White-Robed Chief

Zhou Zifeng held up a fist salute as he bowed low to Chu Li.

Right now, it no longer mattered whether or not Chu Li could treat his second younger brother. He was already grateful for the forthrightness and friendliness Chu Li showed him during this moment of despair.

Chu Li returned the fist salute and chuckled. “I’m just afraid that I might not be able to live up to Eldest Master’s expectations and save the second young master.”

“We’ll have to leave him to his fate then!” Zhou Zifeng sighed.

Chu Li smiled and nodded before following them to the courtyard.

When he entered the courtyard, all eyes turned to him. Even the young married woman who was crying in the gazebo looked over.

“Sister-in-law, this is Chu Li, Chief Chu.” Zhou Zifeng introduced. “He has come to take a look at Second Younger Brother.”

The young woman was very beautiful. Her red, tearful eyes looked attractive and moving, and added an air of intensity to her. She calmly said, “I’ve heard so much about you, Chief Chu. Can you save my husband?”

Chu Li nodded. “Don’t worry, Madam. I’ll try my best.”

“Thank you so much!” The young married woman bowed to him happily and walked over to him. “Please, come in!”

She paid no attention to Zhou Zifeng.

Zhou Zifeng shook his head in resignation and stretched out a hand in a respectful manner, gesturing for him to enter.

Chu Li pretended not to have noticed it and walked in.

Even an honest and upright official would have difficulty resolving a family quarrel. It would be better for him not to intervene.

He knew at a glance what had caused this tension between them.

Initially, the eldest young master had offered to bring the protectors to go and deal with the Asuras but the High Duke had decided to have him stay and keep watch over the Public House. Rather, the second young master was to lead the protectors there while the High Duke would hurry over and join him soon after.

Before the High Duke could make it in the end, the second young master and his men had run into an Asura. While the second young master had fortunately managed to escape, he came out severely injured and after returning to the Public House, his condition only became worse because no one was able to treat him.

The young married woman blamed destiny for being unfair and felt that her husband was enduring this hardship on behalf of the eldest young master.

Now, as she saw how full of vitality and vigor the eldest young master was while her husband was nearing his end and might die at any moment, the more she found the eldest younger master to be an eyesore and did not wish to see him.

Chu Li came into the bedchamber and looked at Zhou Zimo, around whom black energy lingered.

“How is he?” Zhou Zifeng asked.

Chu Li replied, “He’ll be okay.”

He placed his hand on Zhou Zimo’s chest and poured into him the Cloud Slashing Power, which began devouring the palm energy. As the Shura Palm’s energy came surging over to get rid of it, the energy was quickly devoured as well. In the blink of an eye, the Cloud Slashing Power devoured all of the palm energy before entering back into Chu Li’s body.

He gathered spiritual energy from his surroundings and circulated the Minute Pulse Cleansing Technique through Zhou Zimo’s body for a few cycles.

The others observed the rapid changes in Zhou Zimo’s condition as the black energy around him soon faded and revealed his pale face, which then slowly improved into a healthy, reddish complexion. His labored breathing gradually slowed down into an even pace as he fell into a deep slumber.

Chu Li withdrew his hand and nodded. “He’s okay now.”

The thin elder man hurriedly came forward to feel at Zhou Zimo’s wrist.

Zhou Zifeng reached over and felt at his wrist as well. A smile appeared on his face, and he held up a fist salute and said, “Thank you, Chief Chu!”

Chu Li waved a hand. “It’s no trouble at all. Don’t worry about it.”

“Haha, it might’ve been no trouble at all for you Chief Chu, but for us, it was a life-saving grace!” Zhou Zifeng laughed with delight. “When Second Younger Brother wakes up, I’ll certainly have him come and thank you for this.”

Chu Li laughed. “Eldest Master, you’re too kind.”

The young woman who had been silently crying suddenly pushed past Zhou Zifeng as she came to the bedside and caressed Zhou Zimo’s face before leaning over him and sobbing with joy.

Zhou Zifeng gave Chu Li a rather awkward smile. “Chief Chu, let’s talk outside!”

Chu Li smiled and nodded.

The rest of them left the room while the young woman remained to take care of Zhou Zimo.

They went and sat down in the gazebo.

Lu Yuancheng laughed. “Chief Chu seems very familiar with the Shura Palm.”

He found it very hard to believe how easily Chu Li had managed to remove the Shura Palm energy and helped the second young master recover from his injury so quickly within such a short amount of time.

The entire High Duke’s Public House had been endlessly racking their brains over the second young master’s injury. Of all the High Official masters who had tried to save him, none had managed to deal with the Shura Palm.

Chu Li replied, “I’ve encountered them a few times, so I’m more or less familiar with Asura.”

“Asura is truly terrifying!” Zhou Zifeng sighed. “Second Younger Brother was almost killed by them, and we’ve lost two of our protectors. If it wasn’t for you, Chief Chu, Second Younger Brother might not have been able to survive!”

Chu Li smiled, shaking his head.

“You may have to wait for another three to four days to meet Father. Chief Chu, please just stay in our Public House in the meantime.” Zhou Zifeng offered.

It would be too unreasonable of him to let Chu Li stay somewhere outside of the Public House after the man had saved Second Younger Brother’s life.

Chu Li laughed. “That would be great. Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Given Chief Chu’s knowledge about Asura, I’d like to ask for some advice and guidance,” Zhou Zifeng said.

He turned to Lu Yuancheng and instructed. “Please get a courtyard ready for Chief Chu.”

“Understood.” Lu Yuancheng gave a fist salute as he rose from his seat. “I’ll go and make the necessary preparations then.”

Right after he had left, two people entered the courtyard. It was a man and a woman.

The man was exceptionally good-looking with his tall figure and smooth complexion.

Meanwhile, the woman was charming and lovely, and her glistening eyes added a seductive quality to her gaze. While she could not compare with Xiao Shi and her sisters, she was a rare type of beauty nonetheless.

“Eldest Brother, how’s Second Elder Brother doing?” the handsome man came forward and asked with a cold expression. “I heard his condition isn’t so well?”

“Second Younger Brother is okay now.” Zhou Zifeng waved a hand at him. “Come. Meet Chu Li, Chief Chu. He was the one who saved Second Younger Brother.”

He turned back to Chu Li with a smile. “This is my third younger brother, Zhou Ziyu.”

Zhou Ziyu gave a fist salute. “Chief Chu, thank you.”

Despite his handsome looks, he had an arrogant and callous temperament. He did not attach much importance to Chu Li and had merely greeted him with a fist salute for Zhou Zifeng to see.

The charming woman curtsied at him. “I’m Zhou Mei. Greetings, Chief Chu.”

Chu Li gave a fist salute. “Greetings, Third Madam.”

“I’ll go in and take a look at Second Elder Brother,” Zhou Ziyu said.

He led Zhou Mei into the house.

“My third younger brother has always had a rather cold personality. Please don’t mind him, Chief Chu.” Zhou Zifeng explained and laughed.

Chu Li shook his head and stared at their retreating figures with a thoughtful look.

…

In the following three days, Chu Li had almost never set foot outside and instead, remained in his courtyard in the Ji Public House cultivating the All-Knowing Scripture.

He wanted to advance his cultivation of the All-Knowing Scripture by a few levels so that his sense of smell would be able to cover a farther range.

Meanwhile, in these three days, Zhou Zifeng had been staying at the restaurant in the Ji River Valley. From morning to night, he would sit at a table near the window on the third floor.

As the people of Ji River Valley passed by the restaurant, they would be able to see Zhou Zifeng at once whenever they raised their heads and would find him leisurely drinking wine while reading a book. Nothing in his behavior seemed to suggest that any Asuras would be invading Ji River Valley.

While the people were still worried, they were not as anxious to leave Ji River Valley.

After all, the Ji River Valley was the safest place in the Ji Public House’s territory. If the Ji River Valley was not safe, the other places would be much less so. Thus, instead of leaving, they might as well stay inside the town. If an Asura were to show up, the protectors of the High Duke’s Public House would certainly not look on without doing anything.

In the evening of the third day, Zhou Zifeng was reading his book as usual on the third floor of the restaurant when Zhou Ziyu came over with the charming Zhou Mei by his side.

“Eldest Brother.” He gave a fist salute.

Zhou Zifeng put away his book and raised his head to look at him. “Third Younger Brother, why have you come out of the Public House?”

“I’m just here to join in the fun,” Zhou Ziyu said. “When will Father be back?”

“Anytime now,” Zhou Zifeng replied calmly. “You don’t have to worry about this. Just go back and stay at the Public House.”

“What’s the deal with that Chu Li?” Zhou Ziyu asked. “Are we really to treat him as a distinguished guest now?”

“He has saved Second Younger Brother’s life, so of course, we’re indebted to him.” Zhou Zifeng nodded. “Why?”

“I feel like there’s something wrong with this Chu Li.” Zhou Ziyu huffed. “The way he looks at Ah Mei is very odd. Could he be having some inappropriate thoughts about her?”

Zhou Zifeng was stunned for a moment and then immediately broke into laughter.

Zhou Ziyu scoffed. “You don’t believe me?”

Zhou Zifeng pondered over it and recalled that there was indeed something weird in the way Chu Li looked at Zhou Mei but no matter how weird it was, it was unlikely that he was lusting for her. Although this third sister-in-law of his looked seductive, Chu Li was not a lecherous person.