“Junior Brother Qi Yuan, forgive your elder brother’s foolishness, but I have a question…”

A hundred zhang beneath Lin Dong City, two figures huddled together, groping their way forward in the darkness, searching for a glimmer of light in this cruel primordial world.

The short Daoist Jiu Wu led the way, holding a sheathed treasure sword.

‘Qi Yuan’, who was Li Chang Shou’s paper vessel, followed behind Elder Brother Jiu Wu, inching closer to the grand brothel concealing demonic energy.

Jiu Wu turned his head and transmitted: “By reason, for an ambush, we should wait for a dark and windy night. It’s broad daylight now, right at noon – why not just charge indirectly?”

“Elder Brother’s words are mistaken,” Li Chang Shou replied, mimicking his master’s voice. “Places like this are least crowded at noon when mortals are resting. We saw last night how busy it gets after dark.”

Jiu Wu slowly nodded in agreement, laughing: “I didn’t expect Junior Brother Qi Yuan to be so familiar with such establishments.”

“Chang Shou has mentioned it a few times.”

Li Chang Shou sighed inwardly. To protect his master’s reputation, he could only sacrifice his own.

Jiu Wu clicked his tongue and chuckled softly: “Now that you mention it, I believe it. That senior disciple of yours – his heart is as black as the ashes at the bottom of an elixir furnace! When he starts plotting, even Primordial Immortals can’t handle it and True Immortals stumble. Once he passes his heavenly tribulation, I bet he’ll dare to scheme against Celestial Immortals.”

Li Chang Shou: …

I’ll stab you with this sword!

“Ahem,” Li Chang Shou continued in his master’s voice, “I’ve heard Chang Shou speak of his great admiration for Elder Brother. He feels Elder Brother excels at both cultivation and sect affairs, making great contributions to the Crossing Spirit Gate’s stability.”

“Ah, don’t mention it. It just gives me a headache. Every day there’s something, I have to run all over the place, and some places can’t function without me…”

Seeing Jiu Wu about to open his box of complaints, Li Chang Shou quickly interrupted:

“Elder Brother, we should focus on reconnaissance first. After dealing with these demons, we can chat over candlelight.”

“Right, this isn’t the time for chatting,” Jiu Wu gave an embarrassed laugh and continued slowly forward.

Because Jiu Wu’s mastery of earth traversal techniques wasn’t deep, he couldn’t achieve true silence at this moment. While both were concealing their auras, Li Chang Shou secretly added another layer of concealment to their presences…

This situation made Li Chang Shou deeply miss his joint operations with Elder Wan Lin Yun.

They stealthily reached beneath the brothel and began carefully probing upward, quickly locking onto the source of seven demonic auras.

“There are two True Immortal level demons,” Jiu Wu frowned in the darkness. “They’ve been entrenched here for some time, how has no one noticed?”

Li Chang Shou answered: “Ordinary cultivators rarely visit such establishments.”

Jiu Wu clicked his tongue and chuckled, transmitting: “Then Junior Brother Qi Yuan, why did you come here before?”

‘Qi Yuan’ let out a light sigh and said: “I was looking for a place to drink and ease my troubles. I recently received two letters…”

“Elder Brother, let’s not discuss this now. Let’s deal with the demons first.”

Letters?

Jiu Wu’s eyes immediately showed curiosity, but he didn’t ask further.

However, Li Chang Shou secretly observed Elder Brother Jiu Wu’s changing expressions, knowing he had successfully planted a seed.

Later, it would be natural to continue discussing this matter with his elder brother.

[One step encompasses ten steps, plant your seeds deep in your heart.

— “The Theory of Schemes”

By Li Chang Shou, Disciple of the Human Teaching, Sea God Church Patriarch]

After the two understood the demons’ situation above, Elder Brother Jiu Wu drew out a long sword, preparing to strike silently and suddenly, aiming to kill the two True Immortal-level demons first.

One of the True Immortal demons was the graceful madam they had seen before, who managed this establishment.

The demoness was currently in a small wooden house, watching two pretty young women practice playing the qin and xiao…

“Junior Brother Qi Yuan, cover me here.”

Jiu Wu said this, clearly not wanting Qi Yuan to join the battle.

However, Li Chang Shou’s paper vessel quickly reached out, using turbid immortal power to hold Jiu Wu back.

Could their sect’s universal “passive skill” be [Rushing In] perhaps?

“Elder Brother, since we already have the advantage of surprise, why not maximize this advantage? I have some poison pills that Chang Shou gave me for protection. Elder Brother, why not release them here secretly, quietly eliminate these demons, then take their treasures and leave…”

As he spoke, Li Chang Shou took out two bottles of sleeping drugs and poison pills gifted by Elder Wan Lin Yun, and carefully explained how to use them.

In the dark, narrow rock layer underground, Jiu Wu’s current gaze at ‘Qi Yuan’ held a slight trace of suspicion.

Jiu Wu smiled and said: “So that’s how it is…”

Li Chang Shou secretly frowned, thinking Elder Brother Jiu Wu had spotted some flaw in his disguise.

Unexpectedly, Jiu Wu chuckled and said: “I thought Nephew Chang Shou’s cleverness was natural, but it turns out he was taught by you. True masters don’t show their hand, eh, Junior Brother Qi Yuan?”

“Sigh,” ‘Qi Yuan’ sighed, “The world is harsh, and my powers are shallow. One must be careful.”

“Well said.”

At this point, Jiu Wu secretly took action, carefully controlling the dosage of the sleeping drug, releasing it bit by bit, and quickly putting to sleep all two to three hundred figures in the brothel’s front and back courtyards.

Though most people were already sleeping anyway.

Li Chang Shou reminded him from the side that too much of this sleeping drug could kill or severely injure mortals.

“The women here are all unfortunate souls. Elder Brother, just put to sleep these demons who feed on mortal essence.”

“I didn’t expect Junior Brother Qi Yuan to be so considerate of beauties.”

“I just fear karmic retribution.”

“Don’t worry, Junior Brother,” Jiu Wu smiled and continued releasing the drug.

The madam holding the jade pipe now couldn’t help but raise her hand to her forehead, stepping back twice before slowly settling into an armchair.

The jade pipe fell to the ground as she succumbed to sleep, her sleeping form somewhat alluring.

At this point, without Li Chang Shou’s prompting, Jiu Wu began searching carefully…

Overall, Jiu Wu was more cautious than Elder Wan Lin Yun.

The casual search wasn’t a problem, but once they searched carefully, both had their eyes opened.

Last night in the lantern light, they saw many beautiful jade-like figures.

Now in broad daylight with makeup removed, many more showed the marks of time’s passage.

The mortal women were relatively better off, just lacking powder and rouge and the dim candlelight, their appearances only slightly changed.

The five “top courtesans” of this establishment, five demons at around the Primordial Immortal level, now revealed their true forms when drugged unconscious – three avian demons and two white fox spirits…

A true “Phantom Tank” – Primordial World Custom Edition.

Jiu Wu shook his head and sighed: “How could those mortals stomach this?”

“They were deceived by appearances,” Li Chang Shou said while secretly monitoring the movement of grass and wind for hundreds of li around.

Jiu Wu decisively acted, using Celestial Immortal poison to quietly eliminate these five “minor immortal demons.”

They had hidden here under the cover of the brothel, normally cultivating by absorbing the yang energy of mortal men, their demon power mottled and impure.

Now they had no resistance against the poison’s potency, their souls scattering in an instant.

Their method of cultivation using the brothel was quite clever.

They had many customers and didn’t focus on just one mortal, nor did they take mortal lives.

Like that “Young Master Xia” who was driven out yesterday – his yang energy and family fortune were gone together, but his life wasn’t taken, though his lifespan was greatly shortened.

“Killing a few minor demons earned some merit.”

Jiu Wu muttered softly, then continued his work.

This time, he was dealing with the two True Immortal-level demons.

The centipede demon immediately kicked its legs and died.

But that brothel madam whose true form had never been revealed had a faint golden light appear around her body…

That light condensed into the form of a snow-white fox with six tails, resisting the colorless and formless poison around her.

Jiu Wu’s brows furrowed as he prepared to increase the poison when Li Chang Shou suddenly said:

“Elder Brother, withdraw the poison. This demon can’t be dealt with so simply!”

“Oh?”

Though somewhat puzzled, Jiu Wu promptly withdrew.

He had also noticed that the faint golden light was not simple, as it emanated traces of meritorious power.

The merit and pure qi they had sensed earlier seemed not to be from any treasure, but from this brothel madam herself.

Or perhaps the treasure was on her person…

The short Daoist was very careful, first withdrawing the surrounding poison, containing it with immortal power, carefully collecting it back into the porcelain bottle, and then placing the bottle in an abandoned storage treasure before finally relaxing slightly.

Jiu Wu frowned and said: “Junior Brother Qi Yuan, what do you make of this? Could this demon be running a brothel while also doing good deeds? To accumulate so much merit!”

Li Chang Shou asked: “Elder Brother, do you have any treasures for containing living people?”

“That, I didn’t bring…”

“No matter, I brought one.”

“You brought… hm?”

Jiu Wu looked at ‘Qi Yuan’ and smiled wryly, “Junior Brother, what exactly did you come out here for? You have containers for people, poison pills, sleeping drugs…”

Li Chang Shou sighed: “Being only a Turbid Immortal, I can’t rely on direct combat.”

“I understand, I understand.”

Jiu Wu showed embarrassment, feeling he shouldn’t have said those things that touched on Junior Brother Qi Yuan’s sore spot.

Li Chang Shou took out that beast skin bag that had contained his master’s spirit beast before and instructed:

“Give this demon more sleeping drug. We’ll figure out how to deal with her later. Elder Brother, you take the demon and temporarily leave this place, go to the East Sea’s edge. I’ll stay here and make some arrangements to avoid discovery.”

“Very well.”

Jiu Wu quickly emerged from underground and directly used the spirit beast bag to contain the alluring madam.

Then he soared into the sky, rapidly flying toward the East Sea.

As soon as Jiu Wu left, this brothel was covered by an isolation formation, and several more figures emerged from the ground.

— Of course, all were transformed from the original paper vessels.

Li Chang Shou had deliberately sent Jiu Wu away to avoid revealing these.

After searching the place thoroughly several more times, he quickly transported the demons’ corpses to a remote back courtyard.

Several paper vessels moved swiftly and efficiently.

Chanting sutras and mantras, striking boards and ringing bells, raising the soul-capturing pearl, gathering remnant souls;

Then, the suona horn sounded – a demon’s life of cultivation, funeral music rose – yellow paper for lonely souls…

Soon, only slight ashes remained.

Previously, he had scattered ashes mostly in deep mountains and old forests; this was his first time in a scenic, culturally rich brothel.

Li Chang Shou, wearing his master’s appearance, shook his sleeves, and the pile of ashes before him immediately scattered in all directions, becoming flower soil.

The feel was quite different.

“Since you came to do evil in the human realm, this calamity is what fate has granted you.”

After speaking, Li Chang Shou withdrew the paper vessels and the formation here, leaving some sobering pill powder in the air to turn the mortals’ deep sleep into a light sleep.

His immortal sense detected that Elder Brother Jiu Wu had now taken that demon beauty several hundred li away.

For the harmony of the Nine Wine Immortals, Li Chang Shou quickly followed…

At Little Qiong Peak, by the grass cottage.

Li Chang Shou’s true body heard movement outside the cottage and opened his eyes to see his martial aunt and sister playing in a boat on the lake.

He hadn’t noticed it so clearly before, but after visiting the mortal brothel twice, now seeing…

His martial aunt not only had an outstanding character, but also a supreme figure, slender waist, delicate feet, and great beauty;

His martial sister was even more ethereally elegant – flower-like beauty, graceful figure, exquisite proportions, with a face beautiful yet unsullied…

Li Chang Shou couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

The difference between cultivators and mortals was truly too great.

His consciousness quickly returned mostly to the paper vessel as he glanced at the soul-capturing pearl while using earth traversal. His brows furrowed.

That True Immortal centipede demon they had just killed was connected to his coming to Lin Dong City!

This time, they had stumbled onto something by accident.