◎The two fought as if they were flying into the heavens, locked in a fierce and inseparable battle.◎
Nangong Yu ran away.
But she did not go far. Hiding behind a cultivator, she stared fixedly at the identity plaque hanging from Huang Hu’s waist, unable to tear her eyes away.
No wonder she hadn’t been able to find it!
“What happened here?” A stern, authoritative voice rang out from above.
A figure descended from the sky. Though dressed in casual robes, he exuded formidable authority. Before he even touched the ground, everyone in the courtyard had fallen silent. The only sound left was the wind.
“Screee—”
A piercing shriek erupted. The Head of the Lin Family, who had only just landed, twitched his eyelid. Reacting swiftly, he shot back into the air and made a grabbing motion toward the ground.
A cluster of spiritual energy wrapped around fine powder and rose into the air.
The courtyard had been scattered with shrieking bone powder, but Huang Hu’s rampage had sent it blowing everywhere in the wind.
There was not much left in the courtyard, really. Yet the Head of the Lin Family had been lucky enough to step right onto it.
“What is this?” The Head of the Lin Family frowned.
“Someone set a trap in this courtyard,” someone answered.
“Family Head.”
“Greetings, Head of the Lin Family.”
“Father.”
Everyone hurriedly paid their respects.
The Head of the Lin Family nodded. Closing his hand, he caused the bone powder enveloped in spiritual energy to tremble and shatter completely, rendering it inert.
Nangong Yu remained hidden behind a cultivator, studying him with curiosity.
The Head of the Lin Family looked middle-aged. There was nothing especially distinctive about his features. In the cultivation world, where handsome men and beautiful women were everywhere, even Huang Hu’s demonic-looking face was more memorable than his.
“What happened?” The Head of the Lin Family asked grimly as he looked over the wreckage strewn across the ground.
The crowd’s answers to that question were all different:
“A thief broke into the residence.”
“Someone just made a breakthrough here.”
“Your steward appears to have dealings with the demon clan.”
“Head of the Lin Family, your servant is incredibly bold—he slept with all your wives!”
The overwhelming flood of complicated information blew away the Head of the Lin Family’s composure. His brow furrowed tightly. “What utter nonsense!”
His gaze swept across the crowd, sharp and severe.
“What exactly happened?” His eyes settled on his two children.
Third Young Master Lin and Fourth Miss Lin were glaring at each other.
Fourth Miss Lin wanted to expose Third Madam, but if the matter concerning Third Madam proved true, her own birth mother would be dragged into it as well.
As for Second Madam and Third Madam, neither had anything to do with Third Young Master Lin. He was just about to say, “Father—”
“I’ve been framed!” Huang Hu spoke in a gloomy voice, cutting him off.
His expression was terrible as he said to the Head of the Lin Family, “A thief broke into this residence, stole my things, and then framed me.”
By now, someone had already sent the Head of the Lin Family a voice transmission, informing him of everything that had happened.
The Head of the Lin Family’s expression darkened considerably.
The ground was littered with torn pieces of women’s undergarments, along with several intact ones. Others might think Huang Hu had been falsely accused, but the Head of the Lin Family knew...
“Head of the Lin Family, there are too many people here. It would be better to take him away and interrogate him privately.”
“What do you mean by that? Are we not worthy of knowing the truth?”
“Fellow Daoist, this is, after all, a private matter for the Lin family.”
“What private matter? If someone has been wronged, then interrogate him immediately and clear the Head of the Lin Family’s name!”
The Head of the Lin Family looked extremely displeased, but he had no choice but to turn his gaze to Huang Hu. “Explain yourself.”
Huang Hu was already in a foul mood. “Explain what? I didn’t sleep with your first wife!”
The moment those words came out, the Head of the Lin Family stared blankly.
The cultivators nearby and afar were all stunned speechless.
Fourth Miss Lin flushed crimson. “What nonsense are you spouting?!”
Wasn’t he practically admitting that he had, in fact, slept with Second Madam? Fourth Miss Lin’s face turned red enough to bleed. With a sharp ring, she drew her sword and pointed it at him. “Father has shown you considerable leniency in the past, but you are nothing more than a servant of our household. Don’t overstep yourself!”
She charged straight at Huang Hu, but he did not even spare her a glance, merely sweeping an arm out to block her.
He was already vexed over which direction to pursue the little thief. Fourth Miss Lin’s sword qi shredded his robe, revealing the skin of his arm—yet it was like copper and iron. When sword met flesh, it rang out with the sound of metal striking metal.
“Get lost!”
When one strike failed to drive her back and she attacked again, Huang Hu finally lost his patience and thrust out his palm.
Fourth Miss Lin was no match for that blow. She was sent flying at once, only to be caught by a kind-hearted cultivator.
Unable to bear such humiliation, Fourth Miss Lin cried, “How dare you!”
“Huang Hu, you dare injure my daughter?!” At that moment, the Head of the Lin Family leapt forward.
Huang Hu was even more irritated now. At last, he shifted his gaze toward him. “What are you rambling on about? I already said I never slept with your first wife!”
His expression was one of utter impatience. “Lin Su, I saved your life and gave you plenty of face. I never touched either your first wife or your daughter.”
He seemed completely unaware of how shocking his words were. Looking thoroughly annoyed, he said, “A thief stole from me. That little bastard can’t have gone far. Seal off the estate at once and help me catch him!”
The Head of the Lin Family failed to catch his breath. His vision swam in waves of blackness as he clenched his palms hard, desperately wishing this were all a dream.
“You—”
Fourth Miss Lin, overcome by fury, fainted on the spot.
Third Young Master Lin’s expression also darkened. “Huang Hu! What nonsense are you talking about?!”
The small courtyard was packed with people. Had Huang Hu not demolished it, the walls would surely have been lined with onlookers by now.
But since the courtyard had been reduced to rubble, the cultivators who could not find room to stand hovered in the air instead, their eyes shining as they looked down below.
“Huang Hu, you did nothing more than feed me a single Spring Renewal Pill. I have kept you in this estate all these years, providing you with food and drink, allowing you to take whatever magical treasures you pleased. That debt has long been repaid.” A sword slowly took shape in the Head of the Lin Family’s hand.
Veins bulged across his forehead. Spiritual energy surged wildly through his body, and he could not conceal the killing intent in the slightest. “But you violated my concubine. You have gone too far!”
He forced out that explanation, then vanished from where he stood, thrusting his sword toward Huang Hu.
Damn Huang Hu!
In front of so many people! More than a hundred cultivators had gathered at his estate to celebrate Miss Lin Qi’s Foundation Establishment!
By tomorrow night, everyone in Luoxia City would know that he had been cuckolded—that his head was covered in green hats! How could he ever show his face again?
At that moment, the Head of the Lin Family’s eyes were bloodshot. There was only one thing in his heart: kill Huang Hu.
Yet Huang Hu felt that he was being utterly unreasonable. “Lin Su, you repay kindness with ingratitude.”
All he wanted was to catch the thief, but the Head of the Lin Family refused to let him go, infuriating him. “One Spring Renewal Pill? You were being hunted down and on the verge of death back then! Without my Spring Renewal Pill, how would you still be alive?”
The Head of the Lin Family had no desire to waste words on him. He only wanted to kill him. But with hundreds of eyes watching, he forced himself to explain patiently, “That Rejuvenation Pill was mine! I asked you to take it out of my body!”
“If I hadn’t helped you, you’d be dead!” Huang Hu was thoroughly fed up. “I saved your life. Your whole body belongs to me. I merely slept with the little wife you didn’t want to sleep with—how small-minded can you be?”
One was the family head, the other the steward, yet the two of them fought back and forth, neither able to gain the upper hand.
The onlookers were all dumbstruck, their gazes following the two fighters higher and higher into the air.
Nangong Yu tilted her head up as well. With heartfelt curiosity, she asked the person beside her, “Can you sleep with your brother’s little wife?”
Ordinarily, based on Nangong Yu’s understanding of worldly customs, the answer should be no.
But this was the cultivation world. Digging out Golden Cores, running off with demon clans, releasing devil clans—there was no end to the gossip served in teahouses. Nangong Yu wasn’t sure what the local customs were.
“Of course not!!” the cultivator beside her declared without the slightest hesitation.
Yet a female cultivator some distance away said, “If he doesn’t want to sleep with her himself, is he not allowed to let her sleep with another male cultivator?”
Huang Hu had said it himself! A little wife he didn’t want to sleep with.
“You—” The male cultivator who had first said no choked on his words. “How do you know he’s telling the truth?”
The female cultivator ignored him. “One look at you, and it’s obvious you’ve never had a Dao companion.”
“Heh. As if you have one,” the male cultivator sneered.
The female cultivator lifted her chin. “I don’t have a Dao companion, but my exes are scattered across the Nine Provinces.”
Wow!
Even the gossip about random NPCs was juicy.
Nangong Yu could hardly decide whether she should watch the fight in the sky or enjoy the gossip beside her.
She even felt she could forgive the system a little for throwing her into such an entertaining instance.
Thinking back, the strange entities wanted to eat people, zombies wanted to eat people, vampires wanted to eat people—hell, even the AI wanted to keep people as livestock to generate electricity.
Everyone had been fighting and scrambling, either fleeing for their lives or battling. When had anything ever been this fun?
“Just a tiny bit,” she added, worried that the system might read her mind. “I hate you! You trash system!”
Games and players were natural enemies. She would never forgive the system.
Up in the air, Huang Hu and the Head of the Lin Family fought fiercely.
The Head of the Lin Family wielded a sword, while Huang Hu had no weapon at all, fighting with nothing but his bare hands.
“He’s a body cultivator,” someone recognized.
Nangong Yu didn’t care whether Huang Hu was a body cultivator. Her eyes were fixed tightly on the identity plaque at his waist. “Fall off! Fall off!”
The Head of the Lin Family was useless. With so many sword strikes, he couldn’t even cut off one tiny identity plaque.
The reason Nangong Yu had stayed instead of running was because she wanted the identity plaque on Huang Hu’s person—the one that carried a formation.
But after the two of them fought back and forth for so long, even Fourth Miss Lin had awakened, and the identity plaque still had not fallen.
Nangong Yu’s eyes shifted. She once again pasted on an invisibility talisman and quietly changed positions.
“Who was that person just now?”
“Why did he provoke the steward and the family head into fighting?”
“What could he possibly gain from making the family head and the steward fight?”
“Oh no—could he be planning to fish in troubled waters and secretly do something bad?”
From different directions came different voices, carrying into the ears of all the cultivators present.
Some people’s eyes flickered as they fell into thought.
Others began whispering among themselves, their words indistinct.
Others quietly slipped away, vanishing without a trace.
Nangong Yu wanted to incite the guest NPCs to cause trouble—ideally, the bolder ones would go straight to the treasury and stir something up.
A person couldn’t hang themselves from the same tree forever. Since Huang Hu’s identity token wouldn’t drop, she would find another way: she’d encourage the guest NPCs to blow open the treasury!
There were more than a hundred of them. Couldn’t they take down a minor boss by sheer numbers?
Hidden among the crowd, she quietly spread rumors:
“Tomorrow is Miss Lin Qi’s Foundation Establishment banquet. Can they really finish the fight before dawn?”
“If they wreck the estate into a complete mess, how will the banquet even be held?”
“Oh no, a sword light just fell in the direction of the kitchens. What if it destroys the ingredients?”
“Going without food wouldn’t be so bad. But if everyone’s gifts for Miss Lin Qi are ruined, that would be a real shame.”
The guests had come to offer their congratulations, so naturally they had brought gifts.
One gift per person—more than a hundred in total.
Before someone’s eyes flashed the image of a treasure they had spent a long time searching for.
Gradually, more and more figures disappeared.
