senior Black’s body, which had been surging forward, froze instantly—suspended mid-motion as though a hook had yanked him to a stop. His claw-like hand remained just a finger’s width from Lu Sheng’s chest, yet that tiny gap had become an unbridgeable abyss.
“Shangyang…!” Senior Black’s lone eye widened as he slowly lowered his gaze to his own chest.
Where there had been nothing moments before, a massive glowing character—“Hook” (“勾”)—now burned brilliantly against his flesh.
“Szzz…” Thin lines of blood began to trickle from every edge of the word.
“Spare… spare my life…” Senior Black’s single eye bulged wide, his body trembling as all strength drained from him.
BOOM!!
In an instant, his entire body detonated like an overfilled bomb, bursting into countless fragments. No flesh, no bone—nothing remained but a storm of massive black feathers blasting outward in all directions. The feathers scattered, trying desperately to flee into the distance.
But before they could get far, a silver “Hook” character appeared at the center of each feather simultaneously.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
All the feathers exploded at once, dissolving into drifting clouds of black dust.
Shangyang Jiuli stood on the balcony, her expression icy cold, a faint trace of mockery flickering in her eyes. A middle-aged man materialized beside her.
Clad in a white robe, he wore a stiff, stern expression, gripping a steel calligraphy brush half a meter long.
“Although Ashoka Manor is far beneath us, Black Crow was still the Officiator’s old servant. You shouldn’t have killed him. Now we’ve created a grudge with Ashoka Manor for no reason at all.”
Shangyang Jiuli rolled her eyes at him, saying nothing.
The man cast Lu Sheng a sharp, sinister look. “All this… just for a mere mortal sect. Do you even know how to conduct affairs? Didn’t your mother teach you basic principles?”
“I, Shangyang Jiuli, do whatever I please. Who do you think you are to lecture me?” Her brows arched sharply as a terrifying aura burst from her. “Speak another word of nonsense and I’ll kill you too.”
“You—!?”82Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIm41OT3kKf
The middle-aged man was furious. He had expected Jiuli to be displeased by his arrival, but not so utterly defiant. After all, he was her biological uncle.
Only then did Lu Sheng step forward and bow deeply. “Greetings, Lord Jiuli.”
Shangyang Jiuli—the second-ranked genius of the Shangyang Family—was a figure of staggering power. Far stronger than the Officiator, she was one of the few who dared negotiate directly with the Scarlet District’s District Mistress. Her strength had long surpassed the realm of Bind.
She stood firmly at the pinnacle of the Seven-Vein Level.
Once Lu Sheng realized the severity of his injuries and that he needed far more time to recover, he immediately sent a letter to Shangyang Jiuli at the earliest opportunity.
In the letter, he detailed the trouble he might have stirred up during his recent trip—partly to inform her, partly to test the Shangyang Family’s attitude toward him.
To his astonishment, the top genius herself arrived in person… and killed the Officiator’s right-hand man, Senior Black, with a single strike.
Unlike him, Noblemen and supernatural beings could almost never kill one another quickly. Their battles were long, grueling wars of attrition unless an overwhelming gulf in power existed.
Yet Shangyang Jiuli had obliterated a Three-Vein expert in one effortless blow. Her strength clearly surpassed his by a tremendous margin.
“Lu Sheng, was everything in your letter true?” Shangyang Jiuli asked, her tone sharp and serious.
Lu Sheng nodded, expression solemn.
“Nothing but the truth!” he declared, pretending to be righteous and unshakably honest. “I was even grievously injured by the logs and boulders that came flying out of nowhere. After returning, I’ve felt something was terribly off. An explosion that big must have come from a fierce battle. That’s why I immediately had my subordinate deliver the letter to you. But now… since you’ve killed Senior Black, will this cause any trouble?”
“A worthless, despicable servant of Ashoka Manor. I killed him—so what? If there’s a problem, their Manor Lord can come question me personally!” Shangyang Jiuli said impatiently. “You said the Officiator surnamed Bai was involved in a great clash. Tell me—aside from me, who else in the Northern Lands could exchange blows with him? That annoying League Master of the Martial League?”
“Your subordinate does not know,” Lu Sheng replied with a shake of his head.
“Forget it. That Ashoka Manor actually dared to threaten someone under me, Shangyang Jiuli. They truly are seeking death!” Her expression darkened, cold and razor-sharp. “If they stay quiet, then fine—I’ll drop the matter. But if they dare show up…” Her eyes narrowed, chilling enough to freeze bone. “I’ve been craving meat lately anyway. Whoever comes will die.”
What a terrifying murderous aura.
Lu Sheng felt a jolt run through him. He had known from the beginning that Shangyang Jiuli was brutal and aggressive, but he had sent the letter merely as a formal report. They were his superiors—he needed to keep them informed of significant events.
He had never expected her to take action personally.
“Jiuli, you represent the Shangyang Family, not just yourself! You are no longer in Ju Rong Nation!” The middle-aged man finally lost his patience and stepped in.
“SCRAM!!”
Shangyang Jiuli spun around and struck him savagely in the chest.
BOOM!!
A massive silver “Hook” character erupted across the man’s chest before detonating in a blinding flash.
His body was hurled backward like a rag doll, smashing into the ship’s metal railing. The impact left a deep, grotesque dent in the iron.
Shangyang Jiuli withdrew her palm, her expression ice-cold. “Let’s go. Where’s that thing you mentioned?” She shot Lu Sheng a glance.
“Your subordinate keeps it with me at all times,” Lu Sheng answered respectfully, retrieving a small black item from his sleeve. “This is what I picked up at the battlefield in the woods.”
It was a small, round black cauldron. Fine floral patterns—almost like ancient script—covered its surface, and six tiny handles encircled its sides. Neither gold nor jade, it was the size of an egg. This was the very cauldron Zhuo Wenyu had originally sought to purchase from him.
Taken from an Anomaly’s corpse, it was rumored to contain an unusually dense amount of corpse Qi.
“Oh? This!?” Shangyang Jiuli’s eyes brightened. She snatched the cauldron eagerly from Lu Sheng’s hand.
“Not bad, not bad. You’ve done well! If you ever come across anything else like this, remember to deliver it immediately!”
“As long as my Lord is satisfied,” Lu Sheng replied with a pleasant smile. “As for Ashoka Manor…”
“My breakthrough is near. They are nothing—just Ashoka Manor. Even if they grew ten times bolder, would they dare challenge me?” Shangyang Jiuli waved her hand dismissively, utterly unconcerned with the Shangyang Family’s broader political considerations.
This brazen, fearless attitude… was precisely what Lu Sheng appreciated.
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