Chapter 9 Elder Huo

"Hahaha! That Gong Shengjie looked so angry, that felt really good!" Uncle Ye pat Lu Tianzi on the back while leading him back into the house.

Lu Tianzi was surprised to see such a strong reaction from Uncle Ye, "Are you familiar with him?"

"Familiar with him? That bastard had been coming to look for Yuan'er on a daily basis, so how can I not be familiar with him?" Uncle Ye harrumphed. "He wants to get my precious daughter? Not even in his next life!"

"Father!" Ye Xiangyuan called out in protest upon hearing that.

When the neighbours had already come out of their house to watch the commotion, how could Uncle Ye's own family not have heard as well?

The only reason that Uncle Ye's wife and daughter had remained in the house was because they did not want to get involved with more trouble, choosing to leave everything to Uncle Ye. However, they had still perked their ears to listen, and were well aware of the conversation that had taken place.

At this time, Ye Xiangyuan looked extremely troubled.

"What is wrong with what I said? It is nothing but the truth!" Uncle Ye shrugged off his daughter's protest as they entered the house. "That Gong Shengjie claims to be all smitten by you, but we all know that he has been visiting the brothel frequently. What is wrong with calling him a bastard?"

"He might not be compatible, but there is no need to completely offend him as well," Uncle Ye's wife shared in her daughter's anxiety.

"That I cannot disagree with," Uncle Ye turned back to Lu Tianzi. "What happened just now might have felt good, but now Gong Shengjie will definitely want to find trouble with you. Ah Zhan, you might want to lie low for a few days."

"Find trouble with me? Then let him! I am not exactly afraid of him!" Lu Tianzi sat down nonchalantly.

"Hahaha! I like your attitude! That is indeed the courage that comes with youth!" Uncle Ye laughed heartily.

"Father!" Ye Xiangyuan was starting to look more and more anxious as she watched on.

"Hubby, Yuan'er does have her reasons to be concerned. This could be serious!" Uncle Ye's mother cut in as well.

"Is there something I should know?" Lu Tianzi asked.

Lu Tianzi was no fool. Seeing the anxious looks on the two ladies in the house, he could more or less guess that this Gong Shengjie might not be as simple as he seemed.

"This you might not know, but Gong Shengjie is actually the son of Gong Tiesha, District Head of the Workers District! With that kid's vengeful personality, he might resort to using his father's influence to deal with you," Uncle Ye explained.

"Head of the Workers District?" Lu Tianzi frowned.

There were four main districts in Ivory Rock City, each with their own respective District Heads acting as supervisors to ensure smooth operations. While the District Head of the Workers District might be the least influential of the four Heads, he was still one of the men at the very top of the command pyramid.

That Gong Shengjie was actually the son of such an important person?

Shit! He really stepped on a landmine there!

Not to mention making life difficult for Uncle Ye, if Lu Tianzi failed to handle this matter properly, his identity might even end up being exposed. At that time, depending on Hu Yuanbo's reaction, Lu Tianzi might even end up losing his life!

He really felt like strangling Gong Shengjie to death right now.

Why would the son of a prestigious District Head shamelessly visit a common worker's daughter on a daily basis? Did he have nothing better to do?

Why can't he place his attention in more important matters such as learning the ropes from his father?!

If so, then all of this would not have happened!

Seeing Lu Tianzi's worried expression, Uncle Ye gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder, "Don't worry, Ah Zhan! Even though you are only temporarily staying in my house, for every day that you sleep under my roof, I will not treat you as an outsider! Come with me to meet someone later, he might be able to help you with your troubles!"

"Meet someone later?" Lu Tianzi was surprised. "What about your work today?"

"I won't starve to death without working for a day. What's more, by the time I come back from work, it would already be almost night time. Visiting others at that hour might be a little inappropriate."

"But how can I trouble you like this?" Lu Tianzi was starting to feel awkward.

There was no relationship between the two of them. Yet this Uncle Ye had only been treating him well since the start, so Lu Tianzi was starting to feel bad about it.

"Don't worry about it! Thanks to you, I finally have a legit excuse to take a break from work after so long. Otherwise, my wife would definitely be forcing me to work every day till the day I die!" Uncle Ye laughed.

"Since when have I ever done that? Don't let our young friend here misunderstand!" Uncle Ye's wife complained.

"This someone whom father is talking about… is it Elder Huo?" Ye Xiangyuan asked.

"Elder Huo?" Lu Tianzi turned his attention to Uncle Ye.

"That's right," Uncle Ye nodded. "He is a good friend of mine who still has a few friends in important positions. Perhaps he can help to mediate between you and Gong Shengjie."

"Then I shall thank Uncle Ye for the help," Lu Tianzi clasped his fists towards the middle aged man.

While it was the usual time for workers to start going to work, it was in fact still extremely early in the morning, so Lu Tianzi waited until late morning before following Uncle Ye to look for Elder Huo.

Every second was precious to Lu Tianzi, and he did not let this waiting time go to waste either.

Lu Tianzi went into his room and meditated while practising the Undulated Currents Breathing Technique. This time, however, he only cultivated by basking in the light of the Essence Stone.

Tapping into the energy within the Essence Stone depleted too much of his mental strength, causing him to feel weak and exhausted. Thus Lu Tianzi chose not to do so, not wanting Uncle Ye to detect anything amiss.

"Here it is," Uncle Ye exclaimed as the duo stopped in front of a house.

Lu Tianzi took a quick look at the exterior of the house and nodded in satisfaction. Most houses in the Workers District were small and compact. Yet despite staying alone, this Elder Huo was still residing in a house that was bigger than Uncle Ye's.

This suggested that Elder Huo had a higher social standing than Uncle Ye at least.

"Elder Huo, it's me!" Uncle Ye called out after knocking a few times.

They did not have to wait long before the door swung open to reveal an old man behind.

His long white hair was tied up in a bun and his similarly coloured beard reached down to chest level. Just like Gong Shengjie, he was dressed simply, but his outfit was neat and tidy.

"Old Ye? Come on in," Elder Huo immediately invited them into the house where they sat down around a round table. "Are you going to introduce me to this young man?"

"Ah Zhan, this is Elder Huo," Uncle Ye immediately did as he was told.

"Ah Zhan greets Elder Huo," Lu Tianzi gave a polite nod to the old man.

"Good," Elder Huo nodded in response before turning back to Uncle Ye. "So, what kind of wind blew you here to my house in the middle of the day?"

"Hahaha! Elder Huo is truly straightforward! I shall not beat around the bush then. There has been a small misunderstanding between Ah Zhan here and Gong Shengjie. Since the fault is partly mine, I brought him here to see if Elder Huo has any way of mediating between them?"

"Gong Shengjie? The son of Gong Tiesha?" Elder Huo was surprised before he nodded in understanding. "Gong Shengjie has been going after Xiangyuan for so long. It is inevitable that animosity would arise when he sees a new competitor."

"Elder Huo, I have no intention to be a competitor!" Lu Tianzi hurried added.

"What's with that huge reaction? Even if you wanted to be a competitor, I would not have allowed it either!" Uncle Ye harrumphed in dissatisfaction.

Lu Tianzi could only let out a dry laughter in response.

Elder Huo simply smiled and continued, "If everything is just a misunderstanding, then it should not be too difficult to settle this peacefully. I still have a few friends from my time in the military, perhaps I can help talk to them about this. Whether my efforts come to any fruition is of no guarantee though."

"Oh? Elder Huo used to be from the military?" Lu Tianzi was surprised to hear that.

Usually after military officers retire from their positions, they would still remain in the Military District where it was slightly more comfortable, perhaps even acting as instructors or advisors in their free time. It was extremely rare to see someone like Elder Huo who moved over to the Workers District.

Thinking that, Lu Tianzi casually swept his perception over Elder Huo.

Intermediate Essence Building realm!

At this time, Lu Tianzi suddenly froze.

He could feel his lips parching and his limbs turning cold, but this was not because Elder Huo's cultivation realm was anything spectacular.

Many soldiers were also martial arts cultivators since individual strength was essential on the battlefield, so it was not surprising that the other party had managed to reach Intermediate Essence Building realm. In fact, considering his age, his cultivation realm was relatively low when compared to other martial artists who devoted all of their time to cultivation.

Even if one were to ignore the existences of geniuses like Lu Tianzi, most martial artists would still have hit Intermediate Essence Building realm before the age of 30.

What truly caused Lu Tianzi to lose his nerves was the fact that he had not bothered hiding it when he swept his perception over Elder Huo, and the other party had obviously noticed, sweeping his own perception over Lu Tianzi in return.

Lu Tianzi had already reached the Advanced Essence Building realm which was beyond the other party's ability to perceive, but there was a major problem…

Lu Tianzi had also started cultivating the demons' Slaughter Essence system!

With the other party's current cultivation at Intermediate Essence Building realm, it would be more than enough to perceive the Slaughter Essence within his body which was only at the Primary Essence Building realm!

This was the Slaughter Essence system that only demons were able to cultivate in!

Lu Tianzi could only curse his own naivety. Once again, his carelessness had cost him!

And this was a heavy cost as well!

In the blink of an eye, Lu Tianzi had gone from potentially resolving his previous problems, to the current point where he now had to face an even more complex situation.

His hands instinctively moved to his thigh area, tracing the concealed knife that remained well hidden beneath his loose clothes.

Lu Tianzi had no idea how Elder Huo would react upon realising that he had Slaughter Essence particles in his body, but he was not intending to take any chances.

After all, if even the esteemed Lord of Ivory Rock City could turn out to be someone who sold out his Holy Guardians, then there was definitely no reason for him to trust anyone else, much less someone whom he had only met a few minutes before.

Even if Elder Huo were to act surprisingly accepting towards his current state, it was impossible to know what was truly running through his mind.

At this moment, Lu Tianzi had already decided that he was not going to risk having the news spread.

There was no other choice.

This Elder Huo had to die.