Chapter 476 - Murky Transactions

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

When Matsuura Haraichiro was still on the phone, Lu Shu suddenly turned and walked towards him. Matsuura tried to remain calm and talked to his phone, “Sure. I’m coming back to the office right now.”

Then he left at once, but Lu Shu was trailing behind. No matter where he went, Lu Shu followed. Matsuura started to panic…

Wasn’t he supposed to be a coward who even gets bullied by normal students in school? Why is he so different in front of me!

Only a Class D, Matsuura Haraichiro was well aware that Kirihara Yousuke’s capabilities were much stronger than his, judging from the speed and strength of the kick at least.

But when he turned to check his distance from Lu Shu, the latter had already been gone.

Matsuura stood still in shock for a long moment. What a shame! He had lost his target himself…

“From Matsuura Haraichiro’s distress, +399!”

After visiting a few supermarkets, Lu Shu realized that there were no Chinese condiments for sale.

Surely, he could try his luck at a Chinese market, but it was inappropriate given his current identity.

When he returned home, Bunndai smiled at him and asked, “Is it because you failed to find any condiments?”

‘Why didn’t you tell me earlier since you knew it…” Lu Shu was confused. Bunndai surely knew the situation after so many years there.

But she led him to the kitchen. “In fact, we do have what we need. In early years Mr. and Mrs. Kirihara settled in China for a period of time. Simply put, they were spies in our country. After they came back, they missed the taste of Chinese cuisines so much that they made a special trip to buy Chinese condiments. Actually the peace upheld by many Conservative members stems from vested interests, unlike Mr. and Mrs. Kirihara, who genuinely loved our Chinese culture.”

Lu Shu did not know how to reply. “What a pity.”

Then, he only made two dishes, sour and hot shredded potatoes and tomatoes with scrambled eggs, purely vegetarian. When Bunndai picked up a few potato shreds with great caution and sent them to her mouth, she was moved to tears.

Her tears dropped into her rice bowl, one after another. Then, she stood up and made a deep bow to Lu Shu. “Thank you. It has been a long time and I almost forgot about the taste.”

“Have you ever regretted your decision?” Lu Shu asked curiously.

But Bunndai’s face instantly turned stern. “Never. My father said that jobs like mine must be done.”

Maybe his greatest takeaway of this trip thus far was to get to know Taniguchi Bunndai, who had been toiling for their motherland in silence, Lu Shu thought. Otherwise, probably he would never have known the existence of such people.

Was that the belief of the Heavenly Network…

After dinner, Lu Shu practiced his sword in the yard. It was nothing but basic movements. In fact, some of the action had been corrected by Li Xianyi, and Lu Shu only realized later that those details were the real key to unlocking his sea of chi.

For example, swings and picks felt more tiring under Li Xianyi’s guidance, but the fatigue wore away with practice. Instead, over the course of time, Lu Shu could feel the connection with Nature and his sword skills had become much smoother too.

Back then, Lu Shu did not give it a single thought about the mythical mechanisms behind. Now, it seemed so impressive that the ancestors of the Hall of Swords had actually found their own way of cultivation during the Spirit Qi-deficient era.

During his practice, he heard a melodious voice outside the door. “Excuse me, anybody here?”

Bunndai rose to greet the guest, but Lu Shu thought that the voice sounded familiar.

He walked to the front parlor and saw the girl named Sakurai Yaeko standing elegantly at the yard gate. Her straight and slender legs still caught his attention first.

They were not skinny in a sickly way. Instead, they were beaming with power, perhaps due to her cultivation efforts.

Lu Shu watched in silence as Sakurai Yaeko explained to Bunndai politely, “I am a swordswoman in training and I know that the Kiriharas produce the best swordsmen in Nishinokyo. Thus, I was hoping you would apprentice me.”

As though happened to see Lu Shu by chance, Sakurai gasped in surprise. “Fancy meeting you here! You are the one from Beika High School!”

Lu Shu grinned. “I live here. Hi, I’m Kirihara Yousuke, the inheritor of my father’s sword skills.”

Sakurai Yaeko pretended to know nothing about that. “Really? No wonder you refused to watch our match earlier in the afternoon, because you yourself are a master! Then, could you teach me?”

If not for his sensory abilities, he might have been fooled by her perfect acting, Lu Shu thought.

But he did not have a good disposition towards her. He would not mind if she was an ordinary girl that showed kindness to him.

But now, with concrete evidence, Lu Shu was sure that Sakurai Yaeko had intentionally concealed her cultivation powers. Therefore, it was irrefutable that she came with a purpose.

Meanwhile, Bunndai was shocked too, about Lu Shu’s good command of Japanese!

Lu Shu smiled. “Dojo is a place for teaching. We welcome any students, but there’s a fee…”

That did not seem to bother Sakurai. She replied respectfully, “I am willing to devote my EVERYTHING for the true swordplay.”

She stressed on the word “everything”, which made Bunndai frown with unease. She shot a glance at the girl, and at Lu Shu again…

“That won’t be necessary. Well… 20,000 per lesson.” 20,000 yen is equivalent to around 1,200 yuan, which is US$180. Honestly it was not cheap…

Sakurai froze. Immediately a smile returned to her face. “No problem! Please teach me!”

“Then do you have money now? Actually we can start the lesson immediately…”

“So soon?” Sakurai was startled.

“Are you really keen on learning?” Lu Shu replied, displeased.

“Of course. Certainly, yes…”

“From Sakurai Yaeko’s distress, +199!”

It was then that Lu Shu understood the dojo was the so-called inheritance left to him by the Heavenly Network. Without a doubt, he would not impart his true skills, as strictly speaking he was not a descendant of the Hall of Swords and he was in no position to leak their cultivation techniques.

However, he would still earn quite a fortune from those coveting the Kiriharas’ swordplay, even if they only fell for his trick once…

Two hours later, Lu Shu sipped on a cup of tea as he watched Sakurai swinging her sword over and over again. Truth be told, she was rather admirable, since she abided by his order to start from the basics without any complaint.

Despite the fact that her incessant distress points still gave her away…

“Okay. That’s all for today,” Lu Shu decided to ask her to leave. He had earned his living expenses for the upcoming days, so it would not matter whether Sakurai was still coming next time.

Tired, Sakurai Yaeko sat on the wooden floor, her skirt barely covering what was underneath. Moreover, drenched in sweat, she looked pretty attractive at the moment…

She smiled and asked casually, “Sensei, tomorrow’s Saturday. Where are you going?”

Lu Shu’s face went straight. “Sakurai, we should stick to our murky transactions of money. There’s no need for over-familiarity.”

“From Sakurai Yaeko’s distress, +666!”

…