47- Good Liar
In the courtyard of the clan leader, flora and fauna were abundant. The artificial mountain had a spring flowing with crystal clear water.
In the night sky, the moon hung high in the sky like a plate.
The banquet had long ended.
Liu Yang sat in the cooling pavilion as he listened to the sound of the flowing water, and he placed down his tea cup with a plain expression.
Sitting opposite him was Liu Liu and Liu Yin.
Liu Yin stood up elegantly and poured the tea into Liu Yang's cup.
Liu Yang's expression was calm, and on seeing the cup being filled again, he said, "Thank you."
Saying so, he looked outside the pavilion, only to see that the pale white moon had radiated the grounds with its moonlight. Under the moon, the pavilion was quiet and graceful.
"Big brother, I wonder if you are angry about what my mother did at the banquet?" Seeing that Liu Yang had not said anything, Liu Yin looked at him questioningly.
He looked at his little sister plainly, and a mocking smile appeared on his face, "I'm angry? You must be joking. Our mother did what I told her to do."
Liu Yin looked at her mother and saw that she was smiling while nodding.
"Liu Yin, what do you think of Tie Ruo Nan?" A small smile appeared on Liu Yin's face as he looked at his sister.
'Does my brother ask me how I think about his future wife?' Liu Yin tilted her head but answered honestly, "Actually she's not pretty or at least her beauty isn't on the same level as me or my mother's."
"But she really does have an amazing talent for being a rank two Gu Master before she even reaches the age of sixteen."
"I wasn't talking about this, but you're right." Tie Ruo Nan was a pretty, but she is not comparable to Liu Yin and Liu Liu.
"What did you mean?" Liu Yin asked.
"She is a person from the Tie clan, having a relationship with her will bring many benefits." Liu Yang drank a little of his tea and showed a relaxed expression.
"I understand, having a relationship with them now will benefit us completely, her clan is one of the most powerful clans in the southern border and by establishing a relationship with her we will have a strong ally." Liu Yin laughed.
"You're right, but having a good relationship is just a secondary goal." Liu Yang let out a chuckle. "But for now, I want you to hide your demonic nature in front of Tie Ruo Nan and her father."
Then he looked at his mother, who was quiet the whole time, "Did you reduce the surveillance around the two of them like I told you?"
She picked up a cup of tea and took a sip, then showed a small smile "Yes, I have reduced it and not removed it. The current level of surveillance will make them feel comfortable, but it will not arouse suspicion because of its lack."
Liu Yang nodded and then looked at his sister, "Let's go shopping for a bit."
...
At the same time.
Inside the room, Tie Ruo Nan kept her recon Gu and nodded with satisfaction, "The environment here is pretty good, it's clean."
The 'clean' she referred to wasn't talking about the cleanliness of the room, but was pointing at the lack of surveillance.
It was impossible to say that there absolutely wasn't any surveillance.
After all, Tie Xue Leng was rank five, so he possessed too great of a threat. Hence, there was a necessity for some precautions.
However, Liu clan's defensive and surveillance measures were just at the right amount and the level was quite low too, not creating any feelings of provocation and aversion.
It could even be taken as earnest and passionate reception, which was why Tie Ruo Nan gave the assessment of 'clean'.
Tie Xue Leng slightly nodded, "Ruo Nan, you have followed me for so long and have learned many things. However, some things can only be learned by taking actions and not just by spectating from the sides. Hence, I handed this case to you."
"Father, I will definitely work hard and give my best!"
"Good. Then, let me ask you, what should your next step be?" Tie Xue Leng was deliberately testing her.
Tie Ruo Nan smiled. She turned around and gazed at the moon through the window, "The moon is beautiful tonight. Dad, can I have the pleasure to take you around this Liu village?"
Upon hearing this, Tie Xue Leng revealed a gratifying smile.
When starting out on a case, it was not urgent to understand the details of the case. The first step to solve a case was to survey the surroundings.
The father and daughter pair slowly walked through the streets. Because of the effort that Liu Liu and Liu Yang put in, the Liu clan was very prosperous.
There were many bamboo buildings which looked elegant and attractive. The environment was very clean and no dirt could be seen around and people could be seen walking around with happy smiles on their faces even the slaves who were not part of the clan had a happy life.
The father and daughter were wandering around the village with a look of amazement, that is because it is rare or impossible to see slaves and mortals with such a smile on their faces.
"Dad look, isn't this Liu Yang and his sister?" Tie Ruo Nan spoke in a low voice, also not pointing at them.
Tie Xue Leng looked at the bags that Liu Yang was carrying while talking to his sister with a smile. "It seems that he is accompanying his sister to buy clothes and go around the village."
At the same time there was a little girl holding a stick in her hand and on the stick there was something similar to a sweet potato. This girl was running with a happy smile on her face.
The little girl didn't notice Liu Yang's presence so she hit his leg and falling on the ground.
Liu Yang's clothes were stained because of the food the girl was holding.
"Sorry, sorry! For offending lord Gu Master, please pardon us!" The little girl's mother hurried over. When she saw Liu Yang's clothing, her expression was white as paper, bringing the little girl and kneeling down, kowtowing to Liu Yang.
The little girl cried out of shock, pearls of tears trailing down her white and rosy face.
The walking mortals upon seeing this scene, turned away and avoid them like the plague.
"Stop crying, you troublemaker!" The mother was frightened, angry and afraid, moving her hand to give her a slap, but Liu Yang grabbed her hand, not allowing any movement.
"Just a small matter, no worries." Liu Yang laughed lightly, touching the little girl's head, softly consoling, "Don't be afraid, it is okay."
The little girl stopped crying, using her teary eyes to look at Liu Yang, thinking this big brother was really gentle.
Liu Yin helped the little girl stand up and then put a primeval stone in her hand and spoke to her in a gentle tone, "Sorry that my Big Brother spoiled your food, using this primeval stone you can buy a lot instead of them."
In this world primeval stones are the local currency, and the buying power is very strong. A normal family of three would spend at most 1 piece of primeval stone in a month.
"Thank you lord, thank you lord for your kindness!" The girl's mother was overjoyed, kowtowing to Liu Yang and Liu Yin without a break.
After that, Liu Yang and his sister walked away and entered another clothing store.
"Are they being kind to the girl on purpose in front of us?" Tie Ruo Nan couldn't believe that a Gu Master would be so nice to a mortal.
"No they didn't notice us, they seem really nice to mortals." Tie Xue Leng, who was considered a Divine Investigator, could tell whether Liu Yang and his sister had seen them or not, and he could also tell what was happening in front of him, acting out or not.
"Let's talk to them." Tie Xue Leng smiled at his daughter.
After a while, the store door opened and Liu Yang walked out wearing new clothes.
"Hello, Young Master Liu Yang and Young Lady Liu Yin." Tie Xue Leng took the initiative to send his greetings.
"Junior pays his respects to lord divine investigator." Liu Yang showed a gentle smile and cupped his hands.
Next to him, his sister did the same.
"Young Master, we are new here and don't know the place well. Is it possible for little brother to tell us a thing or two?" Tie Xue Leng suddenly asked.
"Both of you have travelled a great distance and suffered hardships to come and solve the case, the whole village ought to help you. Please follow me." Liu Yang showed a gentle smile, and walked in front.
After a while touring together, Tie Ruo Nan looked at Liu Yang, "Actually, I'm rather curious."
"You can ask me anything and I will do my best to answer you." For some reason Liu Yang's gentle voice made her feel relaxed.
"I am just amazed at how happy slaves and mortals seem, that this is something I have never seen before." Tie Ruo Nan looked at the humans and slaves walking with a smile on their faces and they seemed happy with the life they were living.
"Yes, this is because my mother has improved their living environment and they have started getting enough food and good housing for them to live in, all because of my selfish desire." The father and daughter looked at him curiously.
"I want mortals and slaves to have their rights and not be treated like tools." In fact, all Liu Yang is saying is nonsense that he never cares about mortals and slaves, and if someone was killed in front of him, he wouldn't care and act like he didn't see anything.
"I feel sad seeing them treated like tools, or made to work to death without an iota of pity, or sometimes even killed for trivial reasons." His sister even killed all the slaves of the house a few weeks ago, and he did not reprimand her for that.
"This is a really noble goal." Tie Ruo Nan was really shocked that there was such a kind person in this world, she didn't see any lie in his words even her father couldn't see his lie.
"But that goal will never be achieved." A sad look appeared on Liu Yang's face.
"Gu masters themselves cannot be reconciled let alone reconciled Gu masters and mortals."
"Even if I could do such a thing within my own clan, it is impossible to convince the world that it was the right thing to do."
"On seeing the truth, I stopped these vain dreams. But we still treat the slaves and the mortals in a better way than the rest of the clans."
"To give up this goal shows the maturity of your thinking, I really hope that there will be many young people like you on the righteous path." The Divine Investigator patted Liu Yang in consolation.
In his youth he had similar dreams. He had dreamed of killing all the Demonic Path Gu Masters in Southern Border and eliminating corruption, but as he got older he knew that this was an impossible goal to achieve but he still kept capturing demonic path Gu Masters.
…...
Time quietly flew by.
"That more or less sums up everything about Liu village. There is the underground cave, but that is a restricted area of the clan and outsiders aren't allowed entry." Liu Yang said.
"We are really thankful for Young Master Liu Yang's directions, please go and take a rest," Tie Xue Leng said.
"In that case, I will take my leave." Liu Yang cupped his hands before directly leaving with his sister.
Tie Xue Leng looked at Liu Yang's figure with interest, and only after Liu Yang turned into a corner, did he take back his gaze.
"Ruo Nan, what do you think of Liu Yang?" He suddenly asked.
"I've never felt this comfortable when I'm with a stranger before but when I'm around him I feel so relaxed and comfortable, to the point where I suspected he was using Gu worms to make me feel like that." The young girl frowned.
"Don't worry he didn't use Gu worms. If he used them, I would have felt it." Tie Xue Leng patted his daughter on the head, "I even felt that he had never lied when he spoke to us."