After hearing Mu Yunjin’s words, the black-robed man gave a light snort, flicked his wrist, and swept up a clean teacup from a nearby empty table. He placed it on the table across from him, then picked up the teapot and filled the cup with tea.

“Do you dare sit down with me, drink a cup of tea, and chat?” the black-robed man’s voice rang out.

Mu Yunjin was slightly taken aback, obviously hesitant. However, when the black-robed man had been pouring tea just now, she had noticed his hands. Though they were thin and bony, appearing somewhat horrifyingly creepy, the skin on the surface was fair and smooth, without a single wrinkle, not at all like someone advanced in years.

Could it be that this black-robed man wasn’t the old ghost who raised the eagle flock?

Or perhaps that old ghost wasn’t necessarily an old man?

Mu Yunjin felt she was being somewhat absurd, making random guesses for no reason.

Lowering her gaze to glance at the steaming tea, Mu Yunjin still sat down first, but didn’t touch the cup of tea.

For a moment, Mu Yunjin and the black-robed man sat facing each other, but neither spoke.

…

…

Behind Mu Yunjin, the commoners who had come to drink tea were still gathered together, animatedly discussing “Madam Qing” with excitement. Although they tried to keep their voices down during the conversation, with everyone speaking one after another, Mu Yunjin still caught the general idea.

“You’re from the Northern Ming Kingdom?” Mu Yunjin finally broke the silence first, looking straight at the black-robed man. She wanted to lower her gaze to see his face clearly, but could only make out a vague outline.

“Take a sip of tea, then I’ll answer you,” the black-robed man said flatly.

Mu Yunjin leaned against the chair, squinting as she sized up the black-robed man. She realized that all the power of speech and initiative was in this black-robed man’s hands, so she gave a cold laugh.

“Forget it, there’s no point in continuing a conversation that’s going nowhere.” As Mu Yunjin finished speaking, she stood up. Rather than sitting here staring at this black-robed man, with all the mystery and mutual suspicion, she might as well go about her business.

“Heh…”

Mu Yunjin had just turned around when the black-robed man’s mocking laughter sounded from behind her. She initially wanted to continue ignoring him, but after the laughter ended, a forceful palm strike came at her from behind.

Mu Yunjin had been on guard against this person since entering, so when the palm strike came, she easily dodged it with a sidestep. However, she had forgotten that there were many commoners gathered here.

When she avoided the palm strike, the force that was meant to sweep toward her went entirely toward the crowd of commoners gossiping by the window.

Those commoners, before they could even react, were hit by the powerful palm force. Their bodies flew up, and half the wall by the second-floor window collapsed instantly. A group of people flew out the window, falling from the second floor and landing heavily on the street below.

The street immediately filled with screams of agony.

Mu Yunjin’s face suddenly turned pale. She looked back at the black-robed man and shouted angrily, “Are you sick in the head?!”

“Didn’t you want to settle accounts with them? I’m helping you. Why are you so ungrateful?” The black-robed man playfully curled his lips, his smile soaked with a cruel, bloodthirsty flavor.

“Look, those loose-lipped people are all dead now…” The black-robed man looked at the scene below, his smile growing deeper.

Mu Yunjin looked down, her pupils tightening. Those commoners who had just been chatting enthusiastically were now all lying in pools of blood. Some had died from the fall, others had been crushed to death by the debris from the second-floor wall…

Mu Yunjin instantly became infuriated. She drew out her phoenix-tail whip and lashed it at the black-robed man.

The black-robed man mockingly snorted, not even blinking an eye. He calmly reached out and caught the incoming phoenix-tail whip. “Young lady, this elder is teaching you that in this vast world, extraordinary people and events are as numerous as cattle hair. Just live your own life peacefully; don’t spend all day trying to be the savior of this world.”

“Look, weren’t all those people killed because of you?”

After hearing these words, Mu Yunjin was burning with anger. Gritting her teeth, she said, “I’ve never seen someone so shameless! You killed people yourself and then blamed me! Elder? What kind of elder are you?!”

With that, Mu Yunjin became even more furious. Killing intent flashed in her eyes as she twisted her wrist, reclaiming the phoenix-tail whip that the black-robed man had grabbed. True qi surged in her palm, and a red sharp light poured out…

When the black-robed man saw the light in Mu Yunjin’s palm, his body flashed, and he flew directly out the window.

Mu Yunjin narrowed her eyes and used her lightness skill to pursue.

On the street, many commoners had gathered near the teahouse, but none dared to get too close. Regarding the sudden fall of so many people from the teahouse, many were surprised and panicked, but most wanted to know exactly what had happened.

Now, seeing two figures flying out from the second floor one after another, those below let out a chorus of gasps.

Then, two more figures, fast as lightning, flew out from the third floor.

At this moment, someone in the crowd shouted—

“My goodness, among those who just flew away, two were Madam Qing’s people!”

The street once again became chaotic like a pot of porridge.

……

As Mu Yunjin was chasing the black-robed man, she was caught up by Daoist Feng Xuan, who blocked her path.

“Why are you blocking me?” Mu Yunjin frowned, seeing that the black-robed man had already disappeared without a trace.

Daoist Feng Xuan raised an eyebrow and stroked his chin. “Listen, you silly girl, your master just ordered a few extra pastries. If you want to rightfully eat without paying, you don’t have to destroy the entire teahouse. Now look what’s happened…”

“What do you mean? I didn’t do it; it was that black-robed…” Mu Yunjin was so angry she stomped her foot, pointing in the direction the black-robed man had left.

Huang Yan stood to the side, shaking his head helplessly. “Princess Consort, let’s not worry about that black-robed man now. The urgent matter is what to do about all those dead commoners?”

Mu Yunjin pouted, her heart somewhat discouraged. Were those people indirectly killed because of her?

If she hadn’t provoked the black-robed man earlier, would he not have harmed them?

As she was thinking, Daoist Feng Xuan reached out and patted the back of Mu Yunjin’s head, his tone carrying a hint of sorrowful regret. “Sigh, Chu Li, such a meticulous and scheming person, how did he end up choosing a fool like you?”

“You…” Mu Yunjin’s mouth twitched.

“Come and see!” Daoist Feng Xuan directly grabbed Mu Yunjin’s arm and flew back toward the teahouse. Finally, they stopped on a rooftop and he gestured for Mu Yunjin to look down.

Mu Yunjin looked down. The street below was still in chaos. She looked for quite a while before noticing a scene that left her dumbfounded—

In the middle of that pile of commoner corpses, an old man wearing Daoist robes had appeared at some point. The old man sat cross-legged, seemingly performing some kind of ritual. Around him appeared an Eight Trigrams formation that gave off a golden light.

Above the Eight Trigrams formation floated strings of incantations, revolving around the formation.

After about half an hour, the Daoist-robed old man suddenly stretched out both hands and shouted. The entire Eight Trigrams formation grew larger and larger, enveloping the motionless corpses on the ground in golden light.

After waiting for about another quarter of an hour, someone below suddenly shouted excitedly—

“They’re moving, they’re moving, look, they’ve all come back to life!”

Mu Yunjin watched this scene in disbelief. Those commoners who had previously stopped breathing were now indeed moving one by one, all coming back to life.

“Master, this…” Mu Yunjin opened her mouth, looking toward Daoist Feng Xuan.

Daoist Feng Xuan shrugged his shoulders. “Old Thief Qiuye and his partners just put on a show, and you, silly girl, were stupid enough to play along with them. What should I say about you?”

“Elder, this play was indeed brilliantly executed, but does this Old Thief Qiuye have the ability to resurrect people?” Huang Yan was also somewhat confused about what had just happened below.

“Heh, he merely sealed their acupoints, creating a false appearance of death by suffocation. What Qiuye just did was secretly unblock their acupoints, so naturally, they all came back to life one by one.” Daoist Feng Xuan gave a cold laugh.

After hearing this answer, Mu Yunjin and Huang Yan couldn’t help but give Daoist Feng Xuan a thumbs-up.

As expected of one of the three great masters in the world.

Impressive, truly impressive!

“By the way, girl, this matter is aimed at your mother, to put pressure on your father. Where is your mother now?” Daoist Feng Xuan asked.

“She should be in the palace,” Mu Yunjin thought for a moment and answered.

“Then you and Huang Yan go to the palace first. Your master will stay here to see what’s happening.” Daoist Feng Xuan spoke to Mu Yunjin, his expression rarely serious.

Mu Yunjin was slightly stunned, pursed her lips, and nodded.

Before leaving, she tilted her head toward Daoist Feng Xuan. “Be careful yourself, don’t let them discover you.”

“Go on, go on.” Daoist Feng Xuan waved his hand at Mu Yunjin, showing some intention of sending her away.

Mu Yunjin made a sound of agreement and left with Huang Yan.

……

After Mu Yunjin and Huang Yan left, Daoist Feng Xuan stood in place with a furrowed brow. After a moment, he sighed lightly, “Feng Lan, come out!”

A black figure slowly emerged from concealment nearby.

“The older ginger is indeed spicier. I had hidden all my aura, yet you still discovered me, Senior Brother.” The black-robed man walked to Daoist Feng Xuan’s side, his tone carrying a hint of self-mockery.

Daoist Feng Xuan turned his head to look at the black-robed man, his eyes growing cold, emitting a sharp light. “We haven’t met for many years. I thought you would have improved considerably, but I didn’t expect you to have fallen so low as to mix with Qiuye. It’s truly disappointing!”

“It’s you who are stubborn and unable to see the situation. In today’s chaotic world, only you still insist on so-called right and wrong. In your eyes, are those who disrupt the peace of the current world evil? You’re wrong. All beings are equal; they are just fighting for their interests. What right do you have to obstruct others from succeeding?”

“The victor becomes the king, the defeated becomes the outlaw—this is an unchanging truth throughout history. You’ve lived to this age; you understand this. Look at Qiuye. He was once as famous as you, but he lives more wisely than you. Now, when people mention the name of Feng Xuan in the jianghu, how many still recognize you?”

The black-robed man said a series of words to Daoist Feng Xuan, his eyes full of deep meaning.

“Hmph, why should you care about me?” Daoist Feng Xuan glanced sideways at the black-robed man, raising his eyebrow, completely unaffected by what the black-robed man had just said.

The black-robed man was stunned, knowing that what he had said was like playing a lute to a cow, so he changed the subject. “That girl just now, is she your new disciple? She does have some skills. That day she passed by Ping Feng Cliff, she was pecked by my eagle flock, fell off the cliff, and tumbled into Qing Feng Island…”