Chapter 135: The Root of Emotion

In the hall, Lu Dongjun came forward one step at a time, slow and deliberate, like a man who knew the floor would never give way beneath his feet. There was not the slightest hint of mercy in him.

He did not need to think. Wan Jinxian and Si Wennian stood solidly at his back, as dependable as pillars. He was a level-eight Martial Cultivator. Qiu Zhiheng was a level-seven Hedonism Cultivator. The space was sealed tight, with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. By any sensible measure, losing was not an option.

Fortunately, Qiu Zhiheng wielded an iron whip, allowing him to barely withstand two exchanges. The whip was no ordinary thing. It was a seven-segment artifact, each section writhing with its own will. Hidden weapons lurked within, snapping out to strike or curling back to defend. It had been forged from the remains of a level-eight martial cultivator.

After a few sharp clashes, Lu Dongjun reached out and caught the whip with his bare hand. He smiled at Qiu Zhiheng. It was a thin, icy smile that seemed to drain the warmth from the hall.

“This was my elder brother’s,” he said softly. “How did it end up with you? Were you there that night? Were you one of the people who tried to kill him?”

Lu Dongliang had given the artifact to Qiu Zhiheng. Hedonism Cultivators were weak in close combat, but with this whip, Qiu Zhiheng could at least hold off a close-quarters expert for a short while.

Qiu Zhiheng said nothing. There was no point anymore. Lu Dongjun’s intent was painfully clear. He wanted Qiu Zhiheng dead.

Now that the whip was in Lu Dongjun’s grasp, the gap in raw strength was simply too wide. Qiu Zhiheng had no chance of taking it back.

He let his eyes slide over Lu Dongjun, slow and deliberate, preparing to unleash the Blood-Surge Technique and rip strength straight out of him.

The Blood-Surge Technique had been born in moments of fierce intimacy, when blood rushed wild and unruly through the body. It seized that rush and twisted it into something cruel.

At the instant when victory and defeat hung in the balance, blood naturally surged toward the heart and the head. This technique forced that surge to swell far beyond control.

When it struck lower-level cultivators, it burst their blood vessels and killed them on the spot. When it struck higher-level cultivators, it flooded their limbs with blood, leaving them numb and sluggish.

Lu Dongjun was an eighth-level martial cultivator, but the proper way to deal with this technique was still to avoid meeting Qiu Zhiheng’s gaze.

Yet in a fight to the death, avoiding an opponent’s gaze meant surrendering the initiative and shifting from offense to defense. Lu Dongjun had no intention of doing that.

He kept his eyes fixed on Qiu Zhiheng, making no attempt at all to evade his gaze.

Since Lu Dongjun insisted on meeting him head-on, Qiu Zhiheng did the same. Their gazes collided, but Qiu Zhiheng's technique failed to stir so much as a ripple in Lu Dongjun.

Lu Dongjun was an eighth-level martial cultivator, and his physical toughness was no surprise. Even so, he should not have emerged completely unaffected.

Qiu Zhiheng realized, with a sudden chill, that his technique had not been fully unleashed. Only half of its power had been exerted, while the rest had been forcibly suppressed.

Si Wennian had acted without a sound. He struck from the shadows, unseen and unnoticed, as though he had never moved at all. He had used the technique of Ascetic Cultivation.

The technique of Ascetic Cultivation, also known as the Doctrine of Pain-Born Virtue, implanted ascetic thoughts in the mind. It taught that all worldly pleasures were corruption and that only through suffering could one become a Virtuous Adept.

Si Wennian was only a fifth-level Ascetic Cultivator, far weaker than Qiu Zhiheng, and he knew it. However, there was no need for him to face Qiu Zhiheng directly. One sneaky strike from the shadows was all it took to clamp down on Qiu Zhiheng’s technique and chop its strength clean in half.

A technique wheezing along at half strength didn’t stand a chance against Lu Dongjun. One casual yank later, and the iron whip flew out of Qiu Zhiheng’s hands as if it had grown tired of him.

Just as Qiu Zhiheng’s situation became truly dire, Duan Shaoxia suddenly shouted, “Dongjun, stop!”

Lu Dongjun hesitated for half a blink, then went right on and lifted the whip.

In Lu Dongjun’s hands, the weapon would be a nightmare. Qiu Zhiheng wouldn’t survive even one lash.

Qiu Zhiheng had no way to respond. All he could do was widen his eyes and wait for death to arrive.

Duan Shaoxia’s eyes flared red with bloodshot veins as she shouted again, “Stop!”

Lu Dongjun froze in place, and a thin blood-red vein slowly surfaced in his eyes.

With this blood-red vein clouding his eyes, Lu Dongjun saw Duan Shaoxia as beautiful and gentle. Even if it cost him his life today, he could not bear to see her sad.

He lowered the whip and stood motionless.

Wan Jinxian turned pale with shock.

What is going on? This woman is not simple. I can’t allow her to meddle here.

Wan Jinxian’s nose twitched, as though he were about to sneeze at Duan Shaoxia.

Lu Dongjun roared, “Do not act recklessly!”

Wan Jinxian stared at him in terror, the sneeze dying halfway up his nose.

Duan Shaoxia’s eyes reddened as tears welled up. She looked at Lu Dongjun and asked softly, “Dongjun, what are you trying to do?”

Lu Dongjun hesitated for a long while before bowing his head. “Sister-in-law, I am not trying to do anything...”

"Are you trying to bully me while Dongliang is not around?"

In that one sentence, all the grievance and sorrow Duan Shaoxia had bottled up spilled out.

“Sister-in-law, I never thought that,” he said quickly. “I’m not targeting you. I’m targeting Monkey...”

“Dongjun!” Duan Shaoxia sobbed. “This is my home. Why would you do this here?”

Lu Dongjun fell silent for a moment. Then he reached out, plucked the false tooth from the stone lion’s mouth, and calmly placed it back into his own.

The Top Thugs rushed in from both inside and outside the room. They fixed their eyes on Lu Dongjun, but none of them dared to strike.

Duan Shaoxia cast a glance at Qiu Zhiheng. Qiu Zhiheng understood at once and signaled the Top Thugs not to act recklessly.

Lu Dongjun picked up the stone lion, set the iron whip aside, and turned to leave the hall.

Wan Jinxian was utterly baffled, but with the situation as it was, he could not stay here. Left with no choice, he followed Lu Dongjun out.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Si Wennian followed close behind, having never wanted to be involved in the first place.

After they stepped out of the Lu Family’s main residence, Wan Jinxian turned to Lu Dongjun, utterly baffled. Lu Dongjun did not utter a word.

Once they returned to Lu Dongjun’s residence, Wan Jinxian dismissed the others and asked, “Second Master, have you taken a liking to Madam Duan?”

Lu Dongjun rubbed his forehead and said, “I don’t know.”

Wan Jinxian felt a wave of regret wash over him, strong enough to make him ill. If he had known Lu Dongjun was this unreliable, why on earth had he gone along to the Lu Family estate?

“Second Master, I’ll speak plainly. With your status, there isn’t a woman you couldn’t have. So why take a fancy to one who’s already halfway to old age?”

Lu Dongjun slapped his own cheeks, lifted his head, and looked at Wan Jinxian. “There’s no way I’d like her. Why would I like her?”

Wan Jinxian stomped his foot in frustration. “Then I truly don’t understand. What on earth were you doing today? Why did we even go to the estate? Qiu Zhiheng was one breath away from dying in your hands. We were just about to succeed, so why did you do that today?"

Lu Dongjun fell silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth. “It was Qiu Zhiheng. I was struck by his Pleasure Technique and didn’t realize it at the time. When I looked at that old woman, my heart wouldn’t stop pounding.”

“The Pleasure-Seeking Technique”

It was indeed one of the most vicious techniques a Hedonism Cultivator possessed. With a single nudge, it could make complete strangers feel an abrupt, foolish urge toward one another.

Is it really the Pleasure-Seeking Technique?

Wan Jinxian wondered, the feeling that something was wrong growing harder to ignore.

Compared to a Hedonism Cultivator’s other tricks, the Pleasure-Seeking Technique was a slow one, taking far more time to work its mischief.

Wan Jinxian and Lu Dongjun had planned this matter down to the smallest detail. They would never have given Qiu Zhiheng an easy chance to use the Pleasure-Seeking Technique.

Moreover, with Si Wennian present, constantly maintaining the technique of Ascetic Cultivation, even if Qiu Zhiheng had used the Pleasure-Seeking Technique, much of its effect should have been neutralized. It should never have been enough to overwhelm Lu Dongjun.

“Second Master, did your body react at the time?

Lu Dongjun paused. “What do you mean by my body reacting?”

Wan Jinxian flicked a glance at Lu Dongjun’s lower body. “I’m asking whether you felt anything toward Madam Duan at that moment.”

“A reaction...”

“I mean... whether you wanted her in that way,” Wan Jinxian muttered, rubbing his palms together.

Lu Dongjun thought back to that moment and shook his head. “I didn’t react.”

He was certain of it.

In that moment, all he felt was an infatuation with Duan Shaoxia, and nothing beyond that.

“That’s not right...” Wan Jinxian shook his head again and again. “If you didn’t want to do her, then this wasn’t a Hedonism Cultivator’s technique. So what was it...?”

His eyes sharpened as he asked, “Is Madam Duan a cultivator?”

Lu Dongjun thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I remember my brother saying she was a bleater.”

Wan Jinxian’s thoughts began to race. He fell silent for a long while before finally looking up at Lu Dongjun. “Second Master, go through every business under your control and tell the shopkeepers to be ready.”

Lu Dongjun waved his hand dismissively. “There’s no need to worry. I’ll just say I had a quarrel with Qiu Zhiheng. I can explain it to Duan Shaoxia later. This isn’t the time to fall out.”

Wan Jinxian shook his head slowly. “Second Master, it’s already too late for that. The one who acted on you may not have been Qiu Zhiheng at all. It could have been Madam Duan.”

He paused, his voice dropping.

“She might be a Love Cultivator!”

***

Back in the Lu Family residence, Qiu Zhiheng finished bandaging his wounds and went to see Duan Shaoxia.

“Madam, I’m sorry for frightening you. There’s something I must tell you. You may not believe it, but I saw it with my own eyes. Second Master has a scar on his wrist. The master we saw that day at Qianyue Restaurant wasn’t real...”

Duan Shaoxia lifted her hand and cut him off. “The master we saw that day was Lu Dongjun in disguise. I know that already.”

Qiu Zhiheng froze for a moment. He couldn’t understand how Duan Shaoxia had learned this.

Lu Dongliang had always trusted Qiu Zhiheng the most, yet there were still things he had kept from him.

Duan Shaoxia was a high-level Love Cultivator.

At Qianyue Restaurant, Duan Shaoxia noticed that “Lu Dongliang” was missing a tooth.

And today, when Lu Dongjun removed the false tooth and placed it into the stone lion’s mouth, Duan Shaoxia’s suspicions were stirred.

At Qianyue Restaurant, “Lu Dongliang’s” cold and distant attitude left Duan Shaoxia deeply disappointed. In her resentment, she acted on impulse and planted a root of love in him.

Today, the moment Lu Dongjun struck with killing intent toward Qiu Zhiheng, Duan Shaoxia activated the root of love she had planted.

The technique had affected Lu Dongjun. With that, everything was confirmed: the man at Qianyue Restaurant had been Lu Dongjun in disguise as Lu Dongliang.

Duan Shaoxia looked at Qiu Zhiheng. “Little Qiu, be honest with me. How has our family treated you?”

“Madam...”

“Don’t call me Madam,” Duan Shaoxia said. “Dongliang always treated you like a brother. You call me Sister-in-law.”

Qiu Zhiheng stood at once. “Madam, you and the master have shown me kindness as vast as mountains. This life of mine was given by the master. I would go through fire and water without hesitation.”

Duan Shaoxia beckoned to a servant. “Go and bring Yuanshan and Yuanhai here.”

Duan Shaoxia had given birth to two sons for Lu Dongliang. Their names were Lu Yuanshan and Lu Yuanhai. One was twenty-eight years old and the other was twenty-five years old.

When the two arrived downstairs, Duan Shaoxia said, “Come here and call him Uncle Qiu.”

Lu Yuanshan and Lu Yuanhai were stunned. Qiu Zhiheng quickly stepped back and waved his hands. “Madam, this must not be!”

“Little Qiu, if you truly believe Dongliang treated you well, then acknowledge me as your sister-in-law and take these two boys under your care. From this day on, our lives are entrusted to you.”

As she spoke, Duan Shaoxia’s resolve was absolute. “Yuanshan, Yuanhai, from now on you must listen to Uncle Qiu in all matters. Little Qiu, go and inform the elders of the family. Tell them exactly what kind of man Lu Dongjun is.”

Tears welled in her eyes as she spoke, and a blood-red vein stood out starkly against the whites of her eyes.

Author's Note:

PS: He Jiaqing is about to laugh again!