The position of inner affairs steward was a minor one. They were merely a servant who catered to the needs of the sect disciples.
However, because he was an inner sect servant, Zhou Shao, who was related to him, could bully these outer sect disciples who had no backing and were as insignificant as weeds.
After bullying the round-faced shixiong, Zhou Shao and his group left, leaving the huge martial arts arena for the rest to clean.
When they were far away, Gu Yunzi went over to help the battered round-faced shixiong up and wiped the blood off his face with a handkerchief.
The shixiong gritted his teeth in pain and cursed, "So what if his uncle is a steward? He only bullies those of us without any backing. What's so great about him?"
"Say less," Gu Yunzi warned, glancing around cautiously.
The shixiong scrambled to his feet, wiped his face, and said resentfully, "It's all my uncle's fault for being so useless. If I had an uncle like that, I'd see who would dare bully me!"
Gu Yunzi sighed, "I wish I had a backer in the inner sect too. Then no one would bully me."
"Chu Yue, don't you want a backer?" He turned to Chu Yue, who was still sweeping, seeking agreement.
Chu Yue stopped and handed the shixiong's broom back to him, saying indifferently, "We need to finish cleaning the martial arts arena before dawn, otherwise we'll miss morning class."
The shixiong was speechless and could only silently continue sweeping.
No one dared to probe Chu Yue's unanswered question. In the outer sect, their lives were as fragile as weeds. Who wouldn't want a backer in the inner sect?
If they had a "big shot" in the inner sect as their backer, they would proudly flaunt it to the world. No one would have imagined that someone would consider it a disgrace and try to hide it.
Behind Li Lanshou's residence was a spiritual spring. The spring water flowed from a spiritual vein, carrying a small amount of the mother earth’s spiritual liquid. The spiritual energy in the water was abundant, and bathing in it could replenish one's essence and expand one's qi sea.
Li Yanbi had specially arranged this for the original host. The original host's body was too weak, with a five-spirit root that was common in the sect and indicative of mediocre talent.
The spiritual energy in the original host's qi sea was thin. No matter how many restorative pills he took, it was like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in the bottom. The speed at which spiritual energy entered his body was slower than the speed at which it leaked out, leaving only a small amount of spiritual energy in his qi sea.
The original host would bathe in the spiritual spring every night. Li Lanshou followed suit. He dismissed the serving maids, placed his mask on a side table, and leaned lazily against the edge of the pool, his eyes closed in thought.
Breaking off the engagement was urgent. First of all, he didn't like Su Shiyan. Second, he wasn't the destined protagonist and didn't have the life to enjoy a harem.
In the original story, Su Shiyan was a unique existence in Chu Yue's vast harem, not just because of her beauty, but also because she was the “twin” of another beauty.
Her sister was also from the Conundrum Sect, but she wasn't an ordinary disciple. This hidden relationship was unknown to outsiders.
If Li Lanshou hadn't known the plot of the original story, he never would have imagined that Su Shiyan's good sister was actually Bai Zhenchuan!
Bai Ying, the sole direct disciple of the Sect Master, held a status second only to the Sect Master within the sect. Everyone knew that Bai Zhenchuan's cultivation was profound, having reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage at three hundred years old, which was considered exceptionally talented. However, no one had ever seen them, and no one knew whether they were male or female, or what they looked like.
Many years ago, by accident, Su Shiyan stumbled into Bai Ying's cave and discovered a shocking secret – Bai Zhenchuan was actually a white dragon!
This story was long, but the gist of it was that the sect master, with his extraordinary skills and daring, had taken a dragon as a disciple and secretly brought it back to the sect, making it a direct disciple.
Although dragons were one of the divine beasts, they were ultimately still demons. In a world where humans and demons were separate, hiding a demon within the sect was a huge scandal. If it were exposed, it would ruin the Conundrum Sect's reputation, and the sect master would be condemned by all.
Su Shiyan kept this a secret. She became Bai Ying's only friend, and the two became inseparable, like sisters.
Therefore, when she and Chu Yue fell in love, Bai Ying, not wanting to entrust their good sister to a man he didn't know, transformed into a woman to test if Chu Yue was truly worthy.
After testing Chu Yue once, twice, and so on, Bai Ying ended up joining him as well, becoming a "twin sister" to Su Shiyan in Chu Yue's harem.
Compared to the aloof and cold Su Shiyan, Li Lanshou found himself more drawn to Bai Ying while reading.
Bai Ying was the embodiment of a man's perfect fantasy. The beauty of a dragon was beyond words. They were naturally pure and innocent, yet possessed a wicked demonic nature. They were also incredibly tolerant, accepting all of Chu Yue's women without jealousy. When there were conflicts in the harem, they would mediate and act as a peacemaker, making them the perfect wife.
But if they were merely a perfect wife, they wouldn't be the embodiment of perfection. More importantly, Bai Ying's true identity was the yao king.
The king of all yao, the ruler of the yao realm. All the yao in the world submitted to Bai Ying.
That was Li Lanshou’s reason for proposing to break off the engagement. Apart from Chu Yue, no other man on earth had the life to enjoy such a harem. Anyone else who dared to covet Su Shiyan would be killed by the yao king.
Li Lanshou casually pulled off his hairband and his inky black hair floated in the hot spring. He picked up a cup of wine from the side table and took a sip.
Just then, a cold wind swept through the room, extinguishing all the lights. The surroundings fell into darkness, illuminated only by the faint glow of the spiritual spring.
Li Lanshou’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly stepped out of the hot spring, wrapped himself in an outer robe and put on his mask.
In the pitch darkness, a suffocating silence spread.
A faint sound came from above the ceiling beams, as if something large was slowly crawling.
Shadows danced in the dim corners, as if countless cold eyes were staring at him.
The cold air grew thicker, as if invisible hands were gently touching his skin, sending chills down his spine.
Li Lanshou narrowed his eyes, sensing a malicious aura approaching.
The lights outside the porch went out. Looking out the window, he saw nothing but darkness. He opened the door and found that the room and the maids had disappeared. He was in a forest shrouded in thick fog, surrounded by a viscous darkness. Twisted shadows and floating ghost fires were faintly visible.
The hot spring behind him was gone, and a piercing laughter echoed through the thick fog, like sharp hooks tearing at his eardrums.
As he walked, he fastened his belt. The ground was covered in white bones, and it creaked when he stepped on them barefoot. The strong smell of decay hit him.
What a powerful illusion.
Every detail was so realistic. If he hadn't been so focused and clearly remembered what had just happened, he would have thought he had encountered a ghost.
Only someone from Conundrum Sect could create such a realistic illusion and dare to act under Li Yanbi's nose. He thought to himself, I should have broken off the engagement sooner.
He steadied himself. The surroundings became even more bizarre. The tree shadows twisted like monsters, and floating ghost fires gathered together, forming a pair of huge, blood-red eyes that hovered above him, staring down coldly.
A chill ran up Li Lanshou's legs as a bony, ghostly hand emerged from the ground, grabbing his ankles and pinning him in place.
Having just bathed, he had rushed out only wrapped in a thin robe, half-wet and clinging to his slender, well-proportioned body.
His narrow waist was defined, and his clothing outlined two delicate curves, like a taut bowstring, full of resilient beauty.
His wet black hair was draped casually over his shoulders, framing his lean face. The skin not covered by the mask was as white and delicate as fine jade.
The inability to see his face added a mysterious allure.
The blood-red eyes flickered in the darkness, like the gaze of death, as they slowly scanned him up and down. "Are you Li Lanshou?"
It seemed puzzled, its voice low and soft, androgynous and filled with an eerie charm.
The moment it spoke, a piercing chill poured down from Li Lanshou's head, as if he had fallen into an icy cellar in the depths of winter. His limbs went numb.
This body couldn't withstand the overwhelming demonic aura. His knees buckled, and he fell to his knees in the pile of bones, panting softly.
The blood-red eyes hadn't expected him to be so weak. He was actually suppressing a Golden Core cultivator with demonic energy just like this. The ghostly hand that had been restraining his ankles loosened and slid up his legs, reaching for his arms to pull him up.
As the ghostly hand passed over his knees, it caught the hem of his robe, revealing a delicate, clean calf with faint blue veins. Due to his kneeling position, his knee was a rosy red.
The part of him touched by that icy, ghostly hand trembled slightly. The terrifying atmosphere suddenly took on an erotic undertone.
The ghostly hand paused abruptly and quickly retreated.
After a moment of silence, the blood-red eyes spoke again, indifferent. "You don't need to know who I am."
"I want you to release Chu Yue and break off your engagement with Su Shiyan."
***
Comments
Post a Comment