"A hallucination? Not a hallucination? "
Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes, suppressing the thought.
"It's nothing," he replied calmly, straightening his back.
"Young Master … Lord Xu, they were such good people, such good officials, how could they …?"
Little Qiao's eyes were brimming with tears, and she was about to cry again.
Lu Sheng stared silently at the corpses strewn all over the floor of the Xu Family.
The corpses were all greenish-grey, with a strangulation mark on their necks.
The prefectural magistrate took a few glances, then left in a hurry. He handed the matter over to the chief of detectives in charge of the case.
There were also a few magistrate officials in charge of investigating the case, discussing the case with the chief of detectives.
"Young Master, Old Master wants you to go over," a servant ran over and whispered to Lu Sheng.
As he spoke, he looked at the corpses of the Xu Family on the floor with some pity.
"I'll go right away," Lu Sheng glanced at the servant. "You're not afraid?"
"Of course I am." The servant was only eighteen or nineteen years old, but his temperament and expression revealed a maturity that belied his age.
"But I'm a refugee from Ju Rong Country in the east. There's a famine there, corpses are strewn all over the place, and many families even trade their children for food. I've seen too many tragedies like this … sigh … "
He sighed, then immediately realized that the servant was not a friend he usually chatted with, and quickly lowered his head.
"Seen too many? Ju Rong Country in the east, are there many similar cases? "
Lu Sheng asked casually.
The servant was silent for a while.
"Quite a few."
Lu Sheng's heart tightened.
His footsteps did not stop, and he quickly walked to his father of this life, Lu Fang.
Lu Fang, courtesy name Quanan, nicknamed Jinyuanweng.
Lu Quanan's money was famous in the whole of Nine Links City. The news that the Lu Family and Xu Family were about to become in-laws had long spread throughout the city. Even people from Zi Hua City in the west came to send congratulatory gifts.
Such an uproar had turned into such a situation.
Lu Quanan's expression was very ugly, and his eyes were filled with exhaustion and worry.
"Tell Constable Zhao about yesterday's situation."
He moved aside to make room for a bearded man who was approaching him.
Xu Daoran's words echoed in Lu Sheng's mind. He had a feeling that the water ghost case had something to do with the Xu family's death.
He recounted the conversation he had with Xu Daoran yesterday.
There was nothing to hide.
Chief Constable Zhao frowned and could not figure out what was going on.
Lu Sheng saw that there was nothing else to ask, so he took his leave.
Before leaving, the yamen officials began to collect the corpse.
Lu Sheng stood off to the side and watched for a moment. When he saw Xu Daoran being lifted onto a stretcher, he sighed and walked over to one of the bailiffs.
"Brother, are there any survivors of the Xu family left?"
He thought that if there were any survivors of the Xu family, he would take care of them. Maybe he could get some useful information from them.
"That's it … it's all over. Even the relatives' families were implicated. Maybe there are some distant relatives in Zi Hua City. "
The bailiff shook his head and said in a low voice.
Lu Sheng secretly stuffed a piece of silver into the bailiff's hand. Together with Little Qiao, he followed his family into the horse carriage.
The horse carriages went home one after another.
But the tragic state of the Xu family was still fresh in everyone's mind.
As the head of the family, Lu Fang and Lu Quanan called for a family meeting and announced that the engagement with the Xu family was off. He asked the womenfolk to comfort Yiyi, then returned to his room to rest.
The young people in the family went out, either to the winery in the city, the brothel, or the music hall. This was how they usually numbed themselves when they were frightened.
The womenfolk went to the nearby Red Lotus Temple to offer incense and pray for peace and blessings.
It would be best if they could get a talisman from the Red Lotus Daoist to protect the family from evil.
The entire Lu family was in a state of panic.
Lu Sheng did not go out to fool around.
He brought Little Qiao to the large study where the family kept their books.
The study was quiet.
He pushed the door open and entered. Inside, a plump woman was cleaning and wiping the bookshelves.
The vermilion bookshelves, the furniture, and the dim light from outside the window made the place look rather gloomy.
As Lu Sheng entered, he walked around the circular wooden screen with a flower-and-bird pattern, smelling the faint scent of wood in the study.
"You guys go out first. I'll read and rest by myself."
He instructed.
"Yes."
Little Qiao answered obediently, then led the plump woman out of the door.
Lu Sheng stood alone in the study, looking at the rows of bookshelves before him. He sighed softly.
He began to search the bookshelves one by one.
Soon, he found records like the local county annals.
Then, he took out all the books and began to flip through them one by one.
Using the dim light from outside the window, he quickly finished flipping through one of the books.
"In the seventy-second year of the Great Song Dynasty, a man appeared on the outskirts of Nine Links City. In a frenzy, he killed twelve people with a saber. He was surrounded and killed by the yamen's constables."
"In the eighty-fifth year of the Great Song Dynasty, a man's head suddenly separated from his body on the streets of Nine Links City. The cause of death is unknown."
"In the ninety-first year of the Great Song Dynasty, travelers went missing from a run-down temple outside the city. Fifteen people died. The case remains unsolved."
"In the ninety-fifth year of the Great Song Dynasty, the owner of the Nine Links City Music Square went missing. His four limbs were found in four different places outside the city. Only four days after his death, his body had already decomposed into bones. "
"In the sixteenth year of the Great Song Dynasty, a child's cries were heard outside the city at night. Those who went to investigate all went missing. The cries continued for three days before disappearing on their own. "
…
He looked at the records of the major and minor cases.
The more Lu Sheng read, the more apprehensive he became. The more he read, the more uneasy he felt.
In a world like this, a world where every step was fraught with danger, it wasn't easy for the people here to not go crazy and live well.
He flipped open another book.
This one was even more exaggerated than the previous one.
"In the nineteenth year of the Great Song Dynasty, the Nine Links Blizzard. Rumor has it that the Dragon King has appeared. The heavy snow will stop within three days. Three days later, the blizzard that lasted for dozens of days will suddenly stop. "
"In the twenty-eighth year of the Great Song Dynasty, a dense fog appeared on the main road leading to Zi Hua City. Those who enter will lose their sense of direction and will mysteriously appear on the shore of the white frozen ocean dozens of miles away. Ten days later, the dense fog will disappear. "
Reading up to this point, Lu Sheng could almost confirm that this world wasn't as simple as he thought it to be. Demons and ghosts might really exist.
At the very least, with his current status, he couldn't see any way in this world that could affect the weather.
He shifted his chair, picked up a flint and lit the candlestick on the table.
The bright yellow candlelight cast an unreadable shadow over his face.
'If this world is really as dangerous as I think it is, then what do I need to protect myself with? What can I use to protect myself? '
This was the question he asked himself.
He sat by the table and thought for a while.
Lu Sheng slowly stood up and blew out the candlestick. He placed all the books on the table back to their original places.
Then, he pushed the door open and walked out.
"Young Master, are you done reading?"
Little Qiao was dozing off leaning against the door. She was startled by Lu Sheng's sudden appearance, but she still reacted quickly.
"Mm. Where's Uncle Zhao now? Do you know? "
Lu Sheng asked casually.
There were many older men with the surname Zhao in the Lu Manor. But there was only one who could be addressed as Uncle Zhao.
That was the number one expert of the Lu Family, the most powerful martial arts master, Zhao Dahu, whom Lu Fang addressed as Uncle Zhao.
"Err … Uncle Zhao is usually at the training grounds at this time, training the retainers," Little Qiao was on good terms with the other servants, and was rather well-informed.
"Let's go look for him."
Lu Sheng thought about it for quite some time. He knew that Uncle Zhao was probably the easiest person for him to come into contact with, and possibly the key to gaining the ability to protect himself.
Following a small path in the manor, Lu Sheng quickly passed through two rows of bedrooms, and arrived at the back of the manor.
On a large training ground, a white-haired old man was leading a dozen retainers as they practiced their punches and kicks.
Early in the morning, the sun shone down, gradually diluting the tragic events he had heard in the morning.
The martial arts master, Zhao Dahu, was dressed in short, tight-fitting attire. He wore a black top and grey trousers, and carried a thick broadsword on his back that never left his side.
Lu Sheng stood by the side, waiting to watch.
On the other side, Zhao Dahu had trained the retainers for a while, and then let them practice in pairs.
He himself walked towards Lu Sheng. He had long noticed Lu Sheng.
"Young Master, what brings you to the training ground today? Is there something you need this old man's help with? "
Zhao Dahu's position in the manor was similar to that of Old Master.
There were also a few other martial arts masters, whose positions were not low either. Compared to these young masters and young mistresses, they were more like equals.
Lu Sheng glanced at the retainers who were still practicing their punches and kicks not too far away.
"Uncle Zhao, I want to practice martial arts."
As soon as he said this, the smile on Zhao Dahu's face froze.
"Brother Sheng, you're not here to joke with this old man, are you?"
"I'm not joking," Lu Sheng shook his head.
He had thought about it for quite some time. Right now, the easiest way for him to learn how to protect himself was to find a martial arts master in his own family to practice with.
The martial arts master in his family, Zhao Dahu, Uncle Zhao, was proficient in saber techniques. In the entire Nine Links City, only a handful of people could surpass him.
Zhao Dahu looked seriously at Lu Sheng and shook his head.
"If Brother Sheng really wants to learn martial arts, it's not that this old man can't impart this bit of skill to you. It's just that … you're too old now, and your bones are set in stone. You can't practice many movements properly. If you don't practice these movements properly, the power will be greatly reduced … "
"It's fine. Just teach me, Uncle Zhao. "
Not only did Lu Sheng want to find a way to protect himself, he also wanted to verify something.
Zhao Dahu pondered for a while.
He agreed without hesitation.
"Fine, I don't have any heirs. It's been quite comfortable staying in the Lu Family for so many years, and the old man treats us well. According to the rules, if you want to learn from me, you have to go through the formalities of becoming my disciple. But with my relationship with the Lu Family, I can forget about becoming your disciple. It's fine as long as you don't leak it out. "
Zhao Dahu waved his hand.
As the eldest young master, Lu Sheng would take over all the Lu Manor's businesses sooner or later.
In his heart, he also had the thought of getting closer to him.
"But, Brother Sheng, there's something I have to make clear to you first."
"Please speak," Lu Sheng said seriously.
Zhao Dahu stroked the beard on his chin and said in a low voice.
"I know that you've been agitated by the Xu Family's tragedy this morning and want to learn martial arts to protect yourself. But let me tell you clearly, even the strongest experts of the pugilistic world can't handle those strange and bizarre things. "
"… I understand …"
Lu Sheng nodded.
"It's just that … I don't feel at ease. I'll just do what I can."
"It's good that Brother Sheng understands." Zhao Dahu thought for a while, then fished out a small booklet from his bosom. The booklet was wrapped in layers of yellow cloth.
He opened it slowly and carefully, revealing the booklet at the innermost part.
A few large words were written on the surface of the booklet.
'Black Tiger Saber Technique'.
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