Lin Mu had not expected for Immortal Juo to approach him, not to mention question him.
But now that he had, Lin Mu didn't think there was any reason to be afraid. At the very least, he knew he had done nothing wrong.
"Why should you?" Immortal Juo repeated Lin Mu's words. "You have strength, don't you?" he asked.
"How can you be so sure?" Lin Mu replied.
"I've lived long enough to know who's strong and who's not. And I'm not so naïve as to simply equate strength to one's cultivation base." Immortal Juo spoke in his deep and heavy voice. "You should have decent enough strength to interfere, shouldn't you?" he asked again.
"So what if I do? Why should I interfere?" Lin Mu retorted.
"Do you not have ideals? Do you not think, you should strive for justice? Do you not think, the wronged should be helped, and the oppressors punished?" Immortal Juo questioned.
"Hmm…" Lin Mu thought over the questions, finding them to be something he would actually consider.
But after a few seconds of thinking, he had his answer ready.
"I do have ideals… but I do not wish to be embroiled in something that does not concern me." Lin Mu stated.Copyright by Nôv/elDrama.Org.
"Oh? Even if you know that there was a clear sign of abuse and oppression? You must have heard that Cao Tianyi was crippled and thrown away, by Luo Tu before. And even the woman that Cao Tianyi liked was violated and killed?
Cao Tianyi's revenge was justified on some level, and you didn't think to assist him?" Immortal Juo asked in detail.
Hearing this Lin Mu furrowed his brows, but then shook his head.
"No… Even if these were the facts, there isn't much for me to do. Besides, there is no way I can verify the authenticity of these facts and neither will it give me any benefit." Lin Mu answered.
"Is that so?" Immortal Juo said, his voice getting heavier.
It was as if the very atmosphere was getting tense and even Lin Mu could feel the pressure. But despite that, he didn't lose his confidence and stood calmly.
Immortal Juo stood like that in silence for a minute, as if expecting something from Lin Mu.
But after that, he spoke again.
"Good." Immortal Juo said, confusing Lin Mu a bit.
But then what he said next, relived Lin Mu a bit.
"You know when to act and when not to. There aren't many cultivators like you… at least not the ones that are young and have true strength!" Immortal Juo spoke. "And you are smart enough to not trust surface level information." He added.
"Oh? So there really was something more?" Lin Mu was a bit curious after getting the praise.
"Cao Tianyi didn't come here without any backing after all. He had been supported by several powers that had vested interests in the fall of the Luo clan." Immortal Juo revealed.
"So Cao Tianyi was being a pawn…" Lin Mu muttered. "And the ones' backing him aren't targeting Luo Tu, are they?" he asked.
"A willing pawn yes… and yeah, they weren't targeting Luo Tu. He was merely the most convenient target for them to rattle the Luo Clan." Immortal Juo replied.
~Sigh~
"Politics of the nobles." Lin Mu lightly sighed.
Seeing Lin Mu's reacting, a faint smile pulled at the edge of Immortal Juo's lips. 'He's better than I thought…'
In all this though, Lin Mu didn't forget one important point.
"Now that you've asked me all this, would you answer one question of mine too?" Lin Mu spoke.
"Go ahead." Immortal Juo allowed.
"Why is it that a Sixth Tribulation Stage Immortal realm expert… the Steel Horned General of the Huiqing empire ask all this to the first tribulation stage immortal realm, me?" Lin Mu questioned frankly.
"Oh? A clear cut question? Good, I like that." Immortal Juo stated, making Lin Mu a bit uneasy. "I'll answer your question though."
Immortal Juo took a breath before speaking.
"Do you think, you are the only one who can sense someone's bloodline and body cultivation?" Immortal Juo responded. "I know you have both of them too… And your body cultivation seems to be a bit special too."
Lin Mu furrowed his brows upon hearing this, but kept his cool.
"So you sensed that…" Lin Mu replied, but also prepared himself to escape.
"Of course. There aren't many body cultivators at our level in the Huiqing empire after all." Immortal Juo stated. "Plus with your bloodline, you standout like a flame in the darkness to me." He added.
Hearing this Lin Mu was a bit surprised, as he was sure his bloodline aura was surpassed and concealed. Immortal Juo seemed to have guessed his thoughts and chuckled.
"If it was someone else, you might have been able to hide it, but not from me." Immortal Juo spoke. "Hiding from my bloodline is not easy."
Lin Mu raised a brow wondering what bloodline the man had. But he didn't dare to ask it directly either as it could be considered rude.
"I'll tell you my bloodline. It's not like it is a secret anyway." Immortal Juo revealed. "My bloodline is… The Steel Horned Barbaric Ogre!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Mu recalled some information.
'Ogre? Isn't that a race of creatures too?' Lin Mu remembered reading about them in the memoirs of the Lost Immortal.
Ogres were a race of large humanoid creatures that were said to be savages. But that was just a generalization and there were actually several different kinds among them.
Their intelligence varied from one type to the other, but was lower than humans on average. This race lived in large clans and tribes, with their higher ranked members being more intelligent than the average members.
Their race had an innate advantage in strength and toughness too. Just their raw physical strength was comparable to cultivators.
But even in their race, their talent varied according to the type.
The specific type that Immortal Juo had spoken about was unknown to Lin Mu, but he could tell that this bloodline was certainly talented in body cultivation.