Chapter 597: Face to Face

Chapter 597 Face to Face

Scholar Lü understood what the theater meant to his father; from the moment he was born, his father had murmured the word in his ear, so much so that when he first learned to speak, he did not cry out for father or mother, but for the theater.

Suddenly being gifted a grand theater for free, his father's life had instantly lost its striving purpose, as if the next step were merely to wait to be buried.

Hearing her husband's explanation, Luo Juanhua curled her lip. "Hmph, your father is just born to toil. When blessings are brought right to his face, he doesn't even know how to enjoy them. You might as well send him back to live a hard life; he'll find comfort in that."

Scholar Lü did not reply, but silently pondered in his heart what kind of work he should find for his father, lest the old man make himself sick from idleness.

"Come, Xiu'er, stop eating rice. Eat meat, eating big fatty meat can fill you up just the same."

Just as Luo Juanhua was instructing her eldest daughter beside her, she suddenly saw a familiar face dash in through the front door—it was her brother-in-law, Xiucai Lü.

Xiucai entered the main hall, completely ignoring his eldest brother and sister-in-law, snatched the bowl and chopsticks from his four-year-old niece, and began to devour the food in great mouthfuls.

"Xiucai? Why are you back? Didn't you take your wife and follow the Young Daoist Master back to Niuxin Village to cultivate immortality?" Scholar Lü was exceedingly surprised by Xiucai's arrival.

Just when they were about to leave the capital, no matter how much he had tried to persuade him, this fellow had been dead set on learning divine arts from the Young Daoist Master, without a single shred of hesitation.

Lifting a bowl of egg soup to wash the meat down his throat, Xiucai gasped heavily and said, "Master has been abducted! I came back to find the Big Dummy to bring reinforcements."

"What?! What kind of person could possibly abduct the Young Daoist Master?" Without anyone noticing when he had entered, a surprised Zhuangyuan Lü, with his long tobacco pipe dangling from his mouth, returned to the hall.

"Ah, it's no use explaining to someone like you, you wouldn't understand anyway. Regardless, the enemy's divine arts are incredibly formidable; those six people can form a spell formation, and one of them is actually a demi-immortal. It seems to be a conspiracy between two factions, and they even possess all sorts of magical treasures I've never seen before. Master was caught off guard and fell into their trap."

"I'll leave as soon as I finish eating. In a moment, I'll go rescue my Master along with the helpers Gao Zhijian finds!" As Xiucai spoke, he grabbed a piece of poached chicken drizzled with sesame oil with his bare hand and stuffed it into his mouth.

"You are not allowed to go! If even the Young Daoist Master couldn't handle them, what good will you do by going! Rushing to the front like that, are you trying to beat him to the grave to steal the first seven days of mourning?!" The long tobacco pipe in Zhuangyuan Lü's hand was being swung so fast it almost left afterimages.

Yet Zhuangyuan Lü's opposition failed to produce the desired effect. Xiucai slammed his hand on the table and stiffened his neck. "What the hell do you know! I am his apprentice! When Master is in trouble, if I contribute some effort now, he will naturally remember my virtue in the future and teach me those divine arts!"

"I am his only disciple. When he attains the Dao and ascends to immortality, if he doesn't pass it on to me, who else would he pass it to?"

"Besides! Don't look down on people, alright! I've been cultivating for so long, I'm already very powerful!"

Just then, Xiucai suddenly heard the vibrating sound of galloping hooves from the street outside. His face lit up with joy, and grabbing a marinated goose, he rushed out of the house. "Excellent! The Big Dummy's reinforcements are so fast!!"

"If you dare step out of this door, you are no longer a member of our Lü family!" The anxious Zhuangyuan Lü stood there, gesticulating wildly.

Xiucai dashed out of the main gate without the slightest hesitation, sparing absolutely no face for Zhuangyuan Lü.

"Hmph! As if a surname from the lowest classes is something so precious. When I follow Master to ascend to immortality in the future, don't expect me to bring the rest of you along with me to heaven!!"

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"Li Huowang? Li Huowang?" Fingers snapped continuously before his eyes, forcing Li Huowang's unfocused gaze to converge once more.

As his consciousness cleared, unsurprisingly, Li Huowang found himself tightly bound from head to toe in a straitjacket, and a steel muzzle had even been placed over his mouth to prevent him from biting anyone.

"Have you calmed down? Can we have a proper chat now?" Wu Cheng stood directly in front of him, holding a tablet.

Li Huowang stared at him for a long time before speaking slowly, "You're just a henchman like Wang Wei, aren't you? Who is the person behind you?"

"Why do you want the Lifespan Pill? Is he about to die? So he wants to take a gamble on me?"

"Or rather, is the Lifespan Pill just a test? Do you want other, more dangerous, and more powerful things?"

Wu Cheng did not answer the question. Instead, he pressed the Bluetooth earpiece at his ear, lowered his head toward the tablet, and said, "Director, this seems to be a new development, it deviates from Yi Donglai's paper. Yes, yes, I understand, I will handle it."

After video-calling the person on the tablet for a short while, Wu Cheng hung up, raised his head, and locked eyes with Li Huowang.

"Li Huowang, do you know? Yi Donglai is actually using you for experiments. If you go on like this, you will go mad sooner or later."

Wu Cheng pointed a finger at his own chest. "Trust me, only by working with us will a person like you have a better life in the future."

"Heh, finally dropping the act? I just want to know on what grounds? How many times have you lied to me? I shouldn't trust Yi Donglai, but I should trust you instead?" Li Huowang sneered.

"On the grounds that you have no choice, on the grounds that you are currently in our hands, and on the grounds that Yi Donglai isn't here right now."

As the red light of the surveillance camera in the upper left corner of the ward gradually dimmed, Wu Cheng drew a taser from his coat and pressed it against Li Huowang's body.

"Bzzz bzzz bzzz~" The sound of electric current rang out, and Li Huowang's body convulsed uncontrollably, yet he began to laugh. "Using this thing against me? Who do you think you're looking down on?"

The electric current suddenly intensified, but Li Huowang laughed even louder, continuing until the power drained completely, at which point the grin on Li Huowang's face finally faded.

"Come on, keep it coming. If you have the guts, kill me, otherwise the moment I'm free, I'll skin you alive!"

Li Huowang knew that these people did not dare to kill him; they still wanted his Lifespan Pill.

A flash of anger appeared on Wu Cheng's face, but he quickly suppressed it. He tapped on the tablet, and a video began to play before Li Huowang.

It was a segment of surveillance footage from a subway, showing a slightly exhausted girl carrying a shoulder bag, scrolling through her phone as she walked toward a university gate.

When Li Huowang saw the jade earrings the girl was wearing, his pupils trembled slightly—they were a gift he had given her.

"This girl is named Yang Na, right? I heard she's your childhood sweetheart. I know you're crazy and you're not afraid of pain, but what if everything you just felt was inflicted upon her instead?"

Seeing Li Huowang fall silent, a slight smile appeared on Wu Cheng's face. "In fact, cooperating with us is countlessly better than believing Yi Donglai's nonsense. Your talent is a rare find in a thousand years; forcing it to be hidden away and unused is a complete waste."

"Moreover, you have nothing to lose. On the contrary, you stand to gain much more."

"You will never be locked in a mental hospital and treated like a lunatic again. Women, money, reputation—you can have as much as you want. You will stand at the pinnacle of this world."

After a long silence, Li Huowang slowly raised his head, his expression now becoming exceptionally calm. "I don't want to talk to a pawn. I want to talk face to face with the person behind you."

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Next chapter update, will be updated at 23:30

(End of this chapter)