Chapter 32: Chase!!

"Uncle Fang! I have nothing to do this afternoon, so I'd like to leave a bit early."

"What for?"

"I was in a rush when I visited Xiao Lin's home last time and didn't bring anything, so I want to buy some things and go see Xiao Lin again!"

Fang Tieshan nodded with satisfaction.

"It's rare to find someone as loyal and righteous as you! Go ahead! Do you have enough silver for the gift?"

"It's enough!"

Fang Tieshan watched Lu Xuan leave.

----------------

Outside the city, Duan Lei's face was deathly pale, and he still hadn't recovered from the terror. Although it was unbelievable, he was certain it was him.

That good-for-nothing young master of the Lu Family who worked as a gatekeeper was the person who killed Huo Tianba.

He had also seen Huo Tianba's caved-in chest. That kind of force was enough to pierce through his chest, which meant those ten people from Flying Cloud Fortress were also killed by him.

Damn it!

I really ran into a monster!

Run!

I'm never coming to Azure Sun City again in this lifetime!

With this thousand silver banknote, I can live happily anywhere I go.

Thinking of this, he quickened his pace. The forest was ahead, while Azure Sun City behind him was getting further and further away.

After running wildly for an hour, the exhausted Duan Lei finally stopped. He collapsed under an old tree, panting heavily.

"Whew!"

Finally made it out, thinking of the thousand silver pieces in his pocket, the delicacies, and the young ladies, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Caw, caw!

The crows called out, and Duan Lei shuddered as he looked around vigilantly. A thin old man emerged from behind a tree trunk opposite him.

He wore a grey robe with his hands clasped behind his back. His face was expressionless, but his eyes gleamed with frightening intensity.

"Can you carry that thousand silver pieces?"

Duan Lei instantly jumped to his feet. It was the Lu Family clan Elder who had given him the banknote.

"You—why are you here?"

Duan Lei's face was filled with terror.

The clan Elder stared at him and chuckled sinisterly.

"The Patriarch said that since you helped the Lu Family so much, the Lu Family must see you off!"

Duan Lei's expression changed, and his hand was already on the hilt of his blade.

"Cut the crap! We're both people with experience, don't play dumb!"

He drew the broadsword at his waist, and the blade flashed in the sunlight.

"Come on!"

The clan Elder looked at Duan Lei, the corners of his mouth twitching as if he were smiling.

"Very well."

Duan Lei gritted his teeth, raised his blade, and charged.

He slashed down, but the clan Elder sidestepped, the blade grazing his shoulder and cutting into empty air.

Duan Lei missed, and his center of gravity shifted forward. Before he could retract his blade, the clan Elder's hand was already pressed against his chest.

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A light, airy palm strike.

"Bang!"

Duan Lei flew backward, crashing into a tree thirty feet away. The trunk shuddered violently, and leaves fell in a cascade, the broadsword slipped from his hand, fell to the ground, and bounced twice.

Duan Lei slid down the tree trunk, collapsed on the ground, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

He looked down at his chest. There was a palm print on his clothes, his chest was caved in, and two ribs were broken.

"You—"

He had just opened his mouth suddenly he spat out another mouthful of blood.

The clan Elder walked over, stood in front of him, and looked down at him.

"With just this little bit of skill, you dare to falsely claim the Lu Family's reward?"

Duan Lei trembled all over, his face deathly pale.

"Sir... please spare my life..."

He struggled to crawl up, knelt on the ground, and pressed his forehead into the mud.

"A thousand silver reward! I'll give it all to you! I... I don't want it anymore!"

He pulled the banknote from his pocket, held it up with both hands, and raised it above his head.

The clan Elder looked down at the banknote but didn't take it.

"That banknote?"

He chuckled.

"You took the Lu Family's silver, and the whole city knows it. If you return the silver now, and word gets out later, where will the Lu Family's reputation be?"

Duan Lei's hands were shaking, and the banknote rustled in the wind.

"I... I..."

The clan Elder crouched down and looked at him.

"Don't think too much... You must die today!"

Duan Lei opened his mouth but couldn't speak.

The clan Elder stood up and raised his hand.

Duan Lei closed his eyes, his whole body stiffening.

"Spare... spare my life..."

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, as if clutching at the last straw.

"I... I'll talk! I'll tell you a secret!"

The clan Elder's hand stopped in mid-air.

"What secret?"

Duan Lei's voice was trembling, but he spoke quickly, as if afraid he wouldn't have a chance if he were too late.

"The person who killed Huo Tianba wasn't me..."

The clan Elder sneered.

"Nonsense, as if we didn't know. With your third-rate skills, could you even kill Huo Tianba?"

"It... it was someone from your Lu Family!"

The clan Elder frowned.

"Who?"

Duan Lei swallowed, his lips trembling.

"That good-for-nothing young master your Lu Family... abandoned... Lu Xuan!"

The clan Elder was stunned.

Then he laughed.

"Nonsense."

"It's true! It's true!"

Duan Lei's voice sharpened.

"I saw it with my own eyes! That night, Huo Tianba broke into the escort agency. I was knocked unconscious by him, and when I woke up, Huo Tianba was already dead! I saw... I saw that person's back, and his footsteps..."

"The next day, I recognized him! It was that good-for-nothing young master from your Lu Family! Lu Xuan!"

The clan Elder's expression darkened.

"A good-for-nothing, capable of killing Huo Tianba?"

"He... he is not a good-for-nothing!"

Duan Lei's voice was trembling.

"Those ten people from Flying Cloud Fortress were also killed by him! During that escort mission to Maple Leaf Town, one punch per person, chests pierced through... it was all his doing!"

The clan Elder narrowed his eyes.

He stared at Duan Lei, trying to spot any sign of lying on his face, but Duan Lei's fear didn't look faked, it wasn't fear of him, it was fear of that person.

The clan Elder's brow furrowed even deeper, "You had better not be lying to me."

"N-no... I swear... everything I said is true!"

"He's right."

The voice was not loud, but very calm, it came from the forest.

The clan Elder turned his head sharply, a person walked out from behind a tree.

It was none other than the Lu Xuan they had been discussing repeatedly.

Lu Xuan?!

The clan Elder's cloudy eyes lit up frighteningly, Lu Xuan smiled slightly.

Lu Wanshan, one of the clan Elders, at the ninth level of the Martial Artist Realm.

He had often disciplined him since he was young, treating him like a dog.

"How have you been, Lu Wanshan!"

As soon as Duan Lei saw Lu Xuan, he felt a glimmer of hope and pointed at him.

"It's him, he's the one who killed Huo Tianba!"

Lu Wanshan glanced at Duan Lei, then looked at Lu Xuan. To his shock, Lu Xuan did not deny it.

"Is it really you?"

Lu Xuan nodded.

"It is me!"

Hearing Lu Xuan's confirmation, Lu Wanshan's old body trembled, and goosebumps instantly broke out all over him.

"When did you start practicing the Martial Dao? Wasn't your foundation destroyed?"

"That's a long story, and I don't have that much time. Why don't you go down and ask the Lu Family ancestors yourself!"

"Hahaha!"

"Arrogant!"

Lu Wanshan let out a violent shout, and his figure lunged forward.

His withered palm reached out from his sleeve, five fingers hooked like claws, aiming straight for Lu Xuan's throat.

Lu Xuan did not dodge or evade; instead, he launched a powerful counterattack.

A direct head-on collision.

A crisp cracking sound was heard. The clan Elder's palm was instantly torn from his bones under Lu Xuan's tiger-claw strike, and it shattered inch by inch up his arm.

The scream came that startled the birds and beasts in the forest.

Duan Lei was so scared that his pants got wet, but he didn't have time to care; he scrambled up and ran.

Amidst the agonizing wails, the clan Elder's eyes revealed confusion and incomprehension, "Five Animals Transformation Art?"

The Lu Family's ancestral technique had long been lost, How could it have fallen into the hands of a good-for-nothing?

He felt disbelief, confusion, bewilderment, fear, and suspicion...

A myriad of emotions surged into his heart.

"You..."

Pfft!!!

The clan Elder wanted to say more, but it was already too late, he had already been struck on the skull by a blow with the power of a bear.

His eyeballs popped out, blood spurted from his seven orifices.

His skull shattered into pieces.

The clan Elder, Lu Wanshan, collapsed to the ground like a pile of mud.

Lu Xuan watched Duan Lei, who had already run far away, but was in no rush to chase.

After searching the clan Elder's body, he took everything and put it in his own pocket.

Killing and looting the corpse... this was such a good habit.

Watching the figure disappear, Lu Xuan smiled slightly and pursued.