Chapter 129: Both a Warning and a Protective Charm

Lu Yang stood in the alley for a moment longer before slowly turning around.

The five corpses lay scattered across the ground. Blood had begun to spread beneath them, and the cracked walls bore unmistakable traces of the brief but brutal confrontation.

He looked at the scene one final time before removing the wooden mask from his face.

As for the bodies, Lu Yang had no intention of disposing of them.

He could easily destroy the corpses and erase the traces of his presence. However, doing so would accomplish very little.

Someone had sent these assassins to kill his family.

There was almost certainly a Spirit Awakening Realm force standing behind the operation.

After all, ordinary cultivators or even officials could not easily arrange such a mission without possessing considerable connections.

Since the employer had access to cultivators willing to assassinate a Prefectural Judge, then they would also possess the means to investigate what had happened here.

Lu Yang did not want to expose himself to such people.

Ultimately, even if they didn’t know his identity, they would surely test his limits again and again.

Therefore, leaving the corpses behind was the better choice.

The massacre would serve as both a warning and a protective charm.

Tomorrow, the security around the residences of government officials would inevitably improve. Even if the incident was treated as an isolated case, the guards would become more vigilant, and the people responsible for protecting high officials would have reason to investigate.

The employer would also have to reconsider their plans.

Perhaps they would assume that a wandering Spirit Awakening cultivator had happened upon the five assassins and killed them after noticing their suspicious movements, or maybe someone was secretly protecting Lu Shishui.

Since they could not determine which explanation was correct, they would have to consider the possibility that another powerful cultivator was watching the residence.

Lu Yang smiled faintly.

The best deterrent against someone who could not expose themselves under any circumstances was uncertainty.

He put away the wooden mask and walked out of the alley.

The surrounding streets were quiet. No one had noticed the brief confrontation, and the distant sound of footsteps suggested that the night watchmen were still making their rounds elsewhere.

Lu Yang adjusted his robes and gradually concealed his aura once more.

The overwhelming presence of a peak First Stage Spirit Awakening Realm cultivator disappeared, replaced by the relatively ordinary Blood Qi of someone at the Sixth Stage of Body Tempering Realm.

He continued walking towards his father’s residence.

When he arrived, the guards stationed outside the government residence immediately recognized him.

They were sent by Lu Shishui’s father-in-law here last year and naturally knew him.

"Young Master Lu!"

One of them hurriedly stepped forward and bowed.

Lu Yang nodded.

"I have come to visit my father. Is he still awake?"

"Reporting to Young Master Lu, the Prefectural Judge has not yet retired for the night."

The guard hesitated briefly before adding, "However, something happened nearby just now. Several cultivators appear to be fighting in an alley not far from here."

Lu Yang raised an eyebrow slightly, "Oh? Fighting in this district, are they not afraid of the government?"

"Indeed, it’s simply too ridiculous. We heard a disturbance earlier, and someone has already gone to investigate. The details are still unclear."

Lu Yang nodded as if he had just heard some unexpected news.

"Then I shall go inside first."

The guards did not dare to delay him and hurriedly opened the gates.

A short while later, Lu Shishui received word that his son had arrived.

He immediately put down the documents in his hands and went out to meet him.

"Yang’er?"

Seeing the familiar figure standing in the courtyard, Lu Shishui’s expression relaxed.

However, he soon noticed something unusual.

"You arrived at a rather unfortunate time. There seems to have been a fight nearby."

Lu Yang smiled, shrugging helplessly.

"I heard about it on the way in. I didn’t expect Canglan Prefecture City to become so lively at night."

Lu Shishui shook his head with a sigh.

"These matters are difficult to prevent entirely. Fortunately, the disturbance seems to have occurred some distance from our residence."

He examined his son briefly before asking, "You must have been traveling for some time, you didn’t encounter any trouble on the road, did you?"

"Nothing worth mentioning."

Lu Yang answered casually.

"I took a few detours, but the journey was peaceful."

Lu Shishui nodded in satisfaction.

After exchanging a few words, Lu Shishui led him inside.

Chen Yuruo and Lu Hanqing had already retired for the night, so Lu Yang did not disturb them.

For now, he only needed to ensure that no blind fool dared to attempt anything foolish.

...

Not long after Lu Yang arrived, hurried footsteps sounded outside.

An official reached the alley where the fighting had taken place.

He originally expected to find several injured cultivators, perhaps even a few survivors who could explain what had happened.

Instead, the moment he entered the alley and saw the corpses, his face turned pale.

One body had its head completely destroyed, the second had been smashed against a wall, its chest visibly caved in, and the third had been decapitated, while another had been split apart so brutally that even an experienced official found it difficult to maintain his composure.

The stench of blood filled the narrow alley like a shura field.

The official covered his mouth and staggered backwards.

"Good heavens..."

He had dealt with murders before, however, those cases usually involved ordinary people or cultivators whose deaths were at least accompanied by some recognizable traces of a struggle.

But this...

The corpses suggested that the victims were killed by someone possessing overwhelming strength, unable to resist in the slightest.

The official quickly summoned additional guards and ordered the area sealed off.

Before long, more footsteps echoed through the surrounding streets.

Questions were asked, reports were written, and lanterns illuminated the alley throughout the night, yet no one could determine exactly what had happened.

There were simply no witnesses.

The five dead men carried no obvious identification, and their clothing offered little information about their origins.

The only certainty was that all five were cultivators at the later stages of Body Tempering Realm, with one at the absolute pinnacle of the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering Realm, and whoever killed them was considerably stronger, at least a Spirit Awakening Realm powerhouse.

The investigation continued until dawn.

...

By morning, Lu Shishui and his family finally learned the details of the incident.

A Spirit Awakening Realm guard captain personally visited the residence to make inquiries.

He had heard that Lu Yang had arrived in Canglan Prefecture City around the same time as the incident. Since the corpses were discovered close to the government residential district, it was natural to investigate whether the young man had witnessed anything.

Lu Shishui received the captain politely.

"This is my son, Lu Yang. He arrived late last night."

The captain looked towards the young man standing beside his father.

Lu Yang wore a simple expression and bowed respectfully.

"Greetings, senior."

The captain nodded as his Divine Sense swept over Lu Yang.

Sixth Stage Body Tempering Realm.

The captain withdrew his Divine Sense without showing any particular reaction.

An eighteen year old youth who had reached the Sixth Stage of Body Tempering Realm was certainly talented, but that was it.

Could such a youth have killed five experienced cultivators, including an absolute pinnacle Ninth Stage Body Tempering expert, in such a short time?

It was absurd.

Only supreme prodigies from forces such as the Misty Cloud Sect or the Imperial Family could achieve something comparable at that age.

The captain asked Lu Yang a few routine questions, but he obviously had nothing useful to report.

After some polite conversation with Lu Shishui, the captain took his leave.

Lu Yang watched him depart without displaying any unusual expression.

The captain did not suspect him at all, which was only natural.

In the eyes of ordinary cultivators, an eighteen year old at the Sixth Stage of Body Tempering Realm was already impressive, but Spirit Awakening Realm?

That was a different matter entirely.