Martial Cultivator

After a brief rest, the members of the Lu Family prepared to get up and leave, though it was obvious to the naked eye that they were all filled with anger, but felt helpless.

Lu Yuan was also helpless about it. The Lu Family was in business, and even though they had the Xie Family as a powerful backing, their reach was limited. If the Xie Family were around, they could smooth things over, but now that the Xie Family was not there, it was unlikely they would stand up for them in the future.

After all, if they wanted to stand up for them, they would have to pay a visit to the Green Algae Sect.

It was impossible for the Xie Family to do something like that.

But just as Lu Yuan was about to stand up, a young man, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, sat down in front of him. Looking at Lu Yuan, he smiled and said, ”Second Master Lu?”

Lu Yuan was stunned, confirming that he did not know this young man, but he quickly sized him up. The young man was dressed in black, with a saber hanging at his waist. The scabbard was pitch black, and it was impossible to tell what style the saber was, but it certainly did not seem like the Great Liang Dynasty’s standard saber design.

Unable to discern the young man’s identity, Lu Yuan appeared somewhat cautious and asked, ”Who might your esteemed self be?”

The young man did not answer directly. Instead, he asked, ”I heard Second Master Lu just lost 100,000 skygold coins on the boat?”

Lu Yuan could not help but smile bitterly. Was this the so-called good things don’t spread, but bad news travels far?

Lu Xin furrowed his brow and said, ”Is your esteemed self here to mock the Lu Family?”

Hearing this, Lu Yuan quickly furrowed his brows. It had been a turbulent time, and after suffering a loss once, he did not want to repeat the same mistake.

However, the young man seemed unconcerned, just smiling and saying, ”Not at all. I happen to have a grudge with the Green Algae Sect, and I’ve never had an excuse to find trouble with them. I wonder if Second Master Lu could lend me a hand?” ”Of course, this wouldn’t be a favor given for nothing. I’ll help the Lu Family recover that 100,000 skygold coins.”

The young man’s words left Lu Yuan completely puzzled. For a moment, he could not determine whether the young man’s words were true or false, fearing that this was yet another trap set by the Green Algae Sect.

”Second Master Lu, there’s no need to worry. I have no ties to the Green Algae Sect, I truly have a grudge against them.”

The young man seemed to have noticed Lu Yuan’s concerns and spoke again.

Lu Yuan smiled bitterly. ”Your identity is unknown. Since your esteemed self has a grudge against the Green Algae Sect, you can deal with them yourself. Why must the Lu Family help?”

The young man appeared to come to a sudden realization, as if he understood something. He nodded and said, ”Then there’s no need for the Lu Family to be involved. But I will still help recover the 100,000 skygold coins for you. Would Second Master Lu be willing to send someone to accompany me?”

Lu Yuan remained silent. Given his cautious nature, he was reluctant to trust this young man before him. However, 100,000 skygold coins was no small sum. If they could truly recover it, it would naturally be the best outcome.

”Sir, I must remind you that the Sect Master of the Green Algae Sect is on that ferry. Given your age, you should avoid throwing your life away.”

A young man like this, even if he had some cultivation, would likely still be marching to his death in front of the Green Algae Sect’s Sect Master.

After some thought, Lu Yuan decided to drop the matter. Things had already come to this, trying to salvage the situation was unrealistic. It would be better to simply accept the loss. Nothing was more important than bringing these juniors safely back to Divine Capital.

The young man glanced at Lu Yuan. He still was not angry, only speaking with genuine sincerity. ”I truly admire you, Second Master Lu. A single sentence could have saved you 50,000 skygold coins, yet you still refused to say it. I can understand your difficulties. In any case, once I retrieve the skygold coins, I will return them to the Lu Family once I arrive in Divine Capital.”

”You’re also from Divine Capital, Young Sir?”

Lu Yuan was a shrewd man after all. He quickly caught the key point in the young man’s words.

The young man said nothing, merely rising to his feet to leave.

But at that very moment, as he stood up, Lu Yuan’s gaze instantly fell to the young man’s feet.

A pair of pitch-black boots.

Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes, instantly recognizing them as the standard-issue boots of a Great Liang Dynasty military official.

Though the young man before him was not wearing an official uniform, just based on those boots, Lu Yuan could conclude with certainty that he was a Great Liang Dynasty military official.

Since that was the case, when he thought back to the young man’s attire, was it not identical to that of the newly appointed Lord Warden Commander?

In recent years, with Chen Chao’s rising fame, many young men have begun imitating Chen Chao’s style. They could wear black clothing, they could carry sabers, but no one would go so far as to wear Great Liang’s military official boots.

Lu Yuan became rather nervous, ”Sir, you are...”

Before he could finish his sentence, the black-clad young man shook his head, signaling him not to reveal it.

Lu Yuan steadied his emotions before offering a polite apology. ”I was a bit presumptuous.”

The black-clad young man smiled. ”So now, can someone come with me to retrieve the money?”

Lu Yuan nodded, then scanned his surroundings before saying in a deep voice, ”Who is willing to accompany this Young Sir to retrieve the 100,000 skygold coins?”

Most of the people present were still in confusion. Having just disembarked from the ferry, none were eager to go back. Only Lu Xin had already begun to vaguely grasp the situation. He naturally stopped hesitating at this moment, stood up, and said with a smile, ”I’m willing.”

Lu Yuan glanced at Lu Xin with a hint of appreciation and smiled. “Then let him go with you, Young Sir. How about that?”

Now that his identity had been seen through, Chen Chao smiled and said, “Naturally.”

……

……

Bringing Lu Xin to the ferry dock, they saw that the rest of the Lu Family members had already left for another location. Chen Chao looked at the young man from the Lu Family and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Lu Xin.”

Lu Xin smiled. “I won’t ask for yours, Sir”

Chen Chao gave a knowing smile, then said, “I’ve heard your name before. They say you’re a business prodigy of the Lu Family, but from what I can see, besides business, you’ve got quite the courage too.”

Although Chen Chao did not concern himself with such matters, he could not escape Xie Nandu’s constant muttering in his ear. Xie Nandu placed great importance on the Lu Family. With war looming in the north, money would be needed, and the Lu Family excelled at making it. Naturally, they had a place in Xie Nandu’s plans.

Since the Lu Family was also closely aligned with the Xie Family, it was only normal that their name would come up in conversation from time to time.

While Chen Chao was not interested of these matters, his memory was no worse than Xie Nandu’s. And since these were things Xie Nandu had said, they had firmly lodged in his mind.

Lu Xin smiled. “Since I’m traveling with you, there’s naturally nothing to worry about. It’s not like I’d actually end up dead over there.”

Chen Chao chuckled but said nothing more.

At the ferry dock, the two hired a small boat. When they tried to buy it outright, the boatman was initially reluctant. But then, Lu Xin handed over a skygold coin. Having never seen so much money in his life, the boatman promptly agreed to sell the old partner that had been his livelihood for years.

Chen Chao and Lu Xin boarded the boat. Chen Chao teased, “I don’t know how to row.”

Having grown up in a prestigious family, Lu Xin naturally had no experience with such things either. But given the current situation, he had no reason to let Chen Chao do it instead. So, he clumsily took on the task.

Before long, he was drenched in sweat.

And yet, the boat had barely moved forward.

Chen Chao looked at Lu Xin, shook his head, and chuckled. “If you didn’t know how to do business, would you have starved to death?”

Before Lu Xin could respond, Chen Chao’s mind stirred, and the boat suddenly shot forward at great speed.

Caught off guard, Lu Xin lost his balance and tumbled toward the river. Fortunately, Chen Chao grabbed him by the collar in time, sparing him from getting soaked.

Once he had steadied himself, Lu Xin was still shaken.

It was only at this moment that he formally saluted Chen Chao and said, “Greetings, Lord Warden Commander.”

Chen Chao laughed it off.

“Did you only dare to come along because you recognized this official’s identity? If you hadn’t known, you probably wouldn’t have agreed, would you?”

Chen Chao smiled as he looked at this business genius of the Lu Family.

Lu Xin thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Not exactly. But if my uncle hadn’t recognized Your Excellency’s identity, even if I had wanted to come, he wouldn’t have allowed it.”

“But whether I knew or not, I still would have come with Your Excellency.”

Chen Chao asked curiously, “Why weren’t you afraid that this official was deceiving you?”

Lu Xin shook his head. “I was afraid too, but I was willing to take the gamble. I don’t know how to explain it, just felt like I couldn’t resign myself to doing nothing.”

Chen Chao smiled faintly and said in a low voice, “That’s true. After all, 100,000 skygold coins, that’s quite a large sum. If I had that much money back then, I wouldn’t have needed to go into the mountains and forests...”

Halfway through his sentence, Chen Chao suddenly caught himself. He scratched his head and shook it. How could he casually tell such things to outsiders?

“It’s not about the money, and it’s not about being bullied. It’s like what Uncle, just one sentence from him could have saved 50,000 skygold coins, but he refused to say it. And the others on the boat didn’t want him to say it either. I guess it’s that feeling, when something you value deeply is belittled, even trampled underfoot, yet you’re powerless to do anything about it...”

Lu Xin sighed. The events earlier were still fresh in his mind; something he would probably never forget in his lifetime.

Chen Chao said calmly, “Things like this have happened before, they’re happening now, and they might still happen in the future. But I hope, in the future, they won’t anymore.”

Lu Xin asked curiously, “Why does Your Excellency concern himself with this sort of thing?”

“Whether it’s Second Master Lu or those merchants, they all did the right thing. But even so, deep down, they must have felt disappointed, disheartened... wondering why they had to endure such treatment. In the end, it’s because we officials haven’t done our job well. We haven’t made this world into the world it ought to be.” “As for why I do this, it’s because I want you all to be a little less disappointed, to have a bit more patience with the imperial court, with the Great Liang, to hold onto some hope.”

Chen Chao smiled and added, “Of course, the most important reason is that this is my duty. I’m the Lord Warden Commander of Great Liang. If any citizen of Great Liang suffers humiliation at the hands of outsiders, it is my concern.”

Lu Xin thought for a moment before bowing once more, this time with genuine sincerity. “Your Excellency is truly a good official.”

In truth, when Chen Chao had slain Daoist Zhenye, he had already thought so.

But hearing about it was one thing, seeing it firsthand was another.

At this moment, he was actually quite looking forward to what would happen next.

The small boat continued forward swiftly. Now, they could already see the ferry in the distance.

Chen Chao rested a hand on the hilt of his saber and said softly, “There’s no leaving unscathed after humiliating the people of Great Liang. Not even if you’re the Infatuation Daoist Temple Master.”