Hearing Lu Fan's question, the disheveled old Daoist's face trembled slightly, his eyes filled with sadness. "This person's name is Tu Tu. Thirty years ago, he was an extremely brutal fellow. He would do any wicked deed for money.
At that time, I had some minor fame for fortune-telling. Once, a pregnant woman went missing, and her family found me to help search. When we found the pregnant woman, we discovered that six or seven other people had been abducted with her, all of them pregnant women in their third month!
And the culprit was this Tu Tu! He wanted these pregnant women to refine the Mother and Child Seven Fiends Formation.
After a fierce battle, he escaped using a遁符 (dùn fú - escape talisman). I thought that was the end of it, but I didn't expect this fellow to have a vengeful streak, killing the entire families of those pregnant women. Then he disappeared! Alas! I seemed to have saved a few people, but in reality, I had caused the massacre of several families!"
The disheveled old Daoist sighed and continued, "From then on, I stopped telling fortunes for others. And I became like this."
"Such a brutal person, dying is letting him off easy!" Lu Fan said, taking a ring from Tu Tu's finger. It was another spatial ring! No wonder this old fellow could roam the martial world with two zombies; he had this thing too.
With a thought, he entered the spatial ring and saw a book of蛊符阵箓 (gǔ fú zhèn lù -蛊 talisman formation scrolls). It seemed this fellow had also inherited something.
*Swish...* Lu Fan collected both zombies and Tu Tu's corpse into the spatial ring.
"Kid! You can't use such wicked methods. You'll face retribution!" the disheveled old Daoist said urgently.
"That depends on what I'm doing. For wicked people, one really can't be too polite. Since Tu Tu was so bad, why not refine him into a zombie蛊 (gǔ - a type of poisonous insect or puppet), so he can never reincarnate!" Lu Fan shrugged.
"Alas! Then it's up to you! But, this Daoist also put in a lot of effort, you're not going to get it for free, are you?" The disheveled old Daoist instantly reverted to his lecherous demeanor.
"Damn it... old fellow! With your appearance, it's good if someone wants to take advantage of you! However, seeing as you don't even have a proper weapon when fighting, how about I give you one? Next time I need you, you can put in more effort!" Lu Fan took out the Heavenly Silkworm Silk with a thought and handed it to the disheveled old Daoist.
"Kid! What other treasures do you have? Let this Daoist have a look!" Seeing the Heavenly Silkworm Silk, the disheveled old Daoist's face lit up, and he stared at Lu Fan with wide eyes.
"Damn it... I suddenly regret it, give me the thing back!" Lu Fan immediately reached out to take back the Heavenly Silkworm Silk.
"Hmph! Once given, can it be taken back? This thing is mine now! This Daoist is leaving. Remember, there might be people helping Tu Tu at the construction site, so keep an eye out! Also, in seven days, we're going to Jigong Mountain." The disheveled old Daoist said and then ran into the mountains!
Lu Fan smiled slightly and turned back home. He took out the蛊符阵箓 (gǔ fú zhèn lù) and began to study it carefully. If he could refine Tu Tu into a zombie蛊 (gǔ), it would be a significant boost. His chances of dealing with the Divine Calculation Sect would be much higher!
...
As dawn approached, Lu Fan knew Li Jingjing would be coming, so he put away the蛊符阵箓 (gǔ fú zhèn lù) and began cultivating the Shen Nong Health Cultivation Technique.
"Hehe! Brother Fan! Let's practice together, can you guide me?" Li Jingjing clearly arrived earlier than usual. She sat next to Lu Fan and said with a smile.
"Today I'll take you to the provincial city. From now on, Sister Ruyan will guide your practice. You're not allowed to be lazy!" Lu Fan said.
"Hmph!" Li Jingjing immediately pouted, looking very unwilling.
"When I have time, I'll come to see you. And I'll check if you've been practicing! If you dare to be lazy, I'll punish you." Lu Fan glanced at Li Jingjing.
"Hmph! I don't believe you! You'll go see Sister Ruyan, and I'll just be a third wheel." Li Jingjing pouted.
After breakfast, Lu Fan sent a text message to Chu Xiangwei, then rode his bike to take Li Jingjing to the provincial city.
Li Jingjing looked very excited sitting on Chen Bei's motorcycle. It was also Lu Fan's first time taking her for a ride! Of course, compared to being on Brother Fan's shoulders and running through the mountains, she preferred the latter.
Because Li Jingjing didn't like going into the city, she only wanted to be with Brother Lu Fan. But Lu Fan worried about her safety, so he had to use this method to prevent her from encountering enemies.
...
Liu Ruyan had also hired several professional tea ceremony masters and highly qualified waitresses. Although the tea house had many guests, it was very quiet. The only sounds heard were those of beautiful pipa, guzheng, and guqin music. There was very little noisy clamor.
Lu Fan and Li Jingjing arrived downstairs at the tea house. Liu Ruyan, wearing a simple dress and a pair of light pink leather shoes, had been waiting for a long time. Although she wore light makeup, she was still as beautiful as a fairy, making Li Jingjing a little jealous.
Seeing Lu Fan, a flash of joy appeared in Liu Ruyan's eyes, and she immediately went to greet him, softly calling out, "Fan!"
"Ruyan!" Lu Fan dismounted his motorcycle and went to meet her.
"I... I'll be damned! I'm not just a third wheel, I'm a utility pole! You even want me to hold your motorcycle." Li Jingjing suddenly exclaimed. Lu Fan ran to hug the beauty without even properly parking his motorcycle, and it almost fell. Fortunately, she was there to hold it!
"Let's go! We're going inside..." Liu Ruyan completely ignored Li Jingjing and eagerly pulled Lu Fan into the tea house...
"Alas! Absence makes the heart grow fonder... Why did you bring me here?" Li Jingjing pouted while sitting on the motorcycle.
"Miss! Please follow me!" A beautiful female waitress came to greet Li Jingjing.
"Alas! A guy who values romance over friendship." Li Jingjing rolled her eyes, had to park the motorcycle, and followed the waitress!
...
"Ruyan! You know Jingjing's special abilities. Having her by your side will be a great help to you." After a rather eye-opening scene in Liu Ruyan's office, Lu Fan said, catching his breath.
"I know you care about me, but the people who come here are all of unusual status, and things rarely happen." Liu Ruyan nodded.
"Precisely because things rarely happen, when they do, they won't be minor. Recently, someone specifically hired extremely dangerous individuals from the martial world to deal with me, and I don't even know who they are. Therefore, it's necessary to be careful!" Lu Fan said.
"Mhm! I'll listen to you!" Liu Ruyan said, leaning into Lu Fan's embrace.
"Have the Liu family caused you any more trouble?" Lu Fan asked softly.
"No! Patriarch Grandpa already knows he was wrong and no longer forces me into politics. Moreover, Grandpa has also visited the tea house twice, saying that even if he trained me for another ten years, I might not reach my current height.
He's grateful to you! Because the people I can contact now are even more numerous than the high-ranking officials and wealthy families Grandpa has contacted."
"Oh, right! I'll introduce you to a guest later! He's also one of the Four Young Masters of the capital. Young Master Jian San of the Jian family." Liu Ruyan suddenly said.