Chapter 52: Spying on the Reality
"Brother, why are you here?"

"The mansion master was worried about you being alone, so he sent me to follow you to see if there was anything I could do to help." Facing Liu Xunyi's doubts, Lin Fang laughed and replied, "As expected, you almost got into trouble just now. By the way, brother, why didn't you let me kill him with one knife?"

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi's heart sank. Although Lin Fangda was sincere to her, Luo Tianjin might have ulterior motives. In short, he would never be as casual as Lin Fangda explained. Whether it was "protecting Liu Xunyi" or "keeping an eye on Liu Xunyi", they had already known each other for a long time.

"Brother?" Seeing that Liu Xunyi was absent-minded, Lin Fangda could not help but ask, "What's wrong with you? Did that guy hurt you just now?"

"Nothing." Liu Xunyi suddenly woke up and hurriedly evaded the question. Then he changed the subject and asked, "Where is Palace Master Luo now?"

"The Palace Master has already gone to Chunqiu Mansion, and he just told me to take you to see him later." Lin Fang laughed, "Brother, don't you always admire the Palace Master? When you meet the Palace Master later, Ning Yu and I will introduce you. With the two of us as guarantors for you, I believe the Palace Master will definitely allow you to enter the Xianwang Mansion."

Liu Xunyi smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid that Palace Master Luo will hold me accountable for pretending to be a disciple of the Xianwang Palace without permission."

Lin Fangda put his arm around Liu Xunyi's shoulders and laughed, "Don't worry. Although the Palace Master is cautious, he also understands the situation. He has a keen eye and can naturally distinguish good people from bad people. As long as you have no second thoughts, he will never embarrass you."

After that, while Liu Xunyi was feeling uneasy, Lin Fangda vowed to take him back to Chunqiu Guangsha.

At this moment, Luo Ningyu had been waiting outside the door for a long time, and looked quite anxious.

"Why did you come back just now?" Luo Ningyu hurried forward and said to Liu Xunyi before the two of them could speak, "Dad and Uncle Deng are waiting to see you in the room right now. Come with me!"

Led by Luo Ningyu, the three of them walked around and arrived at a guest room on the sixth floor. Before Luo Ningyu could knock on the door, Deng Changchuan's voice came from the room: "Come in!"

"squeak!"

The door opened in response. Luo Ningyu carefully stuck her head in and looked around. When she saw that Luo Tianjin and Deng Changchuan were concentrating on playing chess without distraction, she breathed a sigh of relief and stepped aside to let Liu Xunyi and Lin Fangda into the room.

"Dad, Uncle Deng!"

"Master, Fifth Master Deng!"

Luo Ningyu and Lin Fangda saluted one after another. Luo Tianjin stared at the chessboard covered with chess pieces without blinking. He waved his hand holding the chess pieces twice casually. The two of them immediately stood aside obediently, and no one dared to speak nonsense anymore.

Liu Xunyi had a trace of embarrassment on his face. He coughed twice, then walked forward slowly, bowed respectfully to Luo Tianjin and Deng Wuye, and said, "Greetings, two seniors!"

"Where did you go just now?" Deng Changchuan asked casually. Luo Tianjin was still hesitantly thinking about his own way, and seemed to have no time to greet Liu Xunyi.

Liu Xunyi stole a glance at Lin Fangda and Luo Ningyu, but saw that they were both winking at him, but they didn't dare to make any sound. Liu Xunyi's expression became serious, and he answered honestly: "Just now I saw a familiar figure on the road, so I chased him to see, and found that it was Captain Feng who wanted to sneak into the Lu Mansion, so I stopped him."

Since Feng Tianba's identity had been exposed in front of Lin Fangda, Liu Xunyi naturally did not dare to lie. As for changing "saving Feng Tianba" to "stopping Feng Tianba", it was also a deliberate cover-up due to the relationship between Luo Tianjin and Lu Tingxiang. After all, he had no relatives or friends with Feng Tianba, and rescuing him rashly would inevitably arouse suspicion.

"Captain Feng?" Deng Changchuan raised his eyebrows, then suddenly realized, "Are you talking about Feng Tianba from the Quanzhou camp?"

"That's right." Liu Xunyi replied.

Deng Changchuan looked Liu Xunyi up and down, and asked with a half-smile, "Do you know that reckless man?"

"do not know."

"If you don't know him, why do you want to stop him?"

When asked by Deng Changchuan, Liu Xunyi first said "as expected" inwardly, and then said calmly: "Because Feng Tianba met all of us in Lu Mansion today, and saw the body of Senior Mo Cen with his own eyes, I was worried that he would insist on investigating recklessly, and sooner or later it would bring trouble to Lord Luo and the martial arts friends present today, so I tried to stop him."

"Changchuan, it's your turn!" Luo Tianjin slowly placed his move and smiled faintly at Deng Changchuan.

"The mansion lord's move decides the outcome. My situation is already hopeless and I'm bound to lose this round!" Deng Changchuan looked around the intricate chessboard, shaking his head and smiling bitterly.

"In this game of chess, you are in me and I am in you. You can't see me clearly, and I can't see you clearly. No one can determine the winner before the last move." Luo Tianjin said softly, then he looked up at Liu Xunyi and asked with a smile, "Liu Xunyi, what do you think?" Liu Xunyi's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly bowed his hands to apologize: "Today, I pretended to be a disciple of the Xianwang Mansion. I had no choice. I hope Lord Luo will forgive me."

"Oh? How can it be unavoidable?" Luo Tianjin asked back with interest.

"Brother Lin and I are sworn brothers. Seeing him being threatened by Qin Er today, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. So when I saw that brother was in danger of his life, I couldn't help but help him." Liu Xunyi spoke the prepared words in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, "I am a nobody. I heard that the Lu Mansion will hold a grand meeting to retire from the underworld. At that time, heroes from all over the world will gather. It is a rare event in the martial arts world. So I couldn't resist my curiosity and came to Quanzhou just now. I wanted to find an opportunity to sneak into the Lu Mansion to broaden my horizons, but I didn't expect to meet Brother Lin in advance. Afterwards, brother pleaded for me to Mr. Shen, but..." Liu Xunyi told Luo Tianjin the excuses he had made up and what happened in Sushui Pavilion last night, with both truth and falsehood. As Deng Changchuan testified, Luo Tianjin didn't have too many doubts about Liu Xunyi's sudden appearance in Lu Mansion.

After Liu Xunyi finished speaking, he hurriedly apologized to Luo Tianjin, "Because I was wearing the clothes of the Xianwang Mansion, and suddenly appeared in front of the heroes of the world, I was inevitably a little panicked at the time, and I really didn't know how to justify myself. In a hurry, I had no choice but to pretend to be a disciple of the Xianwang Mansion. Thanks to the timely rescue of Lord Luo, I am really grateful!"

"Master, I gave Brother Liu that set of clothes." Lin Fangda was very loyal and took the initiative to admit his mistake to Luo Tianjin. "This matter has nothing to do with Brother Liu. It's my fault."

"Lin Fangda, it's not your turn to stand up and do justice now." Deng Changchuan scolded in a low voice, "I will slowly settle your account with you after we return to Luoyang."

"Lord Luo, Fifth Master Deng, please don't make things difficult for Brother Lin. I begged you to help me." Liu Xunyi hurriedly tried to comfort him. "If you two are angry, just punish me. I won't say no."

Hearing Liu Xunyi's words, Luo Tianjin smiled slightly and said, "Liu Xunyi, you are not from my Xianwang Mansion, how can I have the right to punish you? And considering that you have saved my daughter and Fang Da's lives before, not only should I not punish you, but I should thank you."

"Yes, yes!" Luo Ningyu hurriedly nodded in agreement, "Besides, he performed very well today. He defeated the arrogant Qin Er and the unruly Tang Ren, and brought honor to our Xianwang Mansion..." Before Luo Ningyu could finish her words, she was choked back by a look from Luo Tianjin.

"Lord Luo!" Liu Xunyi knelt down on the ground with a plop, and begged, "I have been wandering in the world for several years, helpless and alone, often hungry and cold. If Lord Luo doesn't mind that I am a fool, I beg you to give me a meal."

Deng Changchuan was stunned and asked in surprise: "What do you mean?"

"Master Deng, Brother Liu wants to ask if our Xianwang Mansion can take him in?" Lin Fangda explained, "Master, Master Deng, Brother Liu is a chivalrous man who dares to do anything. He is not only skilled in martial arts but also a man of justice. If he can enter the mansion, he will undoubtedly add a brave and resourceful warrior to Xianwang Mansion."

Luo Tianjin looked at Liu Xunyi meaningfully, then turned his gaze to Lin Fangda and asked quietly, "Is this what you meant or what he meant?"

Liu Xunyi quickly replied: "Lord Luo, this is my intention. I hope you will take me in!"

Luo Tianjin nodded slightly and said with a smile: "With your martial arts skills, I believe you will be treated with courtesy wherever you go. No matter if it is high officials or gangs, they will flock to masters like you. At the very least, your martial arts skills are enough to take the military examination in the government. I don't think you will fall to the point of starving."

"I am originally from the martial arts world, how could I be willing to become a claw of the government?" Liu Xunyi looked ambitious, and his sincere words were quite touching. "The Northern Sage King is famous and is the leader of the Twelve Heroes of the Martial World. He is a true hero and a great hero in the world. I have always admired Lord Luo..."

"It's just a false reputation!" Without waiting for Liu Xunyi to finish his words, Luo Tianjin waved his hand and said calmly, "What about the leader of the Twelve Heroes of the Martial Arts World? You'd better not believe such unfounded rumors."

"Yes!" Seeing that Luo Tianjin was willing to give in, Liu Xunyi quickly agreed.

Luo Tianjin stood up and walked to Liu Xunyi, looking him up and down, and said calmly: "I'm very curious, where did you get all these martial arts skills? Did Zhao Tong from Fan Humen really teach you? Although Zhao Tong is known for his fists and feet, in my opinion, his Fan Yang Fist and Fu Hu Kick are far inferior to the Xun Yun Palm you used today. Zhao Tong is just a mediocre person, he shouldn't be able to teach a disciple as outstanding as you, right?"

"To be honest, after Fan Humen was wiped out by the government, I have been wandering around the world and have been all over the world. Maybe God took pity on me and allowed me to learn a lot of martial arts by chance." Liu Xunyi suppressed the nervousness in his heart and acted like an honest and simple person.

"You were able to defeat Qin Er and Tang Ren easily, and you were able to fight head-on with Tang Afu, who is ranked fifth on the Dragon Elephant List. It seems that God really favors you." Luo Tianjin smiled meaningfully.

"Lord Luo, I..."

"Liu Xunyi, I have to admit that you are indeed a rare talent. With your intelligence and martial arts, your future achievements may be limitless, but..." Luo Tianjin's words suddenly paused here. He reached out and grabbed a few chess pieces from the chessboard, and then slowly "crackled" them on the table. A strange smile that was hard to understand appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said nonchalantly, "But Luo has always only liked playing chess, but not being used as a chess piece by others."

"Lord Luo, I dare not..."

Before the frightened Liu Xunyi could explain hastily, Luo Tianjin suddenly turned around, staring at Liu Xunyi's slightly frightened eyes with a terrifying gaze, and said word by word: "Liu Xunyi, you have been lying!"

……

(End of this chapter)