Chapter 2176: Means
Yu City was no longer the city that it had once been. Ever since the previous city lord had died out of his anger at Xia Zhitong’s actions and Young Master Yu’s subsequent suicide, Yu City had completely fallen under the woman’s control. Since then, it had become a place that catered to the powerful and offered endless s.e.xual services. There were bright lights everywhere, every lake featured boats covered with flowers, and every street and manor hid various flowery activities.
Originally, Yu City had just been another normal city on the Bifrost. The Yu family had traded the Mother Tree’s bark as their primary industry, but that had barely kept the city’s economy afloat.
At present, Yu City was countless people’s destination, and all of them felt quite impressed, as Yu City had almost doubled in size.
Xia Zhitong"s s.e.xual companions had also nearly doubled in number. She spent her entire days indulging in drinking, s.e.x, and other forms of debauchery.
Lu Yin struggled to believe his eyes when he walked into Yu City. "This place is very prosperous."
The city was filled with people, as far as his eyes could see. Restaurants on both sides of the street were filled with people laughing and enjoying themselves. Yu City was far more lively and prosperous than any of the other cities in the Perennial World that Lu Yin had visited, and it even surpa.s.sed the port city of Cowry City.
Kui Luo just sneered. "Of course it’s successful! Xia Zhitong shifted this city’s focus towards catering to human nature. It’s true that these changes have benefited the residents of this city, and made many of them ma.s.sive fortunes. However, almost no one is willing to claim to be from Yu City once they leave this place. If the Yu family still had anyone alive, they might die out of anger after seeing what’s happened to their city."
Lu Yin nodded. "True enough. With enough businesses taking on sleazy clientele, the entire city will be affected."
The two men were in no hurry to find Xia Zhitong. Given the strength of either Lu Yin or Kui Luo, they could kill the woman with just the flick of a finger. Rather, it was more important to ensure that Lu Yin’s ident.i.ty as Young Master Yu was publicly revealed. After that, everything that had happened in the past would come to light.
Lu Yin planned to play the role of someone who would do anything it took to get revenge. Therefore, everyone needed to be able to sense Lu Yin’s hatred.
That night, a solitary boat covered with flowers floated on a silent lake.
While the boat looked rather lonely, in fact, it was the only boat on the lake because the lake was entirely reserved for this particular boat. A beautiful courtesan stood on the boat, leaning against the railing and staring into the water through blurry eyes. She was waiting for something, and a hint of a smile decorated her lips.
After a little time pa.s.sed, a loud laugh rang out, and the flower boat swayed. The beautiful woman turned to look behind with a business smile on her face. "Lord Ba, you came."
The man who had let out the loud laugh was a middle-aged man. He had an elegant look, and he carried himself well. Most noticeable were his eyes, which drew people’s attention like magnets, and the woman blushed when she looked into those eyes.
Despite his elegant appearance, the man behaved like a brute, and he immediately grabbed the woman and kissed her.
The woman acted helpless. "Lord Ba, why are you being so impatient today? Let me slowly take care of you."
"Haha, of course I"m impatient. I’ve waited for days, but that woman finally went after someone else, and I was able to get away and see you, darling," Lord Ba said with evident desire.
The woman revealed a flirtatious smile. "Aren’t you afraid of getting in trouble with the city lord for saying such things?"
"How can she hold it against me? She’s got plenty of men to entertain herself with, and eventually, she’ll grow tired of me too. Then, I’ll be able to spend every day with you, haha." Lord Ba smiled, clearly antic.i.p.ating such a day.
The woman also smiled back at the man. "Alright, I"ll wait for you."
Lord Ba laughed again and rushed towards the woman.
"Lord Ba, you look so excited." A voice suddenly spoke up from behind the two people, disturbing the solitary boat.
Lord Ba"s expression changed drastically. His body that was poised to pounce onto the bed instantly changed direction, and he tore through the void in an attempt to escape.
However, he was completely unable to move, even after tearing the void open. He was suspended in midair, unable to fall or even look backwards. In front of him was the beautiful woman, but at this moment, her face was pale and covered with terror. She was staring at a young man. He was one of the people sitting in a corner of the boat, but the woman had no idea when these people had arrived, as she had not been able to sense anything at all.
Tong Yu sat next to Lu Yin, and the woman casually waved a hand. Lord Ba’s body flipped over, and he landed on the deck of the boat, right in front of Lu Yin"s feet.
The fallen man’s body had gone stiff. He slowly looked up, his mind in turmoil as he struggled to think about who he might have offended. His body had just been seized by a strength that he had no way of resisting, which meant that whoever had acted against him was an absolute powerhouse. Lord Ba realized that the person had to at least be a three or even four-tribulation Envoy! When had Lord Ba ever offended such an expert?
However, when Lord Ba looked up, he saw Lu Yin’s disguise, and the man’s pupils instantly shrank to pinp.r.i.c.ks. His entire face contorted, and he looked like he had just seen a ghost. "Yu- Yu- Young Master Yu?"
The beautiful woman was still on the bed, but hearing this name startled her. Young Master Yu? Why does that sound so familiar? Isn’t it someone who’s been missing for a long time?
Lu Yin smiled as he stared at Lord Ba. "Master Ba, have you been having fun?"
Lord Ba stared at Lu Yin in a daze, studying the handsome young face. This was a face that Lord Ba had never imagined he would see again in his entire life. "You- Young Master! Wha- What are you-? Aren"t you-?"
Lu Yin smiled. "What’s the matter, Master Ba? Aren’t you happy to see me? Why can’t you even say a single sentence?"
Lord Ba swallowed as he stared at Lu Yin. Why is he here? He’s supposed to be dead! Even if I didn’t see the corpse myself, everyone said that Young Master Yu committed suicide. How is he still alive? Is this person a fake?
This thought caused Lord Ba to carefully observe "Yu Hao"s" face, but there was nothing wrong to be seen. This was no disguise.
"Master Ba, it’s been quite a long time," Lu Yin said.
Lord Ba glanced at Tong Yu behind "Yu Hao," and then the man’s fingers twitched as a vicious expression came over his face. He tried to grab "Yu Hao" and take him hostage, but despite the man’s sudden speed, Tong Yu was even faster. Lord Ba’s arm was instantly grabbed and then torn off. The man screamed as his blood splashed onto the deck of the boat.
The beautiful woman screamed as she fainted from the gory sight.
Lord Ba covered his wound as he stared at Tong Yu in horror. This woman was a true powerhouse.
Lu Yin acted like the whole thing was a show. "Master Ba, why did you give me such a grand gift the moment we met? What do you think I should give you in return?"
The man’s face turned pale, and he dropped to his knees and started begging. "Young Master, what happened back then had nothing to do with me! Please, just let me go! I really had nothing to do with it! Xia Zhitong and her lover were behind everything, and they were acting on the Xia family’s orders! I’m just one of her toys, and I never did anything to help her attack the old city lord."
The smile disappeared from Lu Yin"s face. "Is there something that you’re misunderstanding here? Xia Zhitong is the wife of Yu Hao, me! You’ve had an affair with her, and yet you’re trying to act like that doesn’t even matter. What? Do you want my blessing?"
Sweat dripped from Lord Ba"s forehead, and he fell forwards, prostrating on the deck. "Young master, I was wrong! I acted like a beast! I made a mistake. Please, just believe me when I tell you that I never worked against the old city lord, or even thought about doing so! Whatever she did to the city lord had nothing to do with me at all!"
The man banged his head on the deck as he spoke, cracking the wood and causing the boat to start leaking water.
Lu Yin silently watched the man kowtow. Kui Luo stood at the edge of the lake, watching everything play out. He felt unusually emotional at this moment.
Revenge could only be considered revenge if the person with the grudge carried it out. However, Lu Yin was avenging Young Master Yu while wearing his face, which could be considered a manner of revenge.
After watching the man bang his head on the ground for long enough for a stick of incense to burn, Lu Yin grew bored. "You said that Xia Zhitong and her lover were the ones who attacked my Yu family. Who is her lover? Do I know him?"
Lord Ba trembled as he replied, "You’ve met him before. He’s the uncle who sent her to be married into the Yu family."
This was a surprise. Her uncle? Despite them both having the Xia surname, it was impossible for the two to actually be related, as the Xia family would never tolerate something so scandalous.
"For years, I thought that Xia Zhitong was simply doing whatever she wanted and was playing around. But eventually, I realized that she was sent here by a branch of the Xia family to deal with the Yu family. Because your Yu family was once close to the Lu family, they wanted to make an example out of you all so that no one in the entire Perennial World would have the courage to help any of the Lu family’s survivors. They wanted to make what happened in Yu City famous and show everyone what’s happened to the city.
"After the former city lord’s anger killed him and you disappeared, the Xia family was able to move more openly and achieve the results that they wanted from this situation. There were many places throughout the Middle Realm where members of the Lu family were betrayed, as no one wanted to become the next Yu family."
Lu Yin"s expression grew dark as Lord Ba spoke. In order to protect the Yu family, Yu Hao"s father had betrayed his own father, who had been Yu Hao"s grandfather. That betrayal had been made solely to ensure that Yu City would remain safe and untouched. Of course, such things were never discussed with the Yu family. The members of the Yu family were intelligent, and the four ruling powers were not led by idiots. There were things that could not be spoken of openly, but rather had to be handled in the dark through despicable and shameless methods.
The Yu family had become incredibly infamous, and their reputation had been completely ruined by everything that Xia Zhitong had done. After everything was made public, it was easy to imagine just how many people mocked and ridiculed Yu Hao. He had become one of the greatest jokes in the Perennial World. Most people could not imagine that Yu Hao would actually commit suicide, as they could not see what could have driven him to such desperation. However, most people did not realize that Young Master Yu had been facing the full might of one of the four ruling powers. The Xia family was a monster that was impossible to stand up to.
Not everyone could be like Progenitor Chen and defy the Xia family. On top of that, even Progenitor Chen had only been able to succeed because of Progenitor Lu Tianyi’s support. Without that, Progenitor Chen would have been eliminated by the Xia family long before he managed to rise to power.
Lu Yin had not expected to learn anything of value from speaking with Lord Ba, and he had only interrogated the man as part of a show of impersonating Yu Hao. After all, Yu Hao needed to be seen investigating the downfall of his family and the culprits behind it. Without that need, Lu Yin would have never bothered with Lord Ba.
However, as Lord Ba continued speaking, Lu Yin learned enough new information that he realized that he was not wasting his time. Furthermore, Lu Yin developed a genuine desire to do something for the Yu family, as they had been targeted only because the Lu family had been banished.
"Young Master, I wanted to go find you! Honestly! I wanted to hide you and allow you to live in safety, but you disappeared. I couldn’t find you no matter how hard I tried! You must believe me, Young Master!" Lord Ba seemed to sense "Yu Hao"s" rising killing intent, as he started begging again.
Lu Yin stood up, let out a breath, turned around, and left.
Lord Ba wanted to say something else, but Tong Yu released enough pressure to stop the man from saying a word. The man collapsed into a pool of his own blood, his eyes still open.
This was just the first act of vengeance.
After Lu Yin left the lake, Kui Luo arrived next to him.
"Just as you said, the Yu family was targeted and destroyed because of my Lu family, but the Xia family was even crueler than what you told me. They deliberately spread word of the Yu family’s fate as a warning to the entire Perennial World. As long as the four ruling powers remain in power, the Yu family will always be treated as a joke. Their family has been humiliated, while Xia Zhitong gets to enjoy herself for the rest of her life.
"The more Xia Zhitong enjoys her life, the more miserable the Yu family’s fate, and the more effective the story will be," Lu Yin said flatly.
Kui Luo let out an odd laugh. "There are people capable of cruelty beyond imagination. The old man from the Yu family was sent to Star Alliance, so I have no idea if he’s dead or alive. If he ever learned of what happened to his family, he’d probably die, as his anger would kill him."
"Or, he buried his hatred deep so that he would be able to eventually get revenge," Tong Yu interjected.
Kui Luo stared at Lu Yin. "Which do you prefer?"
Lu Yin was dazed by the question, and he felt torn by his emotions. Normally, he would hope for the Yu family’s ancestor to live, as the family’s fate had been too miserable, and the old man had also had a close relationship to the Lu family.
However, due to how the Yu family had suffered, would the Yu ancestor have gone insane from rage? Could his hatred have extended beyond the four ruling powers to include the Lu family as well? After all, without the Lu family, the Yu family would have never suffered.
Such feelings were only natural for many people, and after understanding this, Lu Yin had no idea how he would face the old man if that day ever came.