The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 664 Who ordered the massacre of the Lu family? —Which Lu family?
Shen Le… no, who the Lu family’s enemies are, Shen Le herself doesn’t know. Liang Bo isn’t quite sure either—

After all, that night, although Liangbo had sight and could see, he hid like Shen Le, not daring to show his face at all...

Fortunately, the "Immortal Master" knew. Or rather, the "Immortal Master" arrived on his sword that day, then flew over to rescue the people, and saw the banners of the group that had attacked them—

"what?"

Shen Le frowned and looked up, trying to recall his limited knowledge of the Northern Qi Dynasty:
"Whose cat or dog is this?"

"Who cares which one it is? We'll just ask when we get there." The young man didn't bother to think about it at all, and simply lifted Shen Le up by the elbow, carrying him into the air.
"If this family is suitable, kill them. If not, interrogate them to find out who their backers are, and then kill your way up from their backers. Why think so much?"

Ah... You're in charge of this line of work, so isn't it supposed to be that "the Lu family only needs to seek revenge, while the immortal master has many other things to consider"?

What? You haven't even considered this? You want to rely on magic and martial arts to just brute force your way through and be done with it?

Shen Le rolled her eyes at him, shut her mouth, endured the strong winds blowing around her, and flew southeast with him.

As a majestic city began to light up on the horizon, the young man lowered his sword, bringing him down with him, and walked on foot into the city.

"Let's go in and take a look around. If we find it, we'll take action; if not, we'll see."

Shen Le had no objections and followed him leisurely as they walked slowly inside. Ye City wasn't large; he had seen in his research that the northern part of the city was about 2400 meters from east to west and about 1700 meters from north to south.
The southern part of the city is about 2800 meters from east to west and about 3460 meters from north to south.

Given this area, after deducting the palace (which is inaccessible anyway), the meaningless residences, and the noble residences that can only be viewed from afar and are off-limits to entry, the search area is not large:

Hiking 20 kilometers a day, it should take at most two or three days to complete.
Shen Le walked along, looking around to observe the local customs and traditions.

Compared to the Chang'an of my memory, even the Chang'an after the An Lushan Rebellion, Ye City was far inferior.

The city walls were not high enough, thick enough, or wide enough. They lacked the awe-inspiring presence that would make distant barbarians tremble and kneel in submission simply by standing tall on the horizon.

The only thing worth seeing is that cluster of indistinct settlements on the opposite bank of the Zhang River...

"What are you looking at?" the immortal master suddenly asked. Shen Le opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words:

I can't very well tell him the truth and say, "I'm watching the Bronze Sparrow Terrace," can I? Please, the Three Kingdoms period ended many years ago, and the Bronze Sparrow Terrace has been collapsed for who knows how many years!
Fortunately, the immortal master didn't wait for his reply. Seeing Shen Le turn around, the young man pointed to the Zhang River on his own:
"Did you see it too?"

"what?"

Shen Le quickly focused his energy into his eyes and carefully observed the water's surface. Strands and strands of black, waterweed-like objects swayed and rose from the riverbed, attempting to penetrate the water's surface and grab the people on the water's surface and along its banks;

Upon being exposed to even a sliver of sunlight, these black seaweeds immediately retract, their tips turning into mist.

However, even in the thin mist, Shen Le saw an old man cough suddenly after coming into contact with it, spitting out dark red blood into the river...

"This is resentment." The immortal master frowned and sighed softly.

"If we don't quickly burn the Soul-Suppressing Figurines and suppress these resentful spirits, I'm afraid the plague in this world will become even more uncontrollable..."

Before he finished speaking, a troop of cavalry rushed out of the city, causing chaos and disarray wherever they went, with people carrying their loads and scrambling to get out of the way in panic.

Instead of reining in their horses to dodge, the cavalrymen spurred their horses forward, ramming and trampling the people as they stumbled and fell, laughing heartily at their clumsy scramble.

Those trampled to the ground by the horses didn't even dare to cry out, trembling as they crawled away. The cavalryman raised his whip, and with a sharp whistle, the tip struck the man:
"Go away!"

"I think that even if we burn the Soul-Suppressing Figurines, the resentment in the world will only increase," Shen Le shrugged.

The cavalrymen were all dressed in bright armor, with gold gleaming on their belts, bridles, and even the handles of their whips, clearly indicating that they were sons of nobles.

What's the point of a knight like this not protecting the common people, but taking pleasure in trampling on them?

The immortal master sighed softly, remaining silent, and pulled Shen Le behind him. The two stood at a distance, watching the cavalry charge pass by. Suddenly, the immortal master hissed.
"Look!"

"Which one?"

"That blue flag! The one with the red background and black lettering! That's it!"

It's... the one who killed my family, no, the one who killed the Lu family?

Shen Le suddenly stepped forward, staring at the young man. The young man pursed his lips tightly and nodded vigorously:

“I saw it that night… Yes! It was this flag!”

It's this flag, but I don't know if it's the same person. Shen Le circulated his heat energy, staring intently at the group, trying to get a clearer view of them. After watching for a while, he shook his head.

"It doesn't look like it's going to work out..."

The military morale was low, the killing intent faint, and the atmosphere loose and disorganized. It paled in comparison not only to the ashes of those who were ultimately burned into terracotta warriors, but even to the ashes Shen Le himself had scavenged from the mass grave.

Even if you kill this kind of guy, he'll turn into a low-quality ghost and probably won't be of much use, right?
"It's alright, let's go ask first. If that doesn't work, we'll ask who his superior is and who his backer is." The young man was very calm, watching the group of knights leave, and then led Shen Le straight into the city.

After turning left and going around to the right, and asking several pedestrians along the way, I actually found out where the blue flag was located:

“The…Ancestral family?” Shen Le stood across the street, gazing at the grand mansion standing opposite him, and the inscriptions on the carriages and objects coming and going, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Who are some famous figures from the Zu family? Zu Ti, who rose at the crowing of the rooster to practice martial arts? That was from the Jin Dynasty! Zu Chongzhi, who calculated pi? That was from the Southern Dynasties, that doesn't match either! Who else?"

He couldn't remember, and the young man had no intention of thinking about it at all. Patiently waiting until late at night, the young man led Shen Le over the wall and straight into the inner hall.

From the deepest, most luxurious room, surrounded by several beautiful women, he grabbed a fat man and held a long sword to his neck:

"stand up!"

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" The fat man let out a blood-curdling scream, which was quickly silenced by the longsword, and he trembled violently. Between trembling cries, he muttered under his breath:
"General, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! It wasn't me who spoke up...it wasn't me...it was that old blind man, it was that old blind man who wanted to kill you!"

"What nonsense is this?" Shen Le and the young man exchanged a glance, both seeing the confusion in each other's eyes. Shen Le whispered:

"He mistook me for someone else?"

"Perhaps," the immortal master replied softly, turning his head to stare intently at the other person.

"Tell me, who ordered the massacre of the Lu family?!"

"What Lu family?"

The fat man uttered a questioning sound. He stared at the screen for a long time, then shook his head: "Lu Biaoqi? That was a figure from the previous dynasty, decades ago. He died a peaceful death, and his family is still doing well! Or you mean Marquis Shiping? His whole family is doing just fine!" (Note 1)

Shen Le: "..."

Very well, a mere craftsman, even if he is killed, even if his whole family is killed, doesn't deserve a name, right?

"It's the Lu family who burned the Soul-Suppressing Figurines!" The young man clearly hadn't expected this answer and was quite taken aback. He pressed his longsword down, leaving a bloody gash on the fat man's neck.
"Do you remember now?!"

Clearly, the fat man still couldn't quite remember. His small eyes darted around, peeking at the sword through his slits, while he kept making excuses:

"It wasn't me! It really wasn't me! Why would I go and kill a family that owns a kiln? We had no grudge against them..."

"A year ago, it was a group flying your family's banner that claimed the Lu family harbored evil intentions, plotted rebellion, and wanted to exterminate the clan and destroy the kiln." Shen Le stood behind the young man, clenching his fists tightly.

"What, you're telling me now that you can't remember?"

"I really can't remember!" the fat man wailed.
"Maybe it was one of the younger ones who did it... They have relatives or collateral relatives who want to seize the Lu family's assets, or something else, so they're just using our name..."

Our family is quite large! There are a lot of people!

Shen Le wanted to press him further, but the young man had already grown impatient and reached out to touch his brow. The fat man's eyes widened suddenly, paused, then slowly opened, and he fell backward.

The young man clicked his tongue, took out a silk handkerchief, and slowly wiped his fingertips. He sighed and glanced sideways at Shen Le:
"It was done by one of his nephews... a distant nephew, barely within the fifth degree of kinship. How about it, go ahead and do it to him?"

It's not that it's impossible to become enemies, but whether such a minor character is suitable for firing in a kiln is really hard to say—judging from this fatso's appearance, Shen Le estimated that he was probably not suitable.

He carefully approached the fat man and reached out to check his breath, but the young man pushed his hand away.

"Stop looking, he's not dead. Want to come or not?"

"……Walk!"

Finding the enemy isn't difficult. These days, powerful families especially like to live together in clan clusters, as if living together makes it easier to come out and kill someone when trouble arises—

As for what would happen if someone tried to wipe out the whole family, it would be convenient for them to be implicated, but that's not a consideration. Anyway, if it really comes to the point of wiping out the entire family, even with a nationwide manhunt, they can't escape.

With a wave of his hand, the "immortal master" silenced the entire road; cats stopped jumping, dogs stopped barking, and no crowds came and went.

They made their way to their destination without any obstacles, and everyone they encountered along the way collapsed to the ground, fast asleep, as if each of them had two sleepy bugs stuffed into their nostrils...

The target was the same; even when the "immortal master" lifted him up after dispelling the spell, he was still dazed and had no idea where he was.

The "immortal master" pointed, and a thin bolt of lightning struck him, making him shudder violently. His eyes finally focused, and he opened his mouth to scream—

"Shut up!"

The second bolt of lightning struck. The man's legs buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, a small puddle forming beneath him. The young man frowned, took two steps back, and a whirlwind of wind swirled around him.

Shen Le had no choice but to step forward, conjuring a small fireball in his palm, and slowly approach the other person:

"Speak! Who ordered the massacre of the Lu family? The Lu family that burned the Soul-Suppressing Figurines!"

"I...I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll talk!"

A familiar, rough voice. Shen Le breathed a slight sigh of relief: Hmm, good, at least I didn't get the wrong person. He calmed himself down, watching the man's eyes darting around, then, after being slapped, quickly spat out:

"It's Prince Xiang—"

"You're talking nonsense! How could it be Prince Xiang! Prince Xiang's loyalty and righteousness are known throughout the land!" the young man retorted instinctively. Before he could finish speaking, the other man shrank back, and before he could reply, Shen Le whispered:

Who is the Prince Xiang?

"..."

"..."

The person huddled on the ground kept their mouth tightly shut, not daring to utter a sound, only glancing sideways at Shen Le. Their expression seemed to say, "See? Everyone knows? There are people who don't even know who the Prince Xiang is..."

"It's the Grand General! The Left Chancellor! The Duke of Qinghe!" The young man had no choice but to turn around and rattle off a long list of titles—earning Shen Le an utterly bewildered look. The one huddled on the ground explained in a low voice:
"It really is Prince Xiang! Prince Xiang wants to rebel and shake the foundation of the court, so he made me destroy the Lu family, smash the Soul-Suppressing Puppet, and let the resentment rise!"

"Shut up!" The young man turned around, slapped him with another bolt of lightning, and watched him convulse on the ground before continuing to explain to Shen Le:
"He is the current emperor's father-in-law; his daughter is the empress, and several of his sons have married princesses..."

Shen Le still stared at him blankly. After waiting a while and receiving no answer, she had no choice but to ask herself:

"What's his name?"

"His surname is Hulü, and his given name is Guang." The young man frowned, seemingly unaccustomed to uttering the name of such a nobleman. He hesitated for a moment before slowly reciting it. Shen Le suddenly understood:
"Hulü Guang! He would never rebel! -- You're talking nonsense!"

The next sentence was addressed to the person on the ground. That person shook their head violently, even banging their head against the ground several times, desperately trying to explain:
"It really is Prince Xiang! Who else but Prince Xiang would dare to rebel—"

The young man tapped the man's forehead with another finger. Moments later, the man's gaze became unfocused, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The young man frowned, wiped his hand again, and turned to look at Shen Le:

"There were no instructions; this guy is just greedy for money. — So, what's next? What are you planning to do?"

"killed!"

Shen Le gritted his teeth. A bolt of lightning struck, and a man who had been swaggering and shouting "Exterminate the clan, destroy the kiln!" fell straight down.

Another fireball, then another, and the corpse burst into flames, soon reduced to a pile of black ash...

"This won't work either, it can't be used." Shen Le tried hard to open his third eye, stared at the pile of black ash for a long time, and shook his head in disappointment.

On the black and gray surface, there was a hint of fear, but very little; there seemed to be some resentment, but not much; and the obsession was barely perceptible.

This kind of bully who preys on the weak and fears the strong will never become a vengeful ghost after death. If you were to mix it into glaze and put it into a kiln, it would be burned to ashes in the first batch. It would be absolutely impossible for it to suppress a spirit!

"Then... should we kill their entire family?"

"This isn't appropriate either..." Shen Le hesitated. It was just one person's greed; killing an entire clan didn't seem like a capital offense. After thinking for a moment, an idea suddenly popped into his head:
"Oh right, he just said something about Prince Xiang plotting a rebellion... Shall we go take a look?"

(End of this chapter)