Chapter 28: Returning to the Righteous Path by a Twist of Fate

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Returning to the Righteous Path by a Twist of Fate

"Do you believe me now?"

Back at the Chen Family estate, Chu Fan looked at Chen Qi’an’s dejected state and asked.

"You’re just using me too, aren’t you?"

Now that he had calmed down, Chen Qi’an was no longer completely blinded by impulse.

Chu Fan chuckled at his words, picked up an orange from the fruit platter on the table, peeled it, and popped a few slices into his mouth.

He spoke as he chewed, "What about you is worth my using? Can you help me kill someone? Or do you think your Chen Family has the ability to kill any of the people you saw today?"

"Then why were you so ruthless just now?"

"Ruthless? If I were truly ruthless, all six of them would be dead. Or do you think I can’t kill them?"

Hearing Chu Fan’s words, Chen Qi’an fell silent.

"It’s like I said from the beginning. I’m only helping you because I can’t stand what the Lü Family and the Red Blood Mansion are doing. You saw for yourself what kind of person that Young Sect Leader of the Red Blood Mansion is. Do you really think he was only trying to humiliate you?"

At the mention of him, Chen Qi’an couldn’t help but clench his fists again, gritting his teeth so hard his face contorted.

"His name is Yan Ji. Want to kill him? I can do it for you, but have you considered what would happen if he died in Yunzhou?" Chu Fan continued.

The realization dawned on Chen Qi’an, and he quickly said, "No, he can’t die in Yunzhou."

"Then what will you do? Let him keep humiliating you? Let him get his revenge?"

"Then what on earth am I supposed to do?"

"So I have to ask you, do you trust me?" Chu Fan asked.

"Do I have any other choice?" Chen Qi’an said, slumping dejectedly onto a nearby stool.

"Honestly, from the moment the Lü Family decided to give Lü Yunxiu to Yan Ji, your fate was sealed. Even without my intervention, Yan Ji would have found a way to kill you—the only difference being whether it was a covert assassination or an open murder. You heard what he said. Forget you, the Champion Scholar; he doesn’t even have any regard for the Crown Prince of the Celestial Qi Kingdom. My appearance gives you another option, but only on the condition that you trust me."

"Just tell me what I should do."

"Give up everything in this mortal world. I have a way to get you into a powerful Cultivation Sect, and your Chen Family will also receive that Sect’s protection."

"Of course, you don’t have to choose now. In three days at most, Yan Ji will definitely come to your door with his men. You can make your decision then."

Chu Fan said no more. He left the Chen Family estate and, after a winding journey, returned to the residence in the western part of the city.

Ye Xiaohan and the others didn’t ask about Chu Fan being out all night.

They were diligently practicing their Sword Technique. He gave them some pointers for a while, then borrowed the painting from Ye Xiaohan and returned to his room.

「In a side courtyard of the Lü estate.」

The four guards had already had their injuries treated.

Zou Tinggui sat opposite Yan Ji. He had just gotten a clear account of what happened, and an angry expression appeared on his face.

’When have the people of our Red Blood Mansion ever suffered such humiliation in the mortal world?’

Zou Tinggui’s first thought was to go straight to the Chen Family and seize the man, but Yan Ji stopped him.

"We still haven’t figured out that Guard’s background. We can’t act rashly. It would be no problem for the two of us to kill him together, but if his master or sect is extraordinary, I’m afraid there will be repercussions," Yan Ji said.

"Should we summon some people from the nearby State City?" Zou Tinggui asked.

Yan Ji smiled and waved his hand. "No need. If we make such a big fuss over a mere Guard from a small mortal kingdom, wouldn’t we be ruining our own reputation? We just need to find out the origin of his training and be on our guard. That’s enough. His life is mine for the taking. And as for that Chen Qi’an, he’s just a Champion Scholar. He really thinks he’s somebody."

After hearing what had happened on the street, Lü Yingliang came to the side courtyard.

"Young Master Yan, I heard you ran into a Guard from the Chen Family and suffered a small setback?"

Hearing this, Yan Ji frowned. "What? Is Patriarch Lü doubting the capabilities of our Red Blood Mansion?"

Lü Yingliang quickly bowed. "Young Master Yan misunderstands. How could I dare doubt the Red Blood Mansion’s abilities? It’s just that this incident happened in Yunzhou, so it’s only natural for me to be concerned."

"Patriarch Lü is too kind, but this is a trivial matter. No one from our Red Blood Mansion has ever suffered a loss," Yan Ji said.

"I’ve already had people look into this matter. The Chen Family has been loyal to the Court for generations and currently enjoys the Monarch’s favor. That Guard was secretly sent by the Monarch. He should be one of the Celestial Qi Monarch’s Twelve Hidden Guards."

"Oh?" Yan Ji stood up upon hearing this. "Tell me about these Twelve Hidden Guards."

"The Twelve Hidden Guards are the Monarch’s personal bodyguards. Outsiders know of their existence, but few have ever seen their true faces. Even if someone has, it might not have been their real appearance. I’ve heard that their tradition is for the old to train the new. They select talented children from all over the kingdom to be trained. Once a new set of twelve is ready, the old Twelve Hidden Guards retire to guard the ancestral temples."

"Is this information reliable?" Yan Ji’s eyes lit up.

His main worry had been that the Guard with Chen Qi’an hailed from one of the Six Sects and Eight Gates; killing him would have been troublesome. But now that he heard he was just one of these so-called Twelve Hidden Guards, what was there left to worry about?

"Any of the larger families in the Celestial Qi Kingdom would know about this. If Young Master Yan doesn’t believe me, you can ask around."

Yan Ji waved his hand. "How could I not believe what Patriarch Lü says?"

Lü Yingliang said, as if indignant on Yan Ji’s behalf, "This Chen Qi’an truly doesn’t know his place. To think he’d act so arrogantly just because he has a Hidden Guard protecting him."

Yan Ji glanced at him sideways and said seriously, "Why does Patriarch Lü bother? In my eyes, Chen Qi’an is nothing more than a flea hopping about blindly. Before, I was just unsure of the Guard’s identity and worried about making the embarrassing mistake of attacking one of our own. Now that I know his identity, you just watch what happens tomorrow."

"Young Master Yan, the Chen Family currently enjoys the Monarch’s favor. If the Monarch were to find out about this..." Lü Yingliang said hesitantly.

"Hahaha, Patriarch Lü can just put his mind at ease. As for the Celestial Qi Monarch... heh. I’d give him two extra sets of guts and see if he’d even dare to bare his teeth at me."

Lü Yingliang’s goal was simple. When he first heard they had suffered a setback on the street, he had felt some regret.

After careful consideration, he felt he couldn’t just leave things to fate. For one, he wanted to test the true strength of the Red Blood Mansion. For another, he wanted to eliminate any potential trouble the Chen Family might cause the Lü Family in the future.

That was the reason for his subsequent words.

Of course, Lü Yingliang’s schemes did not escape the notice of Yan Ji and Zou Tinggui, but they couldn’t care less.

After all, their initial reason for wanting to recruit Lü Yingliang’s son, Lü Yipin, into the Red Blood Mansion was for the Lü Family’s medicinal herbs.

Besides, Yan Ji had never planned on letting Chen Qi’an and that Guard go in the first place.

After Lü Yingliang left, Zou Tinggui asked, somewhat confused, "Why wait until tomorrow?"

"To give the Chen Family a little time to prepare, and to make all of Yunzhou remember our Red Blood Mansion," Yan Ji said with complete confidence.

Meanwhile, at the Chen Family estate, Chen Guanglin had rushed home the moment he heard about the incident on the street. He and his son discussed the matter for a long time.

Chen Guanglin even violated regulations by summoning two thousand Mansion Soldiers from the Yunzhou Guard to stand watch around the Chen Family estate.