darknovel Chapter 17 Let's go on a date.
Chapter 17 Let's go on a date.
"Young Master Yuan, the insects have been dealt with."
Old Huang stood behind Lu Yuan, his attitude respectful.
Upon hearing Lao Huang's words, and considering the inexplicable addition of new entries to his vocabulary, Lu Yuan...
That gave me a general idea of what had happened.
So, there were several assassins trying to kill me by the stream just now.
He was scared away by his own boastful words.
Or was it that Lao Huang intervened and drove them away?
So, does that mean Lao Huang is also a martial artist?
Lu Yuan glanced back at Old Huang, his eyes filled with a hint of scrutiny.
Lu Yuan had been suspicious when he immediately recognized that the soft armor sent by the Qin Dynasty was for military use.
How could an ordinary servant of the Lu family recognize that it belonged to the military at a glance?
It seems that Lao Huang's identity is not simple.
Internal energy transforms into qi.
Lu Yuan stared at the four words on the panel, his mind in turmoil.
He was aware of the effect of this term... Injuring someone from a distance was a threshold that only those at the Meridian Opening Realm could reach.
The Blood Coagulation Realm allows one to release blood and qi to form simple defenses or punches, but the true mark of the Meridian Opening Realm is the ability to condense internal energy into powerful qi and release it to injure others.
Now the golden finger tells him that he has internal energy that can be transformed into qi.
It's not that he actually knows it; it's that others "think" he does.
When someone's perception is strong enough, a magic touch can turn that perception into reality.
What just happened?
Lu Yuan was somewhat curious.
His gaze fell upon the dense forest on the opposite bank of the stream.
He stood up and walked slowly toward the direction from which the sound had come.
Old Huang followed behind him, carrying a load on his shoulder, his steps faltering.
Lu Yuan walked up to the bushes and stopped.
Two corpses.
An ankle twisted at an unnatural angle, and when he fell, his head hit a sharp stone hidden under the fallen leaves.
An inconspicuous pebble was embedded in the back of his other knee, and his body was pierced by a sharp, withered branch.
From one perspective, it looks like the body inexplicably loses its balance while fleeing. Losing its balance, it falls right into that withered branch that it should never have fallen into.
There were no other wounds on either body; the fatal injuries were...accidents.
Lu Yuan stared at the two corpses for a long time.
Are all of these Lao Huangqian's?
Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze and turned to walk towards the stream.
At this moment, Lu family guards appeared on the path by the stream.
The head of the guards, with a sword at his waist and at the peak of Body Tempering cultivation, was Lu Youde's most capable subordinate.
He was clearly ordered to escort Lu Yuan back to the city.
He brought three people with him, jogging all the way, beads of sweat still on their foreheads.
Seeing Lu Yuan emerge from behind the bushes, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stepped forward to bow.
"Young Master, the Patriarch sent me to fetch you..."
Then he saw the body behind the bushes.
Two.
He was dressed in black, and clutched a poisoned dagger in his hand.
A fine iron wrist guard lay on the ground not far away, deeply dented, as if it had been struck by a heavy object.
The captain of the guard stopped in his tracks.
His pupils slowly contracted.
He recognized both faces.
"Liu Mazi... Sun Tieshou".
His voice was hoarse.
"A mole of the Blood Wolf Gang. Early stage of Blood Coagulation. They were the two who committed the massacre of the Li family in the south of the city three months ago."
Early stage of blood clotting.
two.
The captain of the guards suddenly turned to look at Lu Yuan.
The boy was sitting on the bluestone, calmly reeling in his fishing rod, his expression as usual.
His dark gray robes were spotless, without a single drop of blood on them.
He didn't even look back at the two corpses.
The captain of the guard couldn't help but press, "Young Master, did you handle these people... all by yourself?"
Lu Yuan packed up his fishing rod, stood up, and said casually, "Let's go," as if he had only caught a few crucian carp.
When Lu Yuan returned to the Lu family with the captain of the guard, it was already dark.
The lanterns under the porch were already lit, their dim light swaying gently in the night breeze.
As soon as he stepped through the gate, he saw Lu Youde standing at the entrance of the hall, his expression very strange...
He couldn't suppress the smirk on his face, and his eyes held a "you've got guts" look.
But he still had to put on a stern face and act like the dignified head of the family.
"Yuan'er, someone is looking for you."
Lu Yuan paused in his steps.
Lu Youde's expression didn't suggest anything bad had happened.
But it certainly doesn't seem like anything like a good thing.
"Who?"
You'll find out when you get there.
Lu Youde patted his shoulder... this time on his left shoulder.
He then turned and walked towards the backyard, but after a few steps he turned back again.
"That person is waiting for you in the garden."
Lu Yuan walked through the corridor, pushed open the moon gate to the back garden, and then he froze.
A girl was standing under the tree.
She wore a long red dress, her long hair was gently tied up with a silver hairpin, and her delicate face looked very pretty in the candlelight.
"Miss Qin...?"
Lu Yuan recognized the person at a glance; it was Qin Zhao.
However, she wasn't wearing a fitted outfit at the moment; instead, she was wearing a dress.
The Qin Zhao of today is completely different from the red-clad girl who dared to draw her sword for him three inches below the arena.
Qin Zhao was looking down at the fallen flowers at her feet when she heard footsteps. She looked up and revealed a pretty face that was slightly flushed.
"Young Master Lu."
Her voice was at least half as soft as usual.
Lu Yuan stood under the moon gate, his mind racing, and his experience from two lifetimes instantly gave him the answer... She was wearing a dress.
He knew what this meant without even thinking about it.
The problem is, his current body is only sixteen years old.
Although his two lifetimes combined are enough to make him Qin Zhao's father, to outsiders at this moment, he is just a sixteen-year-old boy.
Qin Zhao was also sixteen years old, just at the age of coming of age.
"Miss Qin."
He cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, his tone indifferent.
"I hope you have come to visit today and have something to offer?"
Qin Zhao opened his mouth, then closed it again.
She looked at Lu Yuan, then at the fallen flowers at her feet, then at the lanterns on the corridor pillars, and finally her gaze returned to Lu Yuan's face.
Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's wings: "Thank you for what happened that day, Young Master Lu. About what happened on Suzaku Street."
"Miss Qin has already thanked me. The golden silk armor was a great help to me."
"Um."
Qin Zhao's fingers unconsciously reached for something.
"I just hope that fits well... no... I mean, is that comfortable to wear?"
Her ears turned a rosy blush at a visible speed.
Lu Yuan sighed inwardly.
Qin Zhao, standing below the arena, drew his sword three inches away and sternly shouted, "Stop!"
The person standing under the pomegranate tree, unable to even speak properly, was a completely different person.
Having lived two lives, how could one not see through his thoughts?
But he could only pretend he didn't notice.
Firstly, he's portrayed as a martial arts fanatic, and secondly, he genuinely has no interest in such things... The Iron Bone Sect's grand election is imminent, and his martial arts journey has only just begun; it's too early to be involved in romance.
Thirdly, Qin Zhao is sixteen years old this year, and in his eyes he is indeed just a child.
Silence spread between the two.
"Young Master Lu," she finally mustered the courage to get to the point of her visit.
"The day after tomorrow night, there's a lantern festival in the city. I'd like to invite you to come with me. It's a very lively Mid-Autumn Festival lantern festival. There are lots of lanterns, lantern riddles, and poetry recitals..."
Lu Yuan was about to refuse.
At a lantern festival, with so many people and distractions, it's impossible to find any good keywords to search for; it's a complete waste of time for him.
But Qin Zhao was looking at him, and the expectation in his eyes was like a thin layer of ice. He swallowed back the words of refusal that were on the tip of his tongue.
"……All right."
Qin Zhao's eyes lit up, and his whole face was like a lit lantern.
"Then I'll wait for you on Zhuque Avenue at 5 PM the day after tomorrow!" She turned and ran, her red skirt fluttering a few times in the flower path before disappearing outside the moon gate.
Lu Yuan stood under the pomegranate tree, silent for a long while.
Then he raised his hand and patted his forehead.
Ugh, what a hassle.