On the third floor of the tower, the elder had to use her jade slip as a key to enter inside, which begged even more questions for him.
'Isn't the security too little?'
He knew some basic information from the soul he had eaten. The third floor of all towers was heavily restricted and only opened on special occasions. Even top-performing disciples needed to go through a lot of hoops before the gate opened for them.
To think it only needed one jade slip from an elder was questionable, to say the least.
"I hope it wouldn't be too late for an introduction. My name is Luo Mianyu," Luo Mianyu said with a smile as she walked through the unlocked gate and led him inside the third floor.
"This junior was lost in knowledge. I'm Wu Han, nice knowing you, esteemed lady," he bowed, hiding his smirk underneath.
Bringing introductions up this late after meeting meant that her patience had started to run out.
If I had to guess, she was waiting for me to introduce myself properly as a custom. But if we counted age, I'm much older than you.
Wu Han could see through her smile that she did not seem very engaged and that she kept taking glances at him while he was on the second floor, so she surely had some things she wanted to do with him.
The first step he took into the third floor surprised him. Compared to the second floor, this one was empty.
No sign of dense cultivation or anything else, just a blank space and a stone tablet standing in the middle.
His divine sense immediately noticed the complex and multiple layers of barriers veiled around the stone tablet.
Illusion, detection, mind poison, and detonation. They really went all out with this one.
The stone tablet was impossible to read with naked eyes, even for him.
Looking at it strained his eyes. Trying to remember it only produced wobbly images. It detected touch and recorded fingerprints, and it also had a last-resort detonation if someone tried to steal it.
If I wanted to learn what was inscribed, I need to crack it open first. That is the easy part. The hard part is…
He looked back at Luo Mianyu. She must have brought him up here not for him to learn anything from the stone. Judging by the look of it, her authority ended at opening the door, not unlocking the secret technique on the tablet.
-
"Lady Luo Mianyu, I can't seem to interpret anything from the tablet. Was there a reason why?"
While his thought process was long, only a breath had passed, so Luo Mianyu kindly answered.
"It needs both the clan leader's jade slip and any of the elders' jade slips to open it. The one you carry is only a copy." Her voice still resembled that of a kind elderly woman, but now it carried a hint of power as she raised her hand and closed the door behind her, locking them inside the third floor.
"I assume you are doing this because of my relationship with your clan leader, isn't it?" Wu Han immediately picked up on it. "Or is it about me destroying the illusion beast array, because if it is the second, I can help fix them in no time."
"Hahaha! Now I know why the miracle doctor chose you. You are much sharper than my intel suggested." Luo Mianyu laughed a little as she walked in a circle around him.
"A playboy, incompetent, lazy, lustful, and to put it short, dumb. That is what I can gather about Wu Han, the young master of the Wu clan," Luo Mianyu said as if mocking him. "Either that is the truth, or it was the truth but now you have changed. So, which one is it?"
"You did your homework, I see," Wu Han said, still standing firm without any weakness to be seen. "Everything you said was true, but my master showed me the way forward. Why settle with just this town when my true talent can take me so much further?"
The sinister tone seeped through his lips.
Anyone else hearing it might have been concerned, yet here, it only seemed to make Luo Mianyu more interested.
"If that is the case, your master's relationship with Luo Chen must have interested you greatly. Add his daughter into the mix and I am sure you are thrilled to be here," Luo Mianyu deduced from his background, his personality, and his goal he had just spoken out.
"Can't deny that you are right, but what would you do about it?" Wu Han accepted the truth and tested the water.
Luo Mianyu's eyes halted. She went quiet for a moment before speaking again as if she had made up her mind. "What if I were to say I have a proposal for you and your master."
"Oh?" Wu Han's interest was piqued. What kind of proposal did she have for him to elaborate on, and by the look of it, so hastily, to grab this opportunity for their private talk.
"You said you wanted more, right? But Luo Chen would only give your master so much before he draws the line, much less giving you Luo Lan. That man would rather die than give up his daughter unwillingly."
Luo Mianyu spoke with calmness, yet there was spite and disdain beneath the sweet face of an elderly grandma.
"You argue to say that whatever deal you are trying to make, you can pay us more than what Luo Chen, your clan leader, can put on the table?" Wu Han asked while keeping his tone flat.
"Luo Chen can only pay so much with his own wealth. You may not know this, but in terms of Luo Lan's condition, the council agreed long ago that they would not pay a coin to help, and they forbade him from using clan funds for it." Luo Mianyu rested her hands behind her back, her expression calm.
"That seems counterintuitive..." Wu Han's frown tightened.
"I am sure your master would not ask for much. He has been healing people for free. But what about you? Didn't you say you want more? I speak on behalf of my elder council that we can give you much more than whatever Luo Chen can offer." Luo Mianyu stepped closer, keeping her eyes on him.
"Wealth, fame, connections, even a direct call to the imperial palace too, if conditions were met."
"Sounds tempting, but what is the catch?" Wu Han asked.
Luo Mianyu lowered her gaze in a calm and almost gentle manner, yet the request that slid out of her mouth felt like venom from a poisonous snake.
"I want you to destroy Luo Lan's cultivation."