After listening to Little Yuan’er and recalling Mingshi Yin’s words, Lu Zhou wondered if his eighth disciple had truly become the Sacred Temple’s lackey.
Finally, Lu Zhou nodded and said,”It’s good as long as all of you are okay. As for that Qi Sheng, I’ll personally meet him.”
“Okay!”
“That’s all for today. Get some rest,” Lu Zhou said.
Little Yuan’er and Conch rose to their feet and said, “We’ll take our leave.”
Swoosh!
As soon as Little Yuan’er and Conch pulled the door open, the attendant staggered and almost fell forward.
Little Yuan’er frowned. “Clumsy!”
“Sorry, sorry,” the attendant apologized profusely as he watched Little Yuan’er and Conch leave. After the duo disappeared, he sighed. He was just about to leave when a voice rang from the hall.
“Come in.”
The power contained in the voice was not too much or too little; it was just nice for the attendant to hear it clearly. He knew it was directed at him. He hesitated. He really did not want to go in.
The voice rang from the hall again. “If you leave, don’t ever return again.”
The attendant sighed and returned to the hall. When he saw the expressionless Lu Zhou, he asked, puzzled, “Elder, did you call me?”
Lu Zhou smiled faintly and asked, “Shang Zhang, why must you do this?”
The attendant looked slightly surprised. He raised his hand and touched his face, hair, and clothes. There was nothing wrong with them.
Lu Zhou placed his hands on his back and said, “Xuanyi doesn’t know that my surname is Ji.”
Upon hearing that, the attendant sighed. Then, he straightened his might, and his majestic aura returned immediately. His appearance twisted and changed before it returned to Shang Zhang’s appearance. Naturally, he was still dressed like an attendant.
Shang Zhang cupped his fists together at Lu Zhou and said, “Old sir, you have very keen eyesight.”
Lu Zhou pointed at the futon across from him and said, “Sit.”
Shang Zhang did not stand on ceremony and quickly took a seat.
Lu Zhou sat down as well. He looked at Shang Zhang and asked, “Aren’t you afraid that the world would laugh at you if you were discovered using such a method to sneak into Xuanyi Palace?”
Shang Zhang sighed heavily. “I’ve committed such a huge mistake. I let down my wife and my child. Compared to that, why would I care about being laughed at?”
Lu Zhou knew why Shang Zhang was here, and Shang Zhang did not explain himself as well.
“So you want to make things right?” Lu Zhou asked.
Shang Zhang shook his head first, but there was still a trace of hope left in his heart so he nodded hesitantly. He said, looking conflicted, “I don’t expect her to forgive me. I naturally hope she’ll forgive me, but I don’t expect that… I just want to make it up to her.”
“Make it up to hert?” Lu Zhou looked at Shang Zhang as if to say, ‘Can you make it up to her?’
Shang Zhang felt ashamed when he saw Lu Zhou’s gaze.
Lu Zhou said, “You listened to a villain’s lie and abandoned your child without even trying to verify the truth. How are you going to make it up to her?”
Shang Zhang remained silent.
Lu Zhou continued to say, “She was lost in the Unknown Land at a very young age. You should know how dangerous the Unknown Land is. Then, she ended up in the lotus domain. She was an orphan. She had no parents, no home, no food to eat, and no clothes to wear. How are you going to make up for that?”
After listening to the series of questions, Shang Zhang was so ashamed that he could not raise his head.
Lu Zhou pointed at Shang Zhang and scolded Shang Zhang mercilessly, “You’re not worthy to be a father!”
Shang Zhang did not lose his temper. He allowed Shang Zhang to kill him. He knew no one was more qualified in this world to insult him than Lu Zhou. If Lu Zhou attacked him, he would not even defend himself at this moment. As the saying went, ‘A master for a day, a father for life’. He knew Lu Zhou had been the role of ‘father’ for a long time.
Lu Zhou scolded Shang Zhang for quite a while. He only stopped when he felt that his mouth was dry.
Shang Zhang said, “I… I’ve made a huge mistake. I can’t undo it, and I can’t make up for it. If scolding me can make you feel better, please go ahead.”
Lu Zhou said, “You were there when I spoke to them earlier. You should know Conch doesn’t hate you.”
Shang Zhang shook his head. “I’d rather she hate me.”
“If it weren’t for the fact that you protected them very well over the past 100 years, I would’ve chased you away a long time ago. Why would I sit here and talk nonsense with you?” Lu Zhou said.
There were not many parents who would do what Shang Zhang did.
Shang Zhang felt extremely ashamed as he said, “I know there’s no use talking. In the future, I’ll make it up to her whether she forgives me or not. Old sir, I have never begged anyone before. Can you please give this to her?”
Then, without waiting for Lu Zhou’s reply, he flicked his sleeve and brought out a red rectangular brocade box behind.
There were complicated runes and patterns on the red brocade box. They looked old. Based on its aura, it was definitely not a simple item.
“What is it?” Lu Zhou asked.
Shang Zhang gently placed his hand on the box.
Buzz!
The runes lit up, and a crisp sound rang in the air before the brocade box clicked open.
Lu Zhou saw a beautiful and slender ancient zither.
Shang Zhang said, “100 years ago, when Conch first joined Shang Zhang Hall, she had a nine-stringed zither. I knew she’s good at playing the zither. At that time, I was surprised she was skilled in music like my poor daughter. I didn’t think that…”
Shang Zhang did not finish his words. Instead, he said, “There are two compartments in this box. The first compartment holds this zither. It’s called the Ten-Stringed Zither. It’s an infinite-grade instrument. Originally, I found this zither in an ancient ruins to celebrate her birthday. It’s extremely rare. Back then, I advised her to refine the Nine-Stringed Zither and to fuse it with this zither, but she refused.”
Shang Zhang flipped the zither and pointed to a grove on its back as he said, “The Nine-Stringed Zither can be placed here. The Nine-Stringed Zither’s grade is too low so it can’t unleash her full power. Since she likes the Nine-Stringed Zither, she can place it here so it can absorb the energy of the Ten-Stringed Zither.”
Lu Zhou asked, “You’re willing to let her do that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be willing to do that? After all, she’s my…” Shang Zhang stopped speaking for a moment. Then, he said, “Forget it. There’s no point in talking about that.”
“What’s in the second compartment?” Lu Zhou asked.
“It’s the divine secret stone that I’ve been using to meditate and cultivate over the past 100,000 years,” Shang Zhang said.
Lu Zhou frowned. “You actually obtained a divine secret stone?”
Shang Zhang said truthfully, “I obtained this from the highest point of the Great Abyss Land. It is the purest thing between heaven and earth, and it holds a huge amount of mysterious power. I kept it with me for ten years so it has gained a lot of spirituality.”
“The highest point of the Great Abyss Land?” Lu Zhou looked at Shang Zhang curiously.
Shang Zhang said, “After the Great Abyss Land’s Pillar of Destruction lifted the Great Void, the Feather tribe and the Great Void came to an agreement to protect the world. The Feather tribe would guard the pillar, and in exchange, they wanted light. The Great Void gave light to them. The ten halls joined forces to pierce through the sky so the sun would shine on the Great Abyss Land.”
Lu Zhou said disapprovingly, “How ostentatious.”
Shang Zhang continued to say, “It was at that time that I obtained the divine secret stone.” Then, he cupped his fists together at Lu Zhou before he said, “Old sir, please give these two things to Conch. I have nothing else to ask for.”
If Conch was present, it was likely that she would reject these things. However, these two items were undoubtedly a great help to cultivators.
Lu Zhou thought about it for a moment. ‘I’m not a gentleman so it’s fine to be shameless with him.’
“Very well. Since you insist, I’ll accept them,” Lu Zhou said. With a flick of his sleeve, the brocade box closed and flew toward him.
Shang Zhang sighed in relief before he cupped his fists together at Lu Zhou again. “I didn’t know better earlier so I hope you won’t take my actions and words to heart.”
Lu Zhou waved his hand. “I may not be magnanimous, but I’m not a petty person.”
Shang Zhang said, “In my opinion, you’re 100 times, no, 1,000 times, stronger than Wu Zu and the four supremes.”
Lu Zhou thought that flattery from divine emperors seemed to be quite pleasing to the ears.
Based on what Lu Zhou had seen so far, it seemed like Shang Zhang was a slave to his daughter. Otherwise, Shang Zhang would not behave in this manner nor would he bring such valuable treasures to Xuanyi Palace.
Finally, Shang Zhang said, “I have another favor to ask from you. I hope you’ll agree to it.”
“If you want me to help you with Conch, I’m afraid…” Lu Zhou said.
Shang Zhang quickly interjected, “No, no, that’s not what I meant.” He looked outside before he said, “Can I continue to stay by your side as an attendant?”
“Hm?”
‘What the hell! Did I just obtain a super bodyguard out of nowhere?!’
“I won’t cause any trouble. I’ll only stay for a month…” Shang Zhang trailed off when he saw the frown on Lu Zhou’s face. He hastily corrected himself and said, “I’ll only stay for half a month! Half a month is fine!”
