Chapter 2: The Cheat Device
2137 Words
The end of Kuroi Street was a wealthy neighborhood. The Lu family residence was also located here, as one of them.
The carriage drove all the way to the end of Kuroi Street, entering a garden-like area. A grayish-white stone wall surrounded this area in a large oval shape. The Lu family residence was on the left side of the entrance.
With a black gate and red lanterns, two stone lion dogs at the entrance were covered in white snow, making the residence appear even more quiet and tranquil.
The carriage stopped at the gate of the Lu residence. As soon as it heard the sound, the gate slowly opened, with attendants already waiting to welcome them.
As Lu Sheng and Xiao Qiao entered, they immediately saw a handsome man and a beautiful woman standing on the stone bridge to the right of the residence.
The man was elegant and refined, with a face like jade. His sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes gave him a strong scholar's temperament.
The woman was gentle and soft, with a faint smile. Her brows and eyes were as beautiful as a painting, with a slender waist and long legs - the image of a young lady from a prestigious family.
Lu Sheng's thoughts stalled for a moment. Seeing those two, his mood improved slightly. He actively walked over to greet them.
"Cousin has been thinking about you for a long time, Brother Xu. Why have you only come today?" He laughed as he walked up the stone bridge.
The man also turned to see Lu Sheng, smiling:
"Young Master Lu! I was investigating a case under orders before, and only finished recently, so I came to see Yi Yi. Don't blame me, no one can defy orders from above."
"A case? Have there been any major cases in the city recently that required Brother Xu to personally take action?" Lu Sheng knew this Brother Xu Xu Daoran's position.
He was the county magistrate of Tongzhi County under the Nine Lian City, responsible for coordinating all security matters. The position of county magistrate was second only to the county chief, equivalent to the public security bureau chief of the entire Tongzhi County.
"Just a few cases in some fishing villages, but they're closed now," Xu Daoran said gently with a smile. "On the other hand, when will little Sheng come to help me out? You did promise to come and help me manage the security planning in Tongzhi."
Lu Sheng didn't remember what this body had promised at all. He quickly laughed it off and changed the subject.
"Fishing villages? Could it be the rumors of a water ghost making trouble?"
"There are no such things as water ghosts. It was just a madman who went completely insane from grievances and resentment and killed people everywhere. I executed him on the spot." Xu Daoran shook his head lightly. "The case is closed, so let's not talk about these unpleasant things. Do you still remember what I promised Yi Yi last time?"
"To go pray at the Red Lotus Temple and take a leisurely stroll?"
Lu Sheng swiftly replied with a smile.
"You do remember things related to fun very clearly," Xu Daoran said helplessly. "But you’re getting quite old too, already 19 this year right? It's time you find something to do, you can't live like this forever."
He had watched Lu Sheng grow up since he was little. Due to the friendship between their families, he had always seen Lu Sheng as his own younger brother, so he couldn't help but admonish him at this time.
Lu Sheng just laughed and shook his head.
"What does Brother Xu think I should do, take up office or go into business?"
"Of course you should take up office. That is also your father's wish. Your uncle, your cousins - they all hope you will come out and help them soon. After all, you are the eldest son of the Lu family."
Xu Daoran urged.
"Let's not talk about this yet, there's no rush. I'm still young, what's the logic in rushing to send your eldest son out," Lu Sheng casually defended with lies.
Xu Daoran and Lu Yi Yi were both rendered speechless and couldn't say any more.
Not wanting to continue on the topic of taking up office, Lu Sheng took the initiative to change the subject and went to his room with Xiao Qiao.
Back in his room, he changed his clothes. Holding the goose egg stone, he didn't go to pay respects to his father, but went alone to the back garden instead.
Xu Daoran was from the Xu family. Like the Lu family, they were a top tier powerful household in this northern Nine Lian City, with people in positions of power all over the city.
Lu Sheng's impression of Xu Daoran was not bad. He was a decent man without private interests who truly cared for Yi Yi. He was also quite intimate with Lu Sheng as an elder brother.
It’s just that...
Lu Sheng held the goose egg stone and recalled the scene he had seen earlier, as well as the process of the water ghost being killed that he coincidentally overheard at the city gate.
"Are there really ghosts and immortals in this world...?"
He gazed at the snow-filled garden, feeling an indescribable irritation in his heart.
"Perhaps it is really just a rumor spread by people, as Brother Xu said."
He shook his head, after all still clinging to a ray of hope.
That evening he returned to his room early to wash up and sleep. Today's events had left him confused for the time being, thinking too much, and he soon felt exhausted.
He slept until the next morning at dawn.
Knock knock knock, knock knock!!
An urgent knock sounded at the door.
Lu Sheng suddenly opened his eyes and sat straight up in bed, looking towards the door.
"Who is it!"
"Young Master, this is bad!" It was Xiao Qiao's voice.
Lu Sheng hurriedly got out of bed and opened the door. As soon as he opened it, he saw Xiao Qiao's face pale as a sheet without a trace of blood.
Her slightly chubby cheeks were now shaking violently.
"Xu...Xu..."
Seeing her, Lu Sheng felt a faint sense of foreboding arise in his heart.
"What's going on? Calm down first!"
He reached out and patted Xiao Qiao firmly on the back. Only then did her breathing steady.
In a sobbing voice, she finally uttered:
"The Xu family... Lord Xu's family has been completely wiped out!"
Lu Sheng was taken aback.
Xiao Qiao swiftly helped Lu Sheng put on his outer garments. Without another word, the two of them rushed out towards the Xu residence.
Lu Fang, the current head of the Lu family, was standing outside the residence with his hands behind his back, his expression gloomy with a hint of trembling.
Parked beside him were three black twin-row carriages.
Lu Sheng swiftly paid respects to Lu Fang along with the other cousins of the residence. Everyone boarded the carriages.
Lu Fang and Lu Sheng sat together, but father and son did not speak a word to each other in the carriage compartment.
Lu Fang was over sixty, with a thin figure and handsome features that made him look more like a scholar than a merchant.
The carriage rushed nonstop and soon arrived outside the gates of Nine Lian City.
As soon as Lu Sheng alighted, he was shocked by the scene before his eyes.
On the snowy ground to the left of the carriageway outside the city gate, there were now dozens of corpses lying neatly in rows, from old to young, men and women.
They were all wearing the robes that signified the Xu family. Xu Daoran lay in the middle of the third row.
His face was ashen, his body rigid. His eyes were shut tight, with an expression of utmost horror on his face, as if he had witnessed something extremely terrifying.
Lu Sheng watched as the government runners maintained order at the scene. He saw his father Lu Fang standing silently in front of an elder's corpse, his fists tightly clenched.
As well as the pale-faced county magistrate who had rushed over after receiving the news. His complexion matched the surrounding snow.
Lu Sheng took a deep breath and slowly walked over to one of the runners.
"How did they die?"
The runner also recognized him and knew his status, sighing as he replied:
"They were all hanged by aquatic plants in their own residences, strung up on the beams. Don't know where the plants came from..."
"Yi Yi! Yi Yi!!"
Suddenly cries rang out from behind. Apparently Cousin Yi Yi had fainted.
Lu Sheng took a deep breath, recalling what Xu Daoran had just told him yesterday.
He had only just returned from closing those cases in the fishing villages...
Fishing villages...
Water ghosts...
That bizarre goose egg stone...
At that moment, many thoughts flashed through Lu Sheng's mind.
In reality, he had only been in this world for a few days and was not close to Xu Daoran, so all he felt now was regret and shock rather than the grief expected from the others.
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen dead people before. But never this many dead at once.
“Where is the Red Ridge Taoist from the Xu family?”
He heard Lu Fang ask the head runner.
"At another location. Some bodies were cut into pieces, some parts were eaten by beasts..." the head runner answered in a low voice.
Silence descended.
Whether it was the people from the Lu family, the county magistrate, or the commoners watching at the city gate, everyone knew:
"The Red Ridge Taoist's swift sword even surpassed Cousin Zhao..." Lu Fang's voice trailed off.
Cousin Zhao referred to the most powerful martial arts instructor hired by the Lu family.
The Red Ridge Taoist was even stronger than Cousin Zhao, yet he too had perished.
This case was no longer just a simple homicide case, but a major case threatening everyone present!
Among those gathered, who dared to claim that they were stronger than the esteemed Xu family? Even the county magistrate did not dare make that claim.
Lu Sheng stood silently by the roadside. He had originally thought this world was just an ancient Chinese parallel world and there would not be any major issues despite some minor surprises.
But from the looks of it now...
He touched the goose egg stone in his sleeve pocket. At this moment it felt scorching hot to the touch.
Hesitating for a bit, he gently threw it aside. This thing could very likely bring disaster.
The Xu family, with foundations as deep as the Lu family, had been completely wiped out overnight. This made Lu Sheng extremely irritated.
He pondered for a moment, then suddenly walked back over to the goose egg stone and bent down to pick it up again.
Chi.
At some point, his index finger had been scratched by a blade of grass poking out from the snowy ground. It was a type of razor grass with extremely sharp leaf edges like knife blades.
Lu Sheng's finger was instantly cut, with a drop of blood dripping onto the surface of the goose egg stone.
"Young master?" Xiao Qiao followed closely behind him, looking rather worried. Tears streaked down her small face. Xu Daoran's death was clearly a blow to her as well.
Lu Sheng's body froze in place.
A peculiar string of syllables suddenly emerged in his mind.
"Welcome to the Dark Blue cheat device."
Lu Sheng's eyes instantly glazed over.
It was only after some time that he regained his senses. He stared at the blue semi-transparent dialog box that had appeared before his eyes, with his name and grasped skills written inside.
"Isn't this... the little cheat device I programmed into my phone for fun?!"
Lu Sheng felt like he was going mad. Hallucinations appeared one after another in quick succession.
It was bad enough transmigrating as a useless rich young master with not even half the strength of a chicken. And now all kinds of hallucinations on top of that!
In his previous life, when he was bored he would sometimes play a RPG called Chaotic Sword. Because the game difficulty was too high, he programmed a simple cheat device to modify the game skills, named Dark Blue. Incidentally, the voice prompt just now was also recorded by himself using a voice changer.
He didn't expect...
Lu Sheng decisively moved closer to inspect the interface in the box. The interface was extremely simple, just little boxes densely packed together. At the top it read:
Lu Sheng -
Martial Arts: None
- Writer
