“Third Master Qi…,” called out the green-robed man as he overheard the Master shouting angrily.
“Ah——!” cried Third Master Qi miserably, before stopping abruptly.
“Third Master Qi?” The green-robed man called out again as he found the situation highly unusual.
The house was silent.
“Third Master Qi?!” yelled the green-robed man loudly. “Third Master Qi, shall I enter now?”
Still, no sound of any activity came from inside the house.
The green-robed man did not care and entered the house with a quickened stride. When he entered, he saw the Third Master Qi lying on the floor, dead as he bled through his orifices.
“Third Master Qi?!” yelled the green-robed man in shock. He moved forward to take a better look. Third Master Qi was no longer breathing.
At this moment, Chu Li was bringing Zhu Quan and levitating at a high speed. They passed the treetops and over the mountain.
Zhu Quan was not only not afraid, but he was wide-eyed. He looked around eagerly and yelled with excitement.
Chu Li smiled. How brave, he indeed deserves to be called a man.
Looking at how happy he currently was, he did not look like someone who was frightened.
“Uncle Chu Li, can I really meet my mother?” the boy asked with widened eyes.
Chu Li smiled and said, “Yes.”
“Then when can I meet my mother?” asked Zhu Quan.
“You’ll meet her tomorrow,” replied Chu Li.
“I miss my mother so much,” said Zhu Quan.
“You will never be separated from your mother ever again,” Chu Li comforted.
“Hmm!” Zhu Quan enthusiastically nodded. He then happily shouted: “Never, ever again!”
Chu Li smiled.
Third Master Qi must be dead by now. The others would not have survived either.
Zhu Ziwen died at the hands of Third Master Qi. No matter what he said, it would always be the Third Master Qi that had killed Zhu Ziwen. Zhu Quan wanted to avenge his father in the future, so he would also want to look for the Third Master Qi that was now already dead.
This time around, Prince Cheng’s loss was quite serious. Chu Li was afraid that they will investigate into the matter even deeper. However, everyone who knew about this matter was dead. Therefore, no one would be able to find anything.
Chu Li had a really bad impression of these Princes, even though Prince An and Prince Cheng both had good reputations. It was harder still to imagine how the other Princes that have bad reputation would behave like.
“Uncle Chu Li, please accept me as your disciple!” exclaimed Zhu Quan eagerly as he looked up towards Chu Li. “I want to learn martial arts!”
“You’ll need to ask your mother about this,” said Chu Li in return.
“Uncle Chu Li’s martial art skill is so great, my mother will definitely agree!” replied the boy happily.
“Maybe not,” said Chu Li as he lowered his head and smiled. “Cultivating the martial arts is tough and rigorous. I’m afraid that your mother isn’t willing to let you suffer.”
“I can bear the hardships!” said Zhu Quan hurriedly. “My father once didn’t give me anything to eat for two whole days. I didn’t even feel any suffering!”
Chu Li held his little hands while they are levitating. He smiled and said, “It is tougher than that!”
“I’m not afraid!” shouted Zhu Quan.
Chu Li smiled and said, “I treat my disciples very strictly and you would need to be intelligent enough, so you will have to read a lot.”
“Reading books…” mumbled Zhu Quan as bitterness showed immediately on his little face.
Chu Li laughed.
Both of them laughed as they flew by. The scenery around them zipped past them in a haze at lightning speed.
——
Yang Xu was lying quietly on a bed. As she stared at the cattail hassock, her heart sunk, and she contemplated her unpredictable future.
“Mom!” A clear voice that was calling her startled her.
She recognized the familiar and soothing voice immediately, and as she turned her head, she and saw Zhu Quan hoping into the house and jumped onto the couch.
Yang Xu widened her eyes and stretched out her arms to touch Zhu Quan’s face. His tender skin was warm and this caused her to realized that she was not dreaming!
“Mom, why are you crying?” enquired Zhu Quan in puzzlement with widened eyes. He laughed and said, “I’ve missed you so much!”
Yang Xu sobbed as she nodded as hard as she could before pulling him over and hugged him tightly.
Chu Li, Siao Qi and Siao Shi took a glance inside the house, and promptly left the place. They then went to the pagoda located in the Floral Sea.
“Was it successful?” prodded Siao Qi gently. Her bright eyes looking at Chu Li who was sitting parallel to her.
Chu Li seemed like he had gone through a lot, and he had been traveling back and forth every three days time. It was exhausting and he was all covered in dust. An unexplained feeling swirled in her. The feeling was so complicated that even she cannot make clear of it.
Siao Shi’s beautiful eyes were looking straight at Chu Li.
She was very curious in Chu Li and she wanted to know what kind of person he was. Does he really like Sister Siao Qi?
Based on her observation, Chu Li was indeed in love with Sister Siao Qi and Sister Siao Qi was just trying to hold onto her feelings.
Those two obviously liked each other, but both parties seemed keen on keeping their feelings hidden. This was indeed very interesting.
She secretly sighed to herself. Seems like Chu Li saved her for the sake of Sister Siao Qi, and he did not actually fall for her.
This made her all the more interested in Chu Li.
She knows that her own beauty surpasses that of her third youngest sister. Normally, men would fall for a women’s beauty. However, Chu Li gave up on her a long time ago and fell in love with Sister Siao Qi instead. He was indeed different from other men.
After Chu Li sat down, he calmly and plainly told them the course of the whole incident.
The two women concentrated to listen to him, their eyes pretty as the spring water as they looked straight at him.
Though Chu Li was calmly recounting the event, they somehow managed to feel how frightful the situation was. It was incredibly close. If they came any later, the two people would have sent the child out of Fairy’s Capital. By then, it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
“Seems like sometimes silvers are more useful than martial arts,” said Siao Qi.
Siao Shi nodded in agreement.
Chu Li smiled and said, “Money to a certain extent, has magical properties. The formidable power of silver is very potent. Human usually impulsively react out of their instinct and use martial arts to solve problems.”
This world was filled with the power of martial arts. People are so used to solving their problems solely through this power as it was easier to resolve matters and much more direct. However, it sometimes becomes more difficult to accomplish things using this aspect alone.
“I have to thank you on this too,” said Siao Qi as she shook her head and sighed.
She did not want to trouble Chu Li with everything possible. Chu Li was now a Rank Two Scribe, and he has a high status as well as the power to influence others. This type of matter could have been handled as long as she gave orders to the others. However, she could not find anyone that was better at handling things than Chu Li.
Chu Li went to the front of the table and took up a brush. He dipped it in a damp ink slab and drew out a portrait.
After drawing for a while, a beauty emerged smiling from the paper. He blew it dry and passed it to Siao Qi,”Lady Siao Qi, do you recognize this woman?”
“Lu Yurong!” said Siao Qi. “You saw her this time? …Did she went to the Fairy’s Capital?”
Chu Li shook his head and said, “The one who had hurt Prince An is this woman, and she appears to be a Grandmaster!”
“That’s impossible!”, exclaimed Siao Qi as she furrowed her pretty eyebrows.
Chu Li said, “An innate master can’t injure Prince An this badly. What martial art does Lu Yurong practice?”
Siao Qi eyebrows furrowed further and she shook her head.
Lu Yurong is famous, but very few have ever seen her. She was very mysterious and unpredictable. Therefore, not many people would know of her style of martial arts. She resembles Siao Shi in that aspect where she isolated herself in her home and never revealed her talent for the martial arts.
Chu Li sighed and said, “We were almost tricked by her!”
He had always thought that Lu Yurong’s skill in the martial arts was not profoundly great. Otherwise, she would not need to hide at the Public House. If she really was the Grandmaster, she could go to any corner of the world. She would not need to be afraid of plots and planned assassinations. She should be able to control her impulsive response although her schemes are indeed astonishing.
Siao Qi furrowed her brows and did not say a word.
She could not imagine Lu Yurong was a Grandmaster.
Mei Aoshuang was the same age as her. She did not reach the grandmastery because of her high intellects, but rather because she was born suitable to the Tai Hua Valley’s heart technique, and he also had a fortuitous encounter.
Lu Yurong? She was not only highly intelligent, she was surprisingly a Grandmaster too!
“Lady Siao Qi, I want to go Huay Public House personally to educate a group of informants,” said Chu Li.
“Just do whatever you think will work,” said Siao Qi as she gently nodded. “I’ll convince Brother Xiao Tieying.”
For such an important news to not be discovered, Lu Yurong was indeed cunning. It did not help that the informants were useless. Throughout these years, Siao Qi handled more private matters and stopped getting herself involved with problems from the outside. Her big brother handles most of those problems as he was more used to the cunning schemes. Therefore, it made sense for the informant to inevitably be weak.
Chu Li stood up and said, “Then I’ll head back first.”
Siao Qi and Siao Shi both stood up as Chu Li flew off and left.
Chu Li went back to the courtyard.
Xue Ling had a smile as radiant as a flower as she served Chu Li with a hardworking demeanor. She first had him wash his face, rinsed his body and waited for him to change his clothes before serving him tea. She then brought Chu Li the formation books that Su Ru had sent over to for him to study.
He had wanted to understand the Tai Hua Valley’s natural formations. It was apparent that he was still worried about Chen Ying’s current situation. He also had his own views about it — that is the Tai Hua Valley might have the Surpassing State. Since they already have two Grandmasters, how could they do not have any Surpassing State?
If he can take a look at the mysteries of the Surpassing State, then perhaps he could step into the Grandmaster’s Boundary!