Chapter 2132: A Madman
Chapter 2132: A Madman
Yu Chen grew somber. "There’s a place within the Celestial Frost Sect that houses nothing but classified records. I’ll find a way to help you learn what's in there."
Lu Yin laughed. "Since this is such a huge secret, do you even have the qualifications to find out?"
Yu Chen shrugged. "Definitely not right now, but since you want this information, there’s no way you’ll give up until you get it. You’ll make a plan, and I can act as a mole within the Celestial Frost Sect for you. Even if giving me this task is a death sentence, you should give it to me, and milk my value for all you can. Besides, I don’t wanna die."
"Why should I trust you?" Lu Yin stared at Yu Chen.
Yu Chen opened her mouth, but she did not know how to answer. Why should Lu Yin trust her?
"I don't know how I can win your trust, but you eventually have to go back to the Perennial World. Aside from learning more about the Lu family, there’s also Crimson Garden and the Star Alliance, both of which are things that you need to deal with," Yu Chen replied.
Lu Yin’s finger twitched at the mention of Crimson Garden. Yes, Crimson Garden was absolutely a place that he needed to return to, as he needed to rescue the people trapped there. All of them were members of the Lu family.
Lu Yin returned Yu Chen to captivity, stepped forward, and then made his way to another prison. This one was where the members of the Perennial World’s army had been locked up.
"Master, aren’t you going to see the other old people? Like Xia Ji?" Ku Wei asked.
Lu Yin said nothing. At this moment, his thoughts were in turmoil.
Before long, he saw more prisoners. These people were much easier to keep as captives, as none of them were Semi-Progenitors.
When Lu Yin saw the prisoners, they also saw him.
Among the people from the Celestial Frost Sect, Shi Xin calmly stared at Lu Yin.
Elder Qing Xing and the other powerhouses showed no change of emotion whatsoever. Only one person appeared timid. He was curled up in a corner of the shared cell, unwilling to even look outside the cage.
Lu Yin’s eyes instantly locked onto that person. "Get over here!"
The curled form trembled at the sharp shout, and it tightened into a smaller ball.
Elder Qing Xing rose to his feet, a cold expression on his face. "What are you doing, Lu boy?"
Ku Wei immediately stepped forward to glare at the prisoner. "Old man, who are you to question my master? Even old Bai Laogui has to get on his knees before my master! Who do you think you are?"
Elder Qing Xing instantly grew furious. "Audacious! How could Elder Bai get on his knees? You’re spouting nonsense, child."
Ku Wei raised his head high. "Who doesn’t fear death? My master rules this entire Fifth Mainland, and he stands above the whole of humanity. Forget some two-bit Semi-Progenitor—what would it matter if your Bai Laogui were a Progenitor?"
This provocation enraged Elder Qing Xing more than ever, and he pointed a finger at Ku Wei, only to find that he had nothing to say.
The other people from the Celestial Frost Sect also glared at Ku Wei in a silent fury, each one wishing that they could devour the bastard.
Lu Yin continued to stare at the person who was curled up in a corner of the cell. "I’ll tell you again: get over here!"
Still in the corner, the man quivered, but then he finally slowly picked up his head to look at Lu Yin. At that instant, it was as though time rolled back for the man, and he once again saw a happy young man waving at him. "Come on! Your young master found something delicious."
"I asked you, why are you so useless? Can’t you just do it? Here, your young master will teach you."
"Hey, did you get beaten up? Your young master will help you get revenge."
"That’s ridiculous! That’s not how you use Hidden Needle. Here, your young master will show you and make sure that you don’t get bullied again. In the future, people will need to show your young master a bit of respect, and you're my servant. When I become invincible and the Seven Heroes are unmatched, you’ll need to keep up with us. At the very least, you’ll need to become a Progenitor."
Echoes of the past replayed again and again as the man heard his young master’s voice in his head. The memories caused him to curl back up in a ball, more terrified than ever. His fear was so overwhelming that his eyes became unfocused. "I can’t leave! I won’t go! Young Master will kill me! I won't go. Can’t go…"
Everyone stared at the man as though he had lost his mind.
Shi Xin felt contemptuous. He had known Lu Zhen for a long time; even when Shi Xin had challenged Lu Xiaoxuan when he had been one of the Seven Heroes, Lu Zhen had been Lu Xiaoxuan’s page. The young man had appeared innocent and naive, but he had actually secretly harbored grand ambitions. At this moment, Lu Zhen was suffering the consequences of his actions. Retribution had finally arrived for him.
There was a click as the cell door opened.
The sound startled Ku Wei. "Master, be careful!"
He worried that Lu Yin would be attacked by the prisoners.
However, Ku Wei was overthinking things. Let alone the prisoners they were currently visiting, even Bai Laogui at his peak could no longer pose any threat to Lu Yin.
Step by step, Lu Yin moved past the Celestial Frost Sect disciples. He moved past Shi Xin, and then Elder Qing Xing.
Elder Qing Xing's fists clenched tighter and tighter, but there was nothing that he could do.
Lu Yin slowly approached the corner of the cell. He looked down at the quivering person.
"Look up," a deep voice ordered.
The person’s trembling became even more violent, and he lowered his head further. "No! Don’t go out! Young Master will kill me! I'm sorry, Young Master! I'm sorry for the entire Lu family! I can’t go out! I won’t go even if I am beaten to death!"
Lu Yin's eyes grew cold. He reached out, grabbed the man's hair, and simply picked him up. The man was terrified, and he attacked out of reflex, but he was only a one-tribulation Envoy. His strength was inconsequential to Lu Yin, and Lu Yin simply pressed the man against the wall of the cell.
Finally, Lu Yin was able to get a clear look at the man’s face. Sure enough, he was the same person that Lu Yin had seen use Hidden Needle when Possessing White Sage and eliminating Wang Yun.
"Lu Zhen." Lu Yin spoke through gritted teeth, a terrible chill filling his eyes.
Lu Zhen stared back at Lu Yin in terror. The man’s pupils kept fluctuating in size, and his face could not get any paler. "Ma- Master!"
Lu Yin slammed the prisoner against the wall and tossed him into the corner.
Lu Zhen spat out a mouthful of blood and clutched his stomach while curling back into a ball.
Elder Qing Xing could not stop himself from stepping forward to stop Lu Yin, but Lu Yin just turned around and shot a cold glare at the elder.
Elder Qing Xing was a mighty seven-tribulation Envoy, but this glare stopped him dead in his tracks. He felt chills from the look in Lu Yin’s eyes, and the elder did not dare to take another step forward. At this moment, he knew that one more step would absolutely result in his death.
The rest of the members of the Celestial Frost Sect remained as silent as could be. Not one person dared to speak up.
Lu Yin looked away and returned his attention to Lu Zhen. "Do you still remember me, Lu Zhen?"
Lu Zhen spat out more blood. It covered his entire face and even got into his eyes, dying his vision red. "Young Master, Young Master, Young Master…"
Lu Yin could not remember his past, but as he stared at Lu Zhen's face, he heard voices in his mind that felt incredibly familiar. "Young Master, slow down! Wait for me!"
"Young Master, Young Master Nong San is looking for you."
"Young Master, Tu Qiming is here yet again! That man is just shameless! He just wants to follow my young master!"
"Master, how can I learn the Hidden Needle? The family will kill me."'
"Young Master…"
The words “Young Master” rang in Lu Yin’s head as he looked at Lu Zhen's face. Lu Yin’s revulsion grew stronger and stronger as time passed. "Do you still remember me, Lu Zhen?"
Fear overwhelmed Lu Zhen, and his trembling grew worse. "Young Master, don't kill me! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I didn’t want to! It was him! He forced me, Young Master!"
Lu Yin yelled, "Who? Who forced you?"
Lu Zhen coughed up even more blood. "That madman! That lunatic! He forced me!"
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. "Be clear!"
Suddenly, Lu Zhen’s eyes went wide in a crazed manner. "It was you, Lu Xiaoxuan! It was all you! You didn't come find me! If not for you, I wouldn’t have been captured by that madman and tortured! It’s your fault! You abandoned me! You could only see that woman, and you never even thought of looking for me! It was you!"
Lu Yin watched as Lu Zhen started shouting wildly, but he did nothing to stop the man, allowing him to rant.
"It was you! You didn’t come find me! That madman tortured me for so long! You can’t imagine the pain I suffered. He’s mad! A complete madman!" Lu Zhen continued to rant while both crying and laughing. "The Lu family is gone, hahahaha. Lu Xiaoxuan, you’re dead! That woman deceived you and everyone else! I’m going to join the Celestial Frost Sect, and I’ll take that madman as my master.”
Suddenly, Lu Zhen dropped to his knees, an expression of worship covering his face. “Please, accept me as your disciple. I am also from the Lu family, and I want to learn everything we have. I want to have everything that Lu Xiaoxuan has.”
"I beg you to accept me. I want to bring the Lu family to glory once more. My family will become the Lu family’s backbone. That’s what you want, isn't it?"
The nearby disciples of the Celestial Frost Sect watched Lu Zhen's bizarre behavior, and they felt a chill run down their spines. They felt like they were seeing a ghost.
Lu Yin realized that he had already seen what Lu Zhen had just relived in his mind.
When he entered the Stargazing Deck In the Astral Combat Academy and triggered Destiny, Lu Yin had witnessed the scene that Lu Zhen had just acted out. The young man that Lu Yin had seen kneeling on the ground had been Lu Zhen, and he had been the man kneeling in an abandoned courtyard in front of a bloodstained Champions’ Stage. He must have been accepting someone as his master, and they must have also been a direct descendant of the Lu family, but who? Had that person been the madman that Lu Zhen had mentioned? Was there a madman in the Lu family?
At that moment, Lu Yin remembered the person from the Lu family whom he had seen meeting with Ancient God when traveling through time and space. Arch-Elder Zen had witnessed that event in his youth as well. Could that person be the madman Lu Zhen was talking about?
"No one is left from the Lu family. Only I, Lu Zhen, remain of the Lu family. I will represent the Lu family. I will absolutely bring glory to the Lu family once again in the future! My Lu family will be the only Lu family! My Lu family will be the only Lu family…" Lu Zhen kept muttering to himself. He sounded insane. No, he truly had lost his mind.
Lu Yin stared at Lu Zhen and saw the madness in the man’s eyes, as well as the painful memories and wild fantasies that had caused his mind to lose touch with reality. Lu Zhen had gone completely insane.
Elder Qing Xing shook his head helplessly. He had seen such people before. Certain people would crazily chase after dreams they could never obtain, but they would do so zealously. If such people remained obsessed over their dreams, then they would eventually go mad. When such things were combined with Lu Zhen’s unquestionable fear of Lu Yin, there was no way for the man to retain his sanity.
"He's completely gone." Progenitor Smoke had appeared, and she was staring at Lu Zhen.
Lu Yin quietly looked at Lu Zhen, who was prostrated on the floor of the cell, still muttering to himself with a wild look in his eyes. Lu Yin sighed and raised a hand.
Boom!
A sharp sound rang in everyone's ears, and Lu Zhen collapsed. Even dead, his fanaticism did not fade from his eyes.
He suffered no pain while dying, and in his mind, Lu Zhen had still been learning from his new master with the goal of restoring the glory of the Lu family, with him as the ancestor.
No one felt any sympathy for Lu Zhen's death. While he had betrayed the Lu family to help the Celestial Frost Sect, even the people from the Celestial Frost Sect looked down on a traitor.
Lu Yin felt a bit of regret, but only because he had no idea who the madman that Lu Zhen had spoken of might be.
Lu Yin turned around and left the prison. He asked someone to dispose of Lu Zhen's body.
"What are you going to do with the rest of us?" Elder Qing Xing asked. Everyone from the Celestial Frost Sect instantly focused on Lu Yin.
Lu Yin said nothing and simply left.
A complicated expression could be seen on Shi Xin's face. This person was Lu Xiaoxuan, but he was not really Lu Xiaoxuan.
Lu Yin had wanted to see Xia Ji and Wang Si next, but Lu Zhen’s death weighed heavily on him, and Lu Yin lost his desire.
"Master, why don't you allow your disciple to bring those two old farts to you?" Ku Wei said.
Lu Yin dismissively waved a hand before taking a step that took him out of the Heavens Sect. Another step saw him arrive on Earth.
He had appeared on the road to Jinlin. It was the location where he had killed a few people many years ago, as well as the place where he had first met Zhou Shan. After all this time, the road had completely changed, and nothing of what Lu Yin had known back then could be seen any longer.