The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#394 - Because he's dead

Upon hearing those two words, Li Guanshi's heart nearly stopped. His first instinct was to turn and flee, but thankfully, his reason prevailed. He knew that even if he had two more legs, he still wouldn't be able to outrun a first-rate expert.

So, in the end, he obediently stood his ground.

He cast a panicked, pleading look at the guards beside him, who were also feeling a headache coming on. They could sense that Lu Jing had genuinely intended to let them leave just moments ago.

They couldn't understand why he had changed his mind now.

But as things stood, he had no choice but to put on a brave face and say, "May I ask what guidance Grandmaster Lu has for us?"

"No guidance, just stand there and don't move. It'll be quick," Lu Jing said, then glanced at the black cat outside the door. He saw the cat looking eager to pounce.

Seeing Li Guanshi stop, before Lu Jing could finish speaking, it had already impatiently leaped forward, biting down on Li Guanshi's calf.

Li Guanshi let out a wail, wanting to kick the cat away, but then he remembered Lu Jing's warning and had to stop himself, standing pitifully in place.

Fortunately, the cat didn't bite for too long. After one bite, it quickly released its jaws, ran a few steps, jumped onto Lu Jing's shoulder, and settled there.

After that, Lu Jing waved his hand, "Alright, it's over."

Hearing this, Li Guanshi felt as if he had been granted amnesty. Not even bothering to check how deep the wound on his leg was, he dashed out like a sprinter in a hundred-meter race, his posture as agile as could be.

After dealing with the little interlude with Li Guanshi, Lu Jing turned his gaze back to Steward Qu.

Even though the latter had experienced many storms and waves, and could usually keep his emotions hidden, this time he couldn't help but show a change in expression.

He had already guessed that Lu Jing's skills might be good, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to escape, but he still hadn't expected them to be this good.

First-rate experts were rare even in the capital, let alone the most sought-after first-rate expert in the Jianghu recently.

Nowadays, if Lu Jing were to reveal his identity and ride a horse past those brothels, he would surely be greeted by a wave of welcoming sleeves from all the ladies.

Of course, the Taiping Bank had stood for a hundred years, and the forces behind it were not simple. Many martial arts sects had a stake in it, so if someone wanted to use force, the Taiping Bank wasn't actually that afraid.

However, Lu Jing was different from most top experts. He had no sect or faction, which meant that if he was pushed too far, he would have fewer concerns about his actions. This was definitely an opponent that no one or any force wanted to provoke.

And unfortunately, this time the Taiping Bank was in the wrong first, having plotted against him not long ago.

Steward Qu forced himself to calm down. Perhaps things weren't as bad as he thought. Although Lu Jing had successfully escaped, he might not know the relationship between the Taiping Bank and those who ambushed him.

At this moment, he probably had suspicions, but he likely didn't have any substantial evidence on hand.

And the more this was the case, the more he should act as usual. Thinking of this, the panic and shock on Steward Qu's face disappeared in a flash.

He didn't say anything, just reached out and picked up the silver note in front of him.

He unfolded it layer by layer, and saw that the ink had blurred in many places. Fortunately, the amount was still clear, but the bank's seal at the bottom was already blurred, barely able to make out the words "Taiping."

Steward Qu looked at it for a while and put the silver note down, saying to Lu Jing, "Grandmaster Lu, according to the bank's rules, this silver note of yours may be difficult to directly cash."

"Why?" Lu Jing raised his eyebrows.

Steward Qu patiently explained, "Cashing a silver note is very similar to verifying your deposited items. You also need to verify three things: first, the paper. The silver notes issued by our Taiping Bank are produced with special paper, which is slightly thicker than ordinary Xuan paper and not easily torn, making it easy to store.

"Because he is already dead," Lu Jing said calmly.

Steward Qu was stunned again. He only felt that this matter was extremely absurd, "Sect Master Li is dead? When? How is that possible? Isn't he a first-rate expert, and his age is not too old, only in his early forties, could he have suffered some acute illness?"

"No, he was killed."

"Someone killed Sect Master Li?" Steward Qu could no longer suppress the shock in his heart, and took several steps back, looking at Lu Jing as if he were looking at a man-eating beast.

"Don't be afraid, I didn't kill him, although Sect Master Li just ambushed me before."

"Then who killed Sect Master Li?" Steward Qu asked subconsciously.

"You should know the answer to this question better than I do," Lu Jing said meaningfully.

Steward Qu's heart skipped a beat, but then he became a little confused. If it was the people of the Lord upstairs who killed Li Feilong, then wouldn't that mean that Li Feilong and Lu Jing should be in the same group?

But why did Lu Jing say that Li Feilong had ambushed him? Even with Steward Qu's brain, he couldn't figure out the relationship between them.

But he still said, "What is Grandmaster Lu saying? I don't quite understand."

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand, you just need to cash out these eight hundred taels of silver to me, or is the Taiping Bank planning to wait until the news of Sect Master Li's death is completely confirmed before paying? I don't mind waiting a few more days, but I'm afraid that at that time, your bank will be forced to do some things that you are unwilling to do but have to do."

Steward Qu knew that what Lu Jing said was true. This time, the Taiping Bank had been very passive from beginning to end, and could only cooperate with the above, and there would be no benefits even if it was successful, but instead risked ruining its century-old reputation.

Even if Lu Jing didn't have any direct evidence this time, allowing the Taiping Bank to escape a disaster, if those people wanted to use Lu Jing's opportunity to withdraw money to plan a similar thing again, it would be hard to say whether the Taiping Bank would be so lucky at that time.

Therefore, Steward Qu was silent for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, with Grandmaster Lu's prestige in the Jianghu, I don't think you would lie. Since that's the case, then I won't beat around the bush. Grandmaster Lu, you must have come back this time for more than just these mere eight hundred taels of silver, right?"