Zhao Zilai went out of the Sky Inn and strolled casually in Chong Ming Town.
People on the street came and went. The street was crowded with people and it was buzzing with activities. This let him experience a different kind of prosperity.
Fairy’s Capital was also extremely prosperous but it was different compared to here. Fairy’s Capital had less ruckus and was not lively enough.
After he had become older, he found himself more inclined to the liveliness and did not want to stay at home alone as if he was the only one left in the world, all alone.
One hundred years had passed and most of his friends had passed away. His old friends that were still alive can be counted with both hands. As the High Official of the imperial house, his actions were beyond his control and he cannot meet with his old friends as he pleased.
He strolled down the bustling street and let the noisy atmosphere wash away his loneliness.
“Grandpa! Grandpa!” a little girl ran up to him. Her height was only to his waist and she was scrawny. There was a red flower on her head. She smiled and said, “Grandpa, there is a big brother who asked me to give you a letter.”
Her little hand was holding up a letter with effort.
“Little girl, which big brother?” Zhao Zilai squatted down while smiling. A Grandmaster had an intuition to danger so he was not afraid of a trap.
The little girl said, “Big brother said that his surname is Lu and that grandpa will understand after hearing it.”
“Surnamed Lu…,” Zhao Zilai took the letter, smiled and said, “Well, thank you, little girl.”
He gave the little girl some small change.
“Thank you, grandpa!” The little girl took the money and ran away jumping in joy. She disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye.
Zhao Zilai opened the envelope, took out the letter and read it. He frowned and pondered. He studied the special pattern at the bottom left of the letter carefully.
This was an old friend’s unique pattern. It was only used by her and no one else knew it.
His expression was complicated, changing several times. He suddenly smiled. Using his hands, both the letter and envelope were crushed into powder and the powder slipped through his fingers.
He dusted and rubbed his hands, getting rid of the powder until his hands were clean and then, he walked down the street again with his hands behind his back.
Chu Li was practicing Sentient Menace. Practicing Sentient Menace after Art of White Tiger enabled his advancement to become extremely fast. The fifth level focused on strengthening the bones, making his bones harder and denser.
A cool energy circulated between his bones. His strength became increasingly powerful. Even a normal sword thrust executed by him will be accompanied by a howling sound and its speed strangely fast. If he added his inner energy, the speed will be as fast as lightning.
With increased strength, the speed of his flying blade became increasingly fast. Chu Li had a feeling that if this continued and he successfully mastered the fifth level, with the degree of his strength and the speed of his flying blade, even a Grandmaster could not dodge it.
Someone knocked on the courtyard’s door from outside. Xue Ling opened the door and curtsied, inviting Siao Qi and Su Ru to come in.
Siao Qi was dressed in a white gown while Su Ru was in an apricot gown.
They came to the pagoda and sat down in front of Chu Li.
Chu Li gave a fist salute, “Master Siao Tie Ying is back?”
“Mm,” Siao Qi frowned and said, “Zhao Zilai really cannot be trusted. Big Brother will not use him.”
“If so, what does Master Siao Tie Ying planned to do now?” Chu Li said, “Go and ask for the Empress’s help again?”
Siao Qi said plainly, “How should Big Brother tell the Empress? Saying that something is wrong with Zhao Zilai so we do not want to use him?”
Chu Li said, “So we are going to look for martial arts master somewhere else?”
In any case, Master Siao Tie Ying will not trust him so he would rather find other martial arts masters.
He understood Master Siao Tie Ying’s way of thinking. He was still in Innate Mastery’s Boundary. Innate Master and Grandmaster were, after all, differ by a whole realm. Moreover, this involved the Second Lady’s life so Master Siao Tie Ying could not take the risk and believe him.
“Big Brother’s intention was to look for ‘Thunder Guiding Blade’,” Siao Qi Said.
Chu Li searched his mind, “Feng Jiu Yang? He is indeed a top-notch Grandmaster, but are we able to find him?”
“Feng Jiu Yang is father’s close friend, but he has retreated for ten years already. It is estimated that it will take quite a while to find him,” Siao Qi said, “It depends on our luck as well.”
Chu Li frowned.
People who retired into the mountains often hid in a secluded place. If their hiding was not secluded enough, past grievances will find them so it was impossible to retire. Once one entered the Triad Underworld, a lot of things will be beyond one’s control so how can one retire as one pleased?
Today’s world was different from the world of his past life. There were a lot of deep and vast forests around. Once someone hid in the forest, it will be difficult to find that person. If that person was a top-notch master of the martial arts world, it will be even more difficult to look for that person as they were not afraid of the beast so they were able to live deep in the mountains, self-sufficient and self-contained, completely independent of the outside world and isolated from the outside world.
“My Lady, the Duke…,” Chu Li asked cautiously.
If the Duke took up this matter personally, he can presumably solve this problem.
Siao Qi shook her head, “It’s useless. Nobody can find him. Finding him is harder than looking for ‘Thunder Guiding Blade’.”
“He’s not in Isolated Cultivation?”
“Not cultivating in the Public House. He found himself a quiet place,” Siao Qi said emotionlessly, “He did not tell anybody.”
Su Ru kept winking at him.
Chu Li sighed, “So we can only find ‘Thunder Guiding Blade’? There are no other masters?”
“The most important thing is trustworthiness,” Siao Qi shook her head, “Besides, there are not many in this world that are comparable to Elder Zhao Qing Shan.”
Chu Li said, “That Xi Wu is actually quite powerful.”
“He is even more impossible!” Siao Qi smiled.
Xi Wu’s standing in Hu Ren Public House was similar to Zhao Qing Shan’s standing in Yi Public House. They were the Chief High Official master, the sharpest sword of the Public House.
Chu Li said, “Xi Wu often does duties outside.”
Siao Qi said plainly, “Lu Yurong’s conspiracies were mostly done by him. She does not trust others.”
Chu Li pondered, “Hu Ren Public House most likely has another even more powerful master, so they do not need Xi Wu to guard the safety of the Public House.”
“Hmm—?” Siao Qi frowned.
Chu Li said, “My Lady, do you think there is such possibility?”
Siao Qi considered for a while and slowly nodded, “It’s not impossible!”
“So we need to be on guard,” Chu Li said, “Do not fall for Lu Yurong’s trap… if there is only this one option which is ‘Thunder Guiding Blade’, I fear that Lu Yurong is able to predict it.”
Xue Ling served tea and withdrew quietly.
Chu Li opened the cover of the teacup and sipped a mouthful of tea lightly, “Since Lu Yurong’s scheme are so ingenious, surely she will think of this ‘Thunder Guiding Blade’, right?”
Siao Qi put down the white jade teacup and said slowly, “It’s okay, ‘Thunder Guiding Blade’ is not someone who they can touch just because they want to.”
“Thunder Guiding Blade” became world famous because of his Thunder Blade so the thing he fears the least was a joint attack. His blade was fast and his body movement technique was quick too. The masters in this world who can kill him were few.
Chu Li shook his head, “I’m not worried that they will kill ‘Thunder Guiding Blade’. If I was Lu Yurong, I will use ‘Thunder Guiding Blade’ as bait and set an ambush. Even though we know that there is an ambush, we will still need to go, right?”
“You want to go?” Siao Qi said plainly.
Chu Li smiled and said, “I can act as a pawn and scout ahead.”
“This time, Big Brother prepared to go personally,” Siao Qi said.
“Master Siao Tie Ying going personally…,” Chu Li frowned but he did not say anything in the end.
It was not surprising that Master Siao Tie Ying will go personally. As a junior and having a request for the other party’s help, of course, he needed to show courtesy and sincerity.
However, Master Siao Tie Ying was the supporting pillar as well as the person in charge of the Public House, how can he expose himself to danger? If an accident happened to him, the Public House will really be in turmoil!
Siao Qi said, “You need to make preparation…first, we need to mobilize manpower to find for the traces of ‘Thunder Guiding Blade’.”
“Yes,” Chu Li nodded.
The two women left the courtyard.
Before long, Su Ru returned and said, “High Official of the imperial house asked you to be his guide. He wants to take a look around Chong Ming Town tomorrow.”
Chu Li was surprised, “Me—?”
“He said that he liked young talents and would like to talk to you,” Su Ru nodded and smiled, “Entertain him well tomorrow and do not be rude to him. Don’t let him find any faults.”
“…Yes,” Chu Li agreed reluctantly.