Volume One: Entering the City for the First Time Chapter Forty-Five: Ruthless

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“You think we can’t protect you?” Helian Ying gazed at Lu Yi and spoke coldly.

“My instincts tell me that the dangers there are beyond imagination,” Lu Yi replied, his tone unwavering as he looked at Helian Ying.

“Instincts?” Helian Ying snorted coldly a few times. “Suit yourself.”

Lu Yi stepped forward and rapped the door knocker a few times. There was no response from within. Just as he was considering whether to seek out Mad Blade, a shrill voice pierced the silence. “Boy, don’t you know the rules?”

Lu Yi looked around, only to realize that it was the bronze lion’s head on the door that was speaking. “Rules?” Lu Yi was utterly bewildered. Before leaving, Katerina had only handed him this card; she’d said nothing about any rules. The thought crossed his mind, and his face darkened—could it be that knocking on the door would cost him a fortune?

“What are you standing there for?” The bronze beast shook impatiently on the door. “Who sent you? Got a card?”

Lu Yi hurriedly produced the black postcard and stuffed it into the beast’s mouth. After a moment, the door slowly swung open.

“Go straight ahead, wait in the first hall. My master will be with you shortly,” the beast said, then returned to its inanimate form.

As soon as the trio entered, the doors swung shut behind them. Helian Xun whispered to Lu Yi, “What do you want with him? That man is notoriously volatile and hard to deal with.”

Lu Yi smiled. “Don’t worry, I have my own plans.”

They entered the room. Lu Yi and Helian Xun sat down, while Helian Ying stood to one side, arms folded. Before long, a man in a floor-length robe, his hair cascading to his waist, stepped out from the wall.

He glanced at Lu Yi and Helian Xun, then at Helian Ying, but finally settled his gaze on Helian Xun. Adjusting his robe, he sat down slowly. “So you’ve come to see me. What is it you want?”

Helian Xun raised two fingers and pointed at Lu Yi. Leaning forward, one arm resting on the table, Lu Yi spoke. “I have a splendid opportunity I’d like to share with you, Master Cedric.”

“A splendid opportunity?” Cedric looked Lu Yi up and down, then let out a disdainful chuckle. “And how much benefit do you think your so-called opportunity could offer me? I suppose you just want me to act for free.”

He waved his sleeve. “Enough with the nonsense. You learned of me from Katerina, which means she must have told you my terms. If you want my help, it’s simple: offer me a price I find satisfactory. Of course, mundane wealth does not interest me.”

“I can’t offer anything of the sort right now. But there is something at the secret site I’m about to visit,” Lu Yi replied, looking Cedric straight in the eye, his face calm.

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Helian Xun and Helian Ying both frowned as they looked at Lu Yi. They knew what that map’s hidden place might yield, and there was certainly nothing there to tempt someone of Cedric’s caliber.

“Oh? A secret site?” Cedric studied Lu Yi closely. “How would someone like you know of such a place?”

He pondered for a moment. “Who is this map connected to?”

Lu Yi shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Cedric eyed him suspiciously, thinking to himself, Could Katerina have left this for him? “Let me see the map, or at least part of it, so I can judge whether it’s worth my while.”

Helian Xun glanced at Helian Ying, as if to ask whether they should hand over the two maps. Unexpectedly, Helian Ying didn’t hesitate, retrieving the map Lu Yi had selected and tossing it onto the table.

Cedric picked up the map. The moment his eyes landed on it, his expression darkened. He weighed several possibilities in his mind, then his face turned furious. “Are you here to make a fool of me? This individual is an utter nobody—what could he have left behind that would interest me?”

Lu Yi chuckled. “You are all people of considerable talent, with many ways to examine a map or uncover the usual tricks for hiding secrets.

But as luck would have it, the method of concealment on this map is quite uncommon, though it happens to be something I can decipher. If it weren’t, I’d never have had the chance to pick up this bargain.”

Cedric spread his five fingers and slammed his palm on the table. “Are you saying your eye for detail surpasses mine?” Even as he spoke, a shadow darted from beneath his palm, lunging at Lu Yi.

Helian Xun was about to intervene, but Lu Yi was faster. He drew his demon-hunter’s blade and plunged it down, pinning the shadow through and burying half the blade in the table.

Lu Yi drew out a pistol. “Master, there’s no need for anger. No matter how capable I am, I pose no threat to your life. Besides, the site marked on the map isn’t far. If it turns out I’m wrong, you can come back quickly, having lost little time.”

At the sight of the pistol, Helian Xun gasped in alarm, and Helian Ying frowned at Lu Yi.

Lu Yi laughed, spinning the pistol and handing it to Cedric, grip first. “If you find nothing of value when you get there, you can always use this to kill me then.”

Cedric radiated a chilling aura, his cold gaze fixed on Lu Yi. Gradually, the corners of his mouth curled upward, and suddenly he burst out in wild laughter. “What a brazen young man.”

His laughter abruptly ceased. “How could Katerina know someone like you? She should come and take you home.”

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Hearing Cedric’s words, a trace of sorrow flickered across Lu Yi’s face. “She can’t come.”

Cedric was taken aback, then scrutinized Lu Yi more closely. His expression softened a little. He snatched the pistol from Lu Yi’s hand and slammed it onto the table, shattering it to pieces. “You should count yourself lucky you didn’t point it at me.”

Only now did Lu Yi notice that, at some point, a layer of crystal had covered the pistol—or rather, the entire pistol had turned to crystal.

Cedric sat down again, his face gloomy as he picked up the map and examined it repeatedly. “I’ll go with you on this venture. But the yield will be minimal, so I must decide how all findings are divided.”

Lu Yi shook his head. “No. The spoils must be divided one to two. Still, I can grant you a privilege: I take the first item, you take the second, I take the third, and so on. Anything found individually along the way belongs to the finder.”

“Hmph, you certainly have faith in this map,” Cedric sneered.

“Of course. I’ll say it again—if you’re not satisfied in the end, you’re welcome to take my life,” Lu Yi replied airily.

Cedric looked at Helian Ying and spoke to Lu Yi, “It seems this girl also wants to kill you. If you lose, who gets your life?”

“You’ll have to sort that out among yourselves. If you can’t beat her to it, she can kick my head off first. But I assure you, that won’t happen.”

“Don’t worry. If he loses, I’ll make sure to torment him for a while before handing his soul over to you,” Helian Ying replied coldly.

Cedric burst out laughing. “Very well, I accept your terms. I’ll leave your head in your care for now.”

As he spoke, a shadow flashed across Lu Yi’s neck, leaving a black line in its wake.

Lu Yi touched his neck, then stood up and made for the exit. “Since everything is settled, let’s depart at once.”