"You’re a grown man, bawling like a child. Enough, once you cross the bridge, you’ll find your way. Go fetch some firewood and oil, and let’s burn this place down."
Lu Ren frowned, resisting the urge to slap him. Crying? What sort of man is this?
When he was a child, even if a taller girl stole his candy, he didn’t cry .
Seeing Lu Ren’s impatient expression, Li Tianming quickly composed himself and hurried to the cellar to gather a pile of firewood and buckets of oil.
Lu Ren, on the other hand, continued with his approach of taking everything he could. After all, he still needed to survive in the Underworld for a while. While money was not everything, it was indeed indispensable.
This place was indeed a base of the Liaoyuan; just the Treasure Notes Lu Ren scavenged amounted to nearly a hundred thousand taels of silver.
One hundred thousand taels, almost the taxes of Juliu City for a month, could practically be called enormous wealth!
Standing at the entrance of the innermost passage of the altar, Li Tianming held a torch and looked at Lu Ren.
Lu Ren gave a slight nod, and without hesitation, Li Tianming threw the torch down.
Flames erupted instantly, and Lu Ren led Li Tianming straight through the passage, emerging from a room in a house two hundred meters away.
Next came killing any human in sight, kicking any dog that appeared.
Completely slaughtering everyone in the mansion.
In Lu Ren’s eyes, no one in the mansion was decent; none were ordinary people, all were practitioners. Using the Qi Observation Skill, he saw most had red names, some even deep red.
Leaving them alive would be a calamity.
The entire mansion flowed with rivers of blood. At the edge of the mansion, Lu Ren watched the Tongfu Inn in the distance engulfed in flames, smoke thickly stretching to the sky.
He turned to look at Li Tianming, who was looking lost and scared, finding it amusing how his actions had so shaken him.
Yet as a cool guy with a cold demeanor, Lu Ren couldn’t be bothered to explain, simply saying,
"What are you staring at? Move it, we’re leaving."
Li Tianming shuddered, like a quail chick, shuffled to Lu Ren’s side, speaking cautiously, "B-Boss, you’re not going to have so much fun killing that you’ll dispose of me too, are you?"
The sight of this man’s massacre left him deeply shocked, and the impact on his mind and spirit was overwhelming.
It felt like his worldview was shattering, wasn’t it?
"Since the passage led here, those people must be from Liaoyuan. Killing them is ridding the people of a pest."
He replied casually, then grabbed Li Tianming and dashed away, returning to settle in Juliu City.
"Lord Zhang, you’re finally here!"
Outside Tongfu Inn in Xinfan Town, the Chief Constable, nearly in tears from anxiety, finally sighed in relief upon seeing the tall man in ornate official dress, cinched with a belt and crowned with an official cap.
Zhang Cong gave a slight nod, observing the inn burned to a crisp.
"Explain what happened."
The Chief Constable said, "Two hours ago, a stranger burst into Tongfu Inn, killed the owner, then set it ablaze, burning it down."
The Chief Constable described the clues he discovered in detail, concluding, "I believe this was a revenge killing."
Zhang Cong remained noncommittal, stepping into the charred remains of the inn for a thorough investigation. Upon finally descending into the cellar, faced with scorched bones and a dozen charred bodies, his relaxed demeanor turned grave. This text is hosted at NoveI(F)ire.net
He reached out, picked up a rather intact piece of charred bone, and examined it closely.
With his extensive experience, Zhang Cong immediately identified it as a part only found in human bones.
Surveying the scene, similar bone fragments littered the ground.
Zhang Cong carefully inspected the charred bodies, eventually discovering a piece of metal, scorched black by fire, on one of the corpses.
He rubbed it clean, his expression suddenly shifting.
Things were getting serious.
"Recently, many experts from Juliu City’s Patrol Bureau have gone out."
Beside Qingshui River, during a gossip-filled talk with Xu Li, her face was alight with excitement over the latest big news.
Lu Ren’s expression remained unchanged: "Oh, did something happen?"
The one before him likely had some inside information.
Xu Li looked around, ensuring no one was nearby, and whispered, "I heard an Evil Cult was found in Xinfan Town, Liaoyuan."
Lu Ren’s expression subtly shifted, curious: "What happened?"
"They turned an inn into an altar, sacrificing hundreds of people."
"Of course!" Xu Li said seriously, "It’s said an expert discovered them and wiped them all out!"
"That’s truly impressive."
After a few more exchanges, Lu Ren watched Xu Li’s cheerful, bouncing departure before turning back home.
If the altar wasn’t just one, considering Liaoyuan’s ability to communicate with Doye Jala, could they send information and let Liaoyuan Organization find him?
The Primordial Evil God’s dimension is so high that it can’t descend in True Body, but transmitting some Power is easy.
With that thought, Lu Ren felt uneasy.
If they start searching for him extensively, isn’t that over-the-top?
But recalling the system erased Doye Jala’s Spirit imprint, his weary heart eased.
The main issue was Lu Ren’s reluctance to deal with trouble, especially being targeted by such a high-dimensional, overwhelmingly powerful being as the Primordial Evil God, causing anyone sleepless nights.
Finding a chance to take care of this guy was a must.
Encountering him in the Extraterritorial Ruins, who’d have thought they’d meet again in the Underworld.
It meant the other was also involved in the Multi-Dimensional Celestial World, with tendrils extending far.
Brooding over things, Lu Ren entered the courtyard, seeing Li Tianming clumsily practicing Fist Technique, immediately feeling irritated.
Stepping forward, he pointed out the flaws while giving him a beating, leaving Li Tianming bruised and crying before stopping.
Feeling better, Lu Ren asked, "Got it memorized?"
With his face swollen like a pig’s head, Li Tianming wiped his tears and eagerly nodded, "Teacher, I’ve memorized it."
Returning to Juliu City for over a week with nothing to do, Lu Ren simply took on Li Tianming as a disciple. Though his aptitude wasn’t particularly good, it wasn’t too poor either.
Of a very average person’s standard.
As long as he practiced diligently, he would achieve something.
Li Tianming had no complaints, to be honest. Having the chance to be taught by an Extraordinary Bright Awakening Martial Taoist Family was a blessing from eight generations, a lucky chance from ancestors tirelessly burning incense day and night.
After making Li Tianming practice the Phoenix Unification Fist routine again and noting any unbearable flaws, he stopped.