“I shouldn’t worry about it anymore! We’ll take it one step at a time. If the Zhen Family truly loses the fight, then perhaps a large city like Mountain-Edge City is the safest place to be.”
The government stood behind the Emperor’s family, and that alone spoke of a power capable of controlling such a vast territory, even if only in name. “When the time comes, hiding in Mountain-Edge City wouldn’t be a bad choice. Besides, senior apprentice brother must already have a contingency plan prepared.”
With that thought, Lu Sheng forced himself to stop overthinking and spurred his horse forward, galloping hard toward the moat.
“For now, the only thing I can do is gather as many Yin Qi–laden items as possible and upgrade my skill. Depending on myself is the safest path.”
He raced through the night, slipping back into the city. His subordinates from the Crimson Whale Sect had already transported the corpse to a pharmacy owned by the sect.
Heading straight to the backyard, Lu Sheng finally caught sight of Lu Chenxin—along with several other bodies laid out in crude coffins.
Swish…
He lifted the white cloth. At once, he recoiled, raising a hand to cover his nose.
A sharp, acrid stench—rotting, foul, suffocating—poured out as though he had just dragged his tongue across the filth lining a gutter’s wall. The sect disciples beside him were no better, each instinctively shielding their faces with expressions twisted in revulsion.
In the coffin lay Lu Chenxin. The upper half of his face—everything above the eyes—had been cleaved away cleanly, leaving only the lower segment grotesquely intact. His limbs were shriveled like dried, blackened branches.
More alarming was the state of his torso—almost entirely decomposed. Worms writhed through patches of ruined flesh, and clusters of maggots clung to what remained of his skin. In several spots, mold had already taken root, and cloudy pus seeped out in slow, sickening trails. The mixture of odors churned together into a stench so thick it seemed to coat the lungs.
“Has the corpse been moved?” Lu Sheng asked, brow furrowed.
“No, sir! We placed him in the coffin exactly as we found him. We didn’t move him at all,” Ning San quickly replied from the side.
“Cover it. Lift it, and follow me,” Lu Sheng ordered.
The sect disciples stepped forward at once, lowering the lid over the coffin. As soon as it closed, the suffocating smell eased enough for everyone to breathe again.
“Let’s go. To Lu Manor.” It had been a long time since he last felt the situation weighing so heavily on him.
…………
Lu Manor.
In the brightly lit backyard, heart-piercing wails echoed without pause.
“My son! You’ve died such a tragic death~~!”
Wang Yanyu had collapsed onto the ground, flailing her arms in wild despair. Tears and mucus streamed from her face, flinging about as she sobbed, her robes disheveled beyond care.
Surrounding her were members of both the younger and older generations—Lu Tianyang, Lu Yingying, and more than twenty distant relatives, all gathered in grim silence. Lu Quanan sat to the side, deep scratches covering his face, neck, and arms, each one streaked with blood.
“Wang Yanyu! What madness are you causing?! Elders and juniors alike are standing here watching you—have you no shame?” His chest burned with fury; he felt as if he might cough up blood.
“My son is gone… GONE! I have no hope left, Lu Quanan! You still have two sons even if you’ve lost one. But me? I only had one! Only ONE son!” Wang Yanyu screamed, her voice raw.
“Chenxin is my son as well. I’m just as devastated that he’s missing! But look around—you see how many there are in the Lu Family? More than a few dozen, old and young. We can’t stop living because of Chenxin. How will you face Little Hong? How will you face Tianyang?”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbYdahNyz9
Lu Quanan’s voice trembled as he clutched at his chest, grief tightening every breath.
“So what? How is it fair that my son is gone, yet Lu Tianyang still lives? They stayed under the same roof! How is that fair? Old Master, tell me—how is any of this fair?!” Wang Yanyu’s eyes were swollen like bruised peaches, bloodshot and burning with venom.
Lu Quanan fell silent. It was true—Lu Tianyang and Lu Chenxin lived in the same house. How had one vanished while the other remained unharmed?
“See? SEE? You have nothing to say!” Her voice cracked into a shrill cackle. “Lu Quanan, when I married you, what did you promise me? When you wanted to screw me in bed, your sweet words flowed like honey. You said that as long as I agreed, you would give our son an inheritance and a name. And in the end? In the end?!”
She spiraled further into hysteria. “My son is gone… gone… Can you still give me another? Can you?? HAHAHAHA!!! Why don’t I go to your Big Brother and let him screw me—maybe then I can still have a son! Or any man nearby. YOU!”
Wang Yanyu staggered to her feet and seized a middle-aged man by the sleeve.
“Steward Zhao! Haven’t you always been sneaking glances at me? You want to screw me, don’t you? Come on then! Here! Right here! I’ll let you screw me!!! Ha… hahahaha!!!”
Steward Zhao’s face flushed deep red. He struggled to wrench himself free, but her grip clung to him like iron. The guards hovered nearby, unsure—none dared act rashly and risk harming her.
For a moment, the entire backyard froze in suffocating tension.
BOOM!
“WHERE’S YOUR DECORUM!” Lu Sheng strode into the backyard, his expression thunderous. Crimson Whale Sect disciples poured in behind him, taking position on both sides in disciplined rows.
“Pry her away,” he commanded, eyes cold as steel.
Two men stepped forward at once, pulling Wang Yanyu off Steward Zhao. She thrashed and laughed wildly as they restrained her.
Lu Quanan, his face covered in scratches, sank weakly to the ground with a long, defeated sigh.
“Yo! Isn’t this our high and mighty Eldest Young Master? Living safely in Mountain-Edge City all by yourself for so long—why is it nothing ever happens to you…” Wang Yanyu giggled spitefully, utterly unfazed despite being held down.
PIAK.
Lu Sheng’s palm cracked across her cheek with a sharp, unforgiving slap. Her head snapped to the side, the laughter dying instantly as shock blanketed her face.
“Third Mistress is tired. Take her to rest. Shut the doors tight.”
“Yes, sir!” Two housemen rushed forward, lifting the dazed woman and dragging her away.
With Lu Sheng’s authority and the presence of the sect disciples, the chaos was quickly subdued. Even Wang Yanyu was removed without resistance.
Lu Sheng turned to his father, Lu Quanan, and exhaled softly. The old man looked worn—too worn—his strength long eroded by years of turmoil with his volatile wife.
“Sheng’er…”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Z3CsGRuLt
Lu Quanan’s voice quivered. In that breath, he seemed to have aged several more years.
Lu Sheng shifted his gaze to Lu Tianyang and Fourth Mother Lu Hong—Tianyang’s mother—who clung desperately to her son’s arm, her eyes shimmering with panic and grief.
“Brother Sheng… Wang Yanyu, she… she poisoned Tianyang’s supper…” Lu Hong’s tears finally broke free, rolling down her cheeks in trembling streams.
“She’s so heartless…” she sobbed.
Lu Tianyang’s face was drained of all color, his breathing uneven. He stood frozen where he was, letting his mother clutch him tightly.
“Enough!” Lu Sheng snapped, his voice like a cold blade. “Crying and wailing all day—where is your decorum?!”
At once, Lu Hong trembled, swallowing her sobs in fright.
“All of you, disperse! Lu Tianyang, Uncle Zhao, Steward Zhao—stay. Squad A, guard the entrance. The rest of you, leave! Get back to what you should be doing!” Lu Sheng’s gaze swept across the backyard, sharp and unforgiving. Aside from Uncle Zhao, everyone who met his eyes immediately looked away, shoulders shrinking.
There was a new weight to him now—an aura that pressed down on the heart. His towering, muscular frame, combined with the lives he had taken, had carved a natural savagery into him. When his expression turned fierce, few dared withstand his stare.
At his command, the crowd scattered swiftly, leaving only a small group behind.
The backyard doors soon shut with a hollow thud. Outside, Crimson Whale Sect men formed a vigilant guard. Within the enclosed space, Lu Quanan reluctantly recounted all that had happened.
Wang Yanyu, after waiting endlessly for her son’s return, had finally sensed the truth—that Lu Chenxin had met with tragedy. Knowing Lu Quanan no longer had the ability to sire children, she fell into despair, her grief twisting into venom. In her madness, she had poisoned Lu Tianyang’s supper with lethal Rubber Flower Poison. Fortunately, Uncle Zhao uncovered her scheme during his nightly rounds.
When the explanation ended, Lu Sheng stood in heavy silence.
“This matter… no one could have foreseen it. Chenxin has indeed met his end. I’ve recovered his corpse…”
“Found it???” Lu Quanan asked blankly, his mind unable to keep pace.
Uncle Zhao let out a long sigh, and the others—Lu Tianyang included—lowered their heads without a word.
“He’s right outside,” Lu Sheng murmured. “But… he’s not a pleasant sight. Dad, you should go see for yourself.”
Lu Quanan stood still for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his voice was coarse, trembling at the edges.
“Let’s go take a look together…”
“Wait until Third Mother calms down before telling her,” Lu Sheng reminded quietly.
“Mm.” Lu Quanan nodded and fell silent again.
The group left the backyard and exited through the side gate of Lu Manor. In a narrow alley nearby, a large black coffin rested ominously against the wall.
Lu Sheng signaled his men, and they opened the coffin lid.
Lu Quanan stepped forward first. Within only a few breaths, tears streamed down his face as he turned away and retched violently.
Lu Tianyang, Uncle Zhao, and the others approached next, each one recoiling the instant their eyes met the horrific sight. Several could not hold back their own bouts of vomiting.
“Ai…” Uncle Zhao exhaled heavily. “Brother Sheng, I can see you’ve built some foundation for yourself in Mountain-Edge City. Can you investigate who did this to Young Master Chenxin?”
At his words, everyone—Lu Quanan included—turned their eyes to Lu Sheng. None of them recognized the Crimson Whale Sect insignia; they simply assumed Lu Sheng had found some stroke of luck in the city.
“It’s hard to say…” Of course, Lu Sheng knew exactly who the culprit was. But what purpose would it serve to tell them?
“How about the authorities?” Lu Quanan asked, pain carved across his expression. “Is there any point in reporting this to them?”
Lu Sheng remained silent.
That silence alone was enough. Lu Quanan suddenly understood—more deeply than the others ever could. Unlike Uncle Zhao and Lu Tianyang, he had once sat among the city elites in Nine Links City during a closed-door meeting. He knew things—secrets—especially those involving ghosts.
Staring at Chenxin’s ruined corpse, he could roughly guess how entangled this matter was. The wounds did not look like the work of human hands.
“You all… shouldn’t have come to Mountain-Edge City at this time…” Lu Sheng murmured, a weary sigh slipping from his lips.
“It’s not that we wished to come. We had no choice…” Lu Quanan exhaled heavily. “Nine Links City isn’t safe anymore. It’s grown so quiet… people are leaving, shops are closing. We have so many mouths to feed—so many workers depending on us. With our numbers dwindling, we can’t even plow the land.”
Lu Sheng understood the weight on his father’s shoulders.
The massive explosion in Nine Links City had crippled the region. Recovery was impossible, and the Lu Family—whose livelihood relied heavily on the city—had been dealt a fatal blow. If things continued as they were, ruin would be inevitable. Relocating had become the only viable path.
“Since you’re here already, let’s settle down properly.” Lu Sheng’s voice softened a little. “Old Dad, have you thought about which industry you want to move into?” As one of the top figures in the Crimson Whale Sect, it would be foolish not to use his position to shield and support his family.
“Not yet… we’ll have to look around first,” Lu Quanan replied helplessly.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6y2nioWEz
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