Gu Xuanming had already consumed half of what he was given and drunk liquor with his own hands.
Sometimes, the woman who approached him, Feng Qingwu, fed him herself.
He had decided to entertain her attempts.
He wanted to see if she had a strong sense of loyalty that he could control or possibly instill in her.
By this point, Feng Qingwu had become impatient.
She had been trying to feed him liquor with her mouth, but she hadn’t gotten the chance.
He was always looking elsewhere, and he took a sip before she could make the move.
It was as if he knew her plans to try to make him drink from her mouth.
The most she could do was press herself against him, letting him feel her chest with his arm.
Just that by itself was a bold move, a move no other servant would dare make, yet her luck seemed to be in her favor as Gu Xuanming did not react negatively to her attempts.
Rather, he was indifferent to them.
To Gu Xuanming, they were proof of her desperation, something he liked.
Not even Lin Suwen was this desperate, making her a perfect pawn to be under his control.
Just then, something popped into his ear.
“You said the black market is underneath the village?”
Immediately, Gu Xuanming tuned into the conversation, cutting everyone else out!
This was his chance!
As much as he despises the heavens, it seems they wanted to entertain him.
“Yes.
It’s a very specific path, so you need to remember this, or you might get lost.
Don’t worry, I drew your picture, so all you need to do is walk up, they’ll see your face, and you can enter.
Got it?”
The young man nodded.
“Okay, it doesn’t start for the next 2 hours, so you can wait here for about an hour until then.
I need to leave now.”
The man sounded desperate, immediately walking out of the Inn, leaving stones as payment for the half-eaten food.
The young man, who looked quite young, had a smile on his face.
“Finally, I’ll be able to buy the medicine for my daughter.
That damn Gu Chenyin banning alchemical materials for meridian interference.
He’s a moron!” He said under his breath.
To insult a cultivator was truly something only a suicidal man would do.
However, when Gu Xuanming heard everything, a twisted smile appeared on his face.
Why?
Well, seeing the current situation, he realized he needed that man’s face, and at the moment, there was only one way to do it.
Looking at Feng Qingwu, now was the time he could use her.
“Feng Qingwu.”
Feng Qingwu immediately paused what she was doing, silencing herself.
“Y-yes, young master Xuanming?”
She met his eyes, yet felt threatened.
His eyes were like a dreamy abyss, lacking any sort of life within them.
For a moment, she had seriously considered that he might be a demonic beast, but then he placed his hand around her.
“Tell me, would you like to be my concubine?” Gu Xuanming said.
He had his fingers on her chin, using her own tactics against her.
He was now seducing her with his good looks and deep voice, the current trend in handsomeness.
Hearing him say this, she immediately straightened herself, acting casual about it.
But deep down, his heart was racing!
She had never been approached in such a way, yet her first experience was like no other.
“O-oh.
You’re willing to make this humble servant your concubine?
I feel blessed, but I do not believe I am worthy.”
Silence.
“If you can distract that man for a few minutes, I will consider making you my concubine.”
He refused to elaborate any further.
He stood up and walked over to the counter in order to ask for a few tools.
Feng Qingwu began to sweat, wiping the sweat away with a cloth in her sleeve.
“I just need to distract him?
This must be a test of obedience.”
“If I can prove I’m willing to obey, he’ll consider me.”
“Finally!
The heavens are on my side!”
She quietly shouted.
She immediately stood up, walking over to the man very suggestively, and sitting right next to him without his knowing.
“Oh!
Um, sorry, miss.
I-I didn’t see you there.”
He already had his tongue twisted.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell that she was only 15 because of her mature appearance, and since this place is only reserved for adults and young masters, he assumed she was an adult servant.
“Sir, are you willing to share a few words with me?” She teased, speaking in a rather seductive voice.
She had spent days perfecting her seductive voice, the way she walked and approached, everything!
To be a woman was to make their bodies a treasure.
That is what she was told by her mother, who was also a concubine.
To let men see her as a heavenly treasure rather than a village carriage.
She couldn’t help but chuckle deep down, knowing she was only deceiving the poor man.
“What would you like to know?” He said.
“Well, how about you tell me how life is going?”
“Life…” He nodded as he said this, slowly turning his head away.
“Well, um, my daughter is currently sick, and the only way to heal her is by fixing her meridians.”
“I believe she has the talent to be a cultivator, but if things keep going as they are, she will die.
I’m currently searching for something to help her.”
As she listened, her smile slowly vanished with each word.
At first, she was delighted to obey and deceive this man, but after hearing such a story, she began to wonder what exactly Gu Xuanming had in store for him.
Just then, Gu Xuanming approached.
He was as silent as a predator; as swift as wind.
He had appeared behind them both without either of them knowing.
The man quickly knew who he was before, getting up and snapping to a bow.
“Lord Gu Xuanming!
A pleasure to meet you!”
“Yes, it is.” Gu Xuanming said.
He held the same expressionless face he always carried.
“I would like for you to come with me.”
“Yes, Lord Gu Xuanming!
I would be honored to obey your word!”
‘…I know.’
Feng Qingwu looked at the man, feeling worried for him, but she didn’t think Gu Xuanming had any sinister intentions.
“Feng Qingwu, I will be back tomorrow.
Make sure to doll yourself up for me by then, okay?”
Feng Qingwu felt blessed by heaven to hear such words!
She truly believed she had snatched his heart!
All her concerns immediately vanished as she blushed, standing up and bowing to her master.
“I will do just that!” She hurried off back to work while Gu Xuanming had his hand behind the man’s back.
Everyone felt envious, believing the man would be blessed.
Everyone desired to be blessed.
It was only natural for mortals to feel envious.
However, the reality was far crueler than they could have imagined.
They would both continue to walk until Gu Xuanming gestured for him to enter the alleyway with him.
The young man gulped.
He wondered what gift he was going to obtain.
He was also unsure of how he was going to have to repay him.
He’s heard of cultivators giving gifts first, but it was a sort of debt you would have to pay when the time came.
The alleyway they stepped into was wide enough for decent movements, but dark enough that no one would be able to see them once they stepped inside deep enough.
Gu Xuanming halted.
The young man was confused, waiting for his gift.
And then—
Slam!
The young man was struck by a devastating strike to the side of his torso!
Crash!
He crashed directly into the crates that were nearby, nearly breaking a few bones had he been hurled at them any stronger.
“Young master!” The young quickly got on all fours, trembling with fear.
He immediately bowed, butt in the air, head on the ground.
“I-I-I apologize if I offended the young master in any way!
Please have mercy!”
In his mind, he was scrolling through his memories, trying to think of any point at which he had offended him.
Nonetheless, Gu Xuanming was silent.
His depression was cold like stone, unreadable in his intentions.
His eyes were deep with intent, like a dreamy abyss sparking to life.
Because he had begun to cultivate, his body was now much stronger than the average human, but of course, someone with decent muscle could still match him.
He was lucky that this man had such a fragile body.
He took one step closer, and the man flinched.
It was like a rabbit flinching at the first movement of the wolf.
The claws were bared; the knife was revealed.
“Please!
I’m so—”
Bang!
Gu Xuanming immediately kicked the man in the jaw, nearly snapping it off.
His head hit the floor in the opposite direction, falling on his chest.
Silence!
A sudden silence came. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Red liquid hit the ground in rhythm, reflecting both Gu Xuanming and the young man.
His gaze slowly shifted to his back, having felt something cold enter it.
It was sharp and shining in the darkness, reflecting the little light that came into the alley.
It was cold steel.
“Ahh—!”
Gu Xuanming’s hand was wrapped over the man’s mouth, muffling his screams.
Slowly, Gu Xuanming would drag the sharp point from the bottom of the man’s back all the way to his neck.
The pain was slow and agonizing, yet it showed Gu Xuanming’s dexterity and control over the knife.
It was clear how he dragged it; he did not want to damage the skin.
The young man cried, looking back to try and understand the young master, yet all he got was a blank expression.
He couldn’t understand why, but Gu Xuanming held no expression.
Nothing on his face indicated he felt anything for what he was doing.
It was calm.
At one point, he had thought that Gu Xuanming was possessed, following a spiritual command, but that wasn’t the truth, far from it.
Gu Xuanming knew what he was doing; he took his time, almost as if he were enjoying it.
After that, Gu Xuanming took a nearby cloth from the ground and wrapped it around the man’s mouth, gagging him.
He would then stand on his legs, preventing him from reaching for what he was about to do next.
“If I am to get into the black market, I need your face.
I would have knocked you out and changed my appearance if I were in my late constellation of the 1st stars, but I cannot.
I am not sorry.”
He slithered his fingers into the man’s open back, slowly opening the man, exposing his spine and rib cage.
“…did you know of something called the blood eagle?”
The young man didn’t respond, still trying to escape.
His mind flooded with his own thoughts, thinking of a way to escape!
“It was commonly used by then during a time when mortals were more like cattle than human beings.” Gu Xuanming spread both flaps of flesh outward, continuing to speak.
“Cultivators would often first break the spine.
This, of course, paralyzed a person.
They would then pull out the lungs and put them somewhere at the top.”
“P-Pease!?” The young man said while gagged, unable to speak properly.
“After that, they took the ribs after snapping them off to have them hold the flesh up properly, creating bloody wings.”
“…”
“Of course, they usually died in the process.
Just like you…”
Gu Xuanming looked down at the mortal before him.
As he explained everything, he was doing exactly what he was describing.
During his final moments, he had thought of his daughter, a guilt-riddled expression being the last thing on his face.
He blamed himself despite not being at fault, now that his daughter would no longer have a father to care for her.
She would die alone in her bed, constantly in pain until she died as well.
He also knew very well he would not get the chance to see her, for the cycle of rebirth is endless.
Gu Xuanming had used his bare hands and scooped everything out of the man’s corpse.
He would then flail his skin, making sure to be as delicate as possible.
In fact, opening the man up wasn’t necessary, yet he still did it.
Why?
It was a simple desire to see if he would feel something.
He has always wanted to see just what could make him feel on equal par with his hatred for the heavens.
He had been so alienated from his emotions that he wanted to see if something else could spark his mind.
Alass, it did not.
He felt nothing by killing this man, fully aware he had a child.
After flailing the skin, he wasted no time, preparing to wear it when…
“Freeze!”
Gu Xuanming immediately froze, slowly setting the skin down.
‘I was followed!?’
‘But who would follow a cultivator, let alone the son of a cultivator?’
‘There’s only one reason that someone would go after a cultivator.’
Slowly turning behind him, he noticed two silhouettes.
They were both shrouded in darkness, blending in with the shadows.
Their faces were covered by cloths, and in their hands, they held sickles stained with dried blood.
“It seems he was right.
He truly is a demonic cultivator.
Only a demon would commit such an act.”
The man on the left said.
Gu Xuanming was now faced with a challenge.
It was clear by the way they were dressed that they were here to assassinate him!