Chapter 28 - 27: Bloody Wedding 4

Chapter 28: Chapter 27: Bloody Wedding 4

Ting Xiu’s voice faded. The room instantly became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

"A defense break?" Wen Ling raised an eyebrow and pressed, "What exactly did Little Eyes see?"

Ting Xiu tilted his head, listening intently for a moment, his expression growing increasingly bizarre.

"Spit it out! What did Little Eyes see?" Wen Ling couldn’t hold back, leaning forward slightly.

Ting Xiu rubbed his temples, speaking with a complicated expression, "Lu Jing’an prepared five massive banners, written in both foreign languages and Huaxia. They were completely covered in Lawrence’s weaknesses. From head to toe, from Cultivation Techniques to private secrets, he showed absolutely no mercy.

"And that’s not all. He also found over a dozen prostitutes. They stood on the city walls with tin megaphones, taking turns cursing Lawrence... saying he isn’t a real man."

Ting Xiu had phrased it rather delicately. In reality, the words used by the prostitutes Lu Jing’an had arranged at the end were far more vulgar than Ting Xiu made them out to be. Let alone an abnormal man like Lawrence, even a normal man would likely die of shame upon hearing them. Under such a multi-pronged assault, it was truly difficult for Lawrence not to suffer a mental defense break.

As for whether this method was despicable, Lu Jing’an didn’t care in the slightest. Winning was the only absolute truth.

Everyone in the Anping Bureau exchanged glances after hearing Ting Xiu’s report. No one spoke for a long time. Finally, Wen Ling broke the silence with a snort of laughter.

"This Eldest Young Master Lu is truly interesting. To think he could actually resort to such underhanded tactics," she said. "However, since it managed to cause a defense break for that Void Devil Lawrence, it doesn’t matter whether it was despicable or not. When this Void Devil first arrived here, he certainly threw his weight around enough."

Wen Ling clearly didn’t have a good impression of Lawrence. In fact, she didn’t have a good impression of any Void Devils. For a Literature Cultivator like Wen Ling, these barbaric, uncultured Void Devils who only knew brute force were the most detestable creatures.

Kui Shan frowned but didn’t say a word, though it was evident he felt Lu Jing’an’s tactics were far too dishonorable.

Since she had confirmed Lu Jing’an was fine, Wen Ling couldn’t be bothered to listen any further. She turned and walked out, the subtly patterned hem of her skirt tracing a crisp arc in the air. This was the new qipao she had bought with the money Lu Jing’an gave her.

Near the city gates.

Having been pushed into a total mental defense break, the last remnants of thin, golden Fighting Qi on Lawrence’s body finally flickered and died out like a candle in the wind. Even without his Fighting Qi, his agile Body Skill and nimble footwork, combined with the Inner Armor he wore, meant that bullets still struggled to harm him in the slightest.

Lu Jing’an glanced at the gradually brightening sky outside and turned to Situ Yiyun and Chen Heqing. "I wonder if I might have the honor of witnessing the full strength of you two hall masters?"

Situ Yiyun and Chen Heqing exchanged a look. They immediately cupped their fists and replied, "We are willing to serve Young Master Lu."

With that, the two leaped down from the second floor, charging straight at Lawrence.

The most difficult obstacle, the Fighting Qi, had already been dealt with by Lu Jing’an. Every single one of Lawrence’s weaknesses had also been clearly marked out by him. If the two of them still couldn’t take Lawrence down now, then they wouldn’t be worth Lu Jing’an’s investment.

When Lawrence saw Situ Yiyun and Chen Heqing, his eyes instantly turned bloodshot. "So it was you two despicable bastards plotting against me behind my back! I’ll tear you apart with my bare hands!"

Situ Yiyun and Chen Heqing couldn’t understand Lawrence’s foreign gibberish. They only knew that they had to beat Lawrence into the ground to prove their worth. The two attacked Lawrence simultaneously from the left and right. One utilized Ancient Martial Arts, while the other employed New Martial Arts.

Chen Heqing used the Iron Wire Fist of the Ancient Martial Arts lineage. The twenty Iron Rings on his arms clashed, emitting sharp CLINKING sounds. Weighing over fifty catties in total, a single punch from him unleashed a howling gale capable of smashing granite into fine powder.

Situ Yiyun’s New Martial Arts style was the same as Lawrence’s. However, in terms of his understanding of Martial Arts, Situ Yiyun was evidently superior. Furthermore, Situ Yiyun had memorized all of Lawrence’s weaknesses. Coupled with the fact that it was a two-on-one fight, Lawrence had absolutely no power to parry or strike back.

Sitting on the second floor and drinking tea, Lu Jing’an watched the three figures constantly clashing and intertwining on the street below. He rubbed his teacup, secretly calculating. If he were to face Lawrence in this current state, what would his chances of winning be? And how great a price would he have to pay?

After some mental arithmetic, Lu Jing’an concluded that if he fought Lawrence now, went all out, and simultaneously used [As Clear as Daylight] and [Cause and Effect Following Sound], he was confident he could severely injure and kill the Fighting Qi-less Lawrence within ten moves.

"Although I can win, there’s no need to," Lu Jing’an muttered, watching the battle on the street near its end. Whenever possible, he preferred not to lift a finger himself.

BAM!

Chen Heqing’s dual fists slammed heavily into Lawrence’s chest. Driven by the immense momentum of the strike, all the Iron Rings on his arms crashed into Lawrence’s torso. This single blow instantly shattered all of Lawrence’s ribs.

Following closely behind, Situ Yiyun delivered a devastating strike from the rear, snapping Lawrence’s fifth, sixth, and seventh lumbar vertebrae with unparalleled precision. This completely robbed Lawrence of his mobility, leaving him sprawled on the ground.

Although he was forced into the dirt, Lawrence remained verbally stubborn.

"I am an Envoy of Britain! You cannot kill me!

"If you dare kill me, it will trigger an international incident!

"Just wait until you’re blown to pieces by our Iron Armor warships!"

Lawrence shouted these words in a language Chen Heqing and Situ Yiyun could understand. Despite his strange accent, they got the message clearly. Especially when threatened with such massive consequences, Chen Heqing and Situ Yiyun truly hesitated to land the killing blow.

Seeing this, Lu Jing’an knew it was time for him to step in. "Let’s go."

Lu Jing’an stood up and descended from the second floor of the teahouse.

Lawrence heard the TAP-TAP-TAP of leather shoes. He tried to look up, but due to his severed spine, even lifting his head was a nearly impossible task. Laying prone on the ground, Lawrence could only see Lu Jing’an’s polished leather shoes. He knew the owner of these shoes was the mastermind behind all of this.

"So it was you, you despicable rat, scheming against me! I won’t let you get away with this!

"I am an Envoy of Britain..."

Lawrence’s words were cut short. A bloody hole in the back of his head silenced the rest of his sentence.

Lu Jing’an handed the revolver, still smelling of gunpowder, to a subordinate beside him. He pulled out a white handkerchief and slowly wiped his hands.

"Who said an Envoy is exempt from death?"

Lu Jing’an’s voice wasn’t loud, but it echoed clearly in everyone’s ears. When it came to Voiders, Lu Jing’an lacked the slightest bit of the fear common to people of this era. After all, in the era Lu Jing’an came from, Voiders were worse than paper tigers. Therefore, fear simply didn’t exist for him.

And as far as he knew, even in this world, the true higher-ups weren’t blindly subservient to Voiders. The historical trajectory of this realm was vastly different from his memories. There was no Century of Humiliation. The reason Huaxia had descended into the current situation—with warlords carving up the territory and Voiders running rampant—was actually rather magical. So magical that Lu Jing’an was somewhat reluctant to believe it was real.

According to fragmentary secret records, the reason the world had turned out this way was because a hundred years ago, the last emperor of the Great Ming had sought Longevity. By committing an act defying the natural order, he caused the Dragon Vein to collapse and Spiritual Qi to dissipate. As a result, the empire fractured, and various factions seized the opportunity to rise to power. The Voiders were merely hyenas taking advantage of the vulnerability.

This history was so bizarre that Lu Jing’an had initially treated it as fiction. However, after verifying it through multiple sources, he found that all the clues perfectly aligned. It was just that due to the passage of time, the historical records were vague, and he hadn’t delved too deeply into it. The common people feared the Voiders mostly because of their steel leviathans spewing black smoke and their sharp Firearms. But Lu Jing’an had never been afraid of such things.

The moment Lawrence breathed his last, a familiar prompt floated before Lu Jing’an’s eyes:

[Detectable Divine Soul available for Refining/Restoration. Extract?]

"Extract."

Lu Jing’an was somewhat looking forward to seeing what could be refined from this Void Devil’s Divine Soul. After all, the Cultivation methods of the Void Devils differed significantly from those of Huaxia.

Just as Lu Jing’an finished extracting the Divine Soul, he saw Chen Xuan approaching from a distance.

"Master." Lu Jing’an bowed with utmost respect.

Chen Xuan glanced at the corpse on the ground, his tone flat. "Did you kill him?"

Lu Jing’an answered truthfully, "I used some unpresentable tricks to break his Fighting Qi. After the two hall masters severely injured him, your disciple merely fired the finishing shot."

Chen Xuan nodded, his gaze returning to Lu Jing’an’s face. "There are no high or low methods; as long as they achieve the goal, they are good methods."

The words were spoken calmly, but they carried a clear sense of approval. His master was not a rigid pedant.

Lu Jing’an smiled. "Your disciple will bear that in mind." He then asked, "Has the Lin family... been properly dealt with?"

Chen Xuan gave a nod. "They’ve been cleaned out. The sweeping is currently underway."

"Then let’s go wait at the Lin family villa."

Lu Jing’an looked toward the end of the long street. The sky was gradually brightening, though the lanterns on both sides were still lit.

"The wedding procession should be arriving soon," Lu Jing’an murmured to himself.