In the quiet courtyard, the cold wind blew by, blowing the dead leaves from the treetops.

The water gurgled across the cracks in the upper stones and fell into the bamboo tube. When it reaches a certain amount, the bamboo tube instantly fell over and buckled on the stone below, making a crisp sound.

The afternoon sun was warm, and there were three people, one old, two young, sitting on the corridor facing the courtyard. Each of them held a Japanese pottery teacup in their hands, filled with steaming barley tea.

It seems that the three of them, grandfather and grandson, are spending their afternoon leisurely.

"Master Inuyama, your Iai is indeed the ultimate in swordsmanship. I feel like you might be faster, right?"

Mainly because Lu Chen and Mr. Inuyama were chatting away, Yuan Zhisheng just looked at Xingzhu in the courtyard in a daze, and even began to wonder if he didn't need to watch Lu Chen at all.

This guy really just came to the head of the Inuyama family for advice. He didn't seem to even have any intention of discussing with each other. Based on his observations of Lu Chen these days, he didn't seem like he could be a lobbyist for Principal Angers.

What's more, the head of the Inuyama family is indeed a faction "close" to the secret party in the Sheqi Hachi family, but he does not think that the other party will fall to the secret party at the critical moment.

"This kind of praise coming from your mouth really makes me feel ashamed. Even if I can be faster, I can't be faster than you."

Inuyama He took a sip of barley tea and breathed out hot air.

"Can I ask the highest level Setsuna can reach, the headmaster of the Inuyama family? The principal told me that you are the strongest person with the highest level Setsuna in this world."

Apart from anything else, Lu Chen still respected people like Inuyama Ga. From the fight that day, he could tell that the opponent had been sharpening his sword for many years, but he just didn't meet anyone he wanted to kill.

If it were that person, perhaps Inuyama Ga's sword would have been faster, right?

And some of his words were not meant as compliments. In terms of Setsuna's rank, Inuyama Ga was indeed the strongest in the world.

"Eighth level."

In fact, when he was in the best condition, he occasionally reached the ninth level, but accidents obviously cannot be counted as strength.

Lu Chen was a little surprised. The legendary dragon slayer Silver Wing Viscount Charlotte in history could only reach the seventh level, but this old man could climb to the eighth level.

Yuan Zhisheng was also a little surprised. He had also sparred with the head of the Inuyama family, and the opponent had only reached the seventh level in front of him. He did not expect that this old man still retained his strength.

"Senior, do you have any tips for improving your moment?"

Lu Chen humbly asked for advice.

Unexpectedly, Inuyama He shook his head and said: "There is no good way. Setsuna is like a knife. The more you sharpen it, the faster it becomes."

Lu Chen was a little surprised. The old man spoke in Chinese and used a pun.

He thought for a moment and said, "You mean, you just need to use something like Yanling more often?"

Inuyama He did not respond to this confirmation question. Instead, he turned to look at Lu Chen, with a pair of bright eyes on his old face, with a meaning of scrutiny: "Aren't you satisfied with your speed?"

Inuyama Ga believes that there is always a reason for people to pursue power, just like he has been sharpening his sword for sixty years in order to achieve the fastest speed in the world and surpass that man. That is his goal and the reason for him to become stronger.

And what about this boy?

According to the information he knew, this young man had not had any setbacks since he "came out of the mountain". No matter how powerful the enemy was, he had defeated him. He even thought that when the young man burst out with all his strength, his speed was no less than that of that young man.

How many men.

The boy is still very young and has a lot of room for improvement. Sooner or later he will surpass that man.

Then why is he pursuing power?

Lu Chen and the old man looked at each other and instantly understood what the other person meant. He looked into the other person's eyes and said, "If you stop pursuing power, what's the point?"

Yuan Zhisheng felt that the atmosphere between Lu Chen and the old man had changed. A moment ago, it was still a harmonious conversation between the old man and the younger generation. But at this moment, the atmosphere seemed to have become sharper. There seemed to be something non-existent at the intersection of the two pairs of eyes.

Sparks burst.

Finally a burst of laughter broke the atmosphere.

Inuyama He smiled so boldly and freely, even slapping his hands on his legs, and finally looked at Lu Chen: "Mr. Lu, you are really pure. Anger has accepted another good student."

Yes, does the pursuit of power have to have obsessions like revenge or wanting to surpass someone?

This young man is not obsessed with those things, but he is more pure. He only pursues power for the sake of pursuing power. His obsession is power itself!

But this kind of purity... is the way of the devil. He has seen too many young people who pursue power fall into the abyss, such as the members of the Fierce Demons, and Akechi Asuya of the Kanto branch.

"The senior's words are wrong. Strictly speaking, my mentor is Schneider. Of course, in a broad sense, we are all students of Principal Angers."

Lu Chen said with a smile, he also picked up the tea cup and took a sip of wheat tea, which was a little cold.

Inuyama He looked at Lu Chen's clear eyes and thought of what the boy had been doing these past few days. He felt that he was a little too preoccupied. This is a person who can separate his pursuits from his daily life. Perhaps such a child is more likely to be happy.

Bar.

Suddenly, he felt that it would be good if the recent rumors within the family came true, and Lu Chen was indeed a good match for the head of the Uesugi family.

"I heard that you hate thermal weapons. Why?"

At this time, Yuan Zhisheng stopped talking and asked an incomprehensible question.

They had investigated this boy's information and found that the other party only used cold weapons to perform tasks, and never even used auxiliary thermal weapons. In some cases, it was indeed more convenient to use a gun.

Lu Chen was silent for a moment and said, "I have always wondered why things like guns were invented."

The other two people didn't interrupt, they knew that the boy was not asking them.

"Is it to pursue more powerful force? Is it to allow the weak to have the power to match the strong? Is it to show that man can go further in the process of fighting nature?"

Lu Chen shook his head and sighed: "Later I found out that was not the case. At least I didn't think so. My teacher told me that guns were invented to reduce people's guilt."

"Guilt?"

Yuan Zhisheng was confused. In fact, the first few sentences the other party said were objectively correct. He didn't understand what Lu Chen wanted to express.

"Yes, you insert the knife into the enemy's body. Your hand can feel the touch of the cold weapon piercing the soft body. You may also touch hard bones during the process. The sound of friction is transmitted from your hand.

It goes straight into your mind. When you turn the blade, the enemy will wail or cry bitterly. Before he dies, he will be ferocious or angry, or frightened or desperate... As if he is counting your sins in detail, this voice seems to be able to follow you into your dreams.

.”

The boy's voice was plain, but it was like the whisper of a devil, making people shudder.

"It does sound reasonable. It takes more courage to use cold weapons than to use guns to kill enemies."

Inuyama nodded.

However, Lu Chen shook his head and said: "It's not that I focused on cold weapons to show my courage. The teacher told me that if you kill the enemy with a knife, you will feel guilty, but that is your responsibility, that is life.

Only when you feel the weight can you know what you are doing, and you will always remind yourself that you are killing."

He paused and continued: "...If you can no longer feel the weight, then you will become a machine that can only kill people, and you will not be considered a human being. Using firearms will blur the boundaries of this weight.

, the teacher said that in his opinion, those who only use guns are mostly cowards."

After listening to the young man's remarks, the two were silent for a long time.

"You have a good teacher."

After a long time, Inuyama He opened his mouth and praised.

But Yuan Zhisheng felt strange. As far as he knew, Lu Chen had two teachers. One was a senior master who opened a martial arts school. He heard that his martial arts skills were good, but he had never committed any crimes and killed people or other creatures.

The other is Schneider, the current director of the executive department of Kassel College. He is indeed an old killer, but he feels that according to Schneider's character, destroying the enemy by all means is the most important thing. As for the sense of guilt and so on,

These are things you will only think about after going to hell.

These words really don't seem like what Schneider would say, but rather like what a wise old master who has been on the battlefield would say.

However, he noticed that the atmosphere seemed to be getting more serious, so he still smiled and said, "Then according to what you say, Caesar in your group is also a coward. I heard that he is good at firearms."

Lu Chen shook his head and smiled, "Brother Caesar is different. At critical moments, he is also a good man who can slash with a sword."

…………

Looking at the backs of Yuan Zhisheng and Lu Chen leaving, Inuyama He felt for a moment that he was really old, so old that he was defeated by the teacher's new disciples in all aspects.

After Yuan Zhisheng and Lu Chen got into the car, Sakura started the car and drove out of the Inuyama family's private residence.

"By the way, you really don't want to have a spar with me?"

Lu Chen turned to look at Yuan Zhisheng, who was lighting up a cigarette. He was quite interested in this young man who was a few years older than him. He must have seen him after coming to Japan. He was a pretty strong man, and he seemed to be very good at Japanese swordsmanship.

Yuan Zhisheng exhaled a puff of smoke, "I can't beat you."

Such a frank admission actually blocked Lu Chen's subsequent words.

"Yesterday, I heard from Caesar that you are the head of the Genji family in the underworld. I heard that you will succeed as the patriarch of all underworld. But to be honest, I don't think you are a gangster."

As Lu Chen spoke, he took out the iron box from his chest pocket, pulled out a Cohiba that he hadn't touched since seeing Eri Yi, and handed it to Yuan Zhisheng: "In the words of Brother Caesar, this is what men should smoke.

.”

Yuan Zhisheng was stunned for a moment and took it. He didn't expect that Lu Chen would take the initiative to talk to him.

"Then what does the underworld in your imagination look like?"

Yuan Zhisheng used his fingers like a knife to remove the front end, and took a sip. It was indeed the best, just like the taste of that slutty Italian slut.

"Street fights, collecting protection fees, bullying the lower class people, forcing good people to do prostitution, etc."

Every time Lu Chen said a word, Yuan Zhisheng's face became gloomier, but he couldn't refute it. No matter how glorious the purpose of the Sheqi Eight Family was, what Lu Chen said was completely unavoidable. There would always be rats.

will do so.

"I haven't done what you said, but I have done worse things."
To be continued...