Panshi is a typical southern old city, with mottled traces left by long-term erosion everywhere.
During the martial arts league held every five years, the city will be briefly injected with fresh blood, bringing a moment of prosperity.
It is said that the first martial arts event in the southern ancient martial arts world was held here.
This tradition has continued to this day.
Lu Yuan and Li Dong walked west along the street beside the square.
One side of this street is the venue where the competition will take place when the Hundred Cities League is officially held.
The square is surrounded by colorful awnings, and under each awning is an ancient martial arts sect participating in this league.
Various competition arenas of various sizes have been set up in the middle of the square. They are in the shape of a lotus, and the center of the lotus is the largest arena.
Next to the ring is a rather impressive rostrum and a number of guest seats. Only sects with a certain strength and reputation in the southern martial arts community are eligible to sit in the guest seats. They do not have to squeeze into the awning like ordinary sects.
However, these guest seats are all empty now, and no one is allowed to enter for the time being.
The other side of the street is filled with stalls selling snacks and souvenirs.
A large number of tourists and people wearing martial arts uniforms from various schools mingle together, creating a chaotic and lively atmosphere.
"The Southern Hundred Cities Martial Arts League has such a big name, but even the competition venue is open-air."
As Lu Yuan walked, he looked around casually, not sure whether he was amused or disappointed.
Li Dong followed him step by step, lowered his head and quickly replied: "The main thing is that I have no money. Taking on this kind of competition is the most thankless thing.
I earn very little and have a lot of troubles.”
Lu Yuan frowned and said: "Although the ancient martial arts has declined, it's not like it can't even hold a competition. I see that among the famous sects, which one is not extremely rich?"
"My lord, you don't know."
Li Dong smiled bitterly and explained: "It's not that they don't have money, it's that we don't have money."
"Um?"
“Part of the funding for the league comes from advertising sponsors, and the other part is funded by sects of all sizes.
It actually adds up to a lot.
But most of the money was spent.”
Li Dong looked around, then approached Lu Yuan and said in a low voice: "They were all taken away by the people from Penglai.
What really comes into our hands is only a drop in the bucket.
With that little money, it is already the limit to be able to achieve this level of quality. We, Mosa, can’t let us pay for it ourselves.”
"Penglai?"
A strange look flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes, "Has Penglai always relied on this event to make money?"
"Always."
Li Dong quietly glanced at the row of guest seats in the center of the square and whispered: "A seat in the guest seats costs tens of millions.
This competition was postponed for three days, and the bidding was several times more intense than in previous competitions.
Those sect leaders who are obsessed with face will spend all their money trying to fight for one, so the premium is extremely exaggerated.
All this money ended up going into the pockets of the Penglai Holy Envoy."
Lu Yuan's eyes flashed when he heard this.
No wonder he asked the people in Mosa to find a way to postpone the competition so smoothly. It turned out that this matter was profitable for the people in Penglai, and they wanted it exactly.
It is estimated that even if he postpones it further, the people in Penglai will allow it.
"Penglai Wusheng Island seems to be rotten from the root."
Lu Yuan recalled the attitudes of You Long and Liu Daoyuan towards Penglai, both of which were disdainful from the bottom of their hearts.
He once thought that Penglai fell from the altar because of the impact of new military reforms and reforms.
Now you can see that the root knot is here.
"If you follow me like this, won't it cause criticism if others see you?"
Lu Yuan asked Li Dong casually.
Li Donggong replied: "Don't worry, Sir, someone else is responsible.
None of the participants, including the Penglai Holy Envoy, knew my identity.
Of course, I won’t know the identity of the adults.”
"Um."
Lu Yuan nodded, Sackford did a good job in this regard.
At this time, the two of them had walked out of Square Street and turned into a relatively quiet and nice path.
"In front is the He Faction's residence, I specially arranged the best place.
If you are not satisfied with it when you see it, I will change it for you."
Li Dong led Lu Yuan all the way forward. The environment here was quiet, and gradually he could see exquisitely trimmed green plants and beautiful single-family villas.
"Have you found any clues about the Crane Faction?"
Lu Yuan asked Li Dong directly.
Mosa was a local snake, and in their home turf, Lu Yuan felt that it would be more useful for them to investigate than to let Huang Xiong's people come.
Li Dong shook his head and whispered: "Still investigating.
From the arrival of the Crane Faction in Panshi to a total of twenty-one battles and conflicts that occurred today, we are investigating them one by one."
"etc."
Lu Yuan suddenly stopped and looked at Li Dong with narrowed eyes, "Twenty-one games? Isn't it twenty?"
"Just a few minutes before the adults arrived, the people from the Heart Refining Sect had another fight with the Crane Sect.
Liu Daoyuan, the contemporary leader of the Crane Sect, was injured by the Xinlian Sect leader and a disciple named Xue Guangyao."
"The leader of the Crane Faction is injured?"
Lu Yuan's steps suddenly stopped and his voice quickly turned cold.
Li Dong hurriedly added: "Actually, the injury is not serious, I just broke two prosthetic limbs.
In addition, I have sent the best doctor there!"
"That's good."
Lu Yuan's eyes relaxed slightly, he glanced at Li Dong and said calmly: "Let's go."
"oh oh"
Li Dong woke up from a dream, quickly raised his feet and followed closely.
He continued to report: "Our preliminary guess is that someone is deliberately provoking it in the dark, but the method is very secretive."
The two of them walked for about five minutes and saw a beautiful red-roofed villa in the distance.
"Sir, that's right there."
Li Dong stretched out his finger to show Lu Yuan.
The two of them got a little closer, only to find a group of people gathered at the door of the villa, noisily, and seemed to be cursing something inside the villa.
"Sir, wait a moment, I'll go over and take a look."
Li Dong's expression changed, and he subconsciously rushed forward to check the situation.
However, Lu Yuan stopped him and shook his head lightly.
"What are you doing?"
Lu Yuan's eyes flashed a few times, then he walked up a few steps and shouted to a group of people at the door of the villa from a distance.
Several people who were shouting and cursing turned their heads, stared at Lu Yuan with unkind eyes, and asked with anger: "Who are you?"
Lu Yuan had no expression on his face, casually grabbed the work ID hanging on Li Dong's chest, and replied: "Who do you think we are?
We are the organizer of the competition and came here after receiving the complaint."
"Then you've come at the right time!"
When the short-haired young man who scolded the most harshly among the group heard that Lu Yuan claimed to be a staff member of the organizer, his eyes lit up and he immediately came over.
"Complain? I still want to complain!"
The short-haired young man pointed in the direction of the door of the villa and said with an unhappy look on his face: "Why can a low-life garbage sect like the He sect live in a single-family villa, but us decent sects from well-known families can only sleep in the nearby shabby hotels?
I don’t accept it and I protest!”
"Live in a villa? Is this a bunch of rubbish from the Crane sect worthy of living in a villa?"
As he said that, the short-haired young man faced the direction of the villa and spit on the ground, showing great contempt.
Lu Yuan stared at the short-haired young man for a while, then suddenly turned to look at Li Dong beside him.
"Is this happening?"
"ah?!"
Li Dong was caught off guard and looked confused. He didn't know how to answer Lu Yuan's words for a moment.
Lu Yuan didn't think about his answer. After asking, he quickly turned his head, looked at the short-haired young man again, nodded and said: "Okay, I probably already understand the situation.
What's your name and which sect you belong to?
Our organizer will accept your suggestion and give you a different place to live when you return!"
"real?!"
The short-haired young man's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this, and he quickly said: "I am Cao Yong of the Tianyong Fist Sect. Don't lie to me. Change my room when you get back!"
Otherwise, I will file a complaint against you!"
"rest assured."
Lu Yuan comforted him gently, then turned to look at the others, "What about you?"
Seeing that there was such a good thing, these people couldn't wait to report their names and sects.
Wait for a group of people to leave happily like victorious generals.
The gentleness on Lu Yuan's face gradually faded, and his eyes gradually became colder.
He turned around and asked Li Dong calmly: "Have you written down all the names and sects they just mentioned?"
"take note of it."
Li Dong nodded, and then cautiously said with some hesitation: "Sir, are you really planning to change a place for them to live?"
"certainly."
Lu Yuan walked towards the door of the villa expressionlessly. As he walked, he said calmly: "Since they can't get used to staying in a hotel, let them go to the hospital.
Find someone to break all the hands and feet of those just mentioned.
All the sects they belonged to were disqualified from the competition.
As for the reason, you think about it yourself."
After saying that, Lu Yuan's figure had disappeared from the gate of the villa.
Li Dong was left with his mouth slightly open, standing there in astonishment, in a daze.
"who?!"
As soon as Lu Yuan stepped into the lobby of the villa, a figure shot toward him with a cold shout.
"boom!"
Lu Yuan gently pinched a strong calf, looked at Zhuang Xiujie with a murderous face in front of him, and said with a hint of helplessness: "It's me, Aunt Zhuang."
Letting go, Zhuang Xiujie stood there stunned for half a second, and then her face showed a look of surprise mixed with a little excitement.
"Senior Brother Lu, you are finally here."
"Um."
Lu Yuan nodded and continued walking inside.
A strong herbal smell immediately wafted out of the living room.
He looked slightly moved and strode in.
Immediately afterwards, I saw a group of descendants of the Crane Sect sitting on the sofas and chairs in the hall. Almost everyone had minor or serious injuries on their faces and bodies.
Among them, Zhao Qiancheng was the most seriously injured. He was lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, his chest was covered with bandages, and his breathing was somewhat disordered.
The strong herbal smell in the living room basically came from him.
When Lu Yuan walked in, no one spoke in the hall, and the atmosphere seemed quite depressing.
A feeling of unwillingness, anger, frustration, but also weakness and decadence filled the hall.
They were like a group of defeated generals, their morale had been shattered.
Only then did Lu Yuan begin to understand why Zhuang Xiujie had such a frightened overreaction before.
The appearance of Lu Yuan slightly broke the dull atmosphere in the living room.
One after another, the disciples stood up and greeted him with somewhat dull expressions.
Lu Yuan nodded and said nothing.
He went up to briefly check Zhao Qiancheng's injuries, and then directly asked Zhuang Xiujie on the side: "Where is the teacher?"
Zhuang Xiujie's expression darkened and she replied: "Upstairs.
He locked himself in the room and didn't let anyone in.
They even refused to give me medicine.”
It seems that being "bullied" by others these days has hit Lao Liu hard.
Lu Yuan sighed softly in his heart, and then Zhuang Xiujie led him slowly up to the second floor.
Arriving at the door of Liu Daoyuan's room, Lu Yuan gave Zhuang Xiujie a look and asked her to go downstairs first.
He held the door handle, twisted it slightly, and pushed it in.
"Crunch——"
The door opened.
The room was dark and dark, all the curtains were tightly drawn, and only a little light leaked in.
There was a faint smell of blood in the air.
In the darkness, Lu Yuan saw a thin figure sitting on a chair, facing the door.
Hearing the sound of opening the door, the figure raised his head little by little.
In the darkness, two electronic eyes flashed with a faint blue light.
Then, an old voice spoke in a low voice.
"You came"
Hearing this voice that revealed fatigue and depression for the first time, Lu Yuan's heart trembled inexplicably.
There was light shining in his eyes.
The next second, Lu Yuan strode in with a calm expression.
He walked up to the figure, squatted down, reached out and gently held the other person's cold mechanical arm, and said softly: "I'm here, teacher.
I'll take you back to the place."
After saying this, the blue light in the pair of electronic eyes in the darkness suddenly surged.
