CHAPTER 525: CHAPTER 525: EXPERTS ALWAYS APPEAR AT CRITICAL MOMENTS

Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan exchanged a glance, continued dining, and kept chatting and laughing.

Meanwhile, after the young man in front of them had a bright look in his eyes, he withdrew his gaze, then silently looked down from the window towards the street below, scanning around as if searching for something.

Soon, the waiter brought up two plates of mixed meat and vegetables, with moderate flavor, suitable for pairing with rice, and at the same time, delivered three large bowls of rice to the young man.

At the same time, he also conveniently poured a bowl of plain water for the young man to avoid choking.

It must be said that Bright Moon Building really lives up to its reputation as the top restaurant in Tonglin County, catering to customers’ needs with such precision.

"Thank you, young man." The youth expressed his gratitude, then started eating.

Don’t be fooled by his fair and scholarly appearance; though he seemed to eat slowly, his speed was surprisingly fast.

Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan had almost finished their meal when he arrived, yet they put down their chopsticks at the same time as he did.

Lu Zheng stood up and reached out his hand, Liu Qingyan smiled gently, placed her hand on Lu Zheng’s arm to leverage herself up, and then they left hand in hand, heading leisurely towards Yu Ling Garden.

Seeing Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan walking further away, the young man finally took a step down the stairs, following from a distance.

...

The new performance at Yu Ling Garden told the story of a poor young man entangled with a fox demon, only to be saved by his past life’s wife, now a wealthy young lady. The story proceeds with the wealthy young lady encountering a ghost, the poor young man passing the Imperial Examination, using the nation’s power to suppress the ghost, eventually leading to the couple’s happy union, renewing their past bond.

Having gone through the bombardment of online stories, Lu Zheng found the narrative dull, although the modulation of the singing was indeed pleasant to hear, whereas Liu Qingyan listened with rapt attention, occasionally discussing with Lu Zheng the true identities and past experiences of the poor young man and the wealthy young lady in their past lives.

When the performance ended, as Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan exited Yu Ling Garden together, they noticed the young man they had seen at lunch was sitting composedly at a nearby teahouse drinking tea.

"Hmm?" Lu Zheng’s eyes flickered, "Is he here for us?"

"He should be a stranger, right?" Liu Qingyan whispered, "Just by looking at his eating speed, he doesn’t seem like an ordinary mortal."

Lu Zheng, "..."

Can strangers now be identified solely by eating speed? Can’t one just have an extraordinary talent?

"I don’t know, let’s observe a bit more."

Lu Zheng shook his head, left with Liu Qingyan hand in hand, heading towards Renxin Hall.

Times have changed; not everyone qualifies to make Lu Zheng nervous. If this guy is spying on them yet caught in the act, he’s probably not very skilled.

Arriving at Renxin Hall, they just happened to run into a woman seeking treatment for a gynecological issue. Liu Qingyan took over, and it wasn’t appropriate for Lu Zheng to assist, so he chatted briefly with Elder Liu and then turned to leave.

Just stepping out of Renxin Hall, they saw a swirl of white clothing flicker and disappear at the street corner.

Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow but didn’t chase after it. Instead, he returned home, prepared some fruits and yellow wine, and planned to dine next door.

...

In the evening, after dining and pacifying the two little girls, Liu Qingyan saw Lu Zheng out the door.

Just stepping out, Liu Qingyan’s eyes flickered, looking at Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng raised his eyebrow, "Could he really be a lecherous thief?"

Liu Qingyan frowned, "But he seemed pretty upright?"

Both had sensed that the young man they encountered in the afternoon was lurking at the corner of a courtyard wall across the street but couldn’t hide from the more advanced cultivation of Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan.

Lu Zheng pursed his lips, "Appearances can be deceiving."

Liu Qingyan couldn’t help but smile, wrapping her arm around Lu Zheng’s, "So what should we do?"

"Capture him and send him to the authorities."

"Now?"

Lu Zheng shrugged, "Catch him in the act when he enters the courtyard."

"Hehe, alright, I’ll go back to inform Qing Quan and Qian Bao’Er."

With nothing better to do, Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan nearly treated the man as entertainment.

...

Lu Zheng returned home, yet his True Spirit Divine Thought was faintly aware of him.

In the corner wall, Xu Yihong frowned slightly, vaguely sensing a kind of gaze.

"Hmm? What’s going on?"

Xu Yihong glanced around, "Could it be the City Patrol Ghost Soldiers of Tonglin City God?"

"It has indeed been peaceful for so long, and no ghosts have emerged from the Netherworld for a while; even the Underworld soldiers have started focusing on the living?"

Xu Yihong shook his head, then tried to repress his presence, hiding without movement.

Although he couldn’t perform the Breath Concealment Technique to completely hide his aura, he closed his pores, slowed his heartbeat and breathing, trying as much as possible to diminish his presence, making it hard for ordinary people to notice him.

...

As night fell at midnight, the autumn wind began, heavy clouds gathered, obscuring the stars and moon, casting the entire county town into darkness, with only the lanterns carried by the watchmen lighting the scene.

A moment later, a shadow turned at Tongyi Lane’s entrance, arriving at the gate of the Liu Family.

"Hehe, who would have thought, in such a small county, there’s such a pretty young lady, and she even dares show herself." The shadow chuckled softly, "Seeing no one else has laid hands on her, wouldn’t it be my fortune then?"

The shadow just leapt onto the wall and heard a clear shout from behind, "Lecher, young lord has been waiting for you long enough!"

The next moment, a flying sword, two feet three inches long, came slicing through the air.

The shadow yelped strangely, flipped and dropped into the Liu Family courtyard.

Xu Yihong streaked through the air, landing on the Liu Family’s wall, pointed his sword finger, about to end the shadow’s life.

Only...

"You’re all in white, do you think I’m blind?"

The black-clad man chuckled, then threw a handful of powder at Xu Yihong.

"Poisonous smoke!?"

"Freshly prepared today, die for me!"

Tonight’s affair was a double-pronged scheme by the black-clad man; besides targeting Liu Qingyan, he planned to eliminate the persistent Xu Yihong.

He had previously fought Xu Yihong twice, only to run out of poisonous smoke, unable to defeat him. Upon reaching Tonglin County yesterday, he disguised himself to evade Xu Yihong’s detection, prepared the poisonous smoke, and planned to kill off this meddlesome sword cultivator on the side.

This poisonous smoke was potent; Xu Yihong only felt a blur before his eyes, his body weakening, making it difficult to summon his True Qi.

"Perish your vile tricks!"

A clear shout, the flying sword danced about, Xu Yihong gathered True Qi, transforming the sword into streaming light.

The black-clad man surged with Blood Qi, revealing himself as a Martial Dao expert, clasping the flying sword between his palms.

Then, they were locked in a stalemate.

Xu Yihong’s cultivation surpassed the black-clad man’s; though affected by the poisonous smoke, he barely held on, maneuvering his True Qi to wield the flying sword, intent on ending the black-clad man’s life first.

The black-clad man hadn’t anticipated Xu Yihong’s resistance after being poisoned, caught off guard at the moment, and now entangled with the flying sword, he could only hope for the poison to take effect swiftly on Xu Yihong.

The life and death of both hung in a fragile instant.

Then...

As both were straining with fierce expressions to kill each other,

Lu Zheng casually appeared on the wall, then spoke to Liu Qingyan, who had already opened the window, "It seems this fellow brother still lacks enough experience in the Jianghu."

Xu Yihong:

Black-clad man: ∑(°Д°)!!!

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