Chapter 103: Divided into Two Paths.

After finalizing the investigation itinerary with the treasure hunting team, Rong Xie met with Lu Yingqi again.

Before meeting Lu Yingqi, Rong Xie had already made preparations. If Lu Yingqi tried to stop him, he would just mumble and agree. Once he and the treasure-hunting team had investigated the case thoroughly, found out how the Lu family manipulated the servants, destroyed their methods, and severed the connection between the Lu family and the servants, he would then tell Lu Yingqi.

By acting first and informing later, by the time Lu Yingqi finds out, the matter will be settled. Lu Yingqi's attempts to cause trouble will be futile. Besides, would someone as uninterested in anything really cause trouble for the Lu family just because they've lost their method of controlling the servants? If he really wants to protect even this brat, then he and the Lu family are birds of a feather. Such a person is not worth protecting at all, and Rong Xie wouldn't mind turning against him.

The cultivation world is, after all, a world ruled by righteous cultivators. Adopting innocent children, casting spells on them, and manipulating their lives is the work of evil cultivators. If Lu Yingqi dares to stop him, he doesn't mind exposing this shameful affair and ruining the reputations of everyone involved.

Although Shen Bingsi has various flaws, she is absolutely clear-headed when it comes to matters of good and evil. It is precisely because of Shen Bingsi, a close friend who hates evil as much as he does, that Rong Xie's first reaction when he hears about evil deeds is that the culprits must be found and punished by justice.

Why am I thinking about Shen Bingsi again...?

By the way, when Rong Xie first learned about the Lu family's evil deeds of controlling the servants, he even thought about asking Shen Bingsi to handle the matter. Shen Bingsi is everywhere slaying demons and monsters, so dealing with Gu or evil magic should be a piece of cake for him.

But when he was really needed, he disappeared again.

When Lu Yingqi appeared outside the private room of Chongyuetai Restaurant, Rong Xie was lost in thought. The door suddenly opened, and he came back to his senses.

Lu Yingqi remained expressionless. This time, he did not bring Xiaozhi.

Rong Xie had a bad feeling. Sure enough, after Lu Yingqi sat down, he got straight to the point: "Fellow Daoist Rong, I hope you will not interfere in my family affairs."

"..." Rong Xie's heart sank.

Lu Yingqi continued, "I will handle this matter myself."

Um?

Rong Xie raised his head again and looked at Lu Yingqi.

“If Senior Brother Lu can handle it himself, that would be best,” Rong Xie paused, “but how do you plan to handle it?”

"That's none of your business," Lu Yingqi said calmly. "Fellow Daoist Rong, don't you think you're meddling too much? We only met for the first time last time, and you said many offensive things. If it weren't for Xiaozhi, I could have turned on you on the spot, refused to associate with you, and even made it impossible for you to stay within the Xuantian Sect's sphere of influence. Have you considered that possibility?"

"..." Rong Xie knew it. How could he persuade his own brother, whom Lu Yinglin couldn't even convince ten years ago, with just an empty prophecy? It turned out that Lu Yinglin not only wanted him to shut up, but also threatened him to drive him away from Lan Yuan.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, I thought you were practicing the Path of Ruthlessness, but I didn't expect you to be ruthless only to outsiders like me, while showing affection and righteousness to your family." Rong Xie couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark. He tidied himself up and stood up, saying perfunctorily as planned, "Since that's the case, then I won't interfere in this matter. I'll just pretend I don't know anything. Everyone has their own destiny. Fellow Daoist Lu, take care of yourself."

"Wait a minute," Lu Yingqi said. "I can tell you're not convinced. Since that's the case, I'm going home this time, and you'll come with me."

"What?" Rong Xie turned his head, thinking he had misheard.

“I said I would handle this matter, and I will handle it. It’s not just talk,” Lu Yingqi said calmly. “Besides, whether you’re just repeating hearsay or the Lu family is really at fault, we haven’t figured it out yet. You won’t be convinced. If you spread rumors outside and cause trouble, it won’t benefit me or the Xuantian Sect.”

Rong Xie thought to himself, "As expected of someone who cultivates the Path of Ruthlessness, this analysis is extremely rational."

So, his mockery of Lu Yingqi unexpectedly opened up another avenue. Lu Yingqi offered to take him back to witness how he would solve the case, and he was quite curious about how Lu Yingqi would handle it.

If it were really that easy to solve, wouldn't it have been resolved ten years ago? Why drag it out until today? Or is it that Lu Yingqi's solution is different from Rong Xie's understanding?

With these doubts in mind, Rong Xie made an appointment with Lu Yingqi to go to the Lu family.

"What? Xuan Tian Yi Jian is going back to deal with this matter?"

After Rong Xie and Lu Yingqi finished their meeting, they immediately informed Captain Zhao and Linglong of the latest developments.

Both of them were surprised. If Lu Yingqi wanted to handle this matter personally, then there would be nothing for them to do. Fortunately, they had just mobilized the treasure hunting team, and everyone was eager to punish evil and rescue the innocent child.

“Don’t get your hopes up too high. If he could handle it, he would have done it ten years ago,” Rong Xie shook his head. “Let’s stick to the original plan.”

"How... should we proceed according to the original plan?" Captain Zhao asked, puzzled.

"Does the treasure-hunting team have a flying artifact when they go out?" Rong Xie asked.

"Yes, of course we have one. We have a large flying artifact that can carry all the team members together," Captain Zhao replied immediately.

Rong Xie's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected that the seemingly unorthodox treasure-hunting team would have such a big guy. He had been worried about the time spent on the journey, but now, his biggest problem was solved.

"That's great! What kind of flying artifact is it? Is it conspicuous?" Rong Xie asked with concern.

"Yes... cough cough." Captain Zhao seemed a little embarrassed to say, "One-stop service."

"What?!" Rong Xie was shocked.

Are all independent cultivators now allowed to travel by dragons when exploring for treasure?

"Pfft—" Linglong burst out laughing, "Brother Rong, you actually believed it!"

Rong Xie was a little confused. Wasn't he a dragon? But Captain Zhao didn't seem like the type to joke around so easily.

"It is... a dragon-shaped kite. I obtained it by chance. Although it looks a bit strange, it can definitely fly!" Captain Zhao hurriedly explained. "However, Fellow Daoist Rong just asked if this flying artifact is conspicuous... It is really too conspicuous. As long as it flies, people within a hundred miles can notice it."

A huge dragon-shaped kite—it's really hard not to notice it.

"How fast is it flying? It's about 1,200 li from here to the Lu family," Rong Xie asked.

He had previously given Captain Zhao a map of the Lu family's residence, and Captain Zhao had roughly estimated the travel time: "No more than three days."

"That's good," Rong Xie breathed a sigh of relief. "Lu Yingqi and I will go to the Lu family first. After we leave, you can set off. I'll try to slow down Lu Yingqi's flight speed. We'll arrive at the Lu family first and see how he handles this matter. We'll also investigate the internal situation of the Lu family. Once he breaks down in negotiations, you can arrive at the same time. Then we can work together from the inside and outside to destroy that well and force the Lu family head to give up control over the servant boy."

"That's a good method!" Captain Zhao slapped his palm.

“But Brother Rong, you’re going to act alone,” Linglong worried. “That’s too dangerous. There’s no one to look after you, and that Xuan Tian Yi Jian doesn’t seem like a good person.”

"Yes," Captain Zhao said with concern. "I don't think this plan will work. Let's act together."

“Lu Yingqi doesn’t know you’re going too. I think he’s very protective of his own. If he finds out that I’m bringing a whole team with me, who knows what he’ll do.” Rong Xie also mentioned that Lu Yingqi had threatened to kick him out of Lanyuan.

"this……"

“But if we wait until he breaks down in negotiations before we reorganize our manpower, it will be too late. The Lu family will also be on guard. It’s best to take a two-pronged approach.” Rong Xie analyzed the situation for the two of them.

After listening, Captain Zhao and Linglong admitted that Rong Xie's plan was more reasonable and had a higher success rate, but...

"Are you really going to look at me like that?" Rong Xie asked helplessly. "I am, after all, an inner disciple of the Spirit Mirror Sect, and I have formally studied magic and talismans. The Lu family members are, in the end, just ordinary people. A few of them may have spiritual roots, but in terms of magical power, they may not be as good as me. Although Lu Yingqi is powerful, he is also a disciple of a reputable sect. It would be inappropriate for him to harm an innocent witness like me. Besides, before you arrived, I did not intend to have any conflict with them. There was no risk at all."

"That's true, but..." The two of them still looked troubled.

“If you’re really worried, I have two jade pendants for communication here. You can take one, and we’ll stay in touch.” Rong Xie took out two jade pendants for communication from his brocade pouch.

When Rong Xie saw the guests off from Zhuli Lane, he had three jade pendants with sound transmission hanging from his belt. One was with Shen Yan, one with Wang Mu, and one with Captain Zhao. All three pendants were quite heavy, making his belt sag.

Rong Xie thought that this communication jade pendant was really inconvenient. It would be better if there were multi-directional communication devices, so that everyone could take one and contact whomever they wanted.

When the appointed time arrived, Rong Xie once again checked the talismans in his hand, went through the various ways to deal with different situations in his mind, walked out of the house in Zhuli Lane, and walked towards Lu Yingqi, who was waiting at the entrance of the lane in the twilight.

Lu Yingqi did not call for a carriage, but waited there alone. When he saw Rong Xie arrive, he walked out of the alley.

Rong Xie followed him for a while, but his pace was so fast that he almost couldn't keep up several times, forcing Rong Xie to jog. The two crossed a dirt road and reached the intersection of the bluestone street and the wilderness. Beyond that lay an endless snowfield.

Lu Yingqi finally stopped.

"Aren't we going to take a carriage?" Rong Xie was always mindful of stalling for time. "We're still within the sect's surveillance range, aren't we?"

"I won't sit," Lu Yingqi said. "I have already reported to the sect, and I am free to enter and leave the sect's territory during this period."

"...Ah, I see."

A bright sword light flashed, and the gleaming flying sword stopped in front of the two. Lu Yingqi leaped onto the flying sword, stood steadily on the blade, and reached out his hand to Rong Xie.

“I haven’t reached the Foundation Establishment stage yet, so I’m afraid I can’t withstand the speed of flying on a sword.” Rong Xie continued to stall for time. “In the past, Shen Bing Si would enlarge her flying sword, and I could sit in the jade ornament on the hilt and fly in the sky like riding in a carriage.”

Rong Xie exaggeratedly described how Shen Bingsi drove him around. Although he was a little embarrassed, he couldn't care less at this moment.

"I'm the kind of person who can't stand the bumpy ride, and I'm also a bit afraid of heights. If I were to fly in the sky on such a small sword, I would definitely throw up, and it wouldn't be good if I threw up on Senior Brother Lu."

Lu Yingqi frowned slightly. Xiaozhi didn't have so many flaws like Rongxie. Thinking this to himself, he still made the flying sword a little bigger.

"Is it only this big?" Rong Xie looked at the ten-foot-long flying sword with some disdain. "Shen Bing Si always transforms into the size of a carriage... no, a house. Senior Brother Lu's cultivation level is higher than hers, surely he can't transform it?"

"..."