Chapter 8: Fire Crystals
Watching the commotion outside, Lu Yin ordered a random two dishes before looking around. This restaurant clearly had someone important backing it; there were soldiers constantly patrolling the street, and the crowd outside didn’t dare cause a problem. A restaurant that could function in these chaotic times was definitely out of the ordinary.
“Here is your food, please enjoy.” The waiter dropped the dishes off quickly. Lu Yin took a single bite and frowned; although the food was much better than the mutant rats or dogs he had needed to eat, it still wasn’t very good. Swallowing hard, he started to go through it slowly while studying his map.
Shortly after, a group of about a dozen people entered the restaurant. The restaurant owner’s face lit up as soon as he saw them, “Young Master Kang, please come in! The rain is terrible outside, just let us know whatever you want and we’ll send it over right away.”
The young man at the head of the group just nodded in acknowledgment and sat at a nearby table, only briefly glancing at Lu Yin before looking away and tapping the table, “Bring him over.”
A person was thrown to the ground with a thud, overturning several seats. The man looked up at Young Master Kang while trembling, “I’m sorry, Young Master Kang, I didn’t know that it belonged to you. If I had known, I never would have dared to take it. I’m so, so sorry, please let me off this time!”
The boy sneered, “Let you off? If I did that, I would lose the respect of my followers. Did you know that I was planning to give that item to my uncle? Now that you’ve lost it, I’ll give you two choices; pay me thirty crystals or die.”
“Young Master Kang, no!” the person wallowed in despair, “I really didn’t know it was yours. Please forgive me; let me go, and I’ll be your slave for the rest of my life!”
However, the youth just slammed his fist on the table and pulled out a gun, aiming it at the man’s head, “If you don’t have the crystals, you’re dead.”
The person shrank back, wailing in horror, but then suddenly noticed Lu Yin sitting nearby. He pointed over, “It’s him! He’s the one I gave it to!”
Everyone turned around to look at Lu Yin, who simply set his glass down and stayed silent. He had noticed as soon as the group entered that the man being beaten was the same sketchy cultivator who had sold him the map he was studying. He had paid three crystals for the map, and the man had given him a pill as well. He’d found it strange at the time since the pill was very expensive, but now he realized that the pill had been stolen from this Young Master Kang.
The youth stared at Lu Yin for a while before kicking the sketchy cultivator, “How dare you lie to me, Xu San? Just pointing at a random person won’t save your life!”
Xu San protested desperately, “But it’s true, it really is him! He bought a map from me. Look, I sold him the map on the table, there’s my mark on the bottom right corner.”
Young Master Kang and his followers looked over to check, as did Lu Yin. There was indeed a mark on the corner, and the group immediately dragged Xu San over, “Brother, if you took something that wasn’t yours, shouldn’t you give it back now?”
“Get lost,” Lu Yin dismissed them.
The youth glowered, and one of the cultivators behind him raged, “What a tough attitude. Do you even know who’s behind Young Master Kang? You have some guts!”
Someone else tried to capture Lu Yin just as the man finished, but Lu Yin just took a chopstick and threw it forward. The thin bamboo pierced through the arms of several cultivators before it finally struck the wall, crumbling in the process. Blood sprayed out of the victims even as the wall itself collapsed, howls of pain ringing throughout the area. The youth paled and retreated anxiously with the rest of his posse, while the other cultivators and restaurant owner fled in shock.
Young Master Kang pointed his gun at Lu Yin, “My uncle is a captain. Don’t hurt us and just return it to me, and everything can be worked out.”
“I threw it away,” Lu Yin answered.
Young Master Kang obviously didn’t believe him, “I’ll tell you again; hand that thing over, or else you’ll know true despair. You can’t afford to anger a powerhouse in the Realm of Earth.”
Lu Yin was puzzled, “If your uncle is a Realm of Earth expert, why does he need that pill?”
“How dare you insult my uncle? You must have a death wish. Lao Wu, contact my uncle now,” Young Master Kang’s voice spluttered as his face twitched. He wasn’t stupid either, and knew that the gun wouldn’t be able to stop Lu Yin.
Lu Yin looked at Xu San’s half-dead body on the floor. He had believed that the arrogant young man wanted the pill, but realized that he was actually looking for something else and that Xu San had pushed the blame for this onto him. Xu San noticed and immediately avoided his gaze, but he just smiled. He didn’t mind taking the fall, but was now curious about what item could have roused the interest of a captain. He knew that Earth’s evolution was giving rise to many exotic items, which was why so many students from academies across the universe had come here to train. There was a possibility that this captain had found something special.
A short while later, a middle-aged man approached the restaurant and waved the soldiers away before peering in. The youth raised his gun up high and called out excitedly, “Uncle, over here!”
Lu Yin looked over only to recognize the man as Kang Dafeng, one of the captains who had been defeated by Zhao Yu. The man nodded towards his nephew, “Did you find it?”
“I did, but this guy took it away!” the youth replied angrily.
Kang Dafeng looked over with similar anger, but that expression quickly changed at the sight of Lu Yin. The image of Zhao Yu’s defeat was still etched in his mind, and he’d even felt envious of the new captain who’d defeated a Snow Maiden with ease. He walked over with a smile, “Brother Lu!”
Lu Yin smiled back, “What a coincidence, Brother Kang. Are you here for a meal?”
Kang Dafeng answered, “This restaurant is owned by my brother, so we come here for our gatherings quite often. I must apologize for what happened today, I hope Brother Lu won’t hold it against my nephew. He’s young and doesn’t know better.”
Everyone was flabbergasted by what they were seeing. What did this mean? Had they confronted some powerhouse?
Lu Yin grinned, “Everything’s fine, it was nothing serious.”
Kang Dafeng immediately glared at the youth, “Get over here and apologize to Brother Lu.”
The nephew wasn’t stupid, and didn’t stop to question things at all as he smiled and bowed in respect, “Forgive me, Captain Lu, I didn’t recognize you. I hope you won’t blame me.”
“I said it’s fine,” Lu Yin waved it off, chatting with Kang Dafeng for a while before the man left with the youths in tow. It wasn’t appropriate to say too much to a new acquaintance, but before the man left Lu Yin asked for Xu San to be left behind. In the meanwhile, the owner of the restaurant personally served Lu Yin and offered him many of the best dishes as a courtesy.
Outside the restaurant, Young Master Kang finally showed his confusion, “Uncle, why were you so polite to that person? Isn’t he another captain like you?”
Kang Dafeng spoke softly, “Remember to be polite if you meet him again. He’s extremely powerful.”
“Aren’t you also in the Realm of Earth, Uncle? How strong could he be?”
“Shush! This guy is several times stronger than me. Outside of the Executioner himself, no one in Nanjing can defeat him. Even Li Hongliang might not be a match.”
Young Master Kang’s mouth fell open, and he looked back at the restaurant in a daze before fleeing. Only now did he realize how close he’d come to dying.
Back in the restaurant, Lu Yin looked at Xu San coldly, “You’re quite brave to push the blame onto me.”
Xu San felt like all of his luck had left him. First he had stolen something only to discover that it belonged to Young Master Kang, and then he had tried to blame someone else who had turned out to be even more powerful! Even a captain had been deferential! Xu San was convinced that God had abandoned him and that he was about to die.
“What was the thing that Kang Dafeng wanted?” L u Yin asked casually.
“A red crystal, but I already sold it,” Xu San collapsed on the ground and replied bitterly.
“Oh? Was it quite hot?”
“How did you know?” Xu San was shocked.
Lu Yin immediately recognized the item as a fire crystal. Many battle techniques required such crystals since they could produce flames upon contact. In concept their usage was similar to Zhao Yu’s Frost Palm, they were external items that could help execute a battle technique. Fire crystals were very popular in the universe. and were naturally very rare in a place like Earth. It was little wonder that Kang Dafeng desired one so much.
“Do you know where it came from?” he asked.
Xu San shook his head.
“Hahaha. So you pushed the blame on me and made me a random enemy out of nowhere, yet there’s no compensation?”
Xu San paled, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
Lu Yin played with his chopstick, “Do you want to bet that this chopstick can pierce your throat? I feel like testing it out.”
Xu San shook with fear, remembering the earlier scene of another chopstick piercing the arms of multiple cultivators. He started banging his forehead against the floor, his repeated kowtows forming a small lump on his forehead and causing Lu Yin to shake his head; he had gone so far that the man now saw a shadow of his death. Sipping on his water, he prepared to leave.