"Look at this mess. He wouldn't say who he was earlier, just called a bunch of people over to attack us. I thought they were some thugs and bandits. A misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. Sorry about that, my dear nephew," Lin Qingyang said with an exaggerated expression.
Behind him, Qi Mo lowered his head and pressed his lips together, afraid he would laugh out loud, while Mo Yan shook his head, somewhat speechless.
Cen Yue pointed a trembling finger at Lin Qingyang and said furiously, "You! You're the one who wouldn't let me speak!"
Hua Jin looked grim, but she had experienced Lin Qingyang's shamelessness before and knew she would gain nothing by arguing further. She glanced at Qi Mo behind him and snorted. "You're certainly fond of that Wolf Demon, bringing him along even when you go out. You probably don't know this, Elder Lin, but he escaped several times back at the Jin Yao Workshop. Now that you've brought him out, you'd better keep a close eye on him."
Lin Qingyang glanced at Cen Yue's bruised, swollen face. "Perhaps you should worry about your young master first."
"Why are you wasting words on him? Hurry up and arrest them!" Cen Yue shouted.
Lin Qingyang gave him an indifferent glance, and Cen Yue immediately shrank back behind Hua Jin in fright.
Hua Jin frowned. "They're guests invited by the Sect Leader."
"So what if my father invited them! He..." Cen Yue had only just started when Hua Jin impatiently interrupted him.
"Enough. Take the young master back," Hua Jin told the Xuanhuang Sect disciples.
The Xuanhuang Sect disciples were all bedraggled too, and many had faces blackened by the electric shocks. At her words, they hurried forward to support Cen Yue and left.
Hua Jin looked at the Fox Demon cowering to one side and snapped impatiently, "You get back too!"
The Fox Demon flinched, then hurried after them at a jog.
Hua Jin turned to Lin Qingyang with a smile that did not reach her eyes. "Sect Leader Cen is busy, so he asked me to receive you both in Wasteland Town. What an embarrassment, having something like this happen in front of you."
"It's fine. Every family has a brat," Lin Qingyang said with a smile.
"The Xuanhuang Sect is still some distance from here. I've booked rooms for you both at an inn in town. Rest here today, and tomorrow I'll send someone to take you up the mountain," Hua Jin said.
"Thank you for the trouble, Boss Hua," Lin Qingyang said politely.
As they spoke, one of Hua Jin's subordinates suddenly hurried over and whispered something in her ear. Her expression darkened, and she instructed her subordinate to take Lin Qingyang and the others to the inn before leaving in haste.
Watching Hua Jin's grave expression, Lin Qingyang could not help frowning.
The inn where they were staying was not far away. Once they arrived and put away their luggage, they went downstairs to the main hall to eat.
Mo Yan frowned in displeasure when he saw Qi Mo sit down at the table as though it were perfectly natural. A Demon Slave daring to eat at the table would normally have made him fly into a rage, but right now, he could hardly be bothered to get angry. Whatever he said, Lin Qingyang would only retort anyway.
As they ate, they heard two men at the next table, one fat and one thin, chatting over their meal.
"Have you heard? Another Peak Master from the Xuanhuang Sect died," the thin man said.
"Another one?" the fat man exclaimed in surprise. "How many does that make?"
"Three!" Lin Qingyang suddenly interjected from beside them. Qi Mo and Mo Yan both looked at him in surprise.
The thin man immediately protested, "What do you mean, three? It's four now! Your news is out of date."
"Four? When did that happen?" Lin Qingyang asked, feigning surprise.
"Just today. Peak Master Zhao of Qing'an Peak. I heard his death was horrible!" The thin man then looked Lin Qingyang over. "You don't look like a local, brother."
"To tell you the truth, I'm a friend of Boss Hua's. I heard something had happened and came to help." Lin Qingyang casually moved over to sit with them, picking up the wine on the table and pouring it for them as he joined their conversation. The other two watched in astonishment, clearly never having imagined that one could fish for information like this.
"Oh, then you'd better be careful," the thin man said.
"What do you mean?" Lin Qingyang asked.
The thin man lowered his voice. "My neighbor delivers vegetables to the Xuanhuang Sect. I heard from him that the demon probably has a grudge against the sect. It specifically targets their people. Not just the Peak Masters, either. They say even Sect Leader Cen nearly fell victim to it before."
"It's that powerful?" Lin Qingyang asked.
"More than powerful. It comes and goes without a trace. So many people in the Xuanhuang Sect have died, and they still don't even know what kind of demon it is!" the thin man said.
"In that case, the Xuanhuang Sect really is in quite a bit of trouble this time," Lin Qingyang said thoughtfully.
After they finished eating, Lin Qingyang said as they headed upstairs, "I knew there was no such thing as easy money. Four out of seven Peak Masters dead. The Xuanhuang Sect's trouble is obviously far worse than they made it sound."
Mo Yan frowned. "Cen Ru'an was one of the Immortal Alliance's Ten Greatest Experts back in the day, after all. If even he can't deal with it, it really is troublesome. But they've already fought it, and they still can't work out what kind of demon it is?"
Lin Qingyang considered this. "Either there's genuinely something strange about this demon, or the Xuanhuang Sect doesn't want anyone to know!"
Mo Yan looked puzzled. "But they've invited us to exorcise the demon. There's no reason to hide it."
Lin Qingyang shrugged. "We'll find out when we get there tomorrow."
As they spoke, they reached their rooms. Naturally, Hua Jin had not prepared a separate room for Qi Mo, so she had only booked two.
Mo Yan gave Lin Qingyang a complicated look. "You're not going to share a room with him, are you?"
"Would you rather share with him?" Lin Qingyang asked.
Mo Yan had nothing to say. He gave him a speechless look. He should never have asked! He pushed open the door to his own room, went inside, and slammed it shut with a bang.
Lin Qingyang shook his head and sighed. "He really can't take a joke." He turned to Qi Mo with a wicked grin. "Sweetheart, let's head to our room too."
Qi Mo went rigid, his expression turning wary. Lin Qingyang merely raised his eyebrows at him and pushed the door open. After a moment's hesitation, Qi Mo could only follow him inside.
As soon as Lin Qingyang entered, he took off his outer robe and kicked off his shoes. After a quick wash, he lay down on the bed, his loose collar slightly open and somewhat disheveled.
Looking at his "improper" appearance, Qi Mo awkwardly averted his gaze.
Seeing him standing beside the bed, Lin Qingyang naturally shifted inward to make room, then patted the mattress to signal for him to get on.
Qi Mo turned his gaze away, his face growing a little hot, and stood there without moving for a long time. They had lain in the same bed before, but he had been unconscious then. Now, no matter how he looked at it, Lin Qingyang's manner seemed like some sort of suggestive invitation.
"What's with that expression? Afraid I'll take advantage of you?" When he still did not move, Lin Qingyang smiled somewhat helplessly.
Qi Mo kept his head down without speaking, but his hands unconsciously clenched at his sides. He's always making strange jokes. Does he really have those sorts of thoughts about me? If he didn't, he wouldn't have spent so much money buying me. If he really wants to do something, I don't seem to have much room to refuse. Besides, he's saved me so many times. If he really wants to, I'll just consider it repaying his kindness.
After standing there persuading himself for a long while, Qi Mo finally gritted his teeth and was about to climb onto the bed when a pillow landed in his arms.
"There's a Soft Couch by the window. If you don't want to sleep in the bed, go over there," Lin Qingyang said, pointing.
He had thought the Soft Couch was a little small and would be uncomfortable, but seeing how reluctant Qi Mo was, he wondered whether the earlier incident had left him with some lingering trauma, so he decided not to force him.
Qi Mo stood frozen in place, clutching the pillow with a bewildered expression.
Lin Qingyang yawned and rolled over. "Get some sleep. We still have to go to the Xuanhuang Sect tomorrow."
"Oh," Qi Mo answered hesitantly before carrying the pillow over to the Soft Couch.
With a flick of Lin Qingyang's fingertip, the lamp on the table went out, plunging the room into darkness.
Qi Mo lay on the Soft Couch with his legs drawn up. Even in the darkness, his eyes could clearly make out the figure on the bed, but puzzlement still lingered on his face. So I was overthinking it? He doesn't actually have those intentions? He remembered Lin Qingyang saying before that he did not like men. Was that true? Yet the thought brought Qi Mo no sense of relief. Instead, an indescribable disappointment welled up in his heart.
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