Checkmate
The four men found a servant in the Li Mansion and ordered him to bring Li Nu to the front yard, saying that they had something urgent to do.
In a moment, Li Kun hurried to the front yard.
"Master, what happened?"
None of the four made any move. Xiao Yuan glanced at him and said coldly, "Master Li, we have something to ask you."
"Excuse me, Immortal, I shall be frank with you."
Xiao Yuan snorted coldly, "Lord Li, are you really being honest? Then let me ask you, is your eldest son called Li Chongyang? And...is your adopted son really taken in just because you felt sorry for him?!"
Li Jun wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead, "Why do you say that, Immortal? I just missed my eldest son too much, so I gave his name to my adopted son. My adopted son is just a child I took in from the street. Why don't you believe me, Immortal?!"
Xiao Yuan was too lazy to continue arguing with this person. There was not a single truth in this person's mouth.
"Then do you know why your eldest son is so seriously ill and won't recover? He said... before he fell ill, he had a dream. In the dream, a child told him that you had destroyed his family and wanted Li Chongyang to atone for your sins!"
"You...how do you know this? He's already dead! Did you go to the locked courtyard in my house?! Who allowed you to go there?!"
Yin Heng noticed that Li Kun was in a bad mood and was worried that he would lose his mind and do something out of line, so he stepped forward and protected him behind him.
Seeing Li Jun's reaction, Xiao Yuan concluded that his previous guesses were correct. A father who harmed his young son to such an extent was simply heartless.
"If we don't go, how long will you keep your deeds secret?!" Xiao Yuan had tried his best to restrain himself, his nails digging into his flesh, and he was shaking with anger. Yin Heng noticed that something was wrong with the person behind him and held his hand tightly.
"Enough! Please leave here. You don't need to interfere in what happens next!" Li Kun turned his back to them and shouted angrily, waving his sleeves.
Jiang Yun was displeased when he heard this and rushed forward to question him, "Master Li, we took your money and left without solving the case. If this gets out, will our Cang Jing Sect's reputation be ruined?!"
Ye Qingci hurriedly pulled the man back, not because he was afraid of offending Li Kun. Although Jiang Yun was gentle to others on weekdays, he should not be underestimated when he got angry.
This Li Jun is being unreasonable. How could he possibly send them away just like that? After Yin Heng calmed Xiao Yuan down, he suppressed his anger and said, "Master Li, our Cang Jing Sect has always done things from beginning to end. We absolutely do not quit midway. We will investigate this matter thoroughly."
Seeing that the truth had been revealed, Li Jun even gave up the pretense? Xiao Yuan was furious, his face darkening beyond words. He had never been this angry in all those years. At this moment, Li Jun felt a chill creep up his fingertips. He looked down and found that one of his fingers was actually frozen?!
Xiao Yuan stepped forward and grabbed his collar. "Li Nu, if you don't tell the truth, I'll cut off one of your fingers every time I drink a cup of tea until you tell me everything."
After saying that, Xiao Yuan pushed him to the ground, and Li Lun fell on his butt and screamed.
The commotion attracted Yu Shang and Yu Xian. They only saw Xiao Yuan looking down at Li Kun, who was slumped on the ground with his clothes disheveled, with a cold face. They were a little bit incredulous at the scene.
Yu Xian spoke first, saying, "What are you doing? Why are you beating the client?"
Xiao Yuan didn't even look at him, and just said, "What did I do? Ask him what he did."
Li Ruru grabbed Yu Xian's clothes like a lifeline and cried, "Master, this group of people framed me. I paid them to come here, but they wanted to cut off my fingers without any reason. I asked them to leave, but they refused. What kind of thing is this!"
This guy is really... shameless... Xiao Yuan was so angry at this old man that he almost fainted. He had an urge to smash his mouth.
The two disciples of Lianyun Sect didn't know the reason and didn't know who to trust. On one side was the young master of Cangjing Sect and several disciples, and on the other side was the client who was crying loudly.
Ye Qingci stepped forward, bowed to the two, and said calmly, "I have an old relationship with your senior brother. I wonder if you would listen to what I have to say?"
Hearing that Ye Qingci and the senior brother of Lianyun Sect had an old relationship, Jiang Yun was a little confused. They had lived together for many years, and he had never seen them have any dealings. Ye Qingci saw his confusion and promised to explain it to him later.
Since Ye Qingci had an old relationship with these two senior brothers, he might as well listen to them. The two nodded slightly to signal him to speak.
"We discovered the tomb of Li Chongyang, Li Kui's eldest son, in a courtyard. We discovered that before his death, his eldest son had a dream in which a child told him that his father had destroyed his family and asked him to atone for his father's sins. He then fell seriously ill and died. Shortly after his death, Li Kui adopted his current son and gave him his eldest son's name. Therefore, we suspect that Li Kui was involved in child trafficking."
Yu Shang and Yu Xian looked at each other with difficulty, "This... we can't draw such a conclusion based on these things."
Xiao Yuan was too lazy to talk to them and said impatiently: "Am I not asking him?!"
"Ouch! That's not even asking, that's simply forcing a confession!"
Xiao Yuan glanced at him when he heard the voice. Li Ru was crying so hard at this moment that his face was covered with snot and tears. It was really unbearable to look at him.
ah--
A shrill scream erupted from the direction of Madam Li's house, and then a maid ran out in fear, ran to her knees in front of Li Kun.
"Master... Madam..."
When Li Kui heard him say that Madam Li quickly wiped her tear-stained face with her sleeve and asked, "What happened to Madam?! Tell me quickly!"
"Master... Madam had a sudden heavy bleeding from her lower body just now. When we went to check... we found... a baby's head emerging from under her. That baby's head... Master, please ask the Immortal to take a look!"
Upon hearing the news, several people rushed to Madam Li's house. Upon entering, they saw the ghost fetus, already halfway out of Madam Li's body, tilting its head and gazing at them with a strange smile. The ghost fetus's body was dark, veins and bloodshot all over its body. Its head was misshapen, with pieces of flesh still hanging from it. It was obvious that the ghost fetus had eaten away at Madam Li's internal organs. Madam Li lay slumped on the couch, bloodstained and pale, looking at them helplessly.
While they were stunned, the ghost fetus had already crawled out of Mrs. Li's lower body and pounced directly at the people at the door. Several people dodged, and just as Xiao Yuan was about to cast a spell to freeze the ghost fetus, it suddenly disappeared.
"Why are you still standing there? Help Madam stop the bleeding first!" Yin Heng shouted.
Due to the unusual pain caused by the ghost fetus, the ghost fetus disappeared at this time. Yin Heng asked Ye Qingci and Jiang Yun to stay and clean up the rotten flesh and blood for Madam Li and heal her wounds, while he took Xiao Yuan and two disciples from Lianyun Sect to look for the ghost fetus.
The four of them followed the ghost aura and found the courtyard. The courtyard was empty, and Yu Shang looked around.
"That's not right. According to the traces of the ghost energy, the ghost fetus is here."
Yin Heng looked above the eaves vigilantly and suddenly shouted, "Get out of the way!"
The ghost fetus pounced down from the eaves, with black air coming out of its mouth and fangs exposed.
"Wind! Tear it apart!"
A gust of wind swept over, engulfing the entire ghost fetus, which oozed black blood. Xiao Yuan cast a spell to freeze it, and Yin Heng withdrew the wind. The ghost fetus fell from mid-air and landed on the ground, a creepy and strange smile still on its face.
Yu Xian threw out the soul-locking bag and said "collect", and the ghost fetus was put into the soul-locking bag.
Yu Xian bowed to Yin Heng and Xiao Yuan and said, "Master instructed us to bring the ghost back to the sect. I apologize for this."
Yin Heng didn't care about a little ghost fetus. It would be useless even if he brought it back to Cang Jing Sect. He just replied lightly, "It's up to you, sir."
When the four of them returned to the room, Ye Qingci had already treated Mrs. Li's injuries, and Li Kun kept expressing his gratitude.
Ye Qingci interrupted him coldly: "I just don't want to sacrifice innocent lives, not for you."
Li Kun froze, the joy on his face faded, and he knelt aside without saying a word.
Yu Shang entered the room and said to Li Nu, "Master Li, the evil spirit has been eliminated."
"Thank you, Immortal!"
At this time, Madam Li's clothes were still stained with blood, and her eyes were empty. She placed her hands on her lower abdomen and murmured, "My child..." She closed her eyes slightly, and tears slid down from the corners of her eyes, dripping onto the blood-stained corners of her clothes, blurring the undried bloodstains.
Xiao Yuan stepped forward and said, "Master Li, at this point, you're still not going to tell me?!"
Li Shen really wanted to cry but had no tears. Things had come to this point and he had no choice but to speak up.
"Master, I really didn't want this to happen, and... and I didn't capture those children. I just... helped find buyers for them. And... and I only bought that child to ease my wife's longing for him. I really didn't know Chongyang died because of this. If I had known, I would definitely never do such a thing again!"
Li Kui knelt on his knees in front of Madam Li, holding her hand, his voice trembling.
"Madam, I really...I really don't want to kill Chongyang..."
"open..."
"I told you to let me go!" Mrs. Li's voice was horrifyingly hoarse.
She slowly pulled herself up and sat up, propping herself up with her weak body. She stood up and questioned Li Jun, who was kneeling in front of her: "Do you still have any conscience? You are also a parent, how could you do such a thing? Would you be happy to tear this family apart?!"
"No... No ma'am, I swear, I swear I will never do such a thing again. I will cut off all contact with those people immediately!"
"Let's get a divorce. I'll report it to the police later."
Li Ru's expression was dazed for a moment, "No... You can't... You can't destroy me..."
This situation was beyond everyone's expectations. A woman so easily asked for a divorce from her husband, but after all, it was a family matter and it was inappropriate for them to interfere. Several people left the house one after another, the quarrel still continuing as they left. Yin Heng and Xiao Yuan opened the locked courtyard, and the young man embraced his mother once more before finally dissolving into a pile of ashes and vanishing into the wind.
After saying goodbye to the four people, the two Lianyun Sect disciples found an inn to stay in, and the four of them went to the night market again.
Jiang Yun, a quick thinker, thought of giving the two some alone time. He grabbed Ye Qingci and ran off, leaving Yin Heng and Xiao Yuan staring at each other. Yin Heng was grateful for his help, but Xiao Yuan wasn't so sure. What kind of a deal was this? Having just rejected someone's confession, and now they were alone for the third time, it was so embarrassing that they almost wanted to dig a hole in the ground.
The two of them walked aimlessly, both in silence. Yin Heng only suppressed the words that were rising in his throat. After walking for an unknown amount of time, they arrived at a famous brothel at the foot of the mountain. The brothel was called "Xilaichun". It had three floors. The first floor was dedicated to women soliciting customers for drinks, the second floor was for singing girls to play music and dance, and the top floor was the wing for receiving guests. From the outside, the eaves were high and the twelve zodiac animals were carved on the eaves. Next to Xilaichun were several dilapidated commercial ports, separated by a dark and narrow alley. As soon as they approached, a strong smell of rouge and powder hit their faces, choking Xiao Yuan and making him cough. Just as he was about to pull Yin Heng back, he heard a woman's angry scolding.
"Go away! I only sell my art, not my body!"
Then the voice of a middle-aged man with a lewd tone echoed. "What's the same as selling? Why are you pretending to be so noble when you're already selling? You won't be wronged if you follow me!"
Yin Heng and Xiao Yuan looked over at the sound. A middle-aged man in the lead, flanked by two young men dressed as servants, held a singing girl at the entrance of the alley. Some of the girls standing upstairs pretended not to see and continued soliciting customers, some seemed numb and used to it, and some harbored a shred of sympathy but offered no assistance. The girl pushed helplessly, tugging at her gauze dress, desperately trying to maintain her innocence.
Xiao Yuan was about to step forward to stop them, but Yin Heng, fearing them, used his spiritual power again and tugged at his sleeve. Cultivators were forbidden to use their spiritual power to harm others lightly; having previously injured Li Kun was already a violation. Yin Heng pulled a little magic fragrance powder from his brocade pouch, placed it in his palm, and summoned a gust of wind to blow it toward the men. In an instant, they fainted, and the singer took the opportunity to flee back to Xilaichun.
The night was dark. Yin Heng sent a message to Jiang Yun and the others and then found an inn to rest.
The bright moon hung high in the sky, and moonlight shone into the house through the window lattice. Yu Shang was sitting at the desk counting his luggage. Suddenly, the sound of a piano rang out, which was particularly desolate and long in the silent night.
"Who's playing the piano?" he muttered to himself. He stood up and walked to the window, about to close it. The music died away in an instant, and he suddenly felt something pressing against his neck. He glanced over and saw it was a string. Someone was standing behind him, the lights in the room off, so he couldn't see their face.
"Who are you?..."
"How can a dying person know?"
The strings pierced his throat, and crimson blood flowed down the strings to his fingertips and wrists, dripping onto the wooden floor. Before dying, Yu Shang's hand clutched his collar tightly, and in a final struggle, he tore open the man's clothes, revealing a piece of snow-white skin. In the moonlight, the butterfly tattoo on his shoulder looked even more glaring.
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