“It was brutal...” Wu Feng muttered under his breath as he returned back to the Estate, along with guard Wang. They had gone out after an incident of massacre had been reported to the nearby village just at the border of the Red City.

“I can’t believe the bandits dare to commit such atrocities near the city..” Guard Wang clenched his fist, the scene from the village was still fresh in his mind, making his blood boil in anger.

“Bandits?” Wu Feng shook his head. Majority of the people around had assumed it to be the work of them, but it didn't seem like that to him. “It seemed more like that of beasts..”

“But, we didn’t find any corpses that had been eaten..” Guard Wang’s face was clouded in confusion.

“That's the problem…” Wu Feng’s frown deepened.

The village was massacred and looted. It was an obvious assumption that bandits were behind it. But when compared to the villages around, it was one of the poorest settlements.

“Don’t use your head too much. You got nothing inside it..” A mocking voice rang out,as another figure walked in.

It was Wu Shuang.

They were close when they were young, but after his parents passed away, the guy seemed to become distant.

“Just look after your stores..” Wu Feng ignored him. He wasn’t the one to tolerate.

Wu Shuang’s face contorted, and the next a Qi fluctuation erupted from him as his aura rose all the way to 6th Layer of Qi Refinement.

“Not bad..” Wu Feng smiled before he counterattacked the pressure, and an even more terrifying Qi exploded outwards from his body.

7th Layer of Qi Refinement!

“Y-You!” Wu Shuang gritted his teeth in anger. The last time they clashed, he remembered the guy was only at 5th stage, while he was at 4th. No matter what he did, Wu Feng always stayed a step ahead. It was as if he was mocking him.

“You are a hundred years too early..brother..” Wu Feng smiled, but Wu Shuang only felt his blood boiling at that.

At this moment, an attendant appeared, breaking the two away.

“Young Master, the Patriarch has called for you, the meeting is about to start..” He looked at Wu Feng, who just nodded. He too wanted to report the situation to Grandfather.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

With that both Wu Shuang and Wu Feng proceeded towards the grand hall.

Patriarch Wu proceeded the meeting as usual, as he heard about the various reports regarding the Clan Business as well as the activities in their territory.

“What was the situation at the village?” Patriarch Wu asked as he looked at Wu Feng, who stood up and described the situation that he had encountered. This left everyone with a frown on their faces.

Patriarch Wu maintained his silence for a bit, before finally speaking out, “We can’t ignore this matter. Activate the Clan’s information network, and be on the lookout..”

The Elders nodded, in confirmation.

“Feng, I want you to continue the on site investigation, proceed with caution.” He further added.

At this moment, a slight commotion seemed to erupt near the entrance of the hall.

“This is not your place to be in..” Guard Wang’s voice could be heard. He was trying to hold back, but the anger in his voice was evident.

“I am telling you, I was called over..”

“Who would call a stable boy to this place..” Guard Wang retorted.

Wu Feng frowned upon hearing that, and as he was about to proceed to have a look, Patriarch Wu’s voice resounded, “Let him in..”

With that Lu Shimming’s figure appeared in front of everyone.

He too was surprised just like everyone else finding himself in front of the upper echelon of Wu Clan.

“Father, this is..” Wu Feng’s Uncle spoke as he looked at Lu Shimming, spelling out everyone’s thoughts.

“I brought him here to inform everyone that I am appointing him as my direct subordinate. So, act accordingly..” Patriarch Wu informed, casually dropping a bomb in the grand hall. “The Four Swords are now Five..”

“...”

A silence immediately engulfed the hall.

Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise, while someone couldn’t believe what they had just heard.

“How can this be?!” The hall finally erupted in chaos.

Lu Shimming, who had no idea what was going on, finally seemed to realize that he wasn’t done for the day. More shit was about to come his way.

Suddenly, his eyes met with Wu Feng who stood there staring at him in disbelief, ‘Just what in hell happened within a day..’

Lu Shimming immediately turned his head away, but his eyes met with another familiar person who too was staring at him in disbelief, ‘F*ck!’ He screamed internally.

The person was Wu Shuang.

He recognised having seen him in the dungeon.

Wu Shuang on the other hand was just as shocked, ‘What is going on?!’

“Silence!” Patriarch Wu’s thunderous voice shut down the chaos in the blink of an eye. And, everyone in the hall assumed silence.

“I have judged both his character and talent.” He further spoke scanning the hall, “Or does anyone have doubt about my ability?”

A hidden pressure suddenly descended down the hall, and everyone immediately felt suffocation.

‘Damn! This old man is even more terrifying than that monk..’ Lu Shimming finally realized how terrifying Patriarch Wu was.

“Shi Ming..” Patriarch Wu looked at Lu Shimming.

“Y-Yes, Sir.” He replied instinctively.

“Join Wu Feng and help him in the investigation.” Patriarch Wu ordered and he nodded instinctively.

“Dismiss then..” With that the meeting ended.

As soon as Patriarch Wu left, every gaze in the hall suddenly landed onto Lu Shimming.

“Come with me..” Wu Feng suddenly called out to him, as he walked past him.

‘This is not good for my heart…’ Lu Shimming sighed, even though he had a hole in his chest. ‘When is this night going to end..’

…

Wu Feng’s Courtyard

“So you're telling me that, you ran into a monk. Participated in the entrance ceremony of the Monastery of Jade Clouds, but didn’t join, yet still ended up being the disciple of Chief Monk. And, Grandfather recognised your abilities as such..” Wu Feng stared at Lu Shimming, his face saying, ‘Are you kidding me?’

Lu Shimming forced a smile on his face. He obviously didn’t lie here. This was a great chance to use his improvement in status to gain some freedom, and free him of any kind of suspicions.

Wu Feng frowned a little. He brought Lu Shimming into the estate as he was indeed curious about the guy. But, he didn’t think that things would take such a sharp turn.

“You can leave. Be ready tomorrow, we need to go out on investigation..”

Lu Shimming nodded, and with a sigh of relief, he left the place.

As he left, Guard Wang entered.

“How is it?” Wu Feng asked, they had put a person on Lu Shimming to keep an eye on and now was time to see what he was up to the whole day.

As Guard Wang narrated Lu Shimming’s actions, it pretty much matched with what he had Lu Shimming described.

‘Is this guy really innocent?’ Wu Feng frowned, thinking back to the vision he saw when he first met Lu Shimming.

…

“I finally can be a bit at ease I think. The night is finally over.” Lu Shimming sighed as he walked towards his residence, but his steps came to a stop as a figure blocked his path.

It was Wu Shuang.

‘F*ck! It's not over yet!”