Chapter 9

"Where has Mother gone? Why hasn't she returned yet?" Lu Tianyu became even more anxious and uneasy.

"Nothing bad has happened, right?" The thought of this possibility made Lu Tianyu's heart leap with fear, his heart rising to his throat instantly.

This morning, when they had breakfast together, Mother had mentioned that she was assigned by the Chief Steward to help clean the courtyard at Uncle Three's house. Although Uncle Three's place was large, with so many maids and servants helping, even if it were a palace, it should have been cleaned by now, right?

"I can't just sit here; I have to go and check." Worried about his mother, Lu Tianyu immediately took large strides towards the courtyard, intending to go to Uncle Three's house to find her.

But thinking of the despicable Lu Tianshi, Lu Tianyu stopped in his tracks. His return might still be unknown to Lu Tianshi. If he just barged in, wouldn't he be walking into a trap? If caught by Lu Tianshi, he would likely suffer inhuman torture again.

"Lu Tianyu, Lu Tianyu, how can you be so useless? Your mother is missing, and you're only concerned about your own safety, not even bothering to ask. Are you even human?" A voice immediately echoed in Lu Tianyu's mind.

The safety of his mother instantly overcame his fear. Lu Tianyu clenched his fists without hesitation and quickly walked out of the small courtyard, heading towards the courtyard where Uncle Three lived.

On the way, many maids and servants saw Lu Tianyu but treated him as if he were air, none of them greeting him. They hurriedly avoided him, not daring to say a word, for fear of being reported to Lu Tianshi, which would result in physical punishment.

Lu Tianyu, worried about his mother's safety, didn't care about these things and just kept walking quickly. Soon, he crossed the front courtyard and passed through countless corridors, able to faintly see a large courtyard ahead, with carved beams and painted pillars, quite magnificent.

Uncle Three was now the acting head of the Lu family, living in the former residence of Old Master Lu. Old Master Lu Bingwei, who was in constant seclusion for cultivation, had long become a spiritual symbol in the hearts of the Lu family's people. The servants and maids now truly feared Uncle Three, Lu Xingyao.

Just as he reached the front gate of Uncle Three's courtyard, two burly guards immediately stepped forward, blocking Lu Tianyu's path.

"Move aside!" Lu Tianyu immediately shouted coldly.

"Master Lu, without the third master's summons, you cannot enter," one of the guards said coldly, his right hand extended to block Lu Tianyu's path. Although he called Lu Tianyu "Master Lu," his tone was full of disdain, clearly not taking the well-known waste of the Lu family seriously.

"I need to find my mother. Can you please let me through?" Lu Tianyu had to plead, as he could only endure for now, lacking the strength to do otherwise.

"No, the third master said that without his permission, no one can enter," the guard said coldly.

"Ah!" At this moment, a tragic cry suddenly came from inside the courtyard.

At the same time, a high-pitched angry shout could be heard: "You wretched maid, clumsy and inept, how dare you break the lady's most cherished crystal vase? I will beat you to death today." This was followed by several loud slaps, making the cries even more pitiful.

Hearing this familiar cry, Lu Tianyu's eyes turned red. This was the voice of his mother, Li Xianghui.

From the high-pitched angry shout, Lu Tianyu could faintly deduce that his mother might have accidentally broken the crystal vase of Lady Three, thus suffering a merciless beating.

"Get out of the way!" Hearing the pitiful cries from inside the courtyard, Lu Tianyu's blood rushed to his head, his eyes turning red as he roared in anger. A faint red battle aura flashed in his right hand, and he suddenly grabbed the guard's hand blocking his path, pulling it hard.

"Slap" The guard was immediately thrown far away, landing heavily in the corner, crying out in pain.

"Ah?" The other guard, seeing this, was shocked, his eyes wide open, staring at Lu Tianyu in disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost.

He never expected that the well-known waste of the Lu family was actually a martial practitioner. From the color of the battle aura emitted from Lu Tianyu's right hand, this waste had reached the initial stage of a warrior.

"Still not moving?" Seeing the guard still standing there, blocking his path, Lu Tianyu immediately raised his foot without hesitation and kicked the guard's chest hard.

"Bang!" The guard, at the late stage of a warrior, was unable to dodge and was kicked directly. His chest felt as if hit by a heavy hammer, and his body flew up, accompanied by a deafening sound, shattering the door behind him into pieces.

Lu Tianyu immediately rushed into the courtyard. At this moment, all thoughts of hiding and concealing his strength were thrown to the wind. His mind was focused on one thing: to quickly save his mother, who was suffering.

Because his mother was everything to him. If anything happened to her, what would be the point of his life? Moreover, if he watched his mother suffer and still chose to endure and retreat, wouldn't he be worse than a beast?

So, Lu Tianyu was completely determined. Even if rushing in meant certain death, he was willing to do it. No matter what, he could not let his mother suffer any more.

As soon as he entered the courtyard and saw the scene, Lu Tianyu's eyes turned red, and he couldn't help but let out a deafening roar: "Stop it!"

He saw his mother, Li Xianghui, tied up with her hands bound, hanging from a branch of a crooked tree. Below, a cruel servant was wielding a whip, lashing Li Xianghui.

The loud sound of the door being shattered made the servant pause, his whip still raised, not yet landing on Li Xianghui.

But Li Xianghui had already suffered countless lashes, her hair disheveled, her body covered in wounds, her robe torn in many places, and fresh blood dripping down her legs, staining the ground with a large bloodstain.

Beside her, a few maids were pointing and whispering, as if watching a spectacle. Seeing Lu Tianyu rush in, they were all shocked and turned to look.

"Mother!" Seeing his mother in such a pitiful state, Lu Tianyu felt a sharp pain in his heart, letting out a heart-wrenching cry as he rushed forward like the wind.

"Bang" Lu Tianyu raised his right foot without hesitation and kicked the chest of the servant holding the whip.

"Crack" The servant's ribs instantly broke, and he flew through the air, drawing a bloody arc, and crashed into the tree behind him.

"You..." The servant's eyes were wide open in shock, staring at Lu Tianyu in disbelief, and then his head tilted, his breath gone.

This servant was one of the accomplices who, along with Lu Tianshi, had severely beaten Lu Tianyu and thrown him off a cliff. Seeing Lu Tianyu appear and become so powerful, he was terrified but didn't have time to say a complete sentence before being sent to the underworld by Lu Tianyu's foot, filled with overwhelming anger.

"Ah? Murder!" The few maids watching the spectacle, seeing the servant kicked to death by Lu Tianyu, immediately snapped out of their shock, screaming and scattering, fleeing the scene in a flash.

"Mother!" Lu Tianyu, with only his mother in his mind, ignored the others' departure and quickly ran to the tree, climbing up and untying the rope on the branch. He gently held his mother's hands and helped her down.

"Fei'er, how did you suddenly become so powerful? Weren't you unable to cultivate?" Li Xianghui stared at her son in disbelief, as if in a dream, unable to believe what she had just seen.

"Mother, don't say more. I'll explain later. Let's go!" After saving his mother, Lu Tianyu's mind cleared, realizing the situation was very dangerous. He immediately supported his mother and quickly headed towards the gate.

"Little brat, you killed my servant and think you can leave so easily?" At this moment, a sharp, angry voice came from the right corridor of the courtyard.

"Wang Cui'e?" Seeing this woman, Lu Tianyu gritted his teeth in hatred. This woman was Uncle Three's wife, Wang Cui'e, one of the people he suspected of tampering with him when he was young.

"Block that little brat. If they escape, you will all die!" Wang Cui'e shouted again, and the group of cruel servants behind her surged towards the gate, quickly blocking the broken gate.

Supporting his heavily injured mother, Lu Tianyu couldn't move quickly. He could only watch helplessly as nearly ten cruel servants blocked the gate first.

Seeing this, Lu Tianyu's heart sank. Although these servants weren't very powerful, each at the late stage of a warrior, their numbers were overwhelming. He would need a lot of time to deal with them and break through the gate. If he delayed too long, and Uncle Three, Lu Xingyao, returned, he would be in trouble.

"Move aside, or don't blame me for being ruthless." Lu Tianyu, supporting his mother, stopped five meters from the gate and shouted sternly.

"Hmph, what a big mouth. With you, a waste, thinking you can stand up to so many of us?" Lu Tao, the young steward of Uncle Three's household, stepped forward a few steps, looking at Lu Tianyu with disdain.

Lu Tao hadn't seen Lu Tianyu kick the servant to death earlier, so he still thought of Lu Tianyu as the weak, powerless waste he used to be. He believed the servant's death was likely an accident, perhaps the servant was not paying attention and was accidentally hit by Lu Tianyu from behind, crashing into the tree and dying.

"Mother, stay here and don't move. I'll deal with those blocking the way first." Seeing no peaceful resolution, Lu Tianyu immediately instructed his mother and rushed towards the gate.