253: Extraordinary disguise!

He found some food in the An Family's still-intact rooms, picked out a relatively undamaged outer robe to put on, tidied himself slightly, and then left the ruins.

As the first rays of dawn appeared, there were already a few scattered travelers and carriages on the main road.

Lu Jiuyuan did not use his Lightness Skill, but simply walked at a steady pace, savoring the exhilarating and fierce battle he had just had with An Yunshan.

The Star Absorbing Skill's Eight Qi Returning to One indeed had its unique qualities, helping him find many weak points.

"Uncle! Uncle!"

A familiar voice, filled with surprise, came from ahead.

Lu Jiuyuan looked up and saw Cheng Shifei excitedly running over from a small tea stall by the main road, a wide smile on his face.

"Cheng Shifei?"

"Uncle! I finally found you! Yesterday I went to Number One Estate Under Heaven's annex to look for you, but couldn't find you. After asking around, I learned you came to Baoding to trouble the An Family."

Cheng Shifei ran closer, looking Lu Jiuyuan up and down with concern. Seeing that although his clothes were a bit torn and his complexion slightly pale, his spirits were still good, he visibly relaxed.

"Uncle is invincible, he must be fine!"

Lu Jiuyuan looked at his familiar face, his eyes subtly shifting, and said with a smile, "It's nothing, just a few insignificant clowns, already dealt with. Why are you here?"

Cheng Shifei scratched his head, chuckling, "Isn't it because I was worried about Uncle!

Lord Protector said that old turtle An Family was hard to deal with, so I thought I'd come to lend a hand. See if I could help, hehe!"

"Uncle, are you tired? There's a tea stall ahead, shall we rest our feet and have some tea before continuing our journey?"

Lu Jiuyuan nodded, "Very well."

The two walked towards the tea stall.

Cheng Shifei quickly found a clean table and wiped the bench with his sleeve: "Uncle, please sit, please sit! I'll go ask the boss for a good pot of tea!"

"Uncle, the tea's here! There's no good tea in this small place, so just make do!"

Cheng Shifei returned with a teapot and teacups, deftly pouring two bowls of steaming rough tea.

He picked up one bowl, not minding the heat, and drank it all in one gulp, then let out a long breath.

"Ah, refreshing! When you're thirsty, anything tastes good!" He refilled his tea, "Uncle, you try some too!"

Lu Jiuyuan watched his hearty drinking, a barely perceptible glint flashing in his eyes. He didn't touch the bowl of tea, merely saying blandly, "No hurry."

His gaze fell on his face, and he asked seriously, "Yesterday when you went to Dragon Guard Manor, besides saying An Yunshan was difficult to deal with, what else did Lord Protector say?"

Cheng Shifei put down his teacup, wiped his mouth, and smiled, "Lord Protector didn't say much, just told me to be careful, and that Uncle's martial arts are peerless, so there would definitely be no problem, and I just shouldn't cause trouble.

Oh, right, Lord Protector also said to pay attention to your other two uncles, saying they feel older sister is biased and want to cause you trouble."

Lu Jiuyuan's fingertip lightly tapped the rough tabletop, making a barely audible sound.

"Is that so? Those two pieces of trash? I understand!"

He paused, then suddenly changed the subject: "Speaking of which, how are you and Yunluo doing lately? I haven't seen her in several days?"

Cheng Shifei's smile remained unchanged as he immediately waved his hand: "She's been grounded by the Emperor, that old bastard Cao Zhengchun tattled on her!

That damned eunuch, always causing trouble, never doing anything proper! It's infuriating."

"Have you made any progress on the matter of the three high officials being murdered, which I asked you to secretly investigate?" Lu Jiuyuan's voice was slightly lower.

"Investigate the case?" 'Cheng Shifei' was stunned for a moment, then a look of annoyance and indignation appeared on his face:

"Sigh! Uncle, don't even mention it! I investigated as you instructed, but those three old geezers were dead as doornails, and besides the traces of ice and fire True Qi mimicking yours, nothing was left at the scene!

The Six Doors guys have noses sharper than dogs, they sealed off the scene like an iron barrel. I wanted to investigate, but I couldn't get involved at all! Lord Protector even said this matter runs too deep and told me not to meddle."

As he spoke, he habitually reached to scratch the back of his head, but halfway through, he seemed to think better of it and lowered his hand, picking up the teacup and taking another gulp.

"Uncle, why aren't you drinking tea? Aren't you thirsty?" Cheng Shifei refilled his own cup and asked curiously.

"When traveling the Jianghu, one must be careful everywhere!" Lu Jiuyuan said, looking at him:

"The Jianghu is never short of insidious and cunning tricks; black inns, poisoning, and knockout drops are all very common."

"For a master, even poisoning someone right in front of them can go completely unnoticed."

Lu Jiuyuan continued, "For example, this bowl of tea in front of you, you drink it and nothing happens, but if I were to drink it, I would be poisoned."

Cheng Shifei's face turned pale with shock, and he immediately threw the teacup away: "What? The tea is poisoned? Why didn't you say so earlier? I've already had three bowls."

"No, it's not the tea that's poisoned, but this teacup." Lu Jiuyuan said with a smile, pointing at the teacup on the table:

"The poison is smeared on the teacup. Using your drinking tea to lower my guard, as soon as I pick up the bowl, I would be poisoned.

The method of poisoning can only be considered average, not excellent."

"They say it's easy to draw a tiger's skin but hard to draw its bones, and you can know a person's face but not their heart. Shifei, who do you think put this poison here?"

"I think?" The smile on 'Cheng Shifei's' face instantly froze, then a perfectly feigned look of shock and anger appeared,

"Who? Who dares to poison Uncle?"

He suddenly stood up, vigilantly looking around. The tea stall owner and the few scattered customers had already been scared away by the sudden turn of events.

"Who is it? Get out here!"

He roared, "You scoundrel, since your method of poisoning has been seen through, why don't you get out here and die."

However, Lu Jiuyuan's gaze remained calmly fixed on him, a gaze that seemed to penetrate the skin and look directly into the Soul.

"No need to search." Lu Jiuyuan said blandly, "Isn't the one who poisoned me, you?"

'Cheng Shifei's' body stiffened abruptly, the shock and anger on his face instantly solidified, then melted away like ice and snow, replaced by a completely different, somewhat sinister smile.

He sat back down on the stool and said with a smile,

"As expected of the Imperial Uncle, truly formidable!"

"I observed him secretly for seven days, believing my imitation was flawless, even down to all his small movements and bad habits. How did you see through it so quickly?"

"It's very simple," Lu Jiuyuan raised his eyes, his gaze like a sword, "I never asked him to investigate the murder of the three high officials."

"You tried to trick me the moment we met?"

"It's your poisoning skill, it's not presentable, not the work of a master, and it couldn't escape my eyes.

I've encountered many who are far more skilled at playing with poison than you."

"Splendid! Truly splendid!" The imposter clapped his hands and laughed, but there was no mirth in his eyes, only cold killing intent: