Chapter 447
Chapter 447
“Lord Kuai. What do you want?” Deng Tian asked, knowing that there were no free meals in this world. He became a cautious person after the Deng Family was wiped out. Nobody would be so kind as to accept someone as a disciple so easily. Even if Kuai Ran is an idiot, his status alone would make him a famous teacher as becoming a disciple to Kuai Ran would make them a disciple to the Kuai Family. With the Kuai Family’s status, it would not be a problem to become an official. The Deng Family may be able to become influential again.
Why would Kuai Ran give this boon to Deng Tian? While they were friends, this was not something possible for friends. The Deng Family was already destroyed and there were also enmity between the Deng Family and Huang Family. Huang Zu pleaded for Deng Tian’s life but this would not have pass if it was not because Liu Biao wanted to balance the powers in Jingzhou.
If the Kuai Family accepts Deng Fan as a disciple, it would mean they have plans to offend the Cai Family.
“I don’t want anything other than loyalty1!” Kuai Ran replied. Kuai Ran also knew that he would offend the Cai Family but he could not reject Liu Mang’s request.
“Loyalty?”
“Yes.”
“Is it possible to tell me why?” Deng Tian questioned. He wondered what made Kuai Ran appear personally to accept his disciple, offending the Cai Family without hesitation.
“When the time comes, Brother Kainan will know.” Kuai Ran said to Deng Tian. This is because Liu Mang did not want to expose his identity.
“You can’t say? Then apologies. This dog thanks Lord Kuai for the offer but his son is too insufficient to be taught by Lord Kuai!” Kuai Ran immediately refused.
“Brother Kainan?” Kuai Ran did not expect Deng Tian to reject his offer so quickly. It was such a good offer that they would definitely become successful unless they were an idiot.
“Deng Tian is not willing?” Liu Mang frowned. He was determined to obtain Deng Fan. If he could not have Deng Fan, no one will. That being said, he did not give up. Deng Tian may have rejected the offer now but that does not mean he would do reject the offer again in the future.
Deng Tian was unwilling because he did not want to be involved in any political conspiracy. While the offer was good, he had to gamble the life of his son. This was something he would not do as what he wanted above all else was for his family to survive
“Since Lord Kuai is here, there is no need to go to the Huang Family residence. Please make things easy for us and allow us to search the carriages!” Deng Tian said again. There was no need to involve the defenders of Xiangyang as they were only here to look for a criminal instead of creating one.
“There is no need to search!” Liu Mang suddenly came out of the carriage. “You are looking for a barbarian man right?”
“This sir is…?” Deng Tian saw Liu Mang came out from the same carriage as Kuai Ran and believed that Liu Mang must be one of those influential nobles. However, he did not know who Liu Mang was.
“Brother Wang!” Kuai Ran nodded at Liu Mang and then introduced him. “Brother Kainan. This is Brother Wang Shu. Right now, he is a student at the Lumen Academy.”
“A student from the Lumen Academy?” The students from the academy were all popular.
“Lord Wang. What do you mean by those words earlier?” Deng Tian asked.
“If you are looking for a barbarian man carrying a woman, we have ran into him!” Liu Mang said directly.
Kuai Ran looked at Liu Mang feeling confused. If Liu Mang wanted to bring out the barbarian man, he would have done so already instead of waiting for so long. They should be hiding his existence instead. With Kuai Ran around, Deng Tian would not dare to approach if they admitted to nothing.
However, the smell of blood was too strong so it was actually impossible to hide it. As Liu Mang did not want to become enemies with Deng Tian, he did not want to forcefully make Deng Tian leave.
“That’s right! It’s that barbarian man! Where is he right now?” Deng Tian asked but his eyes were glued to the carriage. His sense of smell was good and he was already certain that the barbarian was in the carriage.
Of course, Liu Mang would not just take out the barbarian. If he wanted to do, he would have already done so earlier. He would not wait for Deng Tian to ask this question.
“He took one of our carriages and left!” Liu Mang lied. With his men and himself here, even those in the refinement stage wouldn’t find any benefits attacking them.
“What about that smell of blood?” Deng Tian frowned. Deng Tian believed them if they said they had encountered the barbarian. After all, Jia Xu’s men had blood on their blades. However, he did not believe Liu Mang when he said that the barbarian had already left.
“I don’t know who that barbarian is. His skill was excellent. Not only did he steal our carriage. He even injured me!” Liu Mang said as he showed his injury to Deng Tian. The injury itself wasn’t too serious but it was still bleeding.
“That carriage!” Deng Tian did not give up and still insisted on looking inside that carriage. Liu Mang had underestimated Deng Tian who went straight for his goal.
“Lord Kuai and Lord Wang. Please make things easy for us and allow us to check that carriage! That way, we are able to go back and make a proper report!” Deng Tian requested and then waved his hand, ordering his men to go ahead before Liu Mang could even reply.
While the two subordinates beside Jia Xu tried to stop them, there were too many people. They could only stop them if they took out their swords but they did not dare to do act without Liu Mang’s orders.
Kuai Ran looked to Liu Mang, as though he wanted to confirm that the barbarian was in the carriage. If the barbarian was found, there would be a huge problem. He stepped forward to block the crowd as well. “Deng Tian! You are being too excessive!”
Unfortunately, Kuai Ran alone would not be enough. Liu Mang patted Kuai Ran’s back.
“Head! There is someone here!” The pungent smell of blood flowed out when a man pulled open the curtains of the carriage. A bloody figure could be seen lying down in the carriage.
“Lord Kuai Ran. I have offended you. Would you follow me back to explain this?” Deng Tian questioned. While he did not do anything to Kuai Ran, he still had to bring an explanation back to the Huang Family.
“I want to see who dares!” Liu Mang finally spoke up. When Liu Mang spoke, Jia Xu’s three men also drew out their swords. Seeing this situation, Deng Tian’s men also drew their swords. The two sides intimidated each other. Just as the situation was about to turn messy, a voice shouted out “Head! This is not him!”
“What’s going on?” The bloodied man sighed from the carriage. He was tall and sturdy. His body was full of blood. However, he was not the barbarian they were looking for.
“Hm?” Deng Tian was stunned. Kuai Ran also could not believe his eyes. Only Liu Mang and Jia Xu remained indifferent.
“Brother Wang. What is this?” Kuai Ran asked in a soft voice. The bloodied man in the carriage was Jia Xu’s fourth subordinate. It was the subordinate that got injured by the barbarian.
Liu Mang did not give Kuai Ran a direct reply and instead patted his shoulder to calm him down. “Brother Deng Tian! I already said that we ran into the barbarian and then he took our carriage. That barbarian injured me. In order to protect us, our guards also got injured. That was why we had him rest in the carriage.” Liu Mang was acting indifferently because of Jia Xu. When he saw that Jia Xu was calm, he knew that Jia Xu had already prepared everything. The carriages from the brothel all had a secret compartments to hide people, in order to protect clients with fierce wives. It was a small compartment that is big enough for the comfort women. Although the barbarian was too big for the hidden compartment to be comfortable he was unconscious so it didn’t matter.
When Deng Tian was stalling for time. Jia Xu was also stalling for time. It was during that moment when he made this trick.
Jia Xu was truly formidable at training his men. Liu Mang remembered that this soldier did not have so many injuries. Most of his injuries here were cuts but the barbarian had used a pitchfork. Evidently, the soldier had injured himself to act.
“Is that so?” Deng Tian was doubtful. The smell of blood was too strong for it to belong to one person.
At this point, Deng Tian heard a cough come from the carriage. “What is that sound?”
Immediately after, the injured soldier in the carriage coughed as well to cover that sound. However, Deng Tian was able to differentiate the difference. “Is there a hidden partition?” Deng Tian thought and then immediately stepped forward.
“Hm?” Jia Xu realized that he had made the mistake of forgetting to cover the barbarian’s mouth.
Just as Deng Tian was about to personally investigate, one man riding the horse came forward and shouted. “Leader. We are too far ahead! We have already found him!”
“We found him?”
“He is still within the inner city!”
“Let’s go!” Deng Tian replied. Since they had already found their target, he would not continue to offend Kuai Ran and investigate the carriage.
“Lord Kuai Ran. Lord Wang. Please forgive me for the offenses made earlier!” Deng Tian climbed up his horse and cupped his fist towards the two.
“Hmph!” Kuai Ran felt resentful because Deng Tian did not seem to show him any face earlier. On the other hand, Liu Mang smiled back and replied. “Good luck, Brother Deng Tian! We won’t be sending you off.”
“Deng Tian! My offer stands. If you reconsider, you can have your son become my disciple! I only ask for loyalty” Kuai Ran was unwilling but still said that due to Liu Mang’s urging.
“In that case, I thank Lord Kuai Ran for the generous offer!” Deng Tian waved. He did not want to be dragged into another conspiracy.