By the lake, the old skipper hugged his paddle tightly as he leaned against the side of his boat. He had a silly grin on his face that revealed his missing front teeth as he watched courtesan after courtesan carry her things and leave Beiluo Lake Island.
From afar, Nie Changqing pushed Lu Fan over on his wheelchair.
Lu Fan closed his eyes a little, trying to sense the speed at which the Spirit Qi within him was regenerating.
Ni Yu was still shaken from what happened with the Heaven Facing Spirit Chrysanthemums, and followed closely behind Lu Fan.
They got onto the boat.
The old skipper rowed energetically, and the fishing boat glided along the surface of the lake and sent ripples through the water.
Ni Yu sprawled on the side of the boat, and experienced her seasickness all over again.
Ning Zhao didn't leave with Lu Fan. Instead, she remained on the island to help dismiss all the people there and clean up the White Jade City building.
...
When they reached the shore, the old skipper wrung his hands.
Lu Fan was in his wheelchair, and he opened his eyes and looked rather meaningfully at the old skipper.
"Give him the money," Lu Fan said calmly.
Ni Yu was still pale in the face, and her legs were still shaking, but she quickly pulled out the bag of money and passed some pieces of silver to the old skipper.
The old skipper immediately broke into a smile.
Lu Fan's customized horse carriage was still parked at the pier. Nie Changqing opened the carriage door and pushed Lu Fan inside, then sat on the driver's seat and picked up the reins.
Ni Yu didn't follow Lu Fan into the carriage, because of her seasickness. Instead, she squatted on the driver's seat to try and calm her stomach.
PAK!
Nie Changqing lifted the reins and suddenly snapped them down across the horses, sending them neighing along the road.
Inside the carriage, Lu Fan slowly lifted up the curtain over the window and looked out at the old skipper, who was holding the silver and hugging his boat paddle, a silly smile on his face.
He looked at the old skipper, and the old skipper looked back at him.
The horse carriage sped off and disappeared down the main road, and they eventually lost sight of each other.
The old skipper looked at the horse carriage, which was now far off in the distance, and grinned, revealing his standard gap-toothed grin.
He held onto his boat paddle and started singing loudly once again. He was wearing his straw sandals, and he leapt rather expertly onto his fishing boat.
It gently rocked side to side and bobbed on the surface of the lake.
...
Inside the carriage, Lu Fan popped up the stats menu.
[Host: Lu Fan
Title: Qi Refiner (Permanent)
Refined Qi Level: 2 (Level 3 progress: 100/1000 wisps)
Soul Strength: 13 (Points for exchange: 2)
Physique Strength: 1 (Points for exchange: 1)
Spirit Qi: 72 wisps (Self regeneration activated)
Transformation Reward: Fantasy Creation Qi Refining Manual
Current World Ranking: Wuhuang Continent (Low Level Martial World)
Access: Quests, Dao Imparting Platform, Spirit Qi Deployment
Sub-access: All Method Furnace (Level 1)]
His Spirit Qi had reached 72 wisps. It's regeneration speed wasn't too slow, but it wasn't fast, either.
Lu Fan fell into deep thought as he stared at the stats page.
Now that his Soul Strength had passed 10 points, he could feel that his senses had strengthened, and he now even had… telekinesis.
For example, he could make his wheelchair turn and move on its own.
The stronger his Soul Strength became, the more apparent its abilities were.
As for his Physique Strength, it was clearly tied to his physical health.
He wanted to increase his Physique Strength, but… what he needed most right now was Soul Strength and Spirit Qi, so he couldn't focus on increasing his Physique Strength at the moment.
"Looks like I have to get more points soon…" Lu Fan muttered to himself.
Lu Fan concluded that there were actually two ways to get points. One way was to complete quests, and the other way was to get it through Transformation Rewards.
This so called "Transformation Reward" could simply be understood as a reward for making a change to this world.
For example, when he deployed Spirit Qi to Ning Zhao and created this world's first cultivator, he received a reward for it.
Perhaps he might be able to receive a reward every time he changed something in this world for the first time.
This made Lu Fan start to think.
...
The horse carriage sped on and reached the rather large gates of Lu Manor.
Nie Changqing helped Lu Fan out of the horse carriage, and Ni Yu carried the chessboard on her back and pushed the wheelchair along.
Yi Yue was already standing at attention in front of the gate, waiting for Lu Fan.
When she spotted Lu Fan getting out of the horse carriage, her eyes lit up, and she bowed slightly. "Young Master, per your instructions, all the people involved have been thrown in jail and await your sentencing," she reported.
Lu Fan nodded slightly. "Good job. Bring me there."
Yi Yue bowed, then walked behind Lu Fan and pushed him to Lu Manor's jail.
Lu Manor was the City Master's residence, so it had a jail inside it to imprison the city's criminals.
As long as there are people, there will be crime. No one could dare say that there's a city where everyone's civilized and there's no crime.
Which is why the role of the jail is all the more important.
The wooden wheels of Lu Fan's wheelchair creaked against the green tiles, and the Lu Manor jail came within sight.
A young general in full armor that shone with a cold glint was guarding the door and waiting for Lu Fan.
Lu Fan wasn't too familiar with who this person was, but this person recognized Lu Fan.
The general came to Lu Fan and greeted him with a fist clasped in one hand. "Assistant General Luo Cheng greets Young Master Lu," the general spoke without sounding grovelling, and sounded fairly impressive.
Lu Fan sat in his wheelchair with one hand under his chin and the other lightly tapping on the thin throw across his legs.
"You're Uncle Luo's eldest son?" he asked after thinking about it for a minute.
Luo Cheng froze for a moment, then nodded.
"Excellent." The corners of Lu Fan's lips curled upward. "What I'm going to do next might involve quite a bit of bloodshed. Can you handle it?"
Luo Cheng was wearing his helmet, and he looked at this Young Master Lu, who didn't at all seem like how the rumors had described him. He replied in a solemn voice, "I have been following the City Master, and I've fought in battles where the corpses pile up like mountains and where blood flows like the sea. There is nothing I cannot endure.
"Before the City Master left, he instructed me to listen to all of your commands and to ensure your safety, so… if you have any orders for me, please go ahead," Luo Cheng said firmly.
Lu Fan nodded slightly. "As long as you're able to endure it. Bring me to see Chen and the rest."
Luo Cheng turned and brought Lu Fan into the jail.
The inside of the jail was a little humid, and it was filled with the stench of mold and other awful odors.
The lights were dim, and there was the smell of blood in the air. There were all sorts of torture devices inside the jail cells, and they even had traces of blood on them.
All the criminals held in the individual cells were glaring at Lu Fan.
They didn't grab onto the bars and shout and beg for help like the people in those dramas and movies Lu Fan watched in his previous life. Instead, they were all seated on the floor and were looking at him numbly yet coldly.
But as he reached the end of the corridor, there was a bit more activity.
"Lu Ping'an! How dare you do this?!"
"We are Confucianists with recognized achievements! If you dare to keep us in jail, you're spitting on our emperor and the great Confucianist Imperial Advisor!"
"Lu Ping'an, let us out now! As an educated man, you should follow the rules. We're all people of good names, so what right do you have to arrest us?!"
Within the jail cell…
All the Confucianists instantly became enraged the moment they saw Lu Fan.
They all grabbed the bars of the jail cell and shouted at Lu Fan, not caring about how they looked.
Lu Fan sat in his wheelchair and frowned.
Nie Changqing kept a hand on his butcher knife and coldly scanned the jail cells.
Yi Yue's expression was also cold, and her palm was already on the long whip attached to her belt.
Lu Fan waved his hand to stop Yi Yue from pushing him further inside.
With a wry smile, he looked to his left and right at all these Confucianists locked up in their jail cells, and eventually burst out laughing.
"What right do I have?" he asked.
"I suspect that all of you are in cahoots with the three major aristocratic families to form a rebellion and ruin Great Zhou.
"All of you know deep down what the three major aristocratic families have done. My father has gone to the capital city, so Beiluo City is currently under my control… what my father doesn't dare to do, I will."
Lu Fan said all this calmly as he looked down at his lap and massaged his long fingers.
Luo Cheng took a step forward with his hand on his sword, and his eyes blazed.
Lu Fan's words had resonated with him, and he could feel his heart race with excitement.
He looked at the Young Master, who was sitting in his wheelchair with his head bent, and his eyes suddenly filled with anticipation.
Lu Fan's words really weren't that terrifying, but some sensed something in his tone and hid in a corner in fear, while the others unthinkingly started shouting all kinds of awful things at Lu Fan.
They considered themselves a class above the rest, and they were acclaimed scholars, so there wasn't anything they didn't dare to say.
They would have even shouted at the emperor like this!
Lu Fan made a face. He had a good temper, but he couldn't bear even the slightest bit of humiliation.
"Luo Cheng."
"Yes, sir." Luo Cheng clasped his fist in one hand.
"Kill them all." Lu Fan gave the order in a calm voice.
Luo Cheng felt himself tremble slightly, but the next moment, there was a glint in his eyes. "Yes, sir."
At his command, the Ironblood troops rushed into the jail cells.
The Confucianists were stunned.
They stopped shouting because… the Ironblood troops didn't waste any time after receiving the order—their cold, white swords rose and came down on each one of them.
Blood splattered all over the walls.
Deep within the jail, Chen Beixun was sitting cross-legged on the floor. He felt his skin crawl when he heard the Confucianists' cries.
Liu Ye and Zhu Yishan were so terrified that they were shivering from fear.
What did Lu Fan want to do? Massacre everyone just because they didn't agree with him?! Were they going to meet the same end as those Confucianists?
The Confucianists's howls didn't last long, and the strong stench of blood soon permeated the air and lingered in the jail cells.
Finally, within Liu Ye and Zhu Yishan's line of sight...
They saw Lu Fan, who was seated in his wheelchair, dressed in white, slowly appear out of the darkness.
His face was as smooth and fair as a jade as he looked at them with a broad smile on his face.