Chapter 210 – I’ll help you regain our honor

Pan City is a quintessential southern part city, laden with the mottled traces of time’s long passage.

During the five-yearly Hundred Cities Martial Arts Tournament, the city gets a brief infusion of fresh energy, bringing a momentary bustle.

It is said that the first grand event of the southern ancient martial arts world was held here.

This tradition has continued to this day.

Lu Yuan and Li Dong walked west along the plaza’s edge.

On one side of this street lies the venue for the upcoming Hundred Cities Martial Arts Tournament.

The plaza was filled with colorful canopies, each covering a booth representing an ancient martial arts sect participating in this tournament.

In the center of the plaza, various sizes of martial arts arenas had been set up, arranged in a lotus flower shape, with the largest arena in the heart of the lotus.

Beside the arenas was an impressive main stage along with numerous VIP seats. Only martial arts sects with certain prestige and reputation in the southern martial arts world were eligible to sit in these VIP seats, avoiding the crowd under the canopies.

However, for now, these VIP seats were all empty, temporarily off-limits.

On the other side of the street, there were stalls selling snacks and local specialities.

The bustling and chaotic atmosphere was created by a mix of tourists and people dressed in various martial arts uniforms.

“The Hundred Cities Martial Arts Tournament in the south, such a grand title, and yet the competition venues are all outdoors…” Lu Yuan commented as he walked, not sure whether to laugh or be disappointed.

Li Dong followed closely beside him, quickly replying with his head lowered, “It’s mainly because there’s no money. Hosting such tournaments is the most thankless task. You earn little, and there’s a ton of trouble…”

Lu Yuan frowned and said, “Even if ancient martial arts have fallen out of favor, it shouldn’t be so bad that they can’t even organize a proper tournament. From what I see, every reputable sect is swimming in wealth…”

“Lord, you don’t understand.”

Li Dong smiled bitterly and explained, “It’s not that they don’t have money, but we don’t.”

“Hmm?”

“The funding for the League comes partly from advertising sponsors and partly from contributions made by the various sects. The total amount raised is quite significant. But the vast majority of it has been… has been…”

Li Dong glanced around cautiously before leaning closer to Lu Yuan and whispering, “It’s all taken by the Penglai people. What actually reaches us is just a tiny fraction. With that little money, achieving even this level of organization is already the limit. We can’t expect Mosa to cover the costs ourselves…”

“Penglai?”

A flicker of surprise crossed Lu Yuan’s eyes. “Has Penglai always used this Tournament to cash in?”

“Always.”

Li Dong cast a furtive glance at the row of VIP seats in the center of the plaza and said in a low voice, “Each VIP seat starts at tens of millions.

This year’s Tournament was postponed for three days, making the bidding even more intense than in previous years.

Those prideful sect leaders were willing to go bankrupt just to sit there, so the prices were extraordinarily inflated.

All this money eventually ends up in the pockets of the Penglai Holy Envoy…”

Lu Yuan’s eyes glinted upon hearing this.

No wonder Mosa managed to delay the Tournament so easily; it turned out to be profitable for the Penglai side, exactly what they were hoping for.

He reckoned that even if he delayed it further, the Penglai people would still allow it.

“Penglai… martial saint island… Seems like it’s rotten to the core.”

Lu Yuan recalled the scornful attitude You Long and Liu Daoyuan had towards Penglai—it was genuine and from the heart.

He had once thought it was due to the impact of new martial arts and modifications that Penglai had fallen from its pedestal.

Now he realized the root cause was within.

“Won’t you following me like this arouse suspicion?”

Lu Yuan casually inquired of Li Dong.

“No need to worry, Lord. Officially, someone else is in charge. Nobody, including the Penglai Holy Envoy, knows my real identity. And certainly, none would know yours,” Li Dong replied respectfully.

“Mm.”

Lu Yuan nodded, acknowledging that Sackford had done a good job with this arrangement.

By this time, the two of them had left the bustling plaza street and turned into a quieter, more pleasant alley.

“Just ahead is the residence of the Crane Style. I specifically arranged for the best place. If you’re not satisfied, Lord, I’ll find another one for you,” Li Dong said, guiding Lu Yuan forward. The environment here was serene, with meticulously pruned greenery and a series of beautiful, standalone villas gradually coming into view.

“Have you found any clues about the Crane Style matter?” Lu Yuan asked directly.

Given Mosa’s local influence, Lu Yuan felt it was more efficient for them to investigate rather than relying on Yellow Bear’s people.

Shaking his head, Li Dong replied softly, “We are still investigating. From the time the Crane Style arrived in Pan City to today, there have been twenty-one conflicts in total. We are scrutinizing each one individually…”

“Wait a moment,” Lu Yuan suddenly stopped in his tracks, narrowing his eyes at Li Dong. “Twenty-one conflicts? I thought it was twenty?”

“Just a few minutes before your arrival, Lord, the Heart Refining Sect had another skirmish with the Crane Style. The current Crane Style sect leader, Liu Daoyuan, was injured by the Heart Refining Sect leader and a disciple named Xue Guangyao in the conflict…”

“The sect leader of the Crane Style was injured?” Lu Yuan halted abruptly, his voice turning cold.

Li Dong quickly added, “In fact, the injuries weren’t too severe—just two prosthetic limbs were damaged. Also, I’ve already sent our best doctors over!”

“Good,” Lu Yuan’s expression softened slightly. He glanced at Li Dong and said calmly, “Let’s go.”

“Oh, oh…” Li Dong snapped out of his daze, quickly picking up his pace to keep up. As they walked, he continued his report, “Our initial assessment suggests that someone is secretly inciting these conflicts, but their methods are very covert…”

After roughly five minutes of walking, they saw a beautiful villa with a red roof in the distance.

“Lord, that’s the place,” Li Dong pointed it out to Lu Yuan.

As they got closer, they noticed a group of people gathered at the villa’s entrance, noisily shouting curses and insults towards the villa.

“Lord, please wait a moment. I’ll go check what’s going on,” Li Dong’s expression changed as he instinctively moved to rush forward and assess the situation.

However, he was stopped by Lu Yuan, who gently shook his head at him.

“What are you doing?”

Lu Yuan’s eyes glinted as he walked a few steps forward, shouting towards the group gathered at the villa entrance from a distance.

The people shouting curses turned their heads, their hostile gazes fixed on Lu Yuan. One of them, with an aggressive tone, retorted, “Who are you?”

Without a change in his expression, Lu Yuan casually grabbed the ID badge hanging from Li Dong’s chest and replied, “Who do you think we are? We’re the organizers of the Tournament, here following up on complaints.”

“Good timing then!”

Among the group, the short-haired youth who had been the most vocal brightened up immediately upon hearing Lu Yuan identify himself as a member of the organizing staff and promptly approached.

“Complaints? I have a complaint too!”

The short-haired youth pointed towards the villa entrance, his face full of displeasure. “Why does a trashy sect like the Crane Style get to stay in a villa, while we righteous sects have to sleep in rundown hotels nearby? I’m not okay with this! I protest!”

“A villa? Do these Crane Style trash even deserve that?”

As he spoke, the short-haired youth turned towards the villa and spat on the ground in a show of extreme disdain.

Lu Yuan stared at the short-haired youth for a moment before turning to Li Dong beside him.

“Is this true?”

“Ah?!”

Caught off guard, Li Dong looked utterly baffled and didn’t know how to respond to Lu Yuan’s question for a moment.

But Lu Yuan wasn’t expecting a response from him. After asking, he swiftly turned back to the short-haired youth, nodding, “Alright, I understand the situation. What’s your name and which sect are you from? The organizers will take your suggestion into account and arrange a different place for you to stay!”

“Really?!”

The short-haired youth’s eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this. He quickly said, “I’m Cao Yong from the Tianyong Boxing Sect. Don’t trick me—get me a new place to stay as soon as you get back, or I’ll make sure to file a complaint against you!”

“Don’t worry,” Lu Yuan said in a reassuring tone, then turned to address the others. “And you?”

Seeing such a favorable opportunity, the rest could hardly contain their eagerness and hurriedly reported their names and sects one after another.

After the group left, satisfied and jubilant like victorious generals, the warmth in Lu Yuan’s expression gradually faded, replaced by a growing coldness.

He turned to Li Dong and asked calmly, “Did you note down all the names and sects they mentioned?”

“Yes, I did,” Li Dong nodded, then hesitated before cautiously asking, “Lord, you’re not really going to arrange new places for them to stay, are you?”

“Of course,” Lu Yuan replied, his face expressionless as he walked towards the villa’s entrance. “Since they’re not comfortable in their hotels, we’ll let them stay in the hospital instead. Find some people to break their arms and legs. Cancel the participation of their sects in the Tournament. As for the reason… come up with one yourself.”

After finishing his instructions, Lu Yuan had already disappeared into the villa, leaving Li Dong standing there, mouth slightly agape, stunned and motionless.

…

“Who is it?!”

As soon as Lu Yuan stepped into the villa hall, a silhouette shot towards him, accompanied by a cold shout.

Smack!

Lu Yuan easily caught the firm, muscular leg, looking at the woman before him, who was full of murderous intent. With a touch of helplessness in his voice, he said, “It’s me, Aunt Zhuang.”

Releasing her leg, Zhuang Xiujie stood there for half a second in surprise before her face broke into a delighted and slightly emotional smile.

“Little Senior Brother, you finally came.”

“Yeah,” Lu Yuan nodded and continued walking inside.

A strong smell of medicinal herbs wafted from the living room.

His expression changed slightly as he took big strides into the room.

He saw that the villa hall was filled with Crane Style’s direct disciples, nearly all of whom bore injuries, some light and some severe.

Zhao Qiancheng was the most severely injured, lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, his chest wrapped in bandages, and his breathing irregular.

The strong medicinal smell in the living room primarily emanated from him.

When Lu Yuan walked in, not a single person spoke, making the atmosphere oppressive.

Feelings of resentment, anger, frustration, and powerlessness permeated the hall.

They resembled a defeated army whose morale had been utterly shattered.

Lu Yuan finally began to understand why Zhuang Xiujie had such an extreme reaction earlier, like a startled bird.

His presence alleviated the oppressive atmosphere in the living room a little.

The Crane Style’s direct disciples gradually stood up, their expressions somewhat wooden as they greeted him.

Lu Yuan nodded in acknowledgment without saying much.

He quickly checked Zhao Qiancheng’s injuries before directly asking Zhuang Xiujie, “Where is Teacher?”

Zhuang Xiujie’s expression darkened as she replied, “Upstairs. He’s locked himself in his room and won’t let anyone in, not even to deliver medicine.”

It seemed that being bullied these past few days had deeply impacted Old Liu.

Lu Yuan sighed lightly in his heart, then followed Zhuang Xiujie upstairs.

At the door to Liu Daoyuan’s room, Lu Yuan gave Zhuang Xiujie a look, signaling her to go back downstairs.

He then grasped the door handle, gently twisted it, and pushed the door open.

Creak—

The door swung open.

The room was dimly lit, with all the curtains tightly drawn, allowing only a sliver of light to sneak in.

A faint smell of blood hung in the air.

In the darkness, Lu Yuan saw a thin figure sitting on a chair facing the doorway.

Upon hearing the door open, the figure slowly raised their head.

In the darkness, two electronic eyes emitted a faint blue light.

Then, an old, low voice spoke.

“You’re here…”

Upon hearing this voice, which for the first time revealed weariness and discouragement, Lu Yuan felt a pang in his heart.

A spark of light flickered in his eyes.

In the next moment, he calmly strode forward.

He reached the figure’s side, squatted down slightly, and gently grasped the cold mechanical arm. In a soft voice, he said, “I’m here, Teacher. I’ll help you regain our honor.”

As he finished his sentence, the electronic eyes in the darkness suddenly flared with intense blue light.

But in the next second, they quickly dimmed again.