Evil Soul Master

Li Qingxun spoke, letting out a soft sigh.

A trace of impatience hovered in his eyes. His voice was so quiet that even Uncle Li, sitting across from him, did not hear it.

Yet the young man who had been chewing slowly suddenly froze.

He had been enjoying his meal, but his Spiritual Power had quietly remained trained on Li Qingxun.

Precisely because he had been observing-or rather, monitoring-the boy all along, he heard almost every word Li Qingxun said.

Both "Evil Soul Master" and "harder to deal with after killing him" made his brows furrow slightly, a flicker of disbelief crossing his eyes.

He finally raised his gaze. For the first time, it no longer wandered elsewhere, but landed squarely on Li Qingxun.

Under his scrutiny, however, the boy seemed utterly oblivious, continuing to eat his clay pot beef in peace.

A faint aroma drifted over from across the room, yet the Evil Soul Master's expression grew stiffer by the moment.

There was not a shred of fear in his heart, though. Only a flash of ruthless killing intent passed through his eyes.

Still reasonably composed, he planned to wait until Li Qingxun finished eating and left, then quietly follow him and end the boy's life himself.

He plotted while silently chewing his food, but the longer he chewed, the more bitter it seemed to taste.

Whenever he thought of the boy's earlier words, an inexplicable agitation rose in his heart, and his gaze darkened further.

Under his watchful gaze, time ticked past, second by second. The ticking of the alarm clock nearby was quiet, yet it made him increasingly restless.

At last, Li Qingxun stood, calmly paid his bill, and left the Beef Clay Pot Shop, heading out onto the street.

As he stared at that retreating figure, the man could no longer suppress the killing intent in his eyes.

He rose, paid, and followed outside with long strides.

The street bustled with people, figures brushing past him-one, then two, then three.

Then those figures dwindled from three to two, and from two to one.

They moved neither quickly nor slowly, but with an eerily regular rhythm. At that moment, however, his mind was consumed with killing Li Qingxun, and he noticed none of it.

As his footsteps quickened, Li Qingxun calmly turned into an alley ahead.

It was a dim corner. Despite the daylight, the alley remained oppressively dark.

The man raised his hand slightly. A deep, eerie sheen seeped out from beneath his suit, and his eyes instantly became blood-red slit pupils.

His mouth parted, and two fangs streaked with bloody markings slowly emerged, gleaming white and sharp.

His eyes locked on Li Qingxun's back, he followed without a sound, disappearing into the alley after him.

Seeing the boy standing there, his pace unchanged from beginning to end, the man suddenly lunged forward. Five Soul Rings descended in rapid succession.

The formidable aura of a Soul King erupted outward. A moment later, his fourth Soul Ring blazed to life.

His fangs and nails grew wildly at the same time. He pounced like a beast, driving all ten fingers deep into Li Qingxun's flesh.

Li Qingxun let out an agonized scream. The man immediately opened his mouth and bit into his neck.

A nearly flesh-rending pain struck, and blood sprayed out. The rich, fragrant scent of blood filled his nose, making him chew in great, greedy mouthfuls.

But as he chewed, he suddenly opened his mouth and retched.

That thick, bloody smell was exactly the same as the one he had smelled in the Beef Clay Pot Shop.

For an instant, the man fell into a daze. Then pain stabbed through his chest.

By the time he reacted, his abdomen had already been pierced clean through.

He stared blankly at the hole in his abdomen. There was clearly no sign of any attack there, yet his chest had somehow been penetrated.

The next second, the entire world shattered like a mirror.

When the man came to his senses again, he found himself kneeling on the ground.

Li Qingxun stood calmly before him, looking down at him with pale golden eyes. The slight curl of his lips was full of mockery.

"You think someone like you can kill me? Take a look in the mirror and see what you really are!" Li Qingxun's voice was quiet. As he spoke, he slowly raised his hand.

Those pale golden eyes rested silently on the young man before him. Beneath that gaze, the reason the young man had only just recovered swiftly sank away. His eyes went blank again, and he remained kneeling there in silence.

"Tell me, who hired you to kill me?"

"Wang Tianyang. He offered ten million Federal Coins to kill you."

"Be more specific. I don't remember having a grudge against anyone named Wang."

"Wang Tianyang of Skysea City. He had some contact with our Holy Spirit Cult in his earlier years. Later, he left the Holy Cult for certain reasons, married a local woman, and had a child."

As the young man answered, he respectfully took out his phone and turned the screen toward him, displaying several photographs.

The photographs showed a kindly-looking middle-aged man strolling and shopping with a woman.

Li Qingxun knew this man-or rather, only when he saw that face did he finally remember who he was.

That face belonged to Wang Jinxi's father.

Li Qingxun truly had not expected Wang Jinxi's father to possess such means, even managing to hire someone from the Holy Spirit Cult to assassinate him.

At that thought, a trace of surprise flickered across his expression.

Looking at the young man still kneeling on the ground, Li Qingxun sighed softly and turned his palm over. A faint sheen rose from the Crystal Ball he had found earlier.

"You will forget everything you saw today."

"And once I give the order, you will head to the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters in Eastsea City."

"You will ignore every obstacle. You will think of nothing else. You will only head to the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters in Eastsea City."

Li Qingxun's voice was quiet. He repeated those words twice.

Then he gently swayed the Crystal Ball in his hand, and the dense mist within it thinned a little.

The young man swayed where he knelt, his expression growing dazed.

As the hypnosis took deeper hold, he suddenly opened his eyes and gasped for breath, his hands frantically feeling around his chest.

There was no pain or injury there, bringing a look of profound confusion into his eyes.

He stood in bewilderment, with no memory of what had happened. He remembered only that he had killed the boy, completed his mission, and should return to collect his money.

At that thought, excitement flashed in his eyes. He turned and headed outside.

Li Qingxun stood right in front of him, less than thirty centimeters away, yet he paid him no heed, as though he could not see him at all.

Watching the young man turn to leave, Li Qingxun stepped forward and calmly followed him.

He got into the same taxi as the young man and traveled all the way to Eastsea City's western district.

The area was out of the way, neither a wealthy neighborhood nor a slum, merely a place where ordinary people lived. Still, it fell within Eastsea City's commercial district.

Once the taxi stopped, the young man paid the fare and strode toward one of the enormous clubs there.

Standing behind him, Li Qingxun studied the club with interest, then followed him inside.