This was a boy of sixteen or seventeen, dressed in simple clothes.
He was very flustered when Su Luo grabbed him, struggling violently, “Let go of me! What are you doing, let go…”
Su Luo thought he was a thief.
She had seen this trick many times before, where someone would pretend to be a passerby, deliberately bump into you, and steal your belongings while you weren't paying attention. By the time you reacted, the person would be long gone.
“You…”
Su Luo was about to ask when shouts came from ahead, and several men were chasing after him.
One of them pointed at the boy and yelled, “You little brat, you stole our things and you still want to run… Thank you, miss, for catching him for us! You little rascal, where are the things…”
He tried to search the boy, but the boy kicked and yelled like a madman, “It’s not yours, it’s mine! I’m not selling it anymore… Get lost, let me go! You scoundrels…”
Su Luo involuntarily let go, sensing something was wrong.
The boy started fighting with these men, but he was clearly no match for them. He was quickly subdued and received two slaps.
The men found a jade pendant on him and sneered, “You still have the nerve to claim it’s yours? You came to our pawnshop to pawn something, took the money, and then snatched the jade pendant back, damn it, you little bastard!”
Passersby were attracted and stopped to watch, pointing and gossiping.
Li Tianjue and the others also walked up. Just as they were about to ask Su Luo what was happening, their eyes suddenly sharpened as they fixed on the jade pendant in the man’s hand. With a flash of movement, he seized the man’s hand and snatched the jade pendant away.
“Ah! You…” The man was caught off guard, not expecting the jade pendant to be snatched back again.
“Senior Brother, what are you doing?” Su Luo looked at Li Tianjue in confusion.
Li Tianjue didn’t answer Su Luo or pay attention to the gazes of those around him. He only stared at the man and the boy, exuding a powerful aura, and said word by word, “Where did this jade pendant come from, speak!”
The men were all intimidated by him and dared not speak for a moment.
The boy froze for a moment, then suddenly broke free and rushed forward, desperately trying to grab the jade pendant, “It’s mine, give it back!”
Li Tianjue caught the boy, easily immobilizing him, and then looked at the men, saying coldly, “Whose jade pendant is it?”
Feeling Li Tianjue’s imposing presence, the men knew immediately that he was no ordinary person.
They immediately said respectfully, “Sir, we are from the Auspicious Pawnshop. This brat came to us earlier to pawn something, which was this jade pendant. But after he took the money, he snatched the jade pendant back. Isn’t this deliberately causing trouble? That’s why we…”
Li Tianjue asked the boy again, “Is it yours? Where did it come from?”
The boy looked at Li Tianjue, his fierce aura vanishing without a trace. He stammered, “I-it belongs to my young master. I-I stole my young master’s jade pendant to pawn it. My young master is seriously ill… I-I’m not selling it anymore…”
He took a pouch from his embrace and threw it on the ground, “Here, I’m not selling it. Please let me go…”
Li Tianjue said nothing, but told the men, “The jade pendant is not for sale. Take the money and leave.”
After speaking, he grabbed the boy and turned to leave.
Su Luo and Chu Tianshu had never seen Li Tianjue meddle in public affairs, nor had they cared about a mysterious jade pendant. Knowing something was amiss, and with the crowd around, they didn’t ask and followed Li Tianjue.
The men watched them leave, unwilling but afraid to act.
“Aren’t we going after them? It’s just like that? That jade pendant is very valuable.”
“Do you dare to chase after them? Don’t you see these people are not ordinary?”
The leading man snorted impatiently, picked up the bag on the ground, and said, “Forget it, let’s go back. Consider us unlucky. We got the money back, so let’s not cause trouble.”
Li Tianjue asked the boy as they walked, “Where is your young master? Where is he?”
The boy hesitated, and after a long time, he pleaded, “Young master, I was really wrong. I had no choice. Please don’t tell my young master. He, he is very sick, and if he doesn’t get medicine soon, he, he won’t survive… That’s why I stole, stole my young master’s jade pendant to sell…”
Li Tianjue stopped and looked at him, saying gently, “Don’t worry, I won’t say a word.”
He also took out a bag of spirit coins and handed it to the boy, “I’ll keep the jade pendant for now. Take this to buy medicine, and later you’ll take us to see your young master.”
The boy hesitated for a moment, took the bag, and ran into a pill shop across the street.
At this point, Su Luo curiously asked, “Senior Brother, what exactly is going on? Have you seen this jade pendant before?”
Li Tianjue looked at the warm jade pendant in his hand and showed it to Chu Tianshu and Lu Jixing. After a few glances, they suddenly remembered something and were greatly surprised, “This, this is Master’s Twin Fish Qiankun Jade Pendant! How could it…”
Su Luo was also surprised, “Master?”
Tang Xiaoguo hadn’t seen it clearly before, but now she remembered, looking at the two fish on the jade pendant connected head to tail, carved lifelike, and said emotionally, “Yes, Sister Su, this is Master’s jade pendant! He always carried it with him, how could it be in someone else’s hands?”
No wonder Li Tianjue had reacted strangely upon seeing the jade pendant. It turned out to be the personal jade pendant of Sect Master Bai Yanshu.
Su Luo knew this was a serious matter.
Sect Master Bai Yanshu of Qingxu Heavenly Sect had not returned for several years since he went out to find medicine.
In the past, they could still contact him using a voice transmission jade pendant, but for the last two years, all communication had ceased. If it weren’t for the fact that everyone knew the Sect Master’s cultivation was peerless and profound, ordinary people would not be able to harm him, Qingxu Heavenly Sect would have been in chaos long ago.
Now that Bai Qi’s illness could be cured, several elders had wanted to inform the Sect Master to return quickly, but they couldn’t reach him at all. Every time this matter was mentioned, there was an unspeakable worry in their words.
Su Luo had never met Sect Master Bai Yanshu since joining Qingxu Heavenly Sect. Although she didn’t have much affection for him, seeing his personal jade pendant in the hands of an outsider now made her heart sink, and she felt a sense of foreboding.
“Senior Brother, don’t worry, let’s find out what’s going on.”
Li Tianjue nodded, instructed everyone again, and soon the boy returned, leading them towards an inn.
It was a very ordinary inn, with mediocre decor.
The boy went upstairs, walked ahead, and quickly pushed open a room door, calling out, “Young Master, I’ve bought you medicine!”
“Cough, cough, cough…”
A coughing sound came from the room. Li Tianjue, Su Luo, and the others followed him in. They saw a man in his early twenties sitting at the head of the bed, coughing violently, seemingly about to get up to get water.
He had sharp eyebrows and piercing eyes, a full of heroic spirit, with sculpted and deep features, a true handsome man.
Just by looking at his demeanor, one could tell he must be from a noble family, but his complexion was frighteningly bad. His eyes seemed to be covered in a layer of soot, his face was pale, and his lips had no trace of color. If he hadn’t been sitting up, he would have looked like he had been dead for several days.
Seeing so many people suddenly appear, Xiao Jingchen’s face changed, “Who are you?”
The boy quickly said, “Young Master, it was me who brought them back. They gave me money, and I finally bought the medicine…”
Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Jingchen’s face darkened, and he shouted, “Who told you to bring people back? Tell them to leave immediately… cough, cough, cough! Tell them to leave… right now!”