At the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
Lu Hao sat beside the window, one arm resting lazily against the back of his chair as he swirled the wine in his cup.
The pavilion was one of the more popular establishments in Azure Sun City, frequented by wealthy merchants, influential families, and martial artists who wanted to enjoy a little luxury.
For someone like Lu Hao, the expense was hardly worth mentioning.
Then, almost by chance, he noticed a familiar figure.
A woman wearing a veil was squatting beside the roadside, carefully arranging several pieces of embroidery on a piece of cloth.
Even from the second floor, Lu Hao recognized her.
His eyebrows rose.
"Oh my... isn’t that the ugly woman from the Shen Family? My dear sister-in-law?"
He laughed, a sinister, cruel laugh.
He was just feeling that the wine and food were bland... and here was the perfect entertainment, delivered right to his window.
"You. Come here."
The servant hurried forward and bowed.
"Young Master?"
Lu Hao pointed toward the woman below.
"See that veiled woman? That’s my older brother’s wife."
The servant glanced out the window, then turned back with an understanding smile.
"Ah, so that is Madam Shen."
Lu Hao’s smile deepened.
"Go down there and help me take care of her."
The servant had been with Lu Hao for years, he naturally understood the implication.
"Rest assured, Young Master. This servant knows what to do."
Lu Hao waved him away.
The servant bowed again, concealing his grin as he hurried downstairs.
Shen Yuyan was packing up her embroidery when a figure blocked the sunlight in front of her.
She looked up and saw a man dressed as a servant looking at her with a nasty grin.
"Well, well... isn’t this the young mistress of the Lu Family? Why are you setting up a stall here like a common peddler?"
She lowered her head and continued gathering her embroidery.
"What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?"
"Don’t you recognize me? I’m a servant of the Lu Family?"
Shen Yuyan kept her eyes lowered.
The servant’s grin widened, "What’s this? Too proud to speak to a lowly servant?"
He reached out and seized her wrist.
"Our Young Master said to let me properly ’take care of’ you..."
Shen Yuyan yanked her hand back and scrambled to her feet, terrified.
"What are you doing?"
"What am I doing?"
The servant stood up and walked forward with a leisurely smile.
"You married our Young Master Xuan, so you are a person of the Lu Family, and people of the Lu Family... must listen to the words of the Lu Family."
People nearby looked over, but no one dared to speak.
Everyone in Azure Sun City knew the Lu Family’s influence. It wasn’t simply a matter of wealth. The family possessed powerful martial artists, connections throughout the city, and enough influence to make life difficult for anyone who crossed them.
Shen Yuyan turned to run, but the servant grabbed her bundle.
The bundle tore open, and the embroidery scattered all over the ground, Shen Yuyan dropped to her knees to pick them up, and the servant stood over her, laughing loudly.
"What are you picking up? A pile of junk..."
He bent down, snatched up the embroidery nearest his feet, and stuffed it into his sleeve.
Back at the Iron Mountain Escort Agency.
An escort warrior walked in hurriedly.
"Lu Xuan."
The man’s hurried tone made Lu Xuan turn.
"What’s wrong?"
"It’s your wife. Someone from the Lu Family is harassing her in the market."
Lu Xuan’s expression changed, he was on his feet before the man finished speaking, "Where?"
"Still at the market. You should go..."
But Lu Xuan was already gone.
He ran the entire way, although he didn’t want to clash with the Lu Family right now, he couldn’t stand by while Shen Yuyan was being bullied.
He would go to Shen Yuyan first.
As for Lu Hao, he would deal with him when the time came.
His body was no longer the frail, damaged vessel it had been a week ago.
He wouldn’t suffer any serious injuries, and as long as he couldn’t finish Lu Hao in one blow, he still needed to be patient.
When he finally reached the market, he found only a few scattered pieces of torn cloth near the roadside.
Shen Yuyan was nowhere to be seen.
After asking around, he learned that the Lu Family servant had thrown her embroidery on the ground, snatched the pieces, and left, he didn’t physically harm her beyond that.
"Snatched?"
Lu Xuan’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached.
He had seen with his own eyes how many hours Shen Yuyan spent on those pieces... her delicate fingers working by candlelight, night after night.
These bastards.
At that moment, Lu Hao had already moved from the Drunken Immortal Pavilion to the Phoenix Pavilion.
The servant came before him, holding the embroidery, eager to report his success.
Lu Hao barely glanced at it, he pulled two silver pieces from his sleeve and tossed them at the servant.
"Fine, the silver is your reward. Take those pieces of junk away... get out. You did well today. Go home early and don’t disturb me."
As he spoke, his arm tightened around the waist of the girl beside him.
The servant pocketed the silver and bowed, "Thank you, Young Master. This servant will take his leave."
With silver in his pocket and the embroidery tucked under his arm, the servant couldn’t have been happier.
Come to think of it, this useless young master was his lucky star.
For so many years following Young Master Hao... bullying and cursing the trash... he had received no shortage of benefits.
The whole Lu Family knew the truth. Young Master Hao’s martial foundation had been naturally deficient, and it was fixed using a forbidden method... extracting Lu Xuan’s heart vein at age five to replace his own.
This fact had always been a thorn in Lu Hao’s pride. Whenever he saw Lu Xuan, or even heard his name, an inexplicable anger would rise in his chest.
Now that the trash had been driven from the Lu Family, he still couldn’t let it go.
But that was fine, the servant didn’t care about grudges between young masters.
As long as he could continue to reap the benefits.
Thinking and singing, the servant walked into the alley that was the only way back to the Lu Family estate.
Narrow. Dark. And empty. Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping.com.
He hummed a little tune, holding one of Shen Yuyan’s embroidery pieces in his hand... two cranes by the water... admiring it as he walked.
"Tsk tsk... I have to say, that ugly woman actually embroiders quite well..."
He hadn’t gone far before he has to stop because he saw someone blocking his path, it was none other than Lu Xuan standing in the middle of the alley, looking at him.
The servant was stunned for a moment... then laughed.
"Well, well... isn’t this Young Master Xuan?"
He sized Lu Xuan up, his mouth stretching into a wide grin, "What’s this? Here to settle the score with me?"
He took a step forward, tilted his head, eyes full of mockery.
"Just you? A waste? Still want to play hero for your ugly wife?"
Lu Xuan didn’t speak.
The servant spat on the ground and pointed to his own chest.
"Come on. Hit me right here. If you land one punch and I so much as flinch... I’ll get on my knees and call you Grandfather."
He glanced back at the alley entrance, then turned back, laughing even louder.
"Today I’ll break one of your legs... and tomorrow I can go to Young Master Hao to claim a bonus."
Lu Xuan didn’t waste words.
His figure flickered like a gust of wind.
The servant only saw a blur before his eyes, and then Lu Xuan vanished from where he had been standing.
"Huh?"
Before he could react, a shadow was already directly in front of him.
One step, ten paces. It wasn’t running... it was teleportation.
The servant’s pupils shrank, the laughter in his mouth hadn’t even stopped, and Lu Xuan’s face was already less than half a foot from his own.
"You..."
Lu Xuan’s hand shot out.
Tiger Form: Predator’s Grip.
Five fingers like iron hooks, carrying True Energy. The air itself tore with a sharp hiss.
The servant instinctively raised his arm to block.
Crack.
Bone snapped clean.
"AAAGH!"
The scream hadn’t even left the servant’s throat before Lu Xuan’s other hand clamped down on it, silencing him.
Like lifting a chicken.
The gap between the Body Tempering Realm and the Martial Apprentice Realm wasn’t a matter of degree... it was a crushing, absolute difference.
The servant’s feet dangled off the ground, kicking wildly in the air.
His right wrist was bent at an impossible angle... bone shards piercing through the skin, white and ghastly, with blood dripping down.
"You... you are not a waste..."
His face turned purple, and his eyes were full of terror.
Lu Xuan looked at him, his gaze was calm.
No anger, No hatred, Just calm.
Then he threw a punch.
Tiger Form: Heart Ripper.
Pfft!
One punch pierced clean through the servant’s chest, the smell of blood rushed toward him.