Chapter 654: Killer

"Hey there, why don't you let her go now and turn yourself in to the authorities? It might still count as a voluntary surrender." Lu Yang stepped back into the room, offering sincere counsel to the murderer.

This was clearly the lodging of the woman next door. The assassin had slipped through the window, intending to commit a stealthy murder, only to be caught in the act.

"You shall die too!"

Seeing Lu Yang return, the black-clad figure gripping the dagger flashed a cold light in his eyes, only to be instantly pinned to the floor by Lu Yang.

"I figured you wouldn't surrender willingly."

Lu Yang suppressed the assassin with a single hand, his voice entirely calm.

The assassin's face was a mask of disbelief; he had been subdued before he could even register Lu Yang's movements.

"The... the Foundation Establishment stage?!"

He, a dignified assassin of the ninth layer of Qi Condensation, had been subdued in a flash. His opponent could only be a grand cultivator of the Foundation Establishment stage!

Despair washed over the hidden killer. Who on earth was this uninvited guest? Was he a bodyguard hired by the target? And how was he so intimately familiar with the protocol for suicide prevention?

Things having come to this, suicide was the only option left!

Lu Yang yanked his head up and yanked out two of his front teeth, where a lethal poison was concealed. He then snatched a rag from the floor and stuffed it into his mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue.

"You've been poisoned. His dagger is coated in Green Ghost Soul-Entangling Venom. It manifests in three days, whereupon the green ghost claims your life and you breathe your last. It's not an excessively rare poison; my detoxifying pill can neutralize it."

And even if she realized it, it would be futile. His own poison was rare across the world, and he himself possessed no antidote.

With a few swift taps upon the man's torso, Lu Yang sealed his meridians, rendering him utterly powerless to move.

The woman steadied her racing heart and looked at Lu Yang with profound gratitude. "Thank you, benefactor. My name is..."

"My stepmother believes the family business ought to be inherited by her son, so she has constantly made things difficult for me at every turn. Fortunately, I have resolved each of those hardships one by one."

Yet the interloper had failed to notice that he had applied a slow-acting poison to the blade, imperceptible to anyone before it took effect. Once it manifested, not even the immortals could save her; the target had already been nicked by his blade, her days numbered.

The woman numbly ingested the detoxifying pill. It was icy and soothing, settling her heart considerably.

How was it that this grandson of a gun was playing the hero saving the maiden yet again?

"My lady, what manner of trouble did you encounter to be pursued by an assassin?"

"Ever since childhood, I have displayed an extraordinary aptitude for business. My father repeatedly harbored the intention of handing the entire family enterprise over to me to manage, but he was always thwarted by my stepmother."

These were the sorts of poisons the Pill Cauldron Peak had long since grown tired of playing with.

Lu Yang retrieved a pill from his identity jade plaque and handed it to the startled woman.

The situation within the chamber was plain and simple, discernible at a single glance.

Meng Jingzhou entered the room, his smile freezing instantly upon his face.

"Stop. Do not tell me your name, where you come from, what your status is, or why an assassin has come to take your life. I am merely a guest staying next door, and I know nothing at all. I see you possess some cultivation, and I have crippled the assassin's abilities. You may drag him to the authorities yourself."

"Ah? Oh, thank you."

Lu Yang expertly cut short the woman's self-introduction.

Just as Lu Yang was about to intervene, he heard the woman introduce herself regardless:

"My name is Fu Ling, and I hail from Xuan City nearby. My family operates a textile business, and I came here wishing to expand our family enterprise."

He had traveled the martial world for years entirely by virtue of causing trouble; he could tell at a glance that this was a hornet's nest, bound to involve untold complications behind the scenes.

"Haha, Old Lu! I heard a commotion on your side and knew you'd have something going on here too!" Meng Jingzhou's hearty laughter echoed from behind Lu Yang.

"This assassin was likely sent by my stepmother. Thanks to your timely assistance, young master, Fu Ling has managed to escape this calamity."

Lu Yang shook his head gently. "This assassin was probably not sent by your stepmother."

Fu Ling was greatly astonished, her eyes shimmering with incomprehension.

"Why do you say that, young master?"

"Since you came here to expand your family enterprise, your stepmother would at least wait until the trade routes in this city were established before doing away with you. Eliminating you this early would be tantamount to throwing away the property here."

Fu Ling pondered it earnestly and conceded there was indeed such a possibility.

"Could it be because of my visit to the black market?"

"How so?"

"Young master is likely unaware, but there is a black market not far from here. I took a stroll through it tonight and, seeing a twenty-year-old lingzhi mushroom that looked rather fine, I purchased it. Is it possible that I chanced upon a hidden treasure, and what I bought was not an ordinary lingzhi, but something else entirely?"

"Would you bring it out for me to examine?"

Given her debt of gratitude for her life, Fu Ling trusted that Lu Yang meant no harm, and she produced the lingzhi purchased from the black market.

The lingzhi was the size of a palm, presenting a dark crimson hue with concentric rings of patterns upon its cap.

"My lady, you have guessed half-right. This object is indeed a lingzhi, yet it is no ordinary specimen. It is a full three centuries old, a tribulation lingzhi that was once struck by lightning. Having survived a great calamity, its appearance differs vastly from a standard three-hundred-year-old lingzhi."

"It seems your fortune is quite excellent, my lady."

As a friend to the young medicine kings, Lu Yang had learned a great deal of botanical lore from them.

"However, this remains unrelated to the reason behind your assassination attempt."

"And why is that?" Confusion flickered once more in Fu Ling's gaze.

"This assassin had poison concealed in his front teeth; he is clearly a professional killer, not someone motivated by sudden greed for wealth. He broke through the window specifically to take your life."

Fu Ling reflected for a moment, then added, "I have a childhood sweetheart whose heart is set upon me. My sweetheart is exceedingly outstanding, and there is a female disciple from a sect who fancies him. Yet he rejected her, reasoning that while the female disciple was certainly wonderful, had he not met me first, he might have fallen for her."

"It is possible that this female sect disciple sent the assassin to murder me."

Lu Yang fell into contemplation. This was indeed plausible, and no immediate contradictions presented themselves.

"Which sect does this female disciple you speak of belong to?"

The assassin writhed upon the floor, his mouth stuffed with the rag by Lu Yang, unable to utter a single word.

He had listened to Fu Ling and Lu Yang analyze the situation for the longest time, until he finally managed to spit out the rag.

"Hey, could you let me say a word?"

The three of them looked down in unison at the assassin.

The assassin grew faint-hearted under their collective gaze, yet he spoke nonetheless: "Miss Fu Ling, is it? My apologies, but it seems I mistook my target. My objective was in the room opposite yours. Her name is Que'er."

Fu Ling: "..."

Lu Yang: "..."

Hearing the assassin's revelation, Meng Jingzhou looked as though a mystery had been unraveled, an expression of sudden enlightenment dawning upon him. "So that's how it is."

Lu Yang was surprised. "What have you understood?"

"I encountered a rogue cultivator in my room. He was very well hidden, but I discovered him nonetheless. After I subdued him, he confessed that he was preparing to steal a lingzhi mushroom."

At that moment, Shi Chan walked over as well. "Amitabha. This poor monk wished to seek out my two senior brothers in their chambers. Why are you both here?"

"What is the matter?"

"It is like this: in the corridor, I encountered a lady staying here named Que'er. She claimed she was being targeted by an assassin and, seeing that this poor monk possesses cultivation, wished to implore my protection. This poor monk wishes to ask what insights my two senior brothers might have."