Chapter 43 Joy and Sorrow (2/2)

“Besides that, the reason I broke through the bottleneck so smoothly in just a day and a night to attain level-four of Qi-gathering is that he gave me a bottle of qi-gathering elixir,” Lu Qinghu continued.

“He… he even has the qi-gathering elixir formulated by the Imperial Court’s superior-level medicine master that increased the sensitivity to qi by forty percent?” Lu Pinglan was surprised.

A qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by forty percent?

Lu Qinghu snorted at what Lu Pinglan had said because Young Master Donghuang had not given him merely a qi-gathering elixir that increased his sensitivity to qi. However, he did not elaborate on this because he knew revealing too much would not be wise.

A lesser-grade technique was fine; it was the entitlement of preeminent families.

A preeminent family that did not have martial art techniques could send a level-four adept of Qi-gathering to present himself to the Regent to request for a lesser-grade technique.

Of course, they could only ask for a lesser-grade offensive technique or a lesser-grade defensive technique.

Lesser-grade swiftness techniques were only given to preeminent families that had level-five adepts of Qi-gathering.

A qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by forty percent was a different matter.

If this was exposed, even the Imperial Court would take notice.

It was a truly magnanimous gesture of grace that Young Master Donghuang gave me such a precious bottle of qi-gathering elixir… I absolutely will not spread the word that he can produce such a high-quality qi-gathering elixir because it would endanger him.

This was what Lu Qinghu thought.

He did not even intend to tell his own younger brother, Lu Bao, about this, never mind Head Elder Lu Pinglan.

“From this day on, any one of the Lu family who dares to offend Young Master Donghuang, no matter if he is of the direct lineage or a side branch… kill them without mercy!”

Lu Qinghu declared solemnly in the presence of Lu Pinglan and Lu Bao.

…

The Lu family had advanced to the status of a preeminent family because of their newly minted level-four adept of Qi-gathering. The whole Lu family compound was gaudily decorated to celebrate the occasion, and everyone was in a festive mood.

The mood in the preeminent Li family, however, was at the other extreme.

This was because Second Young Master Li Pingyun and Ninth Elder Li Yan were dead.

Li Yan’s death alone would not have had a huge impact because he was after all just a level-three adept of Qi-gathering, and he did not have the talent to advance to level-four of Qi-gathering.

It was entirely different for Li Pingyun.

As the son of Patriarch Li Jingyu of the Li family, Li Pingyun’s talent was prodigious, and he was certain to attain level-four of Qi-gathering if all went as planned.

Besides, Li Pingyun was destined to be the next patriarch of the Li family.

Now, he was dead.

“Who did this?”

In the spacious front courtyard of the Li family mansion, the patriarch of the Li family Li, Jingyu stared at the curly-whiskered man kneeling on the ground before him. The iciness of his voice made it feel like the temperature had dropped several degrees.

Li Jingyu was a good looking middle-aged man of average build dressed in a green robe. He had on a threatening expression.

Many elders of the Li family were present as well, looking extremely foul. Killing the second young master of the Li family was akin to giving them a slap in the face, and this had shamed them greatly!

There were several junior Li family members in attendance as well.

“Second Young Master… has been killed?”

Li Rui was among the Li family juniors, looking lost and pale-faced, and unable to believe that it was all real.

How could Second Young Master be dead? She was still hoping to pair up with the second young master, and rise like a phoenix to the top.

Now the second young master was dead, and her dreams with him.

“Father!!”

With a gut-wrenching cry, a figure dashed to the already decomposing corpse of Li Yan. It was Li Yan’s son, Li Hui.

“Patriarch, it’s… it was Zhou Donghuang! It was the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town, Zhou Donghuang!”

The curly-whiskered man trembled as he said, “He killed Second Young Master and Ninth Elder some time ago, but because he was headed towards the prefecture capital, I did not dare to return lest I run into him.”

“Although I could have sneaked back on my own to report this, I was afraid that the bodies of Second Young Master and Ninth Elder would be eaten by wild beasts.”

“Today, I saw his carriage leave from outside the city gates, so I finally dared to return with their bodies,” the curly-whiskered man continued.

“Zhou Donghuang?!”

Li Rui and Li Hui were stunned speechless when the heard the curly-whiskered man mention Zhou Donghuang’s name.

It was a while before they recovered and shouted in unison, “It can’t be!!”

Their shout succeeded in drawing the attention of everyone present.

“Why can’t it be?” Li Jingyu looked at Li Hui with a cold and piercing gaze.

“Patriarch, the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town, Zhou Donghuang, is a martial invalid… he could not possibly have the ability to kill my father and Second Young Master,” Li Hui said. “Moreover, even if he was not a martial invalid… do you think a seventeen-year-old youth could have the ability to kill both my father and Second Young Master?”

“Patriarch!” Seeing suspicion in Li Jingyu’s eyes as he considered what Li Hui had said, the curly-whiskered man began to panic.

“I swear to heaven, it was Zhou Donghuang himself who killed Second Young Master and Ninth Elder with his own hands!”