Longevity through Upgrading Buildings

”No, no, Daoist Lu, you joke,”

Qin Long hurriedly waved it off.

Lu Wan’s smile stayed sincere. ”I’m not joking. Back when the Wu Family forced me into such straits, only the Qin Family was willing to shelter me. I’ve never forgotten that favor.”

Qin Long’s heart settled at her words, and outwardly he gave a sigh of relief as well.

”I always thought the Water Dragon Sect would be a safe haven, but it turns out, it’s better to have old countrymen here.”

”Indeed, Mr. Qin, you still haven’t said what you need from me.”

”If you think I, Lu Wan, can help, just say the word.”

Qin Long glanced at Old Third He. Only then did he lower his voice and say, ”All the new Water Dragon Sect disciples in our batch have been sent to Liancheng Mountain, to fight the Joy Palace... I’m sure you already know, Daoist Lu.”

”I know.”

Lu Wan had originally been meant to go too, but given her Talisman Dao talent, she was kept on Sifang Island, spared from the disaster.

”We came back this time with the flying boat that was transporting Immortal Talents, but we have to leave again soon... our squad leader this time is Zhou Wuyan, Daoist Zhou—I heard he’s from the Talisman Hall on Sifang Island, so we wanted to ask if Daoist Lu could put in a good word for us, so we could get assigned safer duties.”

As he finished, he and Old Third He bowed deeply to Lu Wan.

”We beg you, Daoist Lu.”

”Oh, so that’s what it is.”

Lu Wan’s smile remained as relaxed as ever, as if this were nothing but a small favor to her.

”Well then—”

”Don’t worry. Senior Brother Zhou and I know each other. This sort of thing shouldn’t be a problem at all. I’ll write a letter for you to take to him right away.”

The whole thing went so smoothly, even Qin Long could hardly believe it.

Before they could say much else, Lu Wan had already gone to write the letter.

Once back in the scroll hall, Mei Chen came up to ask what was going on. After Lu Wan explained everything, Mei Chen said in disbelief,

”Junior Sister Lu, everyone knew what the Qin Family really planned with you back then. Are you really going to help them now?”

”Sure, why not?”

Lu Wan kept smiling.

So Mei Chen just watched as Lu Wan finished the letter—which contained nothing problematic at all.

The letter simply said that Qin Long and Old Third He were her fellow townsmen, that they had a good relationship, and asked Senior Brother Zhou Wuyan to look out for them and give them some consideration.

Once the letter was done, Lu Wan stepped out on purpose to let Qin Long and Old Third He read the contents, then folded it up right in front of them and handed it over for them to deliver themselves.

The two of them thanked her profusely, bowing deeply again and again—almost prostrating themselves.

After all, over at Liancheng Mountain... to put it bluntly, their lives weren’t in their own hands, or in Joy Palace’s hands, but in the hands of their squad leader.

If he assigned them an easy, safe duty, their lives would be fine.

If the assignments were hard... well, then it’d be up to their own abilities.

So what Qin Long and Old Third He were begging for wasn’t really Lu Wan’s help, but their own lives!

Once they left, Lu Wan returned to the Talisman Hall and went back to reading scripture. Still, after all that, her mind wasn’t really on it anymore.

Did Lu Wan understand Zhou Wuyan?

Of course. He was her direct senior brother; they had the same master.

But this Senior Brother Zhou... his temperament wasn’t the best, he was a bit stubborn and set in his ways, and he deeply resented how Lu Wan had outshone him for their master’s attention as soon as she arrived.

Given that, now Lu Wan had written him asking to look after her old acquaintances.

With Zhou Wuyan’s personality, how would he ”look after” them?

Most likely by ”really looking after them”—as in, sending them to the most dangerous spots.

As for why Lu Wan did this: first, as Mei Chen had just pointed out, was the Qin Family really sheltering her?

No, the Qin Family made a deal with the Wu Family. After Lu Wan had served the Qin Family for three years, she’d conveniently ”die.” Lu Wan had naturally figured all this out.

The Qin Family’s real goal was to get rid of her—after squeezing all the value out first, then getting rid of her.

It’s said that a gentleman judges deeds, not hearts. But Lu Wan never claimed to be a gentleman. She was one of those petty-minded people who can’t let things go, a typical ”small-minded” woman.

The other reason had to do with Ji Yuan.