Way of the Devil

Three Fruits Lake.

Surrounded by mountains, the little lake’s ripples reflected colorful lights from the sun.

In a four-square house next to the little lake was a circle of tables and chairs. A bunch of men and women with swords was sitting at the tables, registering every person that walked up to them.

The registration line was really long, folding back on itself multiple times. It filled up the entire marsh area around the lake.

Some were middle-aged with children, some were solitary people dressed like the powerful, and some were rich families with guards. All of them were here to register.

“Hey! Brother Lu, we meet again.”

At the end of one of the lines, a well-dressed young man surrounded by bodyguards greeted the black-clothed man in front of him.

The man in black glanced at him expressionlessly, and didn’t answer.

“Brother Lu, when did you arrive? I’m more than familiar with the area around Three Fruits Lake. You should have asked me to show you around! Brother Chen and the rest arrived yesterday, but I didn’t see you.” The young man looked to be around seventeen or eighteen—a good age to get married. He wasn’t a teenager anymore.

His last name was Wu, and his name was Quansheng. He didn’t have a courtesy name ¹ yet as his master was supposed to decide on that after he succeeded in his studies or profession. Or, he could give himself one after achieving something great. So, most people didn’t have a courtesy name, and were called just by their names instead.

The Brother Lu he was calling out to was Lu Sheng.

Since Three Fruit Lakes wasn’t really far, and he didn’t want to attract attention and become world famous, Lu Sheng decided to travel on foot. That was where he met Wu Quansheng, and got invited to join them.

Thinking that it would be easier to hide among numbers, Lu Sheng joined them and traveled to Three Fruit Lakes with them.

There were more than ten people in this group, but only a few knew martial arts. The rest were ordinary people with just a few self-defense moves, and carried swords only for safety, but they all pretended to be experienced fighters, tricking this young master completely.

S,o after a while, Wu Quansheng started calling everyone “brother”. He was impulsive, loyal, and generous, giving one of the brothers ten pieces of silver when he heard that he was in trouble.

This surprised this group of fakes, so all of them started getting close with Wu Quansheng on the way here, using him as a money tree and making him pay for everything.

Having seen this a lot, Lu Sheng only watched.

Lu Sheng didn’t know if Wu Quansheng was stupid, but he always had a smile on, even if he found out that he was cheated out of money. He still did the same thing next time as if he didn’t care.

“Brother Lu, are you also here to register with the Spring Sun Sect?” Wu Quansheng asked in a small voice. “This is my third time, but I never got in. After two more times, I will pass the age limit and be unable to register anymore…”

Lu Sheng ignored him.

The line moved forward a bit and stopped again.

Wu Quansheng continued, “I feel like I won’t make it this time, either. My father has already warned me to go back and take over the family business soon.”

“Isn’t that good? You’re not meant for martial arts,” Lu Sheng replied.

“Huh!? Brother Lu, you can talk?!” Wu Quansheng was greatly shocked.

“…” Lu Sheng reached out and pinched Wu Quansheng’s cheek, then twisted it hard.

“Aah!!”

A piercing scream.

His bodyguards couldn’t help turning their heads and laugh. Of course they knew what their young master was like.

Lu Sheng released Wu Quansheng, then turned around and ignored him.

“Brother Lu, my brother, you’re too strong…” Wu Quansheng rubbed his cheek, wailing. “Oh, right, are you coming to the Spring Sun Flower Banquet? Brother Chen and the others are coming too, so, Brother Lu, you should—”

“Can you not tell?” Lu Sheng felt exasperated. “They’re just using you for money.” He knew what Brother Chen and the others were like. They were making themselves out to be so good that one breath of theirs could kill an ordinary person.

Their real strength was eons away from what they claimed it to be.

“Impossible!” Wu Quansheng waved his hand, and laughed. “I believe in Brother Chen and them. Also, why does it matter if they’re fake? My father said that there are always ups and downs in a person’s life. Everyone hits a low sometimes. As long as Brother Chen and the others remember my good side when they prosper, this won’t be much of an issue anymore.”

He was pretty open-minded. Lu Sheng took a second look at this fellow.

Now he understood. It wasn’t that Wu Quansheng didn’t know that a lot of people were using him for money, but that he loved making friends. The phrase “everyone is a brother” was true to him. He liked this type of life, and didn’t care about the small amount of money he got cheated out off.

Rich but dumb.

After deciding that, Lu Sheng started ignoring him again.

The line moved forward inch by inch. Wu Quansheng was a little behind Lu Sheng, calling and waving to people he knew. Everyone was a brother or sister as if he knew everyone. His connections were innumerable.

Time passed slowly. The long, winding line finally through half of its length.

“Wu Quansheng?” A fierce, low, male voice sounded from the crowd. Soon, three bulky men dressed in gray and holding bronze sticks walked into the line.

“Last time, you destroyed my pleasantries. But now, you’re here, hehehe.” Behind the three men walked up a handsome, pale young man. There was a hint of the devil in his eyes.

“You?!” Wu Quansheng paused, then recognized the other one, his face darkening as he spoke angrily, “You still dare to show yourself? Wow, kidnapping girls on the street, so fierce, so handsome, so powerful!”

“Bullsh*t! Those two girls came up by themselves, and wouldn’t let go. Why is it my fault?” The devilish young man chuckled coldly.

Wu Quansheng restrained his anger, and said coldly, “Just you wait! Third Brother Chen from the law enforcement force from the city is here. Let’s go see the city judge together and see what he decides!”

“The city judge?” The devilish young man started laughing. “Third Brother Chen? Who is this Third Brother Chen you’re talking about?”

Wu Quansheng paused, then looked left and right. Third Brother Chen, who was in the line just to the right of him, had disappeared.

Not just that, but everyone avoided him as if they were scared of being brought into the situation.

His heart turned cold. He then looked behind him. Even his own bodyguards looked uncomfortable and maintained a slight distance with him.

“Young Master… this is… the Lin Family… the third son of the Lin Family…” one of his guards said in a small voice, embarrassed.

The third son of the Lin Family…

Wu Quansheng’s eyes widened as he understood.

He looked around, but everyone who called him brother and enjoyed feasts with him had all disappeared into the crowd.

Even the ones who made eye contact with him pretended not to know him. In a second, it seemed like he was the only person there.

The devilish young man waved his hands, and said impatiently, “Give him a beating and break both of his legs, then throw him out. It’s annoying to have to see him.”

“Yes.” From the three people in front of him, one of them grabbed his bronze stick and walked toward Wu Quansheng.

“Brother Chen…” Wu Quansheng’s face paled. He was just an ordinary rich man’s son, and had never seen such reality before. As his legs wobbled, he tried to find Brother Chen, who had boasted about his strength.

However, he couldn’t find him.

“Sister Wang…” He then tried to find Sister Wang, who also said she was good. However, she pretended not to see him, completely blind to his pleading gaze.

Wu Quansheng’s heart dropped. All his friends had seemed so loyal, but at such a time, they…

No one stood out. Everyone made a circle around him. Most people didn’t even glance his way.

“Haha…” Wu Quansheng finally understood. No one wanted to get involved. When he had money, they all wanted to be his brother, yet when he got into trouble, all these people… He suddenly understood a lot, and also came to terms with a lot.

“Buddy, the next time you see our young master, remember to pay your respects. Who told you to offend someone you shouldn’t have…” The bulky guy raised his bronze stick and smashed it towards Wu Quansheng’s right leg.

“So f*cking loud!!” Suddenly, a huge force slammed into the bulky guy from the side. It was a spinning figure.

“Bang!!”

A loud crack sounded. With all their bones broken, the two men were like shattered melons as they flew backwards, smashing into the other two people behind them.

All four of them then slammed into the devilish young man and tumbled to the ground with cries of pain.

There was an immediate silence. No one saw this coming. The son from the Lin Family was knocked to the ground in the sudden turn of events, squashed under a few men who weighed over two hundred pounds each. All his bones were shattered.

“Gulp.”

Wu Quansheng looked at Lu Sheng with his jaw slack, then stared at the people on the ground.

He saw with his own eyes that Lu Sheng grabbed the hair of the person next to him and threw him into the bulky guy and his two friends, knocking them all onto the ground.

At this time, the bulky guy on top climbed up due to his strong body, and waved his bronze stick around while yelling, “Who!!? Come out, you bastard!! Daring to attack the third son of the Lin Family, I think you’re looking for—”

“Go die!!” Suddenly, a shadow flew out of the crowd, and smacked the bulky guy right in his chest.

“Bang!!”

Coughing up blood, the bulky guy was sent flying over ten meters, knocking down a large part of the crowd.

“What Lin Family or Wang Family, do you know what place this is?” The shadow finally stood still. He was a short middle-aged man, screaming on the top of his lungs. “This is the Spring Sun Sect! If you dare to cause trouble here, even if the sky god himself came, he would still have to be carried out!”

This middle-aged man was Feng Yuan, who was put in charge of this area by the Spring Sun Sect. He was stubborn and arrogant, and often caused much annoyance, using dirty tricks and asking for bribes and anything else imaginable.

Usually, everyone tried to avoid this man. However, right now, Wu Quansheng was overjoyed to see Feng Yuan here.

Originally, he had a bad impression of him due to bribes and stinginess, but right now, he saw him much more handsome than ever before.

Feng Yuan glanced around. Seeing the fancy clothes on the Lin Family’s son, he instantly understood there was money to make.

“Causing disturbance during registration and harming other candidates for disciples. No, no, hehehe, this must be checked.” He walked up and grabbed the third son of the Lin Family. Calling a few people over to help, he strided back toward the registration spot of the Spring Sun Sect.