Chapter 1139: Investigate My History
Li Dian stood among the crowd. Around him were the core leaders of the Heavenly Network. Suddenly, Li Dian felt as if he was a mouse that was surrounded by cats.
Lu Shu looked at Li Dian and smiled. “Long time no see. Your complexion is not bad.”
“The rations are fine.” Li Dian laughed bitterly.
“I saw your record.” Lu Shu tried to control his laughter. “Why are you trying to rob people again?”
“I don’t want to sell magical stones. I can only cheat others to maintain this standard of living…” Li Dian looked hurt.
“Fine.” Lu Shu said, “Don’t feel like you’ve been wronged. The person you’ve cheated has not even felt wronged yet. Why should you?”
“Oh. You’re right.” Li Dian felt that if he displayed a better att.i.tude, the Ninth Heavenly King might be more tolerant, since they had known each other for a long time.
“I have something to ask you,” said Lu Shu. “Where did the gourd and the other things come from?”
Why were they settling old scores? He still had three years of imprisonment to serve. If they included this, he might need to spend another three years in prison…
Lu Shu laughed. “Think harder.”
Li Dian was about to cry. “Don’t treat me unfairly. It really is a treasure that has been pa.s.sed down in my family.”
As Li Dian spoke, he secretly observed Lu Shu’s expression.
Lu Shu took a file from Chen Zuan and pa.s.sed it to Li Dian. “I got this for you. To be honest, your imprisonment can be shortened. How long it can be shortened by will depend on your performance. But don’t be happy too quickly. We will not let you go to commit crimes and harm ordinary people. Thus, even if you have served your full sentence, you will still be under our surveillance. You will only be able to move around in the Longmen Fortress and help out.”
This was the Heavenly Network’s principle. They would give Li Dian freedom, but this freedom was relative. After all, releasing a habitual criminal like Li Dian would be irresponsible towards ordinary people.
Li Dian received the file and took a look. It was a list of suggestions to allow him to shorten his sentence.
He knew that as the Ninth Heavenly King, Lu Shu would not trick him. There was no need to do so. Li Dian was not his enemy either.
“Then you have to keep your promise,” said Li Dian.
“Tell me, where did the gourd and the other magical weapons came from,” said Lu Shu.
Li Dian was not stubborn. He knew that he had deserved this. It was not easy for the Heavenly Network to allow him to speak.
In the past, many unskilled but strong people thought that they were capable. When they started to work, they realized that there was no use acting like a hero if they were not dauntless.
“First, I want to tell you something.” Li Dian carefully said, “The compa.s.s is ours. One of my ancestors was an alchemist. In the past, they relied on geomancy to support themselves. Then, they concealed their ident.i.ties.”
“Oh.” Lu Shu declined to comment. “Then what about the gourd and the cloth?”
“I stole them…” Li Dian lowered his eyes.
Lu Shu paused. “Where did you steal them from? Don’t speak nonsense. Did you steal them for other people?”
“It’s a long story,” said Li Dian. “The gourd and cloth are very strange, so I remember them clearly. I stole them at Luo City. Back then, I came to Luo City to make a living…”
“Be honest.”
“I came to Luo City to cheat people,” said Li Dian.
“From Li Dian’s distress, +199!”
“Continue.”
“Back then, I was practicing fortune-telling in the Old City area by feeling bones. It was a coincidence. I encountered an extremely strange lady. Even though I have been doing this for over ten years, it was my first time encountering someone like her,” said Li Dian.
Lu Shu was dumbfounded. “What kind of person?”
“She was too obese. I could not feel her bones,” said Li Dian.
Lu Shu’s expression darkened. “Did I allow you to crack jokes with me?!”
“Let me finish.” Li Dian said, “Back then, people were not rich. When I saw how fat she was, I figured that her family was doing well. Thus, I tried to cheat her of more money. You also know how hard it was for people like us to earn money…”
“Yes, continue.” Lu Shu nodded his head and said, “So did you steal the gourd and cloth from her house?”
“Yes.” Li Dian nodded her head. “When I went to her house, there was a baby there. The cloth was supposed to be used as swaddling clothes for the baby. The gourd had been placed beside the doll. I thought that she was rich, but her house was empty. There were not even any decorations. I saw that the cloth and the gourd were not ordinary items. Thus, I stole them.”
Lu Shu was silent. “Was there anything special about the baby?”
“No. The baby seemed sickly and hard to take care of. I don’t know how the lady became so fat either, but her baby was…” Li Dian said, “If I tell you something else about the gourd, will my sentence be shortened?”
Lu Shu calmly said, “Yes. Just tell me.”
“The gourd originally had a crack in it. For some reason, after more than ten years, the crack healed by itself. When the crack had healed, I also realized that the training techniques pa.s.sed down in my family were useful. Thus, I knew that the gourd was a treasure!” Li Dian exclaimed.
Thus, the gourd had been cracked once for some reason, but it healed with the dawn of the magically rich era. As for the mysterious cloth, it was only a swaddling cloth for the baby.
Chen Zuan, Zhong Yutang, and the rest did not know why Lu Shu suddenly wanted to interrogate Li Dian. Everything seemed very mysterious. It was as if only Lu Shu knew the truth.
Only Lu Xiaoyu seemed to have a clue, as she knew how sickly Lu Shu was when he was young. If this baby had any similarities with Lu Shu, it would be that they fell sick often.
Thus, at this moment, Lu Xiaoyu suddenly understood that Lu Shu was investigating his own history.
“Do you still remember where that lady lived?” Lu Shu asked.
“It will be troublesome to find her now. Back then, I had been groping about in the dark.” Li Dian thought about it and said, “But I will definitely recognize her if I see her. She has left a lasting impression on me!”
“This is what you have said.” Lu Shu took a deep breath. “I will bring you to find her address. If you can find the address, I will shorten your sentence!”
As long as they found the address, they would be able to know who had lived there by checking the records, especially since it was in the Old City area. Nothing much had changed in the past few decades.
But the problem was, Lu Shu wanted to know when he had been sent to the orphanage, and who the woman was.
Lu Shu never felt that the woman was his mother, as he had guessed a few things.
He was just curious about how he had crossed paths with this woman.