Lu Jingjun, trailing behind, was full of questions, but he didn’t dare ask and could only follow obediently.
As soon as he entered the main house, Lu Yun’s brow furrowed. He had sensed the aura within—one of utter debilitation—from a great distance away.
An old man lay on the bed, his hair white and his face gaunt. His cheekbones protruded sharply, and his eyes were deeply sunken.
His skin hung loosely from his frame, leaving him so thin he looked like nothing more than a bag of bones.
He looked to be in his late eighties, the kind of person who already had one foot in the grave.
But Lu Yun knew the man was only seventy.
Thirty years ago, as an Imperial Guard at the Peak of Anjin, Chu Baoshen had been brimming with vitality and exceptionally agile. He was considered quite an expert in the Imperial Palace.
To think that in just thirty short years, he would be reduced to this state.
At that moment, Chu Chongyi rushed forward to gently help the old man sit up in bed.
The old man slowly opened his eyes and spoke in a weak, breathless voice, "Chongyi... Is it time to eat again?"
Chu Chongyi’s voice caught in his throat. "Dad, it’s not time to eat. Just look who’s here."
The old man slowly turned his head as he was told.
His cloudy eyes came to rest on the figure standing at the doorway, leaning on a Purple Vine Staff.
Then, those eyes flew wide open. The cloudiness vanished, replaced by incredulous shock.
"Brother Chu, it’s been a long time," Lu Yun said, breaking the silence.
Hearing that familiar voice, Chu Baoshen looked as though he had been struck by lightning. He shot bolt upright in bed!
He stared fixedly at Lu Yun, his eyes wide, his lips trembling for a long moment, unable to speak.
Then, Chu Baoshen threw back the blanket and struggled out of bed, staggering step by step toward Lu Yun.
He was both shocked and overjoyed. "Brother Lu, why have you come?"
A second later, the joy on Chu Baoshen’s face was instantly replaced by terror. He grabbed Lu Yun’s arm. "How could you come here? Leave! Now! I can’t drag you down with me!"
"Didn’t we agree? I told you not to come looking for me! How could you..."
Lu Yun didn’t move. He simply watched Chu Baoshen quietly, allowing the man to clutch his arm.
"Don’t worry, Brother Chu," Lu Yun said. "Don’t you know me by now? I never do things I’m not confident about."
Chu Baoshen froze. He stared at Lu Yun for a long, long time, and then he finally noticed something.
’If I remember correctly, Brother Lu is ten years younger than me. That would make him sixty.’
’So why does he look like a man in his forties?’ As he realized this anomaly, Chu Baoshen’s eyes grew wider and wider.
"Brother Lu, your appearance... could it be that you..."
Lu Yun didn’t leave Chu Baoshen wondering for long. He gave a slight nod. "That’s right. I’ve made some progress in my realm these past few years."
’Some progress? Progress from the Peak of Anjin? Doesn’t that mean... Brother Lu has broken through to the Grandmaster of Huajin Realm? The realm I’ve only ever dreamed of reaching?’
After a momentary stun, an incredibly brilliant smile bloomed on Chu Baoshen’s withered face. "HAHAHAHAHA! Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!"
"I knew I wasn’t mistaken about you! How could a realm like that ever contain a genius like you, Brother Lu?"
Overjoyed, he turned and yelled to Chu Chongyi, who was still standing dazedly at the door, "Chongyi! Quick! Go out and buy some good wine and food! Tonight, I’m drinking with Brother Lu until we can’t drink anymore!"
Before long, only Chu Baoshen and Lu Yun remained in the room.
Chu Baoshen sat in a chair, the smile on his face slowly fading. He looked at Lu Yun with a complex expression.
"Brother Lu, you really shouldn’t have come to Yanjing to find me. It doesn’t matter if an old bag of bones like me dies."
He paused before adding, "Even though you’re a Grandmaster of Huajin now, there are many powerful experts among them. You have no need to get involved with them."
After a moment of silence, Lu Yun spoke. "Brother Chu, can you tell me what happened?"
He, too, was extremely curious about what could have happened to put Chu Baoshen’s body in its current state.
Thirty years ago, Chu Baoshen was an Imperial Guard at the Peak of Anjin, and unlike Lu Yun, he wasn’t carrying a slew of old, hidden injuries.
Logically, even with the natural decline of one’s vitality after the age of fifty-five, someone at Chu Baoshen’s Peak of Anjin Realm should have easily been able to live for a hundred years or more.
He shouldn’t be like this at only seventy, looking as if he were barely hanging on by a thread.
’Now, it seems there’s only one explanation: someone gravely injured Chu Baoshen.’
Riddled with guilt, Chu Baoshen didn’t hesitate, telling him everything.
After he had spoken for a good ten minutes, Lu Yun finally had a general understanding of the situation.
For years, the people from the Cultural Relics Bureau had been scouring the world, searching for palace personnel who had escaped the Imperial Palace back in the day.
Imperial Guards, eunuchs, and Palace Maids with powerful martial arts—they left no stone unturned in their search for them.
They were after two things: relics of the Zulong Dynasty and other priceless treasures.
In the last six months, they had set their sights on the Dragon Robe of the Grand Ancestor Emperor Yinting.
Before all this, Chu Baoshen had been living a peaceful life as an instructor at a martial arts gym in Yanjing.
But six months ago, people from the Cultural Relics Bureau showed up at his door and took him away.
They subjected him to all manner of torture but couldn’t get him to talk, so they turned to tempting his family with rewards.
His second son, Chu Chongyi, didn’t say a word. His eldest son, Chu Chongxiao, however, betrayed his father without a moment’s hesitation—and, of course, he betrayed Lu Yun as well.
Chu Chongxiao told them that when he was fifteen, he had personally witnessed his father escaping from the Imperial Palace, carrying many items with him.
Why? Because he was resentful.

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