Chen Qingling continued her act, her eyes brimming with tears and sincerity even as she clung to Li An, whispering into his ear so only he could hear:
“Uncle Li… please save me… please save my mother…”
“As long as you save us, Qingling will agree to anything…”
“Qingling has a Mid-Yellow Grade Wood Spirit Root…”
“Qingling… is still untouched.”
Ever since she and Mu Qingwan were captured by Zhao Xianchuan, her mother had been reduced to a slave, humiliated and tormented nightly, while she herself had been forced to learn how to please men…
Yet Li An kept his eyes shut the entire time.
“Uncle Li, why won’t you open your eyes and look at me… don’t you trust me…”
Her nose nearly brushed against his.
Li An suddenly opened his eyes and slapped her across the face.
Chen Qingling was struck to the ground, her fair cheek already swelling and red.
“You hit me too hard!”
She cried out coquettishly, but then whispered beneath her breath, “Why…”
“Your parents stole my Foundation Pill years ago—and now you expect me to save you?”
“Heh. If Zhao Xianchuan hadn’t taken you and your mother in, the two of you would’ve been dead at the hands of the Demon Sect. And now you dare show no gratitude?”
“You think a filthy thing like you is worthy of touching me, Li An?”
He sneered, voice low and cold.
Chen Qingling froze.
But soon, she understood. She crawled forward again and knelt before him.
“Uncle Li… you don’t trust me. You think I was sent by Zhao Xianchuan to test you, don’t you?”
“What if I told you… Zhao Xianchuan isn’t trying to win you over, but to kill you?”
Li An’s brow twitched.
Sensing the shift, she leaned in closer, wrapped her arms around his neck. “Uncle… am I beautiful?”
“Don’t you like me?”
“I do. Of course I do…”
Li An smiled faintly.
Chen Qingling let out seductive moans loud enough to mislead anyone eavesdropping, while whispering at his ear, “Zhao Xianchuan has submitted to the Demon Sect.”
“They’re looking for you…”
“A month ago, he sent Steward Liu away—Liu is one of his most trusted men…”
Li An pinched her casually, and she let out a pained cry. In the same moment, he asked in a low voice, “How do you know?”
“That’s not your concern. Either you trust me… or you wait to die. Uncle Li, what will you choose?”
“Where’s my Second-Grade magic weapon?”
“In the Artifact Hall. Zhao Xianchuan was afraid you’d grow suspicious, so he did place it there to be nourished by earth fire… If you want to get it, I can guide you.”
“Keep going! …Where’s Wang Dazhu?”
“Oh! That’s so good! …He’s likely in the Artifact Hall too. That fool is probably watching over your treasures so nothing happens to them…”
Throughout it all, Chen Qingling feigned all kinds of sultry sounds. Her acting was natural and flawless—so perfectly timed and believable that even a veteran cultivator wouldn’t have been able to detect the truth.
“At daybreak, their vigilance will be lowest. That’s when you should act…”
Li An pondered for a moment, then reached out with two fingers and pressed them to Chen Qingling’s lower back.
She froze, then quickly recovered and resumed her performance.
Moments later—
Her face turned pale, a wave of stiffness and burning pain coursing through her blood. Her expression changed dramatically, and she asked in fear, “What did you do to me?!”
“Gu poison. Only I can cure it…”
“If you dare lie to me, and I die—so will you. Understand?”
Li An spoke calmly.
Chen Qingling was clever—far more clever than either her mother or father.
And the smarter a person was, the more they needed to be controlled.
The poison from Li An’s Cold Yin Finger could kill her easily. Moreover, it had been laced with Yin-Yang demonic energy and sealed with his life-seed’s aura. No one else could neutralize it, nor help her.
Li An now controlled her life and death.
“Rest for a bit. Then continue.”
“If it ends too suddenly, someone might grow suspicious.”
“I… I’d rather you just take me for real.”
Chen Qingling whispered, her face twisted with bitterness.
“Right, go open the window. It’s too hot,” Li An pushed her lightly.
…
Late at night—
“How is it?”
Inside a secret chamber, Zhao Xianchuan asked calmly.
A hidden servant answered, “Reporting to Master, Li An and Chen Qingling have done it six times. She’s gone hoarse from the effort…”
“Master, Chen Qingling has a Mid-Yellow Grade Spirit Root. Giving her up like this—do you think it’s worth it?”
Zhao Xianchuan’s face turned cold.
“Slap yourself!”
The servant paled and quickly knelt to obey.
“Get out. Everything must proceed as normal. Do not let him detect the slightest hint of anything wrong.”
The servant withdrew.
Zhao Xianchuan remained deep in thought.
“Our clan has three Foundation Establishment cultivators—capturing or killing him shouldn’t be hard…”
He hesitated.
But after a while, he still shook his head.
“If the Demon Sect values him this much, acting rashly could ruin everything.”
“Better to wait until the two lords arrive… the day after tomorrow.”
His eyes lit with burning anticipation.
“If I help the Demon Sect capture Li An, I can formally join them and receive the cultivation art to transform my spirit root… Then I might still have a shot at Foundation Establishment in this lifetime…”
He longed for it desperately.
Due to the limitations of his spirit root, he had spent years using every resource available, yet he had only barely reached the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.
In fact, he was slightly weaker than Wang Dazhu.
Even with a Foundation Establishment Pill, his success rate was low.
He had to transform his spirit root.
Too bad the girl he’d spent years grooming—Chen Qingling—was now going to be used by Li An…
But it didn’t matter. As long as Li An could be kept around.
Hah, no matter how clever Li An was, he would never expect—
Zhao Xianchuan didn’t care at all whether he agreed to join the Zhao Clan…
As long as he stayed until the day after tomorrow!
“Bitch, get in here!”
He shouted, and Mu Qingwan entered at once.
“Kneel!”
His face twisted with cold mockery.
“Speak.”
Mu Qingwan knelt, numb and sorrowful. “Master… I’m sorry. I wronged you back then… I regret it, I regret it so much… Please punish me harshly. I beg you.”
Zhao Xianchuan gazed at her with sadistic pleasure. He picked up a whip and lashed her brutally.
“Heh… You saw Li An today. Feeling stirred, weren’t you? You want to save him? Or beg him to save you? Heh, he can’t even save himself!”
As he whipped her savagely, madness flickered in his eyes.
“You liked him back then, didn’t you? Hm? I’ll kill him—I’ll kill him!!”
…
Dawn approached.
“Time to go.”
Li An’s eyes snapped open. He gently nudged Chen Qingling awake, whispering in her ear.
She hadn’t slept. As soon as he spoke, she rolled out of bed.
“Don’t get up. Keep acting. Make it louder… Wait here until I come back for you.”
With a flash, Li An disappeared through the window she’d opened earlier.
Seeing this, Chen Qingling shivered.
So that’s why he had asked her to open the window—so he could move without a sound.
After all, opening a door made noise. If anyone was watching nearby, it could’ve blown his cover.
This Uncle Li… was terrifyingly meticulous.
She immediately resumed her act, moaning loudly: “Again? It’s so early… Let me sleep a little longer—ahhh—”
Moments later, Li An returned. He carried a corpse on his shoulder, moving like a ghost.
“This…” Chen Qingling was stunned.
“The watcher—he was hiding in the flowerbed across from the window.”
Li An stuffed the body under the bedding, then scooped up Chen Qingling.
“You’re too loud when you walk. Just point the way—”
With her in his arms, he slipped back out the window and into the pre-dawn darkness.
…
(End of Chapter)