A Chaotic World

Chapter 26: Warning

Lu Tianzi was surprised at the sudden offer from Gong Shengjie.

Even though Gong Shengjie phrased it as being brothers, Lu Tianzi knew that Gong Shengjie was effectively just asking Lu Tianzi to work for him.

This was supposed to be a reconciliation meeting, so how did this job offer just suddenly come out of nowhere?

But looking at the bunch of people standing behind Gong Shengjie, Lu Tianzi quickly understood the situation.

As the son of a District Head, Gong Shengjie truly wielded quite a bit of influence. However, this influence was merely borrowed from his father's name.

That might not be a problem at the moment, but the future was probably what Gong Shengjie worried about.

In the future when Gong Shengjie finally took on certain responsibilities, those who served his father could be brought in to assist him. However, the person to whom their loyalty lied would never be Gong Shengjie, but the son of Gong Tiesha.

They were referring to the exact same person, but their identities were completely different.

If Gong Tiesha were to lose his influence one day, which would happen sooner or later, then Gong Shengjie would similarly lose his control over these people who were working for him.

Unless Gong Shengjie had his own group of subordinates who were absolutely loyal to him, it might be difficult to keep things under control at that time.

That was why rather than asking for help from his father every time, Gong Shengjie had always tried to hire his own men to solve his own problems.

By resolving issues on his own, Gong Shengjie could prove his capability to his father and his father's subordinates. On top of that, he would also be able to develop his own group of men who were loyal to him, Gong Shengjie, and not the son of Gong Tiesha.

But now that his entire group of subordinates had been defeated by Lu Tianzi, if Gong Shengjie did not do anything about it, then their reputation would be severely undermined.

In this case, the easiest solution would be to simply hire Lu Tianzi to join the group!

If he managed to do so, Gong Shengjie could prove to everyone that even if there was a problem that his subordinates could not overcome, he would be able to resolve it.

At the same time, he would also be able to gain a capable subordinate, preventing such a situation from arising again in the future.

As for his subordinates, they would also see him in a different light. He would be a leader who had the charisma and influence to take in the person whom they were completely helpless against.

That would be the best possible outcome for him in this situation!

But this was still a gamble that he was making.

If Lu Tianzi were to reject him flat out, then things would get awkward.

That would mean Lu Tianzi did not care enough about Gong Shengjie to be moved by his offer, and this would result in a hit to his prestige in front of his subordinates.

After all, if Lu Tianzi did not care about being Gong Shengjie's right hand man, did it mean that his subordinates were all striving for a position that others did not care for?

Lu Tianzi frowned as he thought about this.

Naturally, he never considered working for this idiot.

In the first place, the reason that they were having this meeting was completely borne from Gong Shengjie's incapability to judge the situation calmly.

Why would he want to work for somebody like that?

Secondly, working for Gong Shengjie, especially as his right hand man, would definitely place him under the eyes of Gong Tiesha.

While he never had much contact with this District Head in the past, they had still come across each other once when Lu Tianzi was named as Holy Guardian. With just that one encounter, he risked exposing his true identity if Gong Tiesha were to recognise his face.

So all that remained was how he could tactfully reject Gong Shengjie.

If he were to be too direct with the rejection, then he might even reignite Gong Shengjie's hatred towards him!

He turned to look at Elder Huo and Uncle Ye, who had interesting expressions on their faces to say the least. Both of them were obviously too surprised by the sudden turn of events to render him any assistance, so Lu Tianzi could only rely on himself.

"I'm honoured that you think so highly of me, but this is a huge decision to make," Lu Tianzi held his chin as if he was deeply contemplating over the issue.

"Hahaha! I understand that this might have been a little too sudden. But Brother Zhanyuan, this is a rare opportunity for you as well! You are definitely a man who is made for greater things than just herb picking. So here I am, extending my hand to give you that chance to shine. You really should not miss this opportunity!" Gong Shengjie smiled. "Don't you think so, Elder Huo?"

Elder Huo snapped out of his thoughts upon being called out, "T-That is true"

Elder Huo was not just agreeing because he was asked by the son of the District Head. He truly felt that it would be a good opportunity as well. Even if Gong Shengjie was not the brightest, there was no doubt that he was still in the position to completely change a worker's life for the better.

But Lu Tianzi was unlike any regular worker.

"Look, even Elder Huo agrees with me! So what do you think, Brother Zhanyuan?"

"This I would like to have some time to think about this. Would a week be all right?" Lu Tianzi asked, the solemn contemplating expression never fading from his face.

Gong Shengjie was a little unhappy to hear that response, but at least it was not a straight rejection.

"I understand that Brother Zhanyuan might still have your reservations because of how we started off on the wrong foot. All right then, I will send my men to look for you again in a week's time. I hope you can make your decision by then."

"Thank you," Lu Tianzi let out a sigh of relief.

At least he managed to buy some time to think of a way to reject Gong Shengjie.

"Well then, we shall take our leave and stop bothering Sir Gong!" Elder Huo had a good awareness of the situation and quickly stood up to end the meeting.

"I won't send you off then," Gong Shengjie clasped his fists towards Lu Tianzi.

"See you," Lu Tianzi returned the greeting before leaving.

Seeing the trio leave the room, Gong Shengjie broke out into a sneer.

"Trying to play hard to get? That's fine. But I don't believe that you will be able to resist the temptation of a comfortable life! In the end, all workers are the same!"

After exiting form the Eternal Spring Hall, Elder Huo thought about what he should say to Lu Tianzi, but finally decided against saying anything. He knew that this young man was not simple, and whatever he said would probably have little impact on his decision any way.

Thus Elder Huo bid farewell soon after, leaving Uncle Ye and Lu Tianzi to return to their house.

"What are you thinking about, Uncle Ye?" Lu Tianzi asked as they made their way back. "You have been silent for a while now."

Uncle Ye let out a deep sigh, "Are you thinking of rejecting Gong Shengjie?"

Lu Tianzi nodded.

It was only a matter of time before he gave his answer to Gong Shengjie, so Lu Tianzi did not feel the need to hide his decision from Uncle Ye right now.

"I see," Uncle Ye fell into a long silence once more.

"Do you think that I should accept his offer?" Lu Tianzi asked after seeing Uncle Ye's reaction.

"It is truly a good deal. With that, you will no longer have to brave the elements out in the wilds. But on the other hand, it will catapult you directly into the midst of the political strife within Ivory Rock City. It is not an easy job to take. You have to consider this carefully!"

"Don't worry, Uncle Ye. I have already made up my mind. All that remains is how to reject him in a way that would not offend him."

"If you have already decided, then I shall not say more. About the rejection, that is a tricky question indeed," Uncle Ye nodded. "I will help you think over this as well!"

"Thank you, Uncle Ye!" Lu Tianzi smiled as he clearly felt the middle aged man's concern.

Lu Tianzi did not spend too much time thinking about this matter, and spent the rest of the afternoon reading through Uncle Ye's books on herbalism. By the end of the afternoon, he had almost finished all the books in Uncle Ye's collection.

After tomorrow, he should be finally done. With that out of the way, Lu Tianzi could finally start preparing for his trip to the Shadowfront Fortress.

It would be a dangerous trip. But in order to gain sufficient strength to be able to match Hu Yuanbo, he would have to speed up his rate of cultivation, making that a trip that he had to take!

The next day, Lu Tianzi once again accompanied Uncle Ye out of the city. It was likely to be his last time accompanying Uncle Ye before the trip, so instead of splitting up, Lu Tianzi decided to stay and chat with Uncle Ye as they picked herbs that day.

When Lu Tianzi made that decision on a whim, he never thought that it would end up saving the middle aged man's life.

Not even half of the morning had passed when a scream echoed through the forest, drawing the attention of every single worker in the area, including Lu Tianzi and Uncle Ye who were picking herbs nearby.

"What was that?" Lu Tianzi immediately stood up in alert.

"Maybe there was an accident. We should go check it out, perhaps we would be able to help out," Uncle Ye answered.

"I have a bad feeling about this. It might be safer for us to return to the city," Lu Tianzi disagreed.

"Don't worry. If there was a wild beast then the warning horns would have sounded out. Let's go, I think the sound came from this direction," Uncle Ye started towards the direction of the scream.

Lu Tianzi frowned at this reckless behaviour, but he could neither convince nor leave Uncle Ye alone. So he could only reluctantly follow along.

Not even a minute had passed before a figure suddenly leapt down from the trees, falling right towards Uncle Ye!

"Watch out!" Lu Tianzi immediately drew his sword and rushed forward, shoving Uncle Ye aside with his shoulder.

Bang-!

Lu Tianzi's sword blocked the other party's sabre in a heavy collision that sent a shockwave across the forest grounds.

"Get lost!" Lu Tianzi shouted as he pushed forward with his sword, sending the other party flying through the air.

The other party did a back somersault in the air and landed nimbly on his feet, his face showing an expression of absolute shock. The other party clearly did not expect someone of Lu Tianzi's level to be present.

"Demon!" Lu Tianzi's eyes narrowed when he saw the tail peeking out from behind the other party.

"Peak Essence Building realm? You are no worker!" the demon exclaimed in shock.

Lu Tianzi could not be bothered to reply him, instead sweeping out his perception to sense the nearby forest.

"Come here, Uncle Ye!" Lu Tianzi shouted out in alarm as he discovered the presences of more figures quickly converging towards their location.

Lu Tianzi had no doubt that those figures were demons as well.

Thankfully, those demons were still trying to move stealthily so as to hide from the eyes of the sentries atop Ivory Rock City's city walls. This reduced their movement speed by more than half, buying some more time for Lu Tianzi and Uncle Ye.

Uncle Ye did not have to be instructed twice, quickly hurrying over behind Lu Tianzi. He might have almost lost his life just a moment ago, but he was still rational enough not to freeze up in this situation.

Otherwise, things would have gotten extremely complicated for Lu Tianzi.

"What is going on here?" another demon arrived and stepped up beside the first one.

"See for yourself," the first demon gestured towards Lu Tianzi.

"I can't see his cultivation realm"

"He is at Peak Essence Building realm, same as me."

"That's a lot of Slaughter Essence!" rather than feeling fearful, the second demon grinned maliciously instead.

"We are escaping!" Lu Tianzi conveyed his voice directly to Uncle Ye's head. "Run, and don't look back. I will cover you from behind."

"What?" Uncle Ye blurted out in surprise.

"Now!" Lu Tianzi gave Uncle Ye a slight push which immediately triggered the middle aged man's survival instincts as he made a beeline straight for the city gate.

"You are not escaping from us!"

"In your dreams!"

The two demons shouted in anger as they immediately split up, intending to pass Lu Tianzi from both sides so as to get to Uncle Ye.

"Damn it!" Lu Tianzi could only rush after Uncle Ye as well.

The two demons were at Intermediate and Peak Essence Building realm respectively, and Lu Tianzi was confident of being able to defeat them even if they worked together. However, there were more demons arriving!

If he was not able to settle the fight fast enough and ended up being surrounded instead, then even Lu Tianzi might not be able to emerge victorious.

The two demons knew that as well, and were smart enough not to engage him directly. In fact, they had chosen to completely ignore him for now, going after the defenceless Uncle Ye instead.

Lu Tianzi cursed under his breath as he kept his perception locked onto the two demons.

They had completely abandoned their stealthy movements in order to surround Uncle Ye from both sides. This made things far more difficult for Lu Tianzi who had to choose where to defend Uncle Ye from.

What was going on?

Didn't the demons have an agreement with the City Lord Manor not to attack Ivory Rock City?

Lu Tianzi stuck close to Uncle Ye so that he would be able to defend Uncle Ye no matter which demon made a move.

The group of four were moving at the pace of Uncle Ye right now, and that truly frustrated Lu Tianzi who could sense the other demons quickly catching up.

He was extremely tempted to just pick up Uncle Ye so that they could escape faster, but he was worried that he might not be able to take on the Peak Essence Building realm demon with Uncle Ye in tow.

At this moment, a warning horn sounded out from the city walls.

The usual horn that warned of an approaching wild beast comprised of two long blows. But this time it was different.

After the usual two long blows, a third one promptly sounded out.

This third blow caught the attention of every worker outside of the city walls, as well as every soldier stationed near the South Gate. Not just that, but the warning horn was repeated by every section of the city wall, relaying the information all the way throughout the entire Ivory Rock City.

Everyone in the city froze, unsure of what they just heard.

It was not that they did not hear it clearly. If so, they would have simply dismissed it as a mistake. But the problem was that they heard it too clearly!

Again and again, three horn blows sounded out as the city walls relayed the information throughout Ivory Rock City.

Soldiers in the Military District halted in the middle of their training.

Students in the Academic District stopped halfway through their readings.

Families of workers dropped the tools in their hands as they felt their strength escaping from their bodies.

Nobody could believe what they were hearing. It was the first time that any of them had heard it other than during a drill exercise.

Three horn blows was the signal for a demon attack!

But they were in Ivory Rock City, the Holy City blessed by the gods themselves!

The city had never been attacked by the demons in the recorded history!

Just what in the world was happening outside of the city walls?!