" Deacon Lu got murdered, how, when ? .
At his words, I acted shocked as I had never before, even going all the way to the point of directly collapsing on the floor out of startle and fright as well, I said those words trying to pinpoint that I had no knowledge of that even happening so how could I be accomplice in doing something that I don't have a clue about it happened in the first place .
but it seemed that even after the words I said, the guy in front of me paid my words no much attention, it seemed that I was right about this guy really being a bad guy who doesn't care about the right and wrong, he didn't even turn towards me before he said :
Yes and you are one of the main suspects, what are you bastards standing there for, get on with your business already, I need to go back and accept the reward .
So that was his motive, it seemed that capturing me will make him gain some kind of reward, but why me damnit, he didn't even know my name untill a few minutes earlier, so how can he treat me as a suspect of helping in the murder of Deacon Lu .
His subordinates at the order that was given directly began to circle around me in a hurry holding chains on their hands, thinking of something I could say to fix this situation up, I wasn't able to found one, but fight my way through this tough situation .
How did you got hold of this ? .
Suddenly a swirl of wind appeard before me and in that swirl the figure of the man named Lu Tu appeared, at first I was in utter shock thinking that he might have found the leather pouch and my whole body ran cold, my face paled due to the intense pressure I was under, but seeing what he was holding in his hands, I couldn't help sigh inwardly .
The think he was asking me about roaringly like this was none other than the stake of ointments that Senior Brother Fu gave me in the Dojo, his voice put a stop to the guys that were about to detain me, they too looked surprised at this, seeing their surprise, I finally found a solution that could help me in escaping this crisis safely .
" Those ointments I got as a gift from my Senior Brother Fu who's a core disciple of the Master in the Solid Rock Fist Dojo after I joined them today .
He looked at me with a squinted eyes as if he didn't believe it at all, but suspicion about this being indeed the case began to rise up in his mind, his look carried a hint of disbelief, due to him being conscious of the ability of a family slave to acquire these things, but this was what also made him think deeply about whether was I telling the truth or not .
He kept sizing me up and down and in the end he wasn't the one to spoke, the one who spoke was one of the two guys that were bickering and was one of the two who tried to get hold of me before, that guy said :
If you are a disciple in the Solid Rock Fist Dojo, then I might be the Dojo.... .
Shut your mouth .
He midway finishing his sentence, got yelled at suddenly by the leader of their team, Master Lu Tu, he shut his mouth directly and like before he prostrated himself on the ground, but this time he kept hitting his forehead on the ground while sincerely apologizing for the offense .
Lu Tu paid him no more mind and the guy kept hitting his head to the ground untill he actually passed out, leaving the muddy floor now covered with his blood, the other two guys looked at me then looked at their leader and was wondering what was going on .
You say that you have joined the Solid Rock Fist Dojo and even get this stake of ointments from a senior brother there named Fu, do you have a proof on this being true, if not I really might kill you this instant .
As he finished saying this, he released his killing intent at me and it was worse than both Guardian Li and Instructor Lu, but stronger than Senior Brother Fu by just a little bit, I was able to bear it, but the psychological burden that came with being forced to use that card now, really made my heart ache, but it was better to use it now than to wait and end up being killed later on before using it .
" Replying to senior, I had just received the robe of a temporary Inner disciple in the Dojo, it was put beside the bed there .
I was now thankful to the fact that I had decisively choose to burn the Martial Skill booklet after I had completely stored the information it had in mind, imagining what might have happened to me if it were to have been discovered by those guys, luckily I made the right choice by discarding of it earlier on my way to the well .
One of you two go and fetch me the robe, he was taking about .
He turned to look at his two subordinates and ordered one of them to go and bring the robe to him, he continued to fiddle with the bamboo sticks he saw earlier, while the two subordinates looked at one another, before one of them finally took the initiative to do as was asked .
It's indeed here Master Lu Tu, here take a look, it even had the logo and the Solid Rock Fist Dojo written on the back of it .
I wondered what he was going to do now, will he continued to act forceful as before or will the Martial Arts Dojo behind me being an enough of a deterrent to make him deal with me In a more friendly way .
Get it over here .
He said sternly and the guy holding the robe directly came running with the robe in hand and show it to the stern Lu Tu, he looked at it from top to bottom, then he turned his head to me and said coldly :
Is this costume the only proof you have ? .
I was about to nod my head when I remembered something and shook my head at his question instead, he looked at me weirdly as I told him that I have one more proof, I put my hands in my pocket and got the cloth pouch out of it .
I then pulled the wooden piece that was given to me in the Dojo out of it and displayed it to him, he looked at it quite intently and I saw him sucking a breath of air at what he was seeing, I don't know why was he looking at it so intently and reacting like this, but remembering that I might be unable to enter the Dojo if he were to intentionally or accidentally do something to it, I put it back in the cloth pouch in a hurry .
Seeing me acting like this, he didn't seem that much offended, in fact he seemed to be feeling a bit guilty about what he was trying to do earlier, he asked his subordinate to let go of me and get that unconscious comrades of their and get out, they looked surprised at the way their leader's shift in behavior, but soon they did as they were told .
With still a bit alarmed expression on my face and after those guys got out of the hut, I asked him about what happened with Deacon Lu, was he really murdered .
He replied saying that he was indeed killed and from what he had heard, it seemed that the killer was quite the formidable opponent, he seemed to be more open to indulge in a conversation with me at least more than before .
He continued to say that he also heard that Deacon Lu practiced a Martial Technique that focused completely on enhancing the defensive capabilities of the abdomen and the chest areas, but yet the hit he took was to the abdomen was so powerful that his internet organs were directly squished, killing him instantly, making the elder responsible for Law Enforcement believe that he died after getting one powerful strike .
I was also able to confirm my suspicion about Deacon Lu's Realm being indeed that of a newly promoted 5th layer of Flesh Tempering, his breakthrough was only successful after he took a lot of resources, due to his lack of talent and his old age which affected his ability to move his Blood Qi and caused his Blood Vitality to plummet .
I couldn't help but take a pity on the guy unlike me or at least the original me who showcased a good talent and affinity to Martial Arts and could be said to have a great potential, yet lacked resources .
He was dealing with opposite situation to mine, his son was brilliant enough to be able to catch the family's eyes and also the Dojo Master Chen's also, enabling him to become something akin to a royalty in the outer courtyard and I believe that even among the other main members of the family, he might have a say, because that genius son of his .
He had the resources but not enough talent in pursuing Martial Arts, that was why he wanted to move me out of the way, perhaps, after all, if I posed a threat to his son's position in the family or in the Dojo, that might indirectly affect his life and the resources he was getting, these were only my speculations, as for me having an intention of pursuing the truth, I don't really want to have anything to do with that family, nor this father and son .
For some reason the guy kept giving me discerning looks every time he was talking about something bad regarding Deacon Lu, I didn't pay them that much mind and instead acted more horrified at this news and said with a nervous tone of voice, I said :
" Master Lu Tu, Is the person who committed this got caught ?.
He finally stopped giving me discerning look and at my question, he shook his head and said in a serious tone :
Of course he hadn't been caught, if he had, would I have appeared here searching for clues, did you notice anything abnormal when you came back, a shadow of a silhouette or even a slight weird movements or sounds coming from that direction .
As he said this, he pointed at a precise direction, it was where the body of Deacon Lu have been found, I was about to shook my head, but instead a new response came to mind, I said shaking a bit :
" Was that where Deacon Lu's body were found, Wait, Captain Lu Tu, you said that he still hadn't been caught, Didn't that mean that he was still out there and might strike at any moment then, please I'm asking captain Lu Tu to stay here and help me out .
I almost throw myself at him but he instead moved out of the way and I felt his killing intent suddenly become more intense, I was beginning to think that I might have overplayed my role and made him suspicious, but instead I saw him look at me coldly and said after snorting at me :
Why would someone at least on the Late Stage or Peak Flesh Tempering be interested in attacking a punny Martial Apprentice like you, do you have something valuable enough to make someone of this caliber take action against you for .
So that was what he was thinking about, that guy seriously think of nothing but profit, I had no doubt that if I really had such a thing on me, he will tore all his face with me and directly try to snatch it from me, the man in front of me was rotten to the core .
Still trying to form tears, I acted as if I was stunned with what he said, my action intrigued him, he began thinking that I might really have an item of that level on me, but soon I said :
" Replying to Captain Lu Tu, I recently have bought a lot of food and even a new clothes, will that put me in the targets list of the culprit, I'm in danger, please help me, captain .
I can swear that I heard the sound of his heart suddenly shattering at my words, his face seemed to get suddenly ugly and frown deepened and once again said more coldly for some reason :
Hmph, I have other matters to attend to so I will be on my way, now .
I cupped my fist and sent him off, but just as he stepped out of the door, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at me, then he asked me a question with a serious expression on his face, he said :
Are you satisfied with Deacon Lu now gone especially with the grudge you hold against him for what happened between you two ? .
His sudden question almost caused me to lose my composure, I wouldn't have expected such a question coming from a shrewd guy like him, did he ask this on purpose or was he just curious, either way since he proposed this question, I was willing to answer it, I already have an answer already planned in mind, I said :
" Captain, for now, I'm more more scared for my own life than to care much about someone that had already died, once you leave here, I myself might get attacked and be dealt with like Deacon Lu, I really don't have any mind now to sympathize with his death .
He looked at me with a discerning eyes trying to get something out of my face and expression, but it seemed that he was failing, he just looked at me intently for a few seconds more, then he shook his head and with some appreciation in his eyes he nodded at my words and was about to go in his way, just as he took a step, I called him and said :
" Captain Lu Tu, I hope you leave the ointment you put in your pocket here before you leave, my Senior Brother Fu who is both a Core and a Close Disciple of the Dojo Master, he gave them to me, for me to use, I won't like to report to him what you did when he ask me about what happened to the gift of his, I hope you understand .
The moment I said those words, I felt my head suddenly buzzed due to how much Blood Qi and killing intent he was showing at me saying these words, but even though the pressure exerted on me was trying to force me to yield, I didn't .
After a few seconds with me gritting my teeth so that I keep standing, he seeing this directly disable the pressure he was exerting and without even waiting for me to look at him, all I heard was the sound of something dropping to the floor and after I took a breath of air and looked up .
I saw that he left the hut and was already leading his subordinates out of the place, he left only one bamboo stick out of the two he ransacked a few minutes ago, I once again cursed at where that guy left, but I was quite glad with this turn of events after all I escaped from a crisis there, that was already plenty for me .
Not to mention that I still had one gain that I hadn't checked, I believe that I might get quite the handsome reward from getting what was inside the leather pouch alone .
I first calmed my heart down, the scene just now was too stimulating for both my heart and mind, I kept trying to act as a frightened and panic-stricken, my eyes now were even watery, all of this for the sake of convincing that shrewd Lu Tu of my innocence .
Yet, all that failed and the only thing that succeeded was to use the senior brother Fu and the Solid Rock Dojo name and face to make him think twice about even taking me as a suspect, it also allowed me to tear all the face I was giving him, asking him to hand what he already had in pocket .
~Sigh~
Finally, this incident perhaps was still away from being over, but I believe that I had no connection to it anymore, so that's good .
Let's see what luck had for me in store regarding the content of that leather pouch, I hope enough compensation for the nerve-wracking situations that it kept on putting me in .