“Don’t touch my daughter…” Qu Tianwei’s face turned ashen as he spat out a mouthful of blood. A closer look revealed faint traces of acting on his features, but it was enough to fool the masses.
The players all cursed inwardly.
Had they not known his true colors in advance, this group of naive young heroes would have been utterly duped by his Oscar-worthy performance. The other martial artists from the Rivers and Lakes watched with chests heaving in fury, their righteous indignation surging toward the heavens. “Pah! The Demonic Sects dare to defile the Righteous Path Fairy!”
“You can ask Miss Qu if she’s willing,” Tao Caiyan said with a smile.
No sooner had she spoken than one of the black-clothed men pressed a blade to Qu Tianwei’s neck, as if the vile Demonic Sects were shamelessly using a father’s life to coerce the Righteous Path Fairy.
Sure enough, Qu Wangshu soon stepped forward. Her body trembled as she cried out shrilly, “I-I’m willing! Just don’t hurt my father!”
The crowd was stunned, and despite their poisoned, immobile bodies, they desperately tried to stop her. “Miss Qu, don’t agree to the Demonic Sects! This is clearly their scheme!” Countless admirers under her skirt ignored their own poisoning, wishing they could leap up and prevent her from walking to her death.
Qu Tianwei’s eyes filled with sorrow. “Wangshu, don’t—”
“But I can’t just watch my father die,” Qu Wangshu choked out.
The martial artists present could see that Miss Qu’s captivating eyes had clearly been weeping. She was such a frail and delicate beauty, yet she boldly approached the demonic temptress and bargained, “I’ll go with you, but I want you to spare my father—and everyone else here—”
The demonic temptress arched a brow, raising her whip threateningly. “Miss Qu, are you threatening me?”
Qu Wangshu glared at her stubbornly. “These are my terms. If you won’t agree, I’ll slit my own throat right here on this blade.” As she spoke, she drew her personal dagger and held it to her neck.
Her tightly shut eyelids trembled incessantly, as if tears might fall at any moment. That resolute, tearful determination only made the beauty even more moving.
She was pleading for everyone, and the crowd was deeply moved.
The hot-blooded young heroes were so stirred that their eyes bulged with bloodshot veins, on the verge of bursting. They roared from their throats, “Miss Qu, no!”
The demonic temptress, Tao Caiyan, giggled. “I truly underestimated you Central Plains folk. Even if I torment you endlessly, you’re still willing?”
“I’m willing…” Miss Qu’s face drained of color as teardrops like pearls fell to the ground. The crowd’s pity, hatred, and rage reached their breaking point.
Ruan Xuezong saw through it all.
What fear was this? These were clearly tears of joy. In his previous life, he and all the guests had been played like fools by this father-daughter duo.
This was nothing but a win-win deal between the Demonic Sects and Peacock Manor. The Demonic Sects purged the righteous folk they despised, while Peacock Manor invited the wolves in, cooperating fully in this self-directed drama. Afterward, the Righteous Path Fairy sacrificed herself to “save” the righteous world by submitting to the demons, earning no blame from the martial artists—instead, she became a Demonic Sects plant.
Shen Jiangling sighed softly. “Miss Qu is truly one of a kind.” He had always been one to cherish the fairer sex, and his heart was subtly moved by her—until the next moment, when his face swelled from a barrage of slaps.
The reason was Ruan Xuezong’s entrance.
His sudden appearance threw the evening into chaos, and the truths he exposed left the world dumbfounded.
To be precise, it wasn’t just Ruan Xuezong who appeared. Beside him was a man in coarse hempen clothes, supported by countless players as he slowly ascended the steps. He looked like the most ordinary old man from the Rivers and Lakes in his seventies or eighties—only those in the know could tell.
Though aged and frail, every step he took on the stone slabs radiated the presence of a supreme expert, shocking everyone into pallor. The moment he stepped into the hall, he drew attention from all sides.
The Demonic Sects forces need not be mentioned. When they spotted Ruan Xuezong in their view, perhaps out of conditioned reflex, Tao Caiyan shuddered violently. Her grip tightened on the whip, and when her gaze fell on the old man, her eyes filled with profound wariness.
Even the Qu father and daughter felt a chill in their hearts.
Why had Peacock Manor’s usually silent Mute Uncle, who only swept the grounds, abandoned his broom to step forward today?
The old sweeper gazed coldly at the Qu pair. “You father and daughter should stop while you can. Cease creating more karma.”
Even though Ruan Xuezong had given the feigned-deaf old man a heads-up in advance, the sweeper still hadn’t imagined that the events unfolding at Peacock Manor tonight were a hundred times more absurd than he’d thought. How could a man, even after death, still pine for a woman and willingly drag all the righteous down with him?
If the truth came out under the bright sun, it would be a genuine farce. He had retired from the Rivers and Lakes decades ago. He had only emerged today because Ruan Xuezong convinced him with the proverb about no intact eggs under a toppled nest—but his original intent from start to finish had been to preserve peace for the lady of the house.
Under that premise, even if battle was inevitable tonight, he wanted to minimize the bloodshed. Old folks like him tended to believe in reincarnation and karma; unless absolutely necessary, he didn’t want lives on his hands.
Qu Tianwei was a true veteran of the Rivers and Lakes. Hearing such words, his expression didn’t change in the slightest. He maintained his feigned deep poisoning, hanging by a thread, and thus stayed silent.
Qu Wangshu, however, lifted her teary eyes. Sobbing, she said, “Mute Uncle, what are you talking about? Can’t you see the Demonic Sects have a knife to my father’s throat? I’ve always respected you as Mother’s longtime servant—I wouldn’t dare speak ill of you—but please, don’t make trouble at a time like this.”
Her tears fell in clusters, stirring pity in many onlookers.
Hearing her words laced with faint resentment, the sweeper was instantly defeated. He took several deep breaths. “You foolish, selfish father and daughter—don’t cling to your delusions! Don’t think no one knows what you’ve done! What man does, heaven watches!”
His warning boomed like a great bell, surging forth with overwhelming force and penetration. Many black-clothed men spat blood on the spot. The Demonic Sects minions’ misfortune didn’t spare the guests; the poisoned martial artists, already on the ground, were left dizzy by the sonic assault. When they recovered, blood trickled from the corners of their mouths.
Nearby players looked up in, checking their status bars. The sweeper’s indiscriminate might had shaken their inner force again.
A fresh red buff appeared overhead.
【Half-Step Grandmaster’s Fury: When a common man rages, blood splatters three feet; when a grandmaster rages, thousands are implicated! The weak are easily injured, basic attack power reduced by 60%, 5% health loss per second, lasts 20 seconds—the pinnacle of debuffs.】
The players exchanged glances, reading the despair in each other’s eyes. “Karma! This just confirms you don’t mess with the janitor in wuxia worlds.”
“Help, my health bar’s dropping—I’ll be gone soon, waaah.”
A camera player grumbled, “Who told the recording team to hold the line? Didn’t they know we’re all squishy support types? We can’t hold either—” He was just venting, but unexpectedly, the players united.
“Right, the livestream can’t drop—who else will capture Zongzong’s epic moment? Healers, stop self-healing; sacrifice for the camera guy first—” Seeing the camera player about to die, the others yanked Blood Coagulation Pills from their inventories and crammed them into his wailing mouth, regardless of cooldowns. Then one player dissolved into light and vanished on the spot.
Nothing much came of it that night.
The next day, the players slapped their thighs in excitement, endlessly grateful for that impulsive save. Because he sacrificed himself for the camera man, that player captured the unprecedented, jaw-dropping scene that night. Ruan Xuezong in the footage exploded the game’s forums the following day, crashing servers multiple times…
Another batch of players vanished, but the banquet’s storm of blood and violence raged on.
The sweeper’s sonic blast was earth-shaking, rattling tables, chairs, and benches around them. Qu Tianwei had earlier shattered his own heart meridian barrier for the act, knowing the Demonic Sects wouldn’t truly strike him. He hadn’t expected his wife’s old handmaiden’s husband to possess such power—a single roar sent his chest qi roiling. With a “Pfft—”, his injuries worsened; no more pretending needed, he was utterly spent.
The Demonic Sects temptress Tao Caiyan had anticipated this from the old man’s aura and barely withstood the blast, barely hiding her disheveled state.
It was only because she endured it that she fully abandoned any fluke hopes, cursing inwardly: Damn it, what the hell is Peacock Manor playing at? Weren’t they all supposed to be ants, a sure thing? How does a high-level half-step grandmaster old coot suddenly turn traitor! She knew it—whenever Heart Washing Manor busybodies got involved, nothing good happened!
Qu Wangshu’s martial arts were mediocre; the roar left her vision swimming and ears ringing. When she snapped back, she lifted her beautiful eyes in shock, instantly realizing Ruan Xuezong and the sweeper were here to sabotage. The Demonic Sects’ long-planned scheme could not fail!
Why? Why did someone always interfere just as she was about to fulfill her wish?
A thread of resentment stirred in Qu Wangshu’s heart. She forced out more tears, about to lift her peerless, pitiful face to act—when Ruan Xuezong spoke, leaving no room for her performance.
Under the sweeper’s oppressive pressure, Ruan Xuezong was the only one unscathed.
He stood with hands behind his back, his calm and leisurely poise clashing with the chaos, drawing eyes effortlessly with his casual words.
“Sir, as I said earlier, some people won’t shed a tear until they see the coffin. Just show the evidence of Manor Lord Qu colluding with the Demonic Sects and plotting a massacre—the truth will come out. If he still won’t admit it after seeing the proof, we team up: kill that vile demonic temptress first, drive out the Demonic Sects intruders, then confine this stubborn father-daughter pair…”
Hearing this, Tao Caiyan recalled that agonizing ordeal—captured at a roadside teahouse, dosed with Soft Tendon Powder, thrown in a dungeon. She shrieked instinctively, “Ruan Xuezong! You think you can kill me?”
Her voice was piercingly shrill, and everyone heard the panic beneath her bluster—a case of all bark and no bite.
“Yeah, kill you first. It’s only been half a month, and your Demonic Sects are stirring trouble again.” Ruan Xuezong shot her a cold glance, like an arctic abyss. It numbed Tao Caiyan’s scalp, freezing her in place.
Those who reached such heights in martial arts had an instinct for danger. Tao Caiyan cherished her life dearly. Ruan Xuezong alone was too much for her; now with a half-step grandmaster, her flight instinct surged. She wished she could bolt. Failing that, she pulled a whistle from her bosom and blew it long and hard.
Most reveled in the temptress’s lost arrogance, while others paled at Ruan Xuezong’s mention of the other matter.
“What!? Manor Lord Qu colluding with the Demonic Sects?” The poisoned martial artists were floored by the bombshell. Their gazes darted between the black-clothed men, the temptress, and the Qu pair—faces paling then flushing. They were already mostly convinced.
But the words on the tips of their tongues turned into mild doubt. “Manor Lord Ruan, we respect your youthful promise, but Manor Lord Qu’s reputation is spotless. As a junior, you can’t slander a Rivers and Lakes legend without proof.” The subtext: Show the evidence—we’re dying to see it.
Qu Tianwei’s heart raced in turmoil, but sixty years of composure kept his face steady as a mountain. He barked at Ruan Xuezong, “Come at me, kid! This old man has a clear conscience!”
He had always been cautious; no evidence could have fallen into a young man’s hands!
Then Ruan Xuezong reached back and unrolled that familiar scroll. Qu Tianwei’s ashen face turned deathly pale in an instant.
【Ding! Your scheming strikes the soft spot. Peacock Manor favorability -20,000. Want a report on Demonic Sects favorability too?】
“No need,” Ruan Xuezong said.
He knew better—negative infinity wasn’t worth reporting.
