The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#155 - Vulture and Shrike

"You want to chase me away?" Sarah seemed unable to believe her ears, staring at Lu Jing across from her with an expression of disbelief.

"That's right. I can't agree to your demands, so if you insist on not telling us where Nikaal is, then you can leave now." Lu Jing pointed to the door of the tailor shop.

"You've chosen to sacrifice the lives of all the people in the city for the sake of Yazdan's life alone?" Sarah stood up abruptly from her seat, her face turning ashen.

In the time since then, she and Nikaal had been hiding in the shadows, observing Lu Jing's actions.

Sarah believed she already understood this Eastern hero before her well enough.

That was why she had strongly urged Nikaal to use what she knew as a bargaining chip to force Lu Jing to avenge her father.

This method sounded a little despicable, but Sarah knew that against a hero like Lu Jing, such despicable methods were the most effective.

Moreover, judging from Lu Jing's actions these past few days, he clearly also hoped to find Nikaal. Sarah felt that the initiative was now on their side.

The condition she proposed was impossible for Lu Jing to refuse, after all, one person couldn't compare to an entire city.

But she hadn't expected that what she thought was a sure thing would end up with her being rebuffed, and Lu Jing's rejection was so straightforward that he didn't even leave her any room for negotiation.

So Sarah's stubborn temper flared up, and she glared at Lu Jing, coldly uttering, "You'll regret this."

Then, she put on her headscarf and stormed out.

The female shopkeeper wanted to chase after her, but seeing that Lu Jing didn't make any move, she stopped and said with some worry, "Are we really just going to let her go like that? Haven't we been looking for Nikaal all this time? Now we finally have a lead…"

"Ah, it is a bit of a pity, but I'm not good at persuading people. Even if I had forced her to stay just now, I wouldn't have had any way to change her mind," Lu Jing said, spreading his hands.

"And in a sense, I can also understand their actions.

"After all, Nikaal's father was very likely murdered, so it's normal for them to want revenge.

"Because with Yazdan's status, even if he really murdered a commoner, the elders wouldn't demand his life in return. At most, they would just banish him from Marasahr Khan.

"They probably really had no other choice, so they fantasized about using the lives of the entire city to threaten me into killing someone for them.

"But understanding is one thing, I don't agree with their methods. Since we have different paths, we naturally can't work together."

Although Lu Jing spoke lightly, if this situation had happened a few days ago, it would have really given him a headache.

In fact, what he didn't know was that many participants in the assessment, including Yan Yun, were stumped by this choice.

It was a bit like the famous trolley problem from Lu Jing's previous life.

A runaway trolley is about to run over five people. If you change its direction in time, it will run over one person on another track.

And at this moment, you, who are witnessing everything, are holding a plunger in your hand.

… … … …

The existence of the [Trial Realm] is to comprehensively test the various abilities of the examinees, especially their mental fortitude, which is the most important thing.

It's just that this time, this century-old problem encountered Lu Jing, who could dismantle the trolley with his bare hands.

And no sooner had Sarah left than an uninvited guest arrived at the tailor shop.

Lu Jing recognized the newcomer as a maidservant from the black wizard Vulture's side.

And she brought an invitation.

"Vulture wants to see me?" Lu Jing was a little surprised.

The maidservant nodded and said with a charming smile, "Because Grandmaster Lu used himself as bait to lure away those things in the sandstorm, no one in the city has died in the past few days. The master is very impressed by this, so he wants to get to know Grandmaster Lu better.

"Oh, right, also, the master also likes what Grandmaster Lu has been doing these days. The master's original words were, Grandmaster Lu seems to be a smart person, and since he's a smart person, he should naturally be treated well. The previous little misunderstandings should also be resolved."

"Your master and I didn't have any misunderstandings before. On the contrary, he's likely misunderstanding something now. Just because I'm not on Yazdan's side doesn't mean I'm on his side," Lu Jing said, shaking his head.

"Grandmaster Lu and the master are both working to resolve the crisis that Marasahr Khan is currently facing, so of course they're on the same side. Moreover, the master also said…"

"Said what?"

"He has some clues that may be of great help to Grandmaster Lu's investigation and is happy to provide them to Grandmaster Lu, but Grandmaster Lu must be present in person," the maidservant said leisurely.

Upon hearing this, Lu Jing also took the rare opportunity to carefully examine the maidservant again.

When they first met, Lu Jing thought that this maidservant was just a plaything that Vulture had collected to satisfy his physiological needs.

However, this time when they met again, Lu Jing discovered that this maidservant seemed to be not simple.

So Lu Jing said, "What should I call you?"

"Just call me Bulao," the maidservant said with a sweet smile.

Like Vulture, Bulao is also a kind of bird, mostly inhabiting hills and woodlands, and occasionally encountered in deserts.

This bird is about the size of a sparrow, looks very petite, but is a veritable raptor.

It is fierce by nature and preys on insects and frogs, and also catches mice and other birds.

It is said that after Bulao hunts and flies home, it often hangs its prey on thorny branches, tears it apart, and eats it slowly, hence the name Butcher Bird.

"When?" Lu Jing thought for a moment and asked.

Although he had already seen the possibility of resolving the Marasahr Khan crisis through unconventional means, he did indeed want to know who the mastermind behind all this was.

If possible, he would also collect the strange object that caused this disaster, because Kui Hao seemed to have said that the mysterious organization he was going to was doing this kind of thing.

Of course, what Lu Jing wanted to know most was how those black stones were produced, and whether he could get more, after all, there weren't many Ironclad Warriors left in the sandstorm.

Since Nikaal wasn't cooperating, meeting with Vulture, who seemed to know something, wouldn't be a bad alternative.

"Tomorrow at dusk, when the sun sets below the horizon," Bulao said.

"Where?"

"One-Eyed Dragon Sand Bath House."