He truly hadn't expected that fellow surnamed Lu, a mere country bumpkin, could afford a mansion in Yuhua Lane. Although the mansion was rumored to be haunted, significantly lowering its price, it still wouldn't have been acquired for less than ten thousand taels of silver. It seemed he and Dark Guard A had underestimated the financial strength of this Lu.
Dark Guard B naturally couldn't report to the Empress immediately. He had to verify the truth of the news first. Otherwise, if he rashly reported to the Empress with false information, causing her undue joy, ten lives wouldn't be enough to pay for it.
He quickly infiltrated the vicinity of Yuhua Lane. Just as he spotted the grand inscription "Lu Residence," a wisp of white smoke, drifting from an unknown direction, caused him to lose consciousness.
He was a Dark Guard, a master. But for someone to approach him so stealthily, they had to be a master among masters.
In the moment his consciousness faded, this was the only thought he could muster.
The seven guardians of Yeshengmen were already ambushed around the perimeter of the Lu Residence. If any suspicious individuals approached, they would be discovered immediately.
Dark Guard B was stuffed into a sack and quickly dragged into the Wei Manor, where he would face the ultimate torture of interrogation.
Dark Guard A searched several private schools without finding a child named Lu Yun.
It wasn't until the end of the school day that he found Houde Academy.
Outside the academy, many students, large and small, were preparing to head home.
He produced a piece of candy and asked a chubby boy if there was a student named Lu Yun at Houde Academy.
The chubby boy didn't answer immediately. Instead, he snatched the candy, peeled off the wrapper, and popped it into his mouth. With a satisfied expression, he said, "Of course there is. He's my classmate Lu Yu's older brother, in the Mengxue Jia class."
Dark Guard A was overjoyed. If not for the many students present, he would have leaped up and cheered with delight.
"Can you secretly point him out to me?" Dark Guard A produced another piece of candy.
After the chubby boy "repeatedly" put the candy into his mouth, he nodded and said, "There, the one over there who looks quite handsome."
Dark Guard A handed the chubby boy another piece of candy. "Keep it a secret, don't let anyone know!"
He then turned and slowly approached Lu Yun.
Lu Yun was currently discussing the day's lessons with several classmates and waiting for his younger brothers to return home together.
Behind several large trees in the distance, a group of young beggars hid, each holding various pieces of wood. They came to find Brother Yun at this time every day to sell him wood.
To avoid embarrassing Brother Yun, they hid behind the trees and followed after Brother Yun and his companions had gone further.
Over the past few days, each of them had earned several dozen wen, enough to eat heartily every day.
Due to their lack of experience, most of the wood they found was substandard. With more experience, they should be able to earn enough to eat full meals every day.
They were even planning to team up and go to the mountains in the suburbs to find high-quality wood to earn more money.
Some beggars were even inquiring with street artisans about which types of wood were best for carving and what they looked like.
At this moment, several beggars noticed something amiss. The man in grey had been staring intently at their Brother Yun, following him wherever he went, as if tracking him.
The young beggars immediately felt that something was seriously wrong.
"We should notify Brother Yun immediately that a bad guy is tracking him and tell him to be careful," one beggar whispered.
"I'll go. I'm not wearing ragged clothes today, so going to talk to Brother Yun shouldn't embarrass him," a very thin beggar raised his hand.
"Okay, Luobo, hurry, and don't alert the enemy," the other beggars cautioned him.
The thin beggar ran up to Lu Yun. Lu Yun was very happy to see him and was about to call him "Little Luobo," but he noticed Luobo's unusual expression.
When Little Luobo reached Lu Yun's side, Lu Yun asked, "Little Luobo, what's wrong?"
Little Luobo pretended to grab Lu Yun's hand and whispered, "Brother Yun, don't look back, a man in grey is following you."
Lu Yun was startled and nodded slightly. "How about this, you come back tomorrow to sell wood. Here's twenty wen, buy some steamed buns to fill your brothers' stomachs first. I still need to wait for my younger brothers."
Little Luobo nodded and turned to leave.
However, when he returned and relayed Brother Yun's message to the other beggars, they refused to leave. They planned to discreetly follow Brother Yun and help if the man in grey dared to harm Brother Yun.
When Lu Yu and the other three siblings arrived, Lu Yun quietly said to them, "Don't look back, a man in grey is tracking us."
The four siblings tensed up, their expressions changing slightly, a hint of nervousness in their eyes.
"Brother Yun, what should we... what should we do?" Tie Zhu whispered.
Lu Yun thought for a moment and said, "We're just children, we're probably not his target. Maybe he's tracking us to find our home and then cause trouble for my older brother and sister-in-law."
The children all felt that Lu Yun's analysis was very reasonable.
"Should we all capture him?" Tian Dou quietly suggested.
Lu Yun shook his head. "Dou, have you forgotten our past lessons? Never act rashly when you don't understand the enemy. What if this person is a martial arts expert? We'd be finished!"
"Then... then what do we do?" Tian Dou asked with some worry.
Lu Yun lowered his voice. "He's only one person. Why don't we split into two groups? One group leads him away, and the other group goes back to get big brother to capture him?"
"Second Brother, you're amazing!" Lu Yu's eyes sparkled.
"Brother Yun, you're brilliant!" Tian Dou also praised.
Before Tie Zhu and Tian Ya could offer their effusive praise, Lu Yun waved his small hand. "Alright! This is no time for flattery. I'm the oldest. Tian Ya and I will go one way. Dou, you and Zhu and Yu form a group."
"Okay," Tian Dou nodded.
Lu Yun instructed, "Remember, no matter which group he follows, try your best to drag him along. You can play on the way, just don't rush home, until Big Brother arrives."
The children all nodded and split into two groups.
Dark Guard B naturally followed Lu Yun. Lu Yun held Tian Ya's hand and walked slowly, climbing trees to find bird nests or playing with stones by the roadside.
Could there be such mischievous and playful children? They weren't hurrying home after school and were scrambling around the road like monkeys. Dark Guard A wished he had never become a father.
They reached a slightly secluded alley. Just as Dark Guard A was looking up at the sky, feeling speechless, he suddenly felt a cool breeze on the back of his neck. Before he could react, he was rendered unconscious.
Wei Zhe and Wei Lin easily subdued Dark Guard A. Both of them felt a bit unfulfilled, finding the sect leader's wife's sleeping powder too effective.
Qing Yu learned that the sect leader's wife was skilled in refining sleeping powder and placed a large order with her. Other medical halls, even if they had sleeping powder, had it in very small quantities. Unlike the sect leader's wife, who could supply sleeping powder abundantly.
With sufficient sleeping powder in the future, Yeshengmen would also greatly reduce casualties.
Lu Yun pretended to turn back casually and saw his brothers Wei Lin and Wei Zhe stuffing the man in grey into a large sack.