Chapter 366: Chapter 211: Another Fair Transaction

When they reached the door and saw that Lu Wushuang hadn’t come out, Cheng Zongyang spoke to Li Xian in a low voice.

"When you go to deal with Lu Yan’s body, talk to Lu Wushuang. See if she’s willing to join us and lead Zhenwu Hall. That girl is clever. The fact that she managed to escape the He Family’s targeted ambush proves it."

Li Xian was taken aback.

"Isn’t this... a bit sudden?"

He was about to say it seemed a bit careless. ’Making a teenage girl a Hall Master?’ But then he remembered that Cheng Zongyang, standing right before him, was about the same age, so he rephrased.

Cheng Zongyang seemed to guess what Li Xian was thinking and smiled. "If we train her well, her future Martial Arts Cultivation will be quite high."

But Li Xian asked, "She’s from an outer branch of the Lu Family. She has a main family to return to, doesn’t she?"

Cheng Zongyang gave him a speechless look.

"How can you be so dense? Here, she’s the only one with Lu Family blood left, isn’t she? Can’t you lay out the pros and cons for her? Ask her which is better: being free here, or returning to her main family where her fate isn’t her own and she’ll eventually be married off for some alliance?"

Now, Li Xian looked at Cheng Zongyang with deep admiration. He finally understood the profound meaning behind Cheng Zongyang’s recent actions.

’How does his mind work so fast?’

From the moment they came out until now, he had used the gesture of recovering the body for a proper burial to win her over, then seized the opportunity to persuade her to join, and had even planned out how to present the pros and cons.

With this chain of events, as long as Lu Wushuang wasn’t the type to wander the world alone, she would almost certainly agree.

"Your Lordship is wise. I understand now." Li Xian cupped his hands again. "I will not let you down."

’No wonder even my clan uncle has to listen to Cheng Zongyang. None of us could have come up with a plan like this.’

"Mm. Right, we need to continue expanding the number of Martial Artists in our ranks. When your uncle wakes up, discuss recruitment options with him. We still have too few Martial Artists."

After adding these final words, Cheng Zongyang boarded the carriage and left, heading toward the Cheng Family warehouse.

「A quarter-hour later, at the Cheng Family warehouse on Northwest City Street.」

Cheng Zongyang stepped out of the carriage and instructed Xu Dong, "You stand guard out here. If anything happens, come inside and get me."

"Yes, My Lord," Xu Dong replied.

The Cheng Family had several warehouses, each with a different purpose. The one Cheng Zongyang had come to was used for keeping dogs.

There were a dozen or so dogs in the warehouse. Their barking and the stench of their waste could be used to mask the existence of a hidden dungeon.

They hadn’t kept dogs here originally. But as they began to lock up more people, Zhou Zhendong made the suggestion, and Cheng Zongyang agreed.

As for the surrounding houses, they were, of course, occupied by their own men.

The moment Cheng Zongyang stepped inside, he released his aura, and all the previously restless dogs fell silent.

The dogs were fed on a regular schedule. But the smell was truly awful.

He made his way to a side room in the rear courtyard, retracted the Soul Gathering Stele Shadow Realm that served as a Defense, and entered the basement.

At that moment, a figure landed silently on the roof. His gaze flickered as he watched the room Cheng Zongyang had entered.

After sensing no movement from inside, he peered through the gauze window, poking a small hole to get a look, but he saw no one.

’No wonder I couldn’t find anything. It’s underground.’ 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The intruder muttered to himself, then opened the door to investigate. He immediately saw that the entrance to the basement was right under a rug in the middle of the room.

The rug had been pushed aside, so it was visible the moment he walked in.

He hadn’t expected that.

The intruder had assumed the entrance would be in a corner or some other, more concealed location.

His gaze swept across the room. A moment later, he slowly walked over to a Wordless Stone Stele standing against the wall, looking puzzled.

He only gave it a passing glance, however, paying it no mind.

But the current situation was clearly not suitable for going down to investigate, so he left, planning to return later.

Dozens of meters underground was a basement of over a hundred square meters. It was filled with cages, no different from a prison. Systems were in place to handle everything from drinking water to waste disposal. Of course, these were all later modifications.

Oil lamps lit the basement, and several ventilation shafts led to the surface, so there were no concerns about air circulation.

Cheng Zongyang held his breath, trying to inhale as little as possible of the basement’s foul odor.

Thirty to forty people were locked in the basement’s cages. All of them were Martial Artists whose hand and foot tendons had been severed, leaving them unable to resist. They were all members of the He and Liu Families.

He walked up to two separate cages, which held He Shujun and Liu Chengdong, respectively.

The official story was that Liu Chengdong had been killed, but he had actually been captured alive. As for He Shujun, who was also imprisoned here, news of her death would be spread after today.

The sound of approaching footsteps made the two people, who had been lying silently on the hay-strewn floor, look out from their cages.

When they saw the figure of Cheng Zongyang, they both grew agitated. Forcing themselves to sit up despite the pain and weakness from their injuries, Liu Chengdong glared at Cheng Zongyang and snarled:

"You brat, do you have any idea who the Liu Family is..."

"Enough." Cheng Zongyang cut him off with a frown. "How old are you, still making threats like that? Weren’t you the one who came looking for trouble with us first?"

Liu Chengdong was struck speechless, his face flushing crimson, whether from rage or humiliation, it was hard to tell.

Cheng Zongyang couldn’t be bothered with Liu Chengdong. The guy was just a greedy troublemaker.

He had sent men to investigate their network of connections, but they hadn’t even returned yet, and already the Lu, He, and Liu families were finished.

But regardless, what was done was done. All they could do now was deal with the consequences as they came.