Stay the Night

The Shang family's young lady's eye twitched. She closed her book and welcomed the two of them, her voice icy. "Thank you for bringing Little Green back. My name is Shang Yuan."

Seeing Shang Yuan was like seeing a savior to the parrot. It flapped its wings, trying to escape Lu Yang. Lu Yang let go, allowing the parrot to fly around the room.

"Be more careful next time. Fortunately, this parrot kept flying in circles around Taiping Village. If it had flown somewhere else, you really wouldn't have been able to find it." Lu Yang smiled as he reminded her.

Shang Yuan looked at the two of them in their streamlined outfits. At a glance, she could tell they were young heroes who had roamed the martial world for a long time, upholding justice wherever they went.

Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye's outfits had been recommended by Ask Dao Sect's mission hall. Dressed like this, they could pass themselves off as the sort of young heroes who had long wandered the martial world and upheld justice.

Shang Yuan's attitude was somewhat distant, whether because of her personality or something else. "Little Green is back too. You two should go home."

Tao Yaoye's brows drew together slightly. She disliked the young lady's attitude.

Lu Yang pretended not to hear her telling them to leave and said with a grin, "Let's chat a little. The Shang family seems quite welcoming. Maybe they'll even ask us to stay the night."

Shang Yuan let out a series of cold laughs. "The Shang family welcoming you doesn't mean I welcome you. Leave quickly. You'd better leave Taiping Village altogether."

"There aren't any demons or monsters in Taiping Village, so why leave? You haven't left the Shang family in a long time either. Don't you want to hear us talk about the outside world?" Lu Yang asked.

Shang Yuan froze for a moment, not expecting Lu Yang to say that. Her tone softened somewhat. "Where are you two from? I haven't left home for almost a month. Could you tell me about what you've seen in the martial world?"

"We're from Ask Dao Sect, one of the Five Great Immortal Sects. Both of us are at the Foundation Establishment Realm. We came to Taiping Village this time because we heard that a demonic bird was disturbing the people..."

Lu Yang began speaking unhurriedly. His voice was gentle, making him an excellent storyteller.

When Shang Yuan heard that the two of them were at the Foundation Establishment Realm, a trace of delight flashed through her eyes.

The three of them chatted for a while. Shang Yuan was captivated by Lu Yang's descriptions of the lives of cultivators who burrowed through the earth and soared through the skies. She also wanted to go out and make her mark, to see this vast world for herself.

"I want to cultivate immortality, but my father refuses to agree. He says it's too dangerous. If he hadn't been lucky while exploring an ancient tomb, he would have died there long ago."

"I've asked him several times what happened, but he refuses to tell me." Shang Yuan spoke indignantly. She loved hearing strange tales, yet her own father clearly had firsthand experiences and still refused to share them with her.

Lu Yang sighed inwardly. It seemed the Shang family head was a man with quite a story himself.

"What cultivation level does the Shang family head have?"

Shang Yuan seemed to recall her father's smug face and rolled her eyes. "According to his own boasts, he used to be at the ninth level of Qi Refining. Later, he encountered a great disaster and barely survived. His cultivation plummeted. He's either at the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining now."

"It's not too bad," Tao Yaoye said. "There aren't many cultivators in Taiping Village. Even the strongest person, the village head, is only at the seventh level of Qi Refining. Someone at the fourth or fifth level can live quite well here, to say nothing of the Shang family head's remaining foundation."

Shang Yuan sighed. "But I don't want to be confined to Qu River Commandery. I want to roam the martial world and see this magnificent, strange, and wondrous world. We're about the same age, yet you're already a Foundation Establishment cultivator, while I haven't even begun Qi Refining."

Tao Yaoye was just about to offer some words of encouragement when Butler Zhang knocked on the door. "Miss, it's time for dinner. And to the two young heroes as well—the master specifically instructed me to say that it's getting late, so he asks you two to stay the night after your meal."

"The master, madam, and Village Head Huang are already waiting for everyone."

"Alright, we're coming." Lu Yang answered.

Tao Yaoye had intended to refuse, but Lu Yang stopped her. "See? I told you the Shang family was hospitable and would ask us to stay the night. They've gone to all this trouble out of kindness. How could we refuse?"

At the dining table, the Shang family head sat upright in the seat of honor, chatting animatedly with Village Head Huang. Everyone else was eating with gusto as well. Though the food could not compare with Ask Dao Sect's cuisine, it was still quite delicious.

Butler Zhang and the maids stood respectfully to the side, attending to everyone's needs.

After an enjoyable meal, Village Head Huang returned home. Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye stayed the night in the eastern wing, with only one wall between their rooms.

Tao Yaoye did not really want to sleep here. She was extremely particular about beds. Aside from the bed in her Ask Dao Sect cave residence, where she would fall asleep the moment she lay down, she needed a long time to fall asleep anywhere else.

Tao Yaoye knew this was not a good habit. Cultivators often had to sleep rough and eat in the open. She had tried to change, but had not succeeded yet.

"Senior Brother Lu Yang can fall asleep anywhere."

Tao Yaoye muttered to herself. She did not know why, but she let out a quiet laugh before yawning.

"I'm going to bed early today. Looks like I'll get a good night's sleep..."

Tao Yaoye suddenly realized something. "No! Someone poisoned us!"

She turned around and reached for the Thousand Illusion Umbrella to raise a barrier, only to discover that the spiritual energy within her body was sluggish and difficult to circulate.

Her heart jolted. Someone had poisoned her without making a sound. Who?

This poison was meant for cultivators. Since the other party knew she was a cultivator and still dared to act, they had to be a cultivator as well.

There were only a few people in the Shang family. Aside from the Shang family head, she had not sensed anyone else who was a cultivator.

Was it the Shang family head?

Or was there a cultivator whose cultivation was higher than hers, making them impossible to detect?

What was happening on Senior Brother Lu Yang's side?

A string of questions raced through Tao Yaoye's mind. Before she could think carefully, light footsteps came from outside the room.

The door opened, and Butler Zhang strode in with a measured gait, an excited yet cruel smile on his face.

"It's you!" Tao Yaoye's eyes widened. She had not expected Butler Zhang, and her heart sank at once.

The fact that she had failed to see that Butler Zhang was a cultivator meant that his cultivation was higher than hers.

Butler Zhang held a skinning knife. Even from five paces away, Tao Yaoye could sense the thick resentment emanating from it. Who knew how many people had died by that blade? Its resentment soared to the heavens.

Moonlight shone on the blade, making it gleam with a dazzling, snow-bright sheen.

Butler Zhang licked his lips as he watched Tao Yaoye struggle in vain, as though he were looking at a ferocious beast that had already fallen into a trap.

"What beautiful skin. I've never seen skin this fair or with such beautiful lines in my entire life."

"I know you're from Ask Dao Sect. Killing you would be very troublesome. Ask Dao Sect's influence covers the heavens and the earth. How could a nobody like me dare provoke it?"

As Butler Zhang spoke, saliva dribbled from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away and continued, "But your skin is simply too beautiful. I couldn't help but take the risk. And you willingly stayed at the Shang family for dinner. If I didn't seize such a perfect opportunity to poison you, I'd be terribly unappreciative."

The dinner had been poisoned!

Seeing that Tao Yaoye was still struggling, Butler Zhang kindly advised her, "Stop struggling. Even if you hadn't been poisoned, you still wouldn't be my opponent. You've only just entered the Foundation Establishment Realm, while I'm at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage."

Though he said this, Butler Zhang did not lower his guard. A Foundation Establishment cultivator from Ask Dao Sect could never be treated like an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator!

Butler Zhang said this only because he did not want Tao Yaoye to resist.

The more she struggled, the tighter the connection between skin and flesh would become, making her skin harder to peel. This was something he knew from experience.

"Relax. It'll only hurt for a moment. You'll stop being afraid soon enough."

Butler Zhang licked the skinning knife and approached Tao Yaoye.

Suddenly, Tao Yaoye sprang to her feet. Her spiritual energy flowed freely through her entire body. She gripped the Thousand Illusion Umbrella and smashed it viciously into Butler Zhang's face.

Butler Zhang had been certain of victory and was caught completely off guard.

"How are you not poisoned?!"