“Young Master, am I not good enough for you? How could you invite another woman to stay in our courtyard?” The maidservant beside the man spoke with delicate shyness and laughter, her jade-like hand lightly resting on his arm as she glanced at Kong Hou from the corner of her eye.

“You are of course the best, it’s just that your Young Master has always been one to pity delicate flowers. How could I bear to let such a beauty stay lonely in an inn?” The man planted a kiss on the maidservant’s cheek, waving his gleaming spiritual fan with a half-smile. “What do you say, beautiful lady?”

He had expected this woman to be alarmed or angry, but to his surprise, her pair of beautiful large eyes carried a hint of… excitement?

What was she excited about? Shouldn’t he, the man teasing the beauty, be the excited one? When teasing others, their panic, fear, or anger would bring a sense of accomplishment. But these curious, excited eyes not only failed to excite him—they gave him the strange illusion that he was the one being teased.

This feeling left him, a notorious playboy, with absolutely no sense of achievement.

“Are you trying to flirt with me?” The green-robed young woman walked to his table, leaning forward to look at him. In her bright, clear pupils, his reflection was visible. He leaned back uncomfortably. “This young master sees that you have some looks, so I’m willing to flirt with you. Understand?”

“Oh?” The young woman nodded, crossing her arms. “According to general patterns, someone like you—a playboy young master—will soon have someone come to deal with you.”

Du Jing slapped the table, saying proudly, “Why don’t you go ask around? Who in all of Qiu City dares to deal with me? Do you know who I am?”

“Don’t want to know.” Kong Hou could see this playboy only had cultivation at the fifth stage of Qi Refining. Too lazy to bother with him, she turned and handed the innkeeper money for lodging. “Give me an upper room.”

“Please wait a moment, immortal.” The innkeeper quickly completed the registration and gestured for a middle-aged woman in gray cloth to lead Kong Hou to her room, while smoothly collecting all the valuable items from the table. In their line of work, the most important skill was keen observation. Young Master Du Jing and this immortal might end up fighting.

“Stop!” Du Jing stood up from his chair, pointing his fan at Kong Hou. “Did I say you could leave?”

“Fine.” Kong Hou stopped in her tracks. “Since you insist on making me know who you are, then tell me—who are you?”

“I am the son of Qiu City’s lord, Du Jing.” Du Jing twirled the fan in his hand. “Seeing that you’re alone outside and don’t seem to be from a major sect, what are you wandering around for?”

“What does being alone have to do with sects?” Kong Hou clicked her tongue. “Cultivation isn’t about making a show. Do you need a group of people carrying sedan chairs and scattering flowers? Do you think this is performing opera on stage?”

“Innkeeper, clear out your best courtyard here.” Wind rose, carrying falling snow and flower petals as several colorfully dressed maidservants entered. They bore a faint floral fragrance, their faces cold as frost, as if everyone else around them simply didn’t exist.

The woman walking among them wore a light veil over her face. Her smoky rose-colored flowing immortal gown shimmered with light, beautiful as an immortal descending to the mortal realm.

The entire hall of diners fell silent. The maidservants seemed long accustomed to such stunned reactions from vulgar mortals. With a contemptuous laugh, they tossed spirit stones to the innkeeper. “Clean it thoroughly. Our mistress cannot tolerate even the slightest dirt.”

After giving these instructions, she bowed and led the way holding a copper incense ball, guiding her mistress toward the back courtyard, leaving behind scattered flower petals and lingering fragrance.

“Ahem.” Du Jing cleared his throat, banishing the five words “performing opera on stage” from his mind. He lifted his chin toward the back courtyard. “See that? That’s what you call the bearing of a great sect.”

Kong Hou looked down at the flower petals on the ground, pondering a serious question: How many flowers would you need to pick to scatter petals along an entire path?

“Hey.” Du Jing tapped the table with his fan. “Woman, do you want to come with me or not?”

“That great beauty just walked past you, why didn’t you ask her to go with you?” Kong Hou blinked. “Could it be that I’m more beautiful than her?”

“Stop daydreaming. That kind of disciple from a great sect—do you think I can afford to provoke her?” Du Jing was quite honest. “I’m not stupid.” Even as a playboy, he was a sensible playboy with brains. Those he couldn’t afford to provoke, he absolutely wouldn’t provoke. Bullying the weak and fearing the strong was his life motto.

“So you think you’re really something special, huh?” Kong Hou rolled her eyes, too lazy to bother with him anymore, and turned to walk upstairs.

“Hey, hey, hey, I’m telling you, today you must come with me…”

Before Du Jing could finish his words, he saw a sword fly from the sleeve of this seemingly cute and lively young woman. The sword body emanated a shimmering golden light, its tip pointing straight at him, less than a centimeter from his head.

“It’s a superior-grade magical artifact!” The woman clinging to Du Jing quickly withdrew her hand and scrambled aside in fright, not daring to stay near him.

“Let’s… let’s talk nicely. Brandishing swords and weapons is so uncivilized.” Du Jing dodged aside, but the sword tip followed his movement. The cold sword energy stung his eyes painfully, and cold sweat streamed down uncontrollably. What was this woman’s identity, that she would casually produce a superior-grade magical artifact?

“Is that so?” Kong Hou cupped her cheeks. “But I think flirting with young women is even more uncivilized. What do you think?”

“I think you’re absolutely right!” Large drops of cold sweat trickled down his neck. Du Jing was terrified that the sword might accidentally twitch and whoosh right into his brain.

“Speaking of which, your Qiu City is still subordinate to Yunhua Sect, and Yunhua Sect has always detested the act of harassing innocent women.” Kong Hou waved her hand, withdrawing her flying sword. “Do you know about the Nascent Soul ancestor who harassed a Yunhua Sect disciple two years ago?”

Du Jing wiped his sweat while nodding repeatedly.

“Do you know what happened to him in the end?” Kong Hou asked with a smile.

Du Jing’s entire body stiffened. He didn’t even dare wipe his sweat anymore. “This immortal, please forgive me. Please forgive me. This lowly one will never do such things again. I take my leave.” Having said this, he scrambled out of the inn, not even looking back once, afraid that if he ran too slowly, Kong Hou’s sword would pierce through him.

The innkeeper breathed a sigh of relief. Good, good—they didn’t fight. He bent down and took out the wealth-attracting pixiu figurine he’d hidden in the drawer and placed it back on display.

Kong Hou returned to her room and removed all the bedding and pillows, storing them aside. From her storage ring, she took out her own bedding and pillows to make the bed. Senior Sister Ling Hui had told her that inn bedding and pillows were often unclean, and it was more reassuring to use one’s own.

The cultivation world was still better—so many things could be stored in a storage ring. If this were the mortal realm, all the items she brought when traveling would surely require several horse carriages.

Lying on an unfamiliar bed, Kong Hou had trouble sleeping. She simply sat up and meditated for a while, letting spiritual energy circulate throughout her body. This inn was extremely quiet, so quiet it seemed as if there wasn’t a single sound in the entire world.

“Ahh!”

A piercing scream tore through the night, shattering the inn’s silence. Kong Hou threw on her outer robe and, not bothering about her loose hair, yanked open the door and ran out. When she reached downstairs, she saw a woman lying on the ground. Her colorful clothes were stained red with blood over a large area. Most terrifying wasn’t the horrific wound on her body, but the weird, rigid smile on her face.

This woman was one of the maidservants who had spoken arrogantly to the innkeeper today. Now she was dead.

“Yue Lian.” The colorfully dressed maidservants who rushed over looked extremely grim. They turned to look at the lodgers who had gathered, saying coldly, “The murderer is among you.”

“Elder Sister, Yue Lian’s heart is gone.” A maidservant said in panic. “And the blood on her body…”

The room filled with the stench of blood and death. Kong Hou looked at these furious colorfully dressed maidservants and frowned, inexplicably thinking of that playboy who had flirted with her and said he wanted to take her away. Did that playboy know something, or was this just coincidence?

“What happened?” The woman in the flowing immortal gown emerged. Her hair was loosely tied up, though she was no longer wearing her veil, revealing her beautiful face. However, at this moment, everyone at the inn was shocked by Yue Lian’s horrific manner of death and had no time to be stunned by her appearance.

“Miss, Yue Lian is dead.” A maidservant answered with reddened eyes.

The woman frowned, quickly stepped forward, bent down to check Yue Lian’s wrist for a pulse, wiped her hand clean with a handkerchief, then turned to address everyone. “Everyone, I am Lingbo of Zhaohan Sect. My maidservant’s death is highly suspicious. Please give me some face and answer a few questions.”

“So the immortal is actually Lingbo Xianzi of Zhaohan Sect. Our respects, our respects. When someone from your esteemed sect has died so miserably, it certainly should be investigated thoroughly.”

“Please ask, Immortal. This lowly one will answer everything honestly.”

“Thank you all.” Seeing that everyone was so accommodating, Lingbo’s expression improved somewhat. Her gaze swept over the crowd. “Does anyone among you feel that someone’s behavior has been suspicious?”

People looked at each other. Though no one dared offend Zhaohan Sect, they also couldn’t bring themselves to point fingers at others. For a moment, no one spoke.

Lingbo understood what they were concerned about. She had several maidservants guard the door before continuing, “Then let me ask—after everyone entered their rooms tonight, did anyone come out again?”

Kong Hou stared at Lingbo in a daze, thinking this female cultivator was truly beautiful. Her loosely tied hair was beautiful, her hands were beautiful, everything about her was beautiful. Even the way she looked when angry carried an inherent grace. When such a great beauty asked questions, even if her questions were somewhat ridiculous, probably no one would have the heart not to answer her.

Sure enough, everyone was very cooperative with Lingbo’s questions, stating one after another that they hadn’t left their rooms, and pulling nearby lodgers to vouch for them.

The killer had not only murdered Yue Lian but also carved out her heart and drained the blood from her body. This absolutely couldn’t be the method of an orthodox cultivator. But evildoers don’t have words carved on their faces. If someone deliberately concealed it, no one could tell.

“Oh no!” The middle-aged woman who had heard the commotion came running out. Seeing the corpse on the ground, she stumbled backward several steps. “How… how is someone dead again?”

“Again?” Kong Hou caught the key word in that sentence and looked at the ordinary woman. “Has something similar happened at this inn before?”

Realizing she had let something slip, the woman’s face turned pale, not daring to approach the corpse. “No, no, no, not at our inn. A month ago, on the evening of the fifteenth of the eleventh month, a young lady died in the Fengxiang Inn. They say her internal organs were gone, and the blood in her body was completely drained. Everyone said it was the work of demons and monsters. The city lord sent people to patrol the entire city but found no suspicious persons. Who would have thought…”

Was it done by an evil cultivator?

But if an evil cultivator was using people to practice their skills, they should pick inconspicuous targets. Why specifically choose a maidservant from Zhaohan Sect? Wasn’t this making the matter even bigger?

Could this be an evil cultivator who enjoyed causing a sensation?

Master had said that good people are all alike, but bad people come in endless varieties. Their thoughts and methods are beyond what normal people can comprehend. What a pity—a woman as beautiful as a flower had perished under demonic claws.