Ma Qi felt that his luck was extremely bad today.
The first time he came out to be a lecherous thief, he ran into Sword Hall cultivators.
Big Brother had promised beautifully, saying that after getting that little girl, everyone would have a share.
And this matter was supposed to be foolproof. According to Big Brother, he had used this precious Enchanting Fragrance to knock out several female cultivators before.
The female cultivator staying in the back courtyard of this inn was only at Foundation Establishment, an easy target.
Plus, he had connections above, so he wasn’t afraid of any trouble.
The ten or so people in their group thought the same way, so they timed it right and came for the meal.
Unexpectedly, just as they were about to dine, they ran into a group of Sword Sect cultivators by chance, revealing their tracks.
The gang leader was slain with a single sword strike by the Young Master from Jade Heart Sect across the way.
A few brothers with tough heads didn’t last three moves before perishing under the swords of him and the Sword Sect disciples.
Ma Qi and the others naturally lost the will to fight, only thinking about escaping.
Ma Qi was very thankful that before he became a lecherous thief, he practiced the Crane Flying Technique from the Five Beasts Heart Method, which allowed him and some brothers to escape the encirclement of the Sword Sect cultivators.
Ma Qi’s mind was spinning quickly. Although he couldn’t enjoy that young lady, the room must be filled with toxic smoke by now.
And since he had taken the antidote, if those Sword Hall cultivators followed, they would surely be afflicted by a strange poison.
By then, looking at the delicate young lady in the room, who would have the heart to chase him?
Once the Sword Hall and Jade Heart Sect were in chaos, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to leave Cold City tonight.
Ma Qi calculated beautifully, activated his heart method, and increased his speed by half again.
Spiritual Qi into Blade, he slashed chaotically behind him, making a desperate act of resistance.
However, when he broke through the door, the scene before him was not the alluring spectacle he had imagined.
A young sword cultivator directly kicked him in the face.
As he raised his hand to counterattack, he saw that sword cultivator throw his sword over, making his head dizzy.
Finally, he stomped on his Qi Acupoint.
Ma Qi’s breath hitched, feeling a fierce stream of Spiritual Qi surge into his inner mansion, leaving him no time to resist.
Zhang Ze found the Qi Observation Technique of Dragon Tiger Mountain quite interesting; though there was no heart method to support it, it was sufficient.
It was truly unseemly for Sword Sect to always draw blood.
Before the remaining lust cultivators could react, their vision blurred, losing consciousness with faces turning blue, indicating they’d been poisoned.
The Spiritual Snake coiled back onto Li Yueqi’s hand, with no one seeing how it had struck.
Bound at Qi Acupoint, Ma Qi didn’t understand.
"Is this called Foundation Establishment?"
"Why are they all so formidable?"
The Sword Sect disciples who caught up immediately captured the still-alive Ma Qi.
"Gentlemen...," said the leading disciple as he saw the disarray in the house, with a Fox Demon lying on the floor, somewhat unclear about the situation.
Zhang Ze and Chen Qin presented their Sword Sect disciple badges and roughly explained the reason, after which their fellow disciple’s face improved, and then they looked towards Li Yueqi.
Li Yueqi sighed, took the jade pendant from her waist, and tossed it to the Sword Sect cultivator.
The Golden Core Realm aura was no longer concealed, fully released.
"Beast Taming Sect, Li Yueqi."
"That lousy book was really pointless."
"Hiding cultivation is full of trouble, without any benefit."
"Saying something about playing the pig to eat the tiger is all nonsense."
Li Yueqi thought it might be interesting after reading Zhang Ze’s book, hence she decided to try the experience of hiding cultivation whilst wandering the mortal realm.
Unexpectedly, someone thought of her as a dish to be eaten.
The Sword Sect disciple frowned, "Are you talking about the book ’Taoist Path to Heaven’?"
"You’ve read it too?", Li Yueqi asked.
"Of course.", he said, and then the two fellow book lovers started chatting.
They talked about the plot, the cliffhangers, and how slow the author updates.
As the author, Zhang Ze chose to play dead at the side, not wanting to be pushed for updates face to face.
At this time, the proprietress lying on the floor also came to her senses, holding the arm of a strong sword cultivator, crying gently.
Her tail kept drawing circles on the ground, her hand drawing circles on a man’s chest.
Zhang Ze felt that this Fox Spirit was beyond saving.
Zhang Ze went up and tugged the proprietress’s tail, "Is there a free room here? Where are we staying for the night?"
The proprietress turned back to look at Zhang Ze sorrowfully, thinking how insensitive he was.
"Everything is trashed, only that room upstairs is left, you three can squeeze in?", the proprietress quipped at Zhang Ze.
Before Zhang Ze could respond back, someone suddenly interjected.
"How about my fellow Taoists come to my mansion for a chat?"
Stepping out from behind the Sword Hall cultivators was someone not dressed as a member of Sword Sect.
"I am Mu Qiu, a disciple of the Jade Heart Sect,"
"If you don’t mind, you may stay at my place for the night," Mu Qiu said, cupping his hands.
Li Yueqi didn’t want to make a fuss; as a cultivator, she was indifferent to where she rested, and being a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, she was used to living rough.
Moreover, she always felt a bit uncomfortable around Mu Qiu.
She was about to decline, but then Zhang Ze spoke up and agreed, "Alright, we shall accept Young Master Mu’s hospitality. I happen to have some questions I’d like to ask."
Li Yueqi glanced at Chen Qin, noticing that she was now at the stage where she followed her senior brother everywhere.
Helplessly, Li Yueqi could only agree.
But just as they left the inn, a Sword Hall cultivator who stayed behind to clean up the aftermath came over and whispered to the one chatting with Zhang Ze and the others.
"That lust cultivator is dead."
Upon hearing this, his expression shifted slightly, and he cupped his hands to bid farewell to Zhang Ze and the others.
Zhang Ze had no intention of inquiring further, pretending not to have heard.
Within the City Lord’s Mansion.
The woman, the wife of the Sect Leader of the Jade Heart Sect, Mu Qiu’s mother.
Lady Han Yao was reclining on the couch, chatting with the Sword Hall Chief of Cold City across from her.
Since the Sect Leader went into a death seclusion six years ago, Lady Han Yao had become the sole authority in the Jade Heart Sect.
Lady Han Yao had the means and the body, and in the second year, by bending her slender waist, she subdued the last elder of the Jade Heart Sect.
Now she wanted to taste the flavor of a Sword Sect cultivator.
"Taoist Friend Lin, you jest. Being the City Lord is merely my idle talk," Han said with a soft smile.
"With such a huge incident in Cold City now, I truly have no solutions."
"I wonder if Taoist Friend Lin has any leads."
The Sword Hall Chief Lin Hai, who appeared to be just middle-aged, remained expressionless.
"The disciples downstairs and some loose cultivators have already gone to investigate this matter, and the Sword Pavilion has also issued a task."
"There should be results in a few days."
Seeing Lin Hai’s unhurried demeanor, Lady Han Yao looked at him with soulful eyes, portraying a weak woman, clutching her chest as she gave a light cough.
"But I’ve been very worried these past few days, alas," she said, deliberately trembling a bit.
But at that moment, Lin Hai was just lowering his head to take a sip of tea and saw nothing.
After casually chatting for a while, this Hall Master Lin remained unaffected, keeping a cold face most of the time, often silent.
Lady Han Yao, seeing no opportunity this time, made an excuse for fatigue, decided to stop doing useless work, and got up to see him off.
"It’s already late. I won’t keep Taoist Friend Lin any longer. I am weak in body and hope Taoist Friend Lin can bear with me."
Lin Hai, probably tired of staying, his figure flickered, and he left the fragrant little hall using the Sword Sect’s escape technique.
Han Yao stood up to adjust the shawl that had half slipped off her shoulder.
"Men from the Sword Sect...."
"They don’t even glance at me."
In the front courtyard of the City Lord’s Mansion.
Zhang Ze and Mu Qiu walked side by side, engrossed in conversation.
They talked about various secrets and mundane tales from all over, with Zhang Ze readily engaged, and even if he didn’t know, he made it up convincingly.
Chen Qin and Li Yueqi walked behind the two, and Li Yueqi rather disliked it, always feeling that Zhang Ze was a bit too slick.
She wasn’t fond of such people.
"That Mu Qiu is suspicious, Sister Yue, be careful,"
Chen Qin suddenly conveyed through sound transmission.
"Senior Brother always behaves when dealing with bad guys."
"?" Li Yueqi didn’t quite understand.
Zhang Ze walked half a step behind Mu Qiu and suddenly stopped.
"Brother Zhang, what’s wrong?" Mu Qiu turned back to ask.
"It’s nothing, the autumn wind is getting chilly, and my nose feels a bit blocked."
"By the way, Brother Mu, what is that tall building over there?" Zhang Ze asked, pointing to a building that was two stories taller than the others.
He had just sensed the aura of a Sword Sect expert using an escape technique.
"That’s where my mother usually resides. Father is in secluded cultivation, and my mother dislikes the desolation of the sect, so she moved into the city."
In Zhang Ze’s divine sense, a voice from the small sphere sounded.
"It’s too far, can’t smell it."
"But that Mu Qiu indeed carries that peculiar scent."
"That medicinal fragrance."