Chapter 44: The Truth Comes to Light
The Lu residence on Fortune Street was small and exquisite, yet it possessed a unique charm of its own. Even the women of the Xu clan from Clearwind City felt that it was like making a temple in a snail shell—pushed to the extreme, nothing more could be demanded. In a waterside pavilion overlooking a small lake, the woman who had just successfully secured the Liu family’s Wart Armor was beaming with pride and satisfaction. She lounged lazily against the railing, her mood so excellent that even Lu Zhengchun, standing like a fly on the pavilion steps, did not seem so irritating to her.
Her son, dressed in a bright red robe, stood on a bench, tossing fish bait into the small lake. Nearly a hundred red-backed carp crowded together, churning waves of red—a spectacular sight.
The woman instructed Lu Zhengchun, "You don’t need to wait around here for orders. Once this matter is concluded, you will follow us to Clearwind City. Not only will my husband take you in as a personal disciple, but he will also grant your grandfather’s somewhat unreasonable request. He will ensure that you one day break into the Middle Five Realms. Mind you, such a promise is the most valuable of all. That’s why I say your grandfather is a sly old fox."
Having said this, the woman smiled contentedly to herself. "From my perspective, if your grandfather were the helm of the Lu clan, the Lu dynasty might not have crumbled so quickly. Even the arrogant Dali vassal king Song Changjing admitted that he could achieve the feat of destroying a kingdom within a year, and half the credit on the merit roll belongs to your Lu imperial family. Of course, this branch of yours in the town has been unlucky—linked to the main Lu clan, you don’t necessarily share in their glory, but you certainly share in their losses. So take this rare opportunity Clearwind City is offering you. Do not let it slip by. Seize it firmly."
Lu Zhengchun bowed deeply, his hands raised high above his head, his voice choked with gratitude. "Lu Zhengchun will never forget Madam Xu’s great kindness. In the future, when I arrive at the world-renowned Clearwind City, I will labor like an ox or a horse for Madam Xu. I swear, I will be loyal to you alone for the rest of my life!"
The woman from the Clearwind City Xu clan smiled seductively, narrowing her eyes, and said softly, "Words of such heartfelt devotion... best not let my husband, your future master, hear them. Or perhaps you could repeat them in front of him as well?"
Perhaps after kneeling to Liu Xianyang in Mud Vase Alley, Lu Zhengchun had ceased to harbor grudges over such matters. Upon hearing the woman’s cutting remark, he immediately went down on his knees, prostrating himself at the top of the steps outside the pavilion, trembling as he said, "Lu Zhengchun would never dare to forget his roots!"
The woman laughed and waved her hand dismissively. "Enough, rise now. When you reach Clearwind City, cultivation will consume the most time. A long journey tests a horse’s strength—whether you forget your roots or not will naturally come to light when the water falls and the rocks emerge."
Lu Zhengchun retreated backward from the pavilion, only turning around after descending the steps. This young man, once the foremost brat who commanded the town with his antics, had never seemed able to straighten his back in front of this woman.
Beyond the town, the Lu clan, as the ruling surname of a great dynasty, had been severely wounded after being crushed by the Dali border army. Their vitality was sapped, their spirits broken; they could not recover in the short term. From top to bottom—direct descendants, collateral branches, and distant relatives—they had to keep their tails tucked between their legs.
Otherwise, given the foundation and reputation of Clearwind City, they would never dare to pull a 'magpie occupying a magpie’s nest' in the town’s Lu residence, acting high and mighty, bossing around Lu clan descendants. Even the master and servant from Zhengyang Mountain would have found it a stretch.
Now the Lu clan was a dragon stranded in shallow waters. The times were harsh, and they had no choice but to humble themselves.
The red-robed boy sneered, "What a natural-born lackey, a lapdog’s soul. Mother, why would you take in this kind of trash? You don’t actually want Father to take him as a disciple, do you? And on top of that, promise him the Middle Five Realms? When did the Middle Five Realms become so cheap and worthless?"
The woman smiled faintly. "Though Lu Zhengchun is repulsive, he is not without his merits. His talent is mediocre—being accepted as an outer disciple would already be a stroke of luck. But in the end, this young man is just a small add-on to that big deal. He can’t stir up any waves. As for what it looks like on the surface: I’ve promised the town’s Lu clan so much—giving refuge to the fleeing imperial relatives, golden branches, and jade leaves of the Lu royal family, letting them settle in Clearwind City and treating them as honored guests. I’ve even set aside a large area within the city as the Lu clan’s private territory, valid for a hundred years."
The child finished tossing the bait, then suddenly ran out of the pavilion, picked up a handful of pebbles, and came back. Leaning over the railing, he hurled the stones at the carp, thoroughly enjoying himself. Turning his head, he asked, "Mother, coming to town to find the Wart Armor—isn’t that just a cover? A smokescreen for the Clearwind City Xu clan to seize control of the Lu clan? After all, a centipede dies but never falls stiff. I hear the Lu clan’s rabble of refugees includes over three thousand imperial family members alone, plus eunuchs, maids, retainers, and those remnant officials who refused to submit to the Dali Song clan. That would greatly boost Clearwind City’s population." So was this the true hub of information for the fallen Lu clan?
The woman smiled with satisfaction. "Thinking this far shows my son is clever. But still wrong."
The boy frowned, waiting for the answer.
The woman blinked. "That Wart Armor holds a secret. Put simply, it’s no less valuable than that sword scripture."
The boy viciously threw a stone, hitting a carp on the back. Blood spattered everywhere as the pitiful fish thrashed wildly on the water’s surface.
His eyes burned with fervor. "Father excels in offensive methods. His killing power is not too far behind that Dali Song Changjing. But he’s always been held back by his frail constitution—he can’t stand opponents who fight trade-for-trade like thugs. That’s why he can’t make a name for himself and becomes a laughingstock. Even people in our own Clearwind City mock us behind our backs. Mother, if Father gets this divine armor, can he become balanced in offense and defense, enough to rival Song Changjing?"
The woman shook her head again.
The red-robed boy slammed the railing hard, furious. "Stop being so cryptic with me!"
He bared his teeth like a beast about to strike, the ferocity of a cub of a tiger or leopard.
The woman never found it improper for her son to shout at her. After all, since his birth, a certain eminent figure had given him an exceptionally exalted prophecy: "Tiger-wolf appearance, ruler’s potential."
The woman patiently explained, "Once your father acquires the armor and comprehends its secrets, he can take another step forward. What need of defense? Overwhelming force overcomes all techniques—just crush your enemies with a single surge of momentum."
The boy laughed heartily, utterly delighted. "Kill! Kill! Kill! When the time comes, let Father start killing from within Clearwind City itself! The nastiest things are done by our own people!"
After laughing, the boy quickly calmed down, then suddenly recalled something. "Mother, if you toy with Zhengyang Mountain like that—truly leading them on like a monkey—aren’t you afraid that stupid ape might catch on and turn on us once we leave town? And there’s one more thing I’ve never understood. That Liu kid—since he had a porcelain buyer early on, and he himself had excellent bone structure, plus the armor and the sword scripture—such a golden egg is extremely rare. Even I have to admit he deserves a second look. So why did that porcelain buyer never show up? That allowed you to fish in troubled waters, and made the Zhengyang Mountain old ape clean up the mess for us. Once he punched Liu Xianyang to death, everything was clean. The big trouble lands on Zhengyang Mountain’s shoulders, while Clearwind City has plenty of room to maneuver."
The woman said confidently, "That thousand-year-old Mountain-Moving Ape from Zhengyang Mountain isn’t sharp, but he’s not so stupid as to be completely led around by Mother like a monkey on a string. In fact, he’s already guessed my plan to use a borrowed knife. Why was the old ape willing to hold his nose and jump into the trap? The reasons are complicated. Partly it’s Zhengyang Mountain’s arrogance, thinking they can handle any trouble that comes. Partly it involves an unknown secret history—you don’t need to worry about that for now."
The woman fell into deep thought, once again tracing through her logic, trying to plug any gaps to avoid endless future trouble.
The porcelain buyer for the youth Liu Xianyang had once been a force that staunchly supported the Lu dynasty. After the dynasty’s collapse, they lost everything—their entire stake. Before that, they had been a first-rate gate of the secular world beneath the mountain. Otherwise, after confirming Liu Xianyang’s sword embryo aptitude, they would not have spent a fortune to keep him in town, buying nine years of his time.
When Zhengyang Mountain somehow learned of this, they approached that fallen house to try to purchase Liu Xianyang’s destiny porcelain. One of Zhengyang Mountain’s ancestors made a sky-high offer on the spot. But that household, as if possessed by some demon, refused to budge, saying only that it had already been resold to someone else—who and what background, they kept their mouths shut.
Then a puzzled Zhengyang Mountain caught wind that their mortal enemy, the Wind Thunder Garden, had seized the opportunity and stolen a march on them. That household naturally dared not tell the sword immortals of Zhengyang Mountain that they had already sold the item to the Wind Thunder Garden, the enemy of Zhengyang Mountain.
As for who leaked the Liu family’s hereditary Wart Armor and sword scripture, along with the news that Wind Thunder Garden had taken over Liu Xianyang’s destiny porcelain, to Zhengyang Mountain?
Far away in the sky, yet right before the eyes.
It was none other than the Xu clan of Clearwind City—though of course, they remained in the background.
She was the mastermind of this scheme. Having personally journeyed to the town at great cost, she naturally had to ensure this deal at least broke even. Otherwise, her branch’s status in Clearwind City would plummet, hanging by a thread—let alone any hope of independently controlling the city.
In fact, the town was a hidden den of dragons and tigers, not to be underestimated. Setting aside the declining Lu clan, the other three great surnames were all dominant powers on the map of Eastern Treasured Vase Continent, at their zenith.
The true foundation of the four surnames and ten clans did not lie in how many earthbound serpents with spell-weaving powers they harbored. These family heads and old ancestors were already destined to never leave. As the old saying goes, trees die when moved, people die when moved. Unfortunately, they had become like the peach trees in Peach Leaf Lane or the old locust tree at the town center—moved, they die, with no hope of rebirth. So despite their great divine powers, they could not exercise them.
The strength of these clans lay in how many dragon kilns they controlled and how many households they governed, for this directly determined how many destiny porcelains they could provide to the outside each year. Whenever a good embryo for cultivation appeared, the porcelain buyer who hit the jackpot, unless severely strapped for funds, would usually throw in an extra "big red envelope." Beyond that, it also formed a bond of incense-and-fire friendship between the two sides—far weightier than a nodding acquaintance.
The woman suddenly sighed to her son, "Never underestimate anyone, not even a small figure like Lu Zhengchun, who bends over like a dog. Do you think coming to town means you can easily snatch those opportunities and treasures? Not at all. Old Dragon City’s Fu Nanhua nearly shattered his Dao heart. Yunxia Mountain’s Cai Jinjian vanished into thin air, life or death unknown. And there was a junior of no mean talent who, at the covered bridge, seemingly had a moment of spiritual awakening and attempted Water Visualization, only to have his mindscape ruined. It was like someone smashed a huge pit in the bottom of his heart-lake, draining the water. This sort of thing won’t stop here—it will only increase. That’s why I say on the path of cultivation, there is no one truly at ease."
The child thought it over. "Caution ensures a long voyage. Mother, I will be careful."
The woman nodded. "That would be best."
The child threw his last pebble and asked, "What’s the deal with that Qi Jingchun?"
The woman showed rare anger, scolding sharply, "How dare you! Address him as Master Qi!"
The child was startled but obediently changed his wording. "Is Master Qi in trouble?"
The woman hesitated a moment, then slowly said, "Master Qi’s teacher once not only performed as an attendant at the Confucian Temple, but was seated second to the left of the Confucian Sect Leader."
The child was dumbfounded.
Did that mean Master Qi’s teacher was the fourth person in the history of the Confucian school—or more precisely, the Confucian Sect?
Such an unimaginable existence. If anyone boasted that such a sage, in a fit of rage, could crush the largest mountain on Eastern Treasured Vase Continent with one stomp, the child wouldn’t say he fully believed it, but he would certainly half-believe it.
The woman’s heart was uneasy. She said in a low voice, "But that sage among sages... today his status is even lower than the dilapidated statues in this town."
The child swallowed his saliva and casually asked, "How should we deal with Liu Xianyang’s friend?"
The woman thought for a moment. "You mean that orphan surnamed Chen from Mud Vase Alley?"
The child nodded.
The woman smiled. "Didn’t you call him an ant the first time you met? Let them live or die on their own."