"You unfilial wretch! Get on your knees!"
Inside a grand residence in Jin Province's Inner City, a lean middle-aged man was berating a young master from a wealthy household.
The servants around them had all retreated to the side, visibly afraid.
This young master was Li Yanqing, who had just returned from outside the city.
His face was filled with resentment as he looked coldly at the middle-aged man and said:
"What did I do wrong?"
Hearing this, the middle-aged man looked at his son and trembled with rage.
This man was Li Yanqing's father, Li Chong, and also the Jin Province Governor.
Governor Li was an elegant middle-aged man. He wore a green official robe embroidered with clouds along the sleeves, with a short black beard beneath his chin. His features gave off an impression of upright reliability.
Only, the dark circles beneath his eyes were rather heavy, and his expression was haggard. Clearly, he had overworked himself day and night.
"You still dare say you did nothing wrong? Who gave you the nerve to obstruct constables in the execution of their duties?"
"Do you know how serious this case is? How many people have died? And you dared stop them?!"
Li Chong reprimanded him harshly.
At this moment, there was not the slightest trace of fear on Li Yanqing's face. Instead, he looked utterly calm, as if he had long expected this outcome. Smiling nonchalantly, he said, "Father, that man is the teacher I found. Naturally, you cannot arrest him. Didn't you say that as long as I found a teacher myself who could teach me qi cultivation, you would no longer interfere?"
Li Chong's brow could not help but furrow.
He had indeed said that.
Back then, because his own aptitude had been ordinary and cultivation held no hope for him, he had gone to take the civil examinations and become an official.
He had wanted to nurture a better descendant who could enter an immortal sect, so he found teachers for Li Yanqing. Yet every one of them said his son's aptitude was too poor and that they could not teach him.
He had wanted his son to study instead, but Li Yanqing simply could not absorb a single book.
Yet he had never expected his son to be so disappointing—unable to cultivate, unable to study, and reduced to becoming a wastrel.
So he had scolded Li Yanqing, saying that if he could cultivate qi, he could do whatever he pleased and Li Chong would not interfere. But if he could not, then he should obediently go back and study.
But that had only been said in anger. Who would have thought Li Yanqing would truly go looking for a teacher?
Still, most of them had been swindlers.
Li Chong said coldly, "What sort of wandering charlatan have you found this time? The Household's expenses have been so enormous lately—all thanks to you, I presume?"
Li Yanqing said confidently, "The teacher I found this time is absolutely not a fraud. He is a genuine teacher. I saw his strength with my own eyes."
Seeing his son like this, Li Chong simply could not believe that he had found any formidable figure.
After all, powerful cultivators were all in sects, while capable Rogue Cultivators were few enough to count on one's fingers. Li Chong knew exactly what kind of person his son was, so he did not believe it at all.
"Stop this nonsense!"
"Father, I am telling the truth!"
Li Chong snorted coldly, ignored him outright, and ordered the steward beside him:
"Notify the yamen. Anyone who should be interrogated must be interrogated."
"Yes, Master."
"I said, he cannot be interrogated!"
Li Yanqing rushed over and stood in front of the steward, his expression resolute.
"As long as I am here today, no one will touch even a hair on that senior's head!"
"Insolence!"
Seeing that his son not only showed no remorse but even dared to talk back, Governor Li flew into a towering rage. New fires and old fires surged together, while the troublesome case and endless petty affairs of recent days had already left him in a foul mood.
"You wretched beast!"
He strode up to his son and slapped him across the face.
Smack! A crisp sound rang out as Li Yanqing was struck to the ground by his father. Blood immediately seeped from the corner of his mouth.
He clutched his right cheek, his eyes fixed fiercely on his father.
He had not expected his father to actually hit him. Anger rose in his heart as well, and he roared, "What right do you have to hit me?! Since I was little, how many times have you even come home?"
"Even when Mother died, all you cared about was your official position!"
"Are you worthy?!"
Hearing those words, Li Chong's fury intensified.
"What do you know! I did this for the people!"
He grabbed Li Yanqing by the collar, intending to teach him a lesson, but the steward at the side desperately tried to dissuade him.
"Master, please show mercy! Young Master is your son, after all!"
As Li Chong tugged on Li Yanqing's collar, he happened to rip the talisman directly off the back of his neck.
"Hiss!"
He only felt a crumpled paper-like object appear in his hand.
At the instant the talisman fell away, a powerful surge of black qi emerged from a black mark on the back of Li Yanqing's neck and entered his body directly.
Li Yanqing suddenly smelled a fragrance that filled him with immense delight. It traveled from the tip of his nose to his mind, as though it could make him forget every trouble in the world.
Then his vision went black, and he fainted on the spot.
His body lost all support. The moment Li Chong loosened his grip, Li Yanqing collapsed to the ground.
"Young Master has fainted!"
The steward cried out and hurriedly helped Li Yanqing up from the ground.
"Yanqing!"
Seeing his son suddenly faint, Li Chong's anger instantly dissipated by more than half, leaving his face filled with alarm.
After all, he only had this one son, his sole sprout! "Quick, fetch Doctor Yan!" Li Chong hurriedly instructed the steward.
"Yes, Master. I will send someone to invite him at once!"
"And what is this?"
Then Li Chong looked at the crushed talisman in his hand and muttered.
"Master, this appears to be a talisman."
Amid the singing and dancing of Jin Province City stood a towering pavilion, its name prominently displayed: Drunken Flower Pavilion.
Inside, the women all wore gauzy, thin skirts that bared their arms and shoulders as they performed music upon the central stage.
Listening to tunes and admiring beauties—life was extravagantly decadent.
Third-floor private room.
Inside, incense smoke curled through the air, while silk curtains fluttered lightly in the breeze. A lovely woman lay upon the bed.
Her fragrant shoulders and collarbones were exposed, making one's heart race at the sight.
"Oh? So that was why the aura vanished. It was being suppressed. How annoying."
The lovely woman stuck out her pink tongue. Beneath those seductive red lips, her breath was like an orchid's fragrance, stirring the most primal desire without one even realizing it.
Her soul-stealing voice could set a person's emotions surging.
"A guest has arrived, Hu'er."
The madam's voice came from outside the room.
"Understood, Mother."
The woman answered, rose gracefully, and opened the door.
"Hehehe! My beautiful little wife!"
A skinny, lecherous-looking man immediately lunged inside. He snickered as he shut the door behind him.
The lovely woman flashed aside, smiling seductively.
"Do not be in such a hurry, sir."
"My beauty, I have missed you to death! You are mine for this entire week!" The skinny man's face was sickly pale, with deep dark circles beneath his eyes, but his mouth was full of smiles.
"Giggle, giggle, giggle!"
The woman slowly approached him, laughing softly as her delicate jade fingers drew circles over his chest.
"This servant is naturally all yours, but would you be willing to give your life for me~?"
The man grabbed her hand, greedily inhaled the fragrance at her nose, and laughed.
"Of course I would."
The lovely woman's lips curled slightly. She threw her arms around him and said pitifully:
"This servant is so touched."
With a beauty in his arms, the skinny man was brimming with pride. Suddenly, he noticed something furry appear behind the woman before him.
"Beauty, why is there a tail behind you?"
"A new trick. You do not like it?"
"Of course I like it!"
The skinny man pulled down the bed curtains and became impatiently eager.
But only a few minutes later, the man was already panting heavily as he said in confusion:
"What is going on today?"
The lovely woman's long hair was scattered across the pillow as she gave a faint sigh. "Oh my, oh my. Your vital essence is far too little. Then you should just die."
The next instant, a terrifying fox face appeared before the man, its mouth full of sharp teeth.
"Do you still like me like this?"
The man's mouth was tightly blocked. Terror filled his eyes before they gradually turned numb and ash-gray.
Crack!
The sound of skin tearing away from bone sent chills down one's spine.
Blood poured down the crimson wallpaper like a rushing stream.
A long while later.
An expressionless man emerged from within. There was not a trace of blood on his face as he left Drunken Flower Pavilion like a puppet.
"We cannot let the target that just appeared get away either, heehee!"
The maiden's seductive laughter echoed once more from the private room.