Chapter 106 Pretending to be Fierce:

"Well, I didn't expect Lu Yinglin to tell you even this." Madam Mei sneered.

Rong Xie thought to himself that it wasn't entirely Lu Yinglin who told him. Lu Yinglin only gave a general outline. The person who actually told him was Xiao Zhi. However, Xiao Zhi was still under the control of the Lu family. He couldn't expose Xiao Zhi, so he could only use Lu Yinglin and Xiao Ya as shields for now. If this matter was handled properly, it should be what Lu Yinglin and Xiao Ya wanted.

"But so what? In years of famine, those children should have died. Those families sent them here to be raised by us. They had no complaints about how we raised them. And which side is Young Master Rong on who is complaining?" Madam Mei put on a sarcastic smile. "Our Lu family raises children, uses precious spiritual springs to help them develop their spiritual roots, and provides them with resources to cultivate. What's wrong with asking for a little something in return? Compared to those wealthy families who give nothing but send little maids to serve their young masters and teach them about human affairs, we at least saved their lives and gave them one foot in the world of cultivation. The Lu family isn't a charity; we can't just give without expecting anything in return."

Rong Xie sighed. He had never expected that a few words would make the people in charge of the Lu family suddenly realize the truth and be willing to give up the cruel business of reforming children into servants. He just didn't expect that Madam Mei would speak so shamelessly, without even bothering to save face.

"So, you're saying that taking human life can be excused by saying 'the Lu family raised him' or 'the Lu family isn't a charity'? Xiao Ya deserved to die? As far as I know, Xiao Ya wasn't the only servant in your household to die under mysterious circumstances, was he?"

Rong Xie pointed out sharply that this time, he had no more scruples. Since he couldn't persuade Madam Mei anyway, he might as well escalate the conflict further and let Lu Yingqi see Madam Mei's true colors. Maybe then he would agree to stand on his side and support him in sending a treasure-hunting team to resolve the matter.

"You!" Madam Mei's expression changed. "Xiao Ya brought this upon herself. Don't you dare make false accusations!"

"Of course, Madam, you won't admit that you killed Xiao Ya, since you didn't do it directly. But so what? Didn't you foresee that Xiao Ya's spiritual power would be depleted before you tampered with her? Even if you didn't know, after Xiao Ya's death, you didn't learn your lesson and continued to run this business of modifying children. Knowing full well that you committed the crime, that's enough evidence, isn't it?"

Rong Xie gave Madam Mei no time to retaliate and continued speaking:

"Madam Mei, you can be more frank. Your practices of reforming children and training servants have absolutely nothing to do with charity. Those evil sects and heretics don't even bother with that, capturing ordinary people to create puppets. The servants you train are expected to help their young masters understand human affairs, cultivate with them to provide them with spiritual power, and sacrifice their own lives as pawns to coerce them into obedience. Is this really what it means to live?"

The Lu family members in the main hall stared wide-eyed, never expecting someone to so directly tear off their fig leaf and blatantly point out the truth about their training of pageboys. They were immediately shocked and furious, wishing they could rush up and shut Rong Xie up.

However, an invisible force surrounded Rong Xie, preventing them from getting close. They could only struggle between them, and with the effect of the silencing spell, they could only make muffled noises, which looked quite comical.

Rong Xie felt Lu Yingqi protect him and thought that the matter was at least 70% successful.

Madam Mei choked for a long time, then sneered: "Living is living, what else is there to say? I think Brother Rong is living too comfortably, always talking nonsense without understanding the situation. If you're so capable, why don't you go and adopt those children? If no one sends children to us, we naturally won't be able to train any servants."

Rong Xie guessed that Madam Mei had nothing to say and would use this matter to blackmail him again, so he nodded: "Madam Mei is right. Qinghe County is not a place of famine every year, yet there are so many families who can't get enough to eat and so many children who can't be raised. It is indeed a big problem. We don't have this situation in Heyang County. It seems that the magistrate of Qinghe County is not doing his job, causing the people to suffer. This matter should indeed be reported to the prefecture so that the higher-ups can investigate it thoroughly."

"You!" Madam Mei's expression changed. She never expected that her usually effective words would be met with resistance from Rong Xie, who then turned around and threatened to report them to the state government.

Madam Mei knew that this matter could not be exposed to the light of day for judgment. When Old Master Lu was still of sound mind, he bribed the magistrate of Qinghe County. All the previous magistrates of Qinghe County had followed the Lu family's lead, which allowed their actions to proceed without interference. Now, this irrational young master Qi actually brought outsiders to ruin her family's good deed. Madam Mei was so angry that she dug her nails into her palms.

Madam Mei gave Rong Xie a sinister look, then turned around and leaned down to whisper in the old master's ear: "Old master, look at your promising descendants. They've risen to prominence, and now they're bringing people back to destroy their own home. Do you think he doesn't know what our Lu family relied on to get where it is? Now he wants us to change our ancestral laws for him and destroy our own foundation."

The old man uttered two "ah" sounds, his blank face tilted to the side, and his body suddenly began to convulse.

When the old man pulled, the Lu family rushed over, pinching his philtrum and making "woo woo" noises, creating chaos.

The only one who could speak, Madam Mei, cried and wailed, repeatedly blaming Lu Yingqi and Rong Xie.

Rong Xie had seen this kind of scene before. He also knew that as long as Lu Yingqi admitted his mistake, the blame would eventually fall on him. Most likely, an outsider would be blamed for corrupting their young master. It wasn't that Rong Xie was too experienced; it was just that this kind of drama had been played out many times in the Shen family.

Rong Xie turned and glanced at Lu Yingqi, who frowned slightly and looked in the direction of the old master.

"It's probably not going to happen today."

Suddenly, a voice, transmitted in a secret way, rang in Rong Xie's ear.

"Why don't we stay here for now and talk to Madam Mei about this privately once the old master recovers?"

As he said this, Lu Yingqi cast a questioning glance at Rong Xie.

Rong Xie raised his eyebrows slightly.

He quickly nodded.

The farce ended with Madam Mei helping the old master back to rest. Lu Yingqi broke the silence spell on the Lu family, who looked at him as if he were a traitor. They also gave Rong Xie a cold shoulder.

Even so, Madam Mei still sent two old women to guide Lu Yingqi and Rong Xie and settle them in the designated place. Lu Yingqi stayed in his own courtyard, the best location in the Lu family compound, while Rong Xie was sent to a guest room. It was unclear how long it had been since any guests had come here, as the snow had not been cleared, the window paper had several large holes, and spider webs hung on the door lintel.

Rong Xie originally wanted some peace and quiet, and he didn't mind living separately from Lu Yingqi, as it would be more convenient for him to move around alone. However, upon seeing the condition of this guest room, it was clear that it was not meant for human habitation.

Rong Xie turned around and saw two old women pulling up the courtyard gate, their eyes flashing with malice, holding an iron bolt in their hands, seemingly intending to lock him in from the outside.

Rong Xie sighed and walked towards the courtyard gate.

The two old women became even more anxious, pulling the door open with even more force, as if they were afraid that Rong Xie would suddenly rush up and knock them open.

"You two..." Rong Xie hadn't finished speaking when the courtyard gate slammed shut in front of him with a "bang," and the sound of iron bars being fastened came from outside.

The two old women were bolting the door while cursing and swearing when suddenly they felt a chill down their spines.

Before they knew it, the figure that stood like a green bamboo in the courtyard appeared on the steps behind them.

The two old women were so frightened that they fell down and pushed and shoved each other to the other side to avoid each other.

"Why are you two in such a hurry to close the door? I was just about to tell you that this courtyard hasn't been cleaned in a long time and is uninhabitable. I'd rather stay in your young master Qi's courtyard. By the way, where is your young master Qi's courtyard? It's all winding and maze-like here, I can't remember the way," Rong Xie said.

Before Rong Xie could finish speaking, the two old women had already run along the path and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Rong Xie finished speaking slowly and deliberately. When he said the last sentence, "I can't remember the way," he came down the steps, walked to the middle of the narrow path between the courtyards, turned around, and walked in the opposite direction from where the two old women had run away.

Although he didn't know the layout of the entire Lu residence, he wouldn't forget the path he had walked once. He remembered clearly how the old woman had taken Lu Yingqi back to his courtyard first, and then him.

When you reach the fork in the road ahead, turn right and keep going straight. At the seventh alleyway, turn left and you will see the courtyard. Go through the courtyard and you will reach Lu Yingqi's courtyard.

Thinking this, Rong Xie strolled to the left.

That's right, he doesn't plan to go back to Lu Yingqi's courtyard.

This was a perfect opportunity; he would use the excuse of getting lost to take a good look around the Lu family's house.

If only... we could find the location of that well.

The Lu family mansion was like a maze, with each intersection looking much the same. After walking for a while, Rong Xie found that the gates of every courtyard were tightly closed. He could sense that someone was secretly watching him from behind those gates. Occasionally, there were fleeting figures at the crossroads, but no one was willing to come up and talk to him.

After wandering aimlessly for a while, Rong Xie finally arrived at the side gate of the Lu family mansion. Further ahead was the narrow path that connected the front and back courtyards. Rong Xie remembered that he and Lu Yinglin had once traveled through this narrow path in a carriage and inadvertently saw someone carrying what appeared to be a servant's corpse through a small gate.

Wait, if he can find the small room where the body was hidden, he might be able to find some clues.

As Rong Xie thought this, he passed through the side door and indeed saw a straight, narrow passage stretching far into the distance. This was the length of one side of the entire Lu family mansion.

Rong Xie's heart skipped a beat. He was very lucky. This narrow passage was the one he and Lu Yinglin had come through in a carriage. He could still recognize the familiar details, the shape of a broken wall, and the missing tile on a roof. This was the place.

Rong Xie steadied himself, looked around to make sure no one was there, and quickly slipped into the narrow passage.

A moment later.

Rong Xie put away the flying talisman and stood firmly in front of the small door. Looking inside, he saw dilapidated houses on both sides of the alley. Unlike the young masters' courtyards and even the abandoned guest rooms, these were clearly the rooms of cooks and servants. There were traces of dirty water on the ground and clumps of grass sticking out of the walls.

To Rong Xie's left was the morgue where he had personally witnessed the servants carrying the corpse in. At this moment, the black lacquered wooden door was closed, with a straw rope tied to it.

Rong Xie held his breath, stepped forward, and with a flick of his finger, the straw rope fell to the ground in a flash of green light.

"Squeak—crunch."

As the black lacquered wooden door opened, a pungent, putrid stench wafted out.

Rong Xie covered his mouth and nose and looked into the room. In the darkness, something was breathing heavily in the corner, making low threatening noises in its throat, and its small eyes were staring fiercely at Rong Xie.

This is……

Rong Xie channeled his spiritual power, and the darkness in the room could not block his vision. Crouching in the corner was clearly a red-maned wild boar, and the pungent stench of decay was coming from the trough in front of it.

Some ominous thoughts flashed through Rong Xie's mind, and he immediately felt a churning in his stomach, instinctively taking a step back.

As if sensing Rong Xie's intention to retreat, the wild boar's ferocity surged, and it roared as it leaped out from the corner and pounced towards the door.

Rong Xie took out the talisman he had prepared beforehand and threw it at the wild boar with great speed and accuracy. The talisman transformed into three iron spikes in the air, hitting the wild boar in three vital spots: the top of its head, the back of its neck, and its spine. The wild boar let out a deafening howl and collapsed to the ground with a thud, with blood gushing out from the three blood holes.

Rong Xie pinched his nose, jumped to the side, and dodged the flowing blood.

A rustling sound came from the overly quiet alley. Rong Xie turned around and saw many pairs of eyes hiding behind doors and windows, looking at him fearfully.

Rong Xie suppressed his nausea, waved the talisman, and pulled the three iron spikes out of the wild boar's body, throwing them to the ground in front of him with a clang.

The figures behind the doors and windows shrank in size, hiding in fear, but unable to resist looking out.

Rong Xie wanted this kind of deterrent power.

"Stop hiding, come out," Rong Xie said, holding his breath, his face stern, his voice low. "I'm looking for the Spirit Spring Well. If anyone knows where it is, take me there and I'll spare your lives."

It was deathly silent; no one moved.

Clang—

Rong Xie kicked the iron spike hard, and the spike rolled away with a loud sound.

There was a commotion among the people behind the doors and windows. Finally, someone walked out from behind the door, trembling, with his shoulders hunched and his eyes not daring to meet Rong Xie's. He kept glancing at the hem of Rong Xie's clothes and said, "Master, please calm down. I understand. I will take you there right away."

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Nothing much, just wanted to slaughter a pig [doge emoji]

Bingbing is on her way, she'll be here in the next chapter (nobody cares).