Chapter 29 Emergency Meeting (1/2)

Lu Tianzi saw the look in Uncle Ye's eyes, and instantly knew that Uncle Ye was not going to accept no as an answer.

However, neither was Lu Tianzi prepared to reveal everything about himself.

He had to admit that Uncle Ye had been exceptionally kind to him, providing him with food and shelter even though they were not related in any way. On top of that, Uncle Ye was also the one who introduced him to the field of herbalism.

That newfound knowledge was what allowed him to defeat Nanhong Wuze, and thus ensure that he was able to advance this smoothly.

Furthermore, despite Uncle Ye's apparent dislike for Gong Shengjie, he had still tried his best in helping Lu Tianzi to resolve their differences.

Not just that, but Uncle Ye's wife and daughter had always treated Lu Tianzi kindly as well, as thought he was truly part of the family.

In return, Lu Tianzi had also already started to consider Uncle Ye's family as his own relatives.

But at the same time, Lu Tianzi also knew that his current situation was far too precarious to risk any possible slipups.

From the past few days of interaction, he had come to understand just how much respect Uncle Ye's family had for Ivory Rock City's leaders. That could also be seen from how, just like everyone else, they had readily abandoned their day's work to attend the naming of the Holy Guardian for Yan Bingren.

Between their relationship with him and their love for the City Lord, Lu Tianzi was actually unsure of which side they would stand on.

Thus, it would definitely be better for Lu Tianzi not to say the truth.

Being grateful to Uncle Ye had no bearing whatsoever on whether Lu Tianzi should tell him the truth. In fact, by hiding the facts, Lu Tianzi could even spare them the agony of having to take sides.

Having made his decision, Lu Tianzi started to weave his tale.

Apparently, Zhanyuan had joined the Ivory Rock Martial Academy since he was young. With a decent level of talent, he had managed to attain quite a bit of achievements on the road of cultivation.

However, as time passed, he slowly started to tire of the endless road of cultivation. Even though he could feel himself getting stronger by the day, he also realised that all he was doing was selfishly taking up the city's precious resources without giving anything in return.

Thus, Zhanyuan finally decided to drop out of the martial academy, trying to become a worker to earn his keep instead. That way, he could at least directly contribute to his beloved Ivory Rock City!

Unfortunately, his attempt at hunting had been a complete failure on the first day. And that was also when he bumped into Uncle Ye, who readily took him in.

”And the rest of the story is as you know it,” Lu Tianzi concluded.

Upon finishing the entire story, Lu Tianzi turned to look at Uncle Ye, who now bore a completely different expression. The previously solemn look on Uncle Ye's face was now completely replaced by one of anger!

”What a pity. You are still too young after all. Your decision was not just reckless, but also extremely myopic in nature!” Uncle Ye chided.

”Even though you did not appear to be contributing towards Ivory Rock City, just the fact that you were growing stronger was actually already beneficial. After all, the time to repair a roof is when the sun is shining. Ivory Rock City might seem to be safe now, but just like what happened earlier, we never know what is going to happen. It was good that the demons backed off this time. But if one day, the demons decided to truly attack the city, then these leech-like cultivators whom you speak of would be the only ones able to stand up for us! By giving up on your road of cultivation, you are essentially depriving us of one more potential saviour in the future! That is not just selfish, but also stupid!”

Lu Tianzi was stumped for a moment upon hearing that, but he could only stay silent in response. There was nothing he could say that would serve to ease the situation at this point.

As he stayed silent, Lu Tianzi watched as Uncle Ye step forward to slam a hand down onto Lu Tianzi's shoulder.

Pat-!

Uncle Ye's palm landed firmly onto Lu Tianzi's shoulder, grabbing onto it firmly.

”Even though I say that, I know that you chose to do what you did only because you truly loved this city. And for that, I am proud of you!” Uncle Ye tightened his grip on Lu Tianzi's shoulder to give it a good squeeze before walking off. ”Now, let us go home.”

At this moment, Lu Tianzi felt a slight ache, but it was not at his shoulder.

His body had already been greatly nourished by Spiritual Essence, and such an action from a mere mortal would not be able to hurt him one bit.

However, this defence did not extend to his heart.

Uncle Ye had truly treated him as family, even to the extent of feeling proud of him for having the right moral standing.

However, all that Lu Tianzi could deliver was a lie.

At this moment, Lu Tianzi truly felt bad for lying to Uncle Ye. But there was nothing he could do about it.

The only way he could make it up to Uncle Ye was to get stronger even faster, so that he could finally free Ivory Rock City from the grasps of the deceitful Hu Yuanbo!

Despite having encountered demons, Uncle Ye and Lu Tianzi were still among the firsts to return to the city.

In fact, it was likely due to having encountered the demons that they returned this quickly. After all, the encounter resulted in them running straight for the South Gate without rest!

After the duo returned, it took almost an hour before the stream of returning workers finally slowed down. Many of them had been working at a distance, and had to walk all the way back by traversing the rough forest terrain.

But it was only at nightfall did the South Gate finally close once more, freeing up Cui Zhenghao to leave his post.

It was the same for the gate master as well, only that the gate master's job did not end there.

After leaving the South Gate, the gate master hurried to the Officials District at the other end of Ivory Rock City and delivered a full situation report to his superior.

And this superior in turn passed on the report to his superior, who finally sent it up to the Lord of Ivory Rock City, Hu Yuanbo himself!

In a large room within the City Lord's Manor, five men sat around a long table, with Hu Yuanbo seated on the main chair at the far end.

These four men were the four District Heads of the city. Together, the five men in the room made up the pinnacle of authority within Ivory Rock City!

It was extremely rare for the five of them to be meeting this late in the day, but today was an exception.

For the first time in Ivory Rock City's recorded history, they had actually suffered an attack by the demons!

This was something that had deeply shocked the populace.

Because of that, the City Lord had called for an emergency meeting with the four District Heads in order to discuss the countermeasures to be taken.