owlsbooks Chapter 58 The County City, I Must Go
Chapter 58 The County City, I Must Go
When Lu Yuan passed through that familiar door and returned to the small courtyard where he used to live, it was already dusk.
The courtyard was empty; there was no one there.
Lu Yuan paused for a moment.
"Old Huang?"
He called out into the house.
A soft footstep came from inside the house.
Then that familiar figure emerged from the doorway, bending over.
Upon seeing Lu Yuan, a smile appeared in Old Huang's eyes.
He took two unsteady steps forward.
"Young Master is back."
Lu Yuan walked up to him and placed a coarse cloth bundle on the stone table.
"I'm going to the county seat."
He came back this time, firstly to pick up Lao Huang and leave together.
After all, having a master by his side makes him feel more at ease.
Secondly, regarding the yellow list.
He always felt that Tie Qianshan was eager for him to participate in the Yellow List competition and was a little impatient.
He also wanted to ask Lao Huang's opinion.
Now, deep down, Lu Yuan has come to regard Lao Huang as the only person he can trust.
Lu Yuan opened the bundle, inside were the travel documents and several bottles of pills prepared by Tie Qianshan.
He began to recount his experiences at the Iron Bone Sect over the past few days with Lao Huang.
"Tie Qianshan has completely regarded me as a descendant of the Duan family."
"He wants me to go to the county town to participate in the Yellow List Challenge."
"If you say you're in first place, you'll get a mental cultivation manual called the Seven Stars Technique."
Old Huang's gaze lingered on those documents for a moment, then he nodded.
"Seven Star Technique, a fine skill. The internal energy circulation subtly aligns with the Big Dipper's orientation, following the same path as Shaolin's Yi Jin Jing, resulting in pure internal energy."
"It is the perfect foundation for the Six Meridians Divine Sword."
Lu Yuan looked at him and continued.
"There's one more thing."
"If we take first place on the Yellow List, we might get to meet someone from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion."
"He told me to do my best to establish connections with the people of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion."
Old Huang's expression changed.
Not surprised.
The three characters "Tianji Pavilion" seemed to haunt his nightmares.
He fell silent, and the silence lasted longer than ever before.
Then he spoke, his voice lacking its usual calmness.
There was only a heavy, dull weariness.
"Young Master Yuan, please don't go."
"The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion is long gone. The one that bears that name now is not the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion of yesteryear."
Lu Yuan pressed for an answer.
"What do you mean? Do you know anyone from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion? Or...?"
Old Huang shook his head.
The wrinkles on her face were bunched together.
This expression was just like Lu Yuan pressing him about his background.
No matter how much Lu Yuan pressed him for details, Lao Huang refused to reveal another word.
Lu Yuan looked into his eyes and remained silent for a moment before speaking.
"Old Huang, although I don't know exactly what happened at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, this time... I have to go."
The techniques might be obtained from other places.
But the little girl who always called him Brother Lu Yuan is still lying in the Iron Bone Sect, barely alive.
Old Huang looked into his eyes.
Looked for a long time.
Then he turned and walked into the house.
"This old servant will accompany you... This old servant will go pack my luggage now."
Lu Yuan stood in the courtyard, watching Old Huang quickly return to the house.
Lu Yuan originally intended to take Lao Huang with him when he came back this time.
Now that Lao Huang has taken the initiative to ask, he has less to say.
Suddenly, he remembered something that had been overlooked for a long time.
If I were to practice martial arts...
Isn't there a master right beside you as your mentor?
"Old Huang... since you're so skilled, could you teach me a few tricks?"
Lu Yuan walked to the door and asked with a hint of expectation.
"I'm about to go and participate in the yellow list event, so I need to practice something along the way."
Old Huang straightened up, glanced at Lu Yuan, and a rare, ambiguous smile appeared on his wrinkled face.
He spoke slowly, "The cultivation method this old servant practices requires maintaining a virgin's body... Is Young Master Yuan sure you want to learn it?"
Lu Yuan's expression froze. Lele tilted her head, looked at Lao Huang, then at Lu Yuan, and yawned.
"...Then forget it."
Lu Yuan said decisively.
......
Deep within the Iron Bone Sect's dungeon.
Long periods without sunlight, and bitterly cold.
Han Tieshan has been imprisoned here for who knows how many days.
Previously, he was an outer elder of the Iron Bone Sect.
Holding great power.
Now, he was curled up on a straw mat in the corner of the stone cell, his gray hair plastered to his scalp, and his whole body exuded a sour and rotten smell.
With his cultivation sealed and his meridians locked, he is now no different from an ordinary middle-aged man.
The stone door was pushed open from the outside, and Tie Qianshan bent down and walked in.
Tie Heng followed behind him, holding a roll of paper and pen in his hand, standing at the door without going inside.
Han Tieshan raised his head, revealing a pair of slightly cloudy eyes.
He looked at Tie Qianshan, his lips twitched, as if he wanted to laugh, but the muscles on his face were too frozen to obey him.
Elder Han.
Tie Qianshan stopped in front of him, looking down at him.
"My patience is limited. You tampered with the election lottery. Who instructed you to do it? Say it again."
Han Tieshan chuckled twice, his voice dry and hollow.
"Sect Master, I've said it eight hundred times already. I activated the lottery mechanism myself; no one instructed me. I just can't stand that brat surnamed Lu..."
Tie Qianshan looked at him without saying a word.
"I know I am going to die."
Han Tieshan leaned against the stone wall, looking up at the water stains on the top of the stone cell, his tone becoming calm.
"You've disrupted the lottery system, breaking the sect's rules. According to the sect's regulations, you should have your cultivation abolished and be expelled from the sect. At my age, having my cultivation abolished means death. Either way, I'm going to die, so why are you still bothering with me, Sect Master?"
"You still won't tell the truth!" Tie Qianshan shook his head and kicked Han Tieshan hard.
"You're a veteran of the sect, and you'd cheat in the sect election just for a little money?"
"And it almost caused a sect's genius to die in the general election?"
Tie Qianshan's voice was devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
"I, the editor-in-chief, have investigated. Every single bribe you received—money, pills…—points to the same person."
"Zhao Tianxiong".
Han Tieshan did not answer.
He lowered his head, his disheveled hair covering most of his face, and from Tie Qianshan's angle, only his shoulders could be seen trembling slightly.
"Tell me, and I might consider sparing your life."
Tie Qianshan's voice was very low, so low that only the two of them could hear it.
"If you can't explain it, I, the sect master, have plenty of ways to make you wish you were dead."
Han Tieshan slowly raised his head.
A hint of disdain flashed in his eyes.
"Sect Master, so what if I did accept a bribe? It's just Lu Yuan, isn't it?"
"Heh, Tie Qianshan, don't think I don't know why you value him so much! Normally, if I accepted something like this, you probably wouldn't even care!"
Tie Qianshan stared at him for three breaths, then turned and walked towards the prison gate.
He stopped at the door and said something to Tie Heng.
"Keep asking."
Tie Heng responded in a low voice.
Place the paper and pen on the stone table, and slowly roll up your sleeves to your elbows.
Han Tieshan looked at Tie Heng expressionlessly.
He seemed to have anticipated what was going to happen next.