Chapter 209 Shaking off an Unqualified Opponent
A hint of rapture suddenly climbed onto Hua Xiangrong’s peerlessly exquisite, jade-like oval face.
The maid Xin’er and Bai Xuan instantly became elated as well.
That young man in flying fish clothing felt his eyes blur for a second before he spotted a figure in the room without knowing how he got in.
The new arrival was a young talent full of animated courage. He had short black hair and was wearing a white outer garment. Well, who else could it be except for Li Mu, with his unparalleled gifts in both poetry and martial arts?
“Brother Mu!” Hua Xiangrong felt as if a 10,000-pound boulder had just been removed from her heart, and a rush of relief washed over her. She darted straight into the arms of Li Mu and held her lover tightly.
Li Mu gently patted her on the back and said consolingly, “Relax, I’m back. I’m here for you.”
The young man in flying fish clothing immediately got what was going on. With a cold laugh, he said, “You are Li Mu? Haha, it’s true that you may sometimes wear out iron shoes in fruitless searching, and yet by a lucky chance you may find the lost thing without even looking for it. You know what, I’ve been looking for you, and surprisingly, you showed up right in front of me. How wonderful! I am Yuan Wu, a supervisor under the command of Routing Supervisor Lu from the Supervisory Department in the capital. I’ve been sent here to arrest you because the Supervisory Department suspects you have something to do with the disappearance of Supervisor Xu in Chang’an and the murder of Lord Zhenxi’s prince, Qin Lin. I advise you not to try to put up a futile fight and simply comply and come with me.”
A faint smile crept up the corner of Li Mu’s mouth. “Suspect me? There is no need for suspicion, because that damn Supervisor Xu was killed by me. And it was also me who killed Lord Zhenxi’s prince. Those two were nothing but trash. Finishing them off actually rid the people of two scourges.”
“You… How dare you!” bellowed Yuan Wu, infuriated by Li Mu’s unscrupulous attitude.
“Fine. Now that you’ve confessed, just come with me. Don’t force our Supervisory Department to launch a strike. Hehe, if we do, you won’t even have time to cry in regret.” Struggling to suppress his fury, the young officer leered threateningly and took out a pair of handcuffs.
“I do want to see what the Supervisory Department is capable of. But you? You’re not qualified to show it to me.” Li Mu had no patience for more arguing, so he flung up a hand and a wave of fierce energy gushed out.
Just as Yuan Wu sensed the surge of an overwhelming wave of energy, he was thrown into midair without any chance to fight back, smashed through the door with a crash, and flew all the way out of the Holy House before hitting a patch of land at the feet of the score of Supervisory Department experts in flying fish clothing who were waiting at the gate. He just lay there helplessly, not even having the strength to get up.
“Take him back and tell Routing Supervisor Lu that I’m a bit swamped lately and have no time to meet him, so don’t come to bother me.”
Li Mu’s voice reverberated in the entire Holy House and was also carried clearly into the ears of the score of Supervisory Department experts in flying fish clothing.
The voice contained an eerie force of vibration, which brought sharp pain to their ears, caused them to see stars before their eyes, and scattered their internal qi. They all turned pale on the spot. Now, it was clear to them that today’s task was beyond their capability. Despite their shock and rage, nobody dared to say a word. They hurriedly helped Yuan Wu up and turned around to leave.
“I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him! Wait and see, you wait and see… Ahhh…” roared Yuan Wu, who was being supported by his colleagues to take off since he was still in a state of paralysis.
When had he suffered such insult since he joined the Supervisory Department?
Half an hour later, they returned to the Supervisory Department in the city of Chang’an.
“What? Li Mu is so unbridled?” After hearing the report in the hall, Routing Supervisor Lu Lizi thumped the dest and hollered, “This is outrageous! This is a provocation toward our Supervisory Department!” He, too, was incensed by Li Mu’s bearing.
“Your Honor, that brute is asking for death. Only Your Honor can take him on. His strength is really powerful.” Supported by his subordinates, Yuan Wu urged the routing supervisor in the hopes of fanning the flames of trouble. How he wished he could lacerate Li Mu a thousand times now. Then, he added, “And that Hua Xiangrong is definitely an accomplice of Li Mu. She turns out to be a warlock superior at the six-star level and can launch instantaneous defensive magic. We can’t let her slip, either.”
Yuan Wu was still coveting Hua Xiangrong’s beauty.
“When I capture Li Mu, I’ll dishonor Hua Xiangrong in front of him to make him regret his recklessness for the rest of his life!”
Yuan Wu was already doing the brutal calculations in his mind.
However, Lu Lizi’s expression suddenly altered. Goggling at Yuan Wu, he said in both alarm and bewilderment, “You… You’ve had alien internal qi planted inside you?”
“What?” Yuan Wu said blankly, “No, I haven’t. Don’t I look perfectly fine? I…”
But a shocking scene occurred before his voice died away.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
A gust of a muffled blast spread out from Yuan Wu’s body.
Aghast and desperate, he lowered his head only to see streams of blood spurt out from his insides like arrows, his Dantian burst open, his meridians messed up, his internal qi dispersed… Yuan Wu felt his vigor of life ebbing away.
“Quick, drive your qi and adjust your breathing…” Lu Lizi yelled in shock. With a swift leap, he landed behind Yuan Wu and place a palm against his back in an attempt to pump some natural qi into his body to cure the internal injury.
“Boom!”
An overbearing force abruptly exploded inside Yuan Wu’s body.
“Ow… Puff!” The ricochet force sent Lu Lizi flying. He twitched as if he had just gotten an electric shock before being crushed against a stone pillar with a curled-up dragon pattern in the hall of the Supervisory Department. A blood arrow shot out of his mouth, and then he slumped feebly to the floor.
“Your Honor!”
“Protect His Honor!”
“Help…”
Chaos broke out in the hall.
“Back off!” shouted Lu Lizi as he rapidly slid backward.
“Boom!”
As the last bursting noise sounded, Yuan Wu’s body was blast into a mist of blood and vanished completely on the spot. He had been bombarded into dust and dissipated into the air, leaving no chunk of flesh or a piece of bone behind.
Terror was spilling across the hall.
Fresh trepidation was written on all the faces of the Supervisory Department experts.
Blood was trickling down the corners of Lu Lizi’s mouth. Torrents of dread were raging inside him. Now, he was torn between shock, wrath, and fear.
He also came to realize that the death of Yuan Wu was a warning to him.
It was a warning sent by Li Mu.
Li Mu’s strength was so powerful that it blew Lu Lizi away; no… to be more accurate, it struck terror into him. Li Mu just transmitted power over here by dint of Yuan Wu’s body. Apparently, his purpose was not only to kill Yuan Wu but also unnerve him, the routing supervisor, and injury him gravely.
“Didn’t Li Mu leave any words for me?” Lu Lizi turned to look at an expert of the Supervisory Department who had followed Yuan Wu back.
That expert still looked terrified and had not yet returned to his senses. But at that question, he shuddered and answered, “He said… He said he is busy these days, and asked Your Honor… asked Your Honor to leave him alone.”
Hearing that, Lu Lizi looked even more awkward.
“It is a warning for sure.
“No wonder he is so unbridled. Yeah, he does have the qualification to be arrogant. His strength is too horrible. I’m afraid he is no longer merely a Natural Expert.
“But he is only a boy of 15. Even if he had started practicing martial arts when he was in his mother’s womb, there is no way he could be so powerful!”
Lu Lizi waved at them and commanded, “Everyone, you’re dismissed. But keep the death of Supervisor Yuan a secret, and order all the departments to closely monitor Li Mu’s every movement. Most of all, no one can strike without my approval. Just keep an eye on the target and wait for my further orders.”
“Yes, sir.”
The experts of the Supervisory Department all filed out of the hall.
Lu Lizi’s face suddenly turned more pallid. He could not help opening his mouth and spilling out another mouthful of blood.
In fact, his injury was more serious than it seemed to be, for just now in a haste to rescue Yuan Wu, he was not on his guard against such an explosion. Without any means of protection, the explosion directly shattered his dominating heart vessel. Although what Li Mu had done was a surprise attack, he did manage to hurt Lu Lizi so severely through another person’s body in spite of the obstacle of time and space. From that alone the routing supervisor could ascertain one thing—Li Mu’s strength was truly way more powerful than his.
“Now this case is getting knotty.
“Very knotty.”
To say the least, based on the current situation, he could do nothing to Li Mu for the time being.
And considering that Li Mu had just killed a chief supervisor for a little offense, he was totally a lunatic who knew no boundaries. Lu Lizi did not doubt that if he forced his way to Li Mu’s place, Li Mu would dare to kill him as well.
But if he reported this to headquarters and asked for reinforcements, that would mean he did not do a good job on this case. His colleagues at the Supervisory Department would mock and cold-shoulder him. That was unbearable for Lu Lizi, who craved power and higher positions.
“So, I have to resort to some other means and ask other parties for help.”
Making up his mind, Lu Lizi started to operate his internal qi to heal his injury.
But finding the help he needed would certainly take some time.
It seemed that Li Mu was able to enjoy a few peaceful days.
…
…
In a room on the third floor of the Holy House—
“Madam Bai, if you think it’s taking too much of a risk to have Hua’er stay here, I can take her someplace else. I promise I won’t let your Holy House suffer any loss for us,” said Li Mu with a smile after settling himself in a chair.
That officer in flying fish clothing from the Supervisory Department who was here a moment ago was rather evil and ill-intended. He had even wanted to assault Hua Xiangrong. Sure enough, Li Mu would not leave such scum alive. Nevertheless, Li Mu was reluctant to kill inside the Holy House. That was why he postponed the deadly blast. Since he also hoped to deter that Routing Supervisor Lu with this incident, he had set Yuan Wu’s death time for the moment he returned to the Supervisory Department.
By now, Li Mu had become a Natural Expert and succeeded in producing natural qi. After solving the biggest problem that had puzzled him for a long time, it could be said that he had gained initial success in martial arts. At least, no one in the city of Chang’an was his match now. Therefore, he no longer had to act as cautiously as before.
When he first arrived in this world of martial arts, he was in constant fear and treading on eggshells. More often than not, he had to pretend to be weak and cowardly, and carefully plot everything. And the reason for that was his lack of strength, which might bring him fatal disasters if he was not vigilant enough. But now, his strength rose sharply, his natural qi was forged, and his immortal body was cultivated. With the improvement in both his internal and external features, he could finally do anything at liberty.
At Li Mu’s words, a broad smile spread across Bai Xuan’s face. Then, she replied, “Young Master Li, it’s nothing like that. How could you make us suffer a loss? Miss Hua, you’re welcome to stay here as always.”
The day after tomorrow was the final of the Top Beauty Competition. Given Hua Xiangrong’s beauty, disposition, and current fame, she had a great chance to become the champion. Bai Xuan had already thought this through and decided to keep hanging in there, as the risk of being punished for being friendly to the suspects would be very low in the next couple of days. Anyway, the Holy House was a brothel, a place of business. She could not see why the Holy House would be punished for letting in guilty customers. That did not make sense, did it?
No matter what, Bai Xuan was ready to take a risk this time.
Additionally, she also had some influence in the city of Chang’an. She might pull some strings behind the competition.
She had already agreed that after the Top Beauty Competition, Hua Xiangrong could leave the Holy House and go to live with Li Mu. Therefore, this competition was the last opportunity that Bai Xuan had to rake in some fame for her brothel from Hua Xiangrong. She had also sought out several chaste girls with unique beauty and talent who were ready to take over Hua Xiangrong’s position. So, as long as her brothel became famous in this competition, the brand “Holy House” would have a firm foothold in the market and could easily occupy the top ranking among all the brothels of the Musical House in the next three or four years.
Li Mu was a little surprised by Bai Xuan’s generosity. He could not figure out what this woman was thinking.
Honestly, a person like Bai Xuan would definitely be a rare talent, an ambitious and adventurous CEO of a big enterprise, if she lived on Earth. Li Mu had no hostility toward such kind of person, not to mention that she was Hua Xiangrong’s patron.
“Great. In that case, thank you so much, Madam Bai.” Li Mu beamed at her.
Bai Xuan hurriedly replied, “Don’t mention it.”
At that point, another issue crossed Li Mu’s mind. He then added, “By the way, do you have any clue about that abducted little girl I asked you to look for by using your connections with various bigshots in Chang’an?” Lately, Li Mu had been preoccupied with an assortment of problems and had no time to search for the girl. Thus, he had requested Bai Xuan to keep a watchful eye on this issue.