Chapter 109: A Hand Reaching Over the Wall

Following Wang Qiyi along the way, Xiao Cheng unknowingly arrived at a fishing village by the sea.

It was a tranquil village, and the bright morning sunlight bathing the area made it seem exceptionally vibrant. From a distance, Xiao Cheng watched as Wang Qiyi approached a detached house. After looking around for a long while to ensure he wasn’t being followed, Wang knocked on the door. It did not open immediately; Wang Qiyi stood at the threshold, whispering something, before the door creaked open.

Wang Qiyi stepped inside, scanned his surroundings, and closed the door behind him.

Xiao Cheng smiled. Judging by Wang Qiyi’s level of caution, this was undoubtedly a secret stronghold, and much of what Wang had been doing lately was inextricably linked to this place.

Xiao Cheng surveyed the perimeter of the house and, finding no one on watch, used his "Lingxu Steps" to quickly reach the wall. He channeled his spiritual sense to scan the entire building. It was a small three-story Western-style villa with many rooms, but only three living people were inside: Wang Qiyi, a man lying on a bed, and a woman at the eighth stage of the Condensation realm.

Wang Qiyi and the woman were extremely cautious. They exchanged no unnecessary words upon entering and proceeded directly to a sealed room on the third floor. Xiao Cheng "saw" the situation clearly and understood that they had gone to the third floor to prevent eavesdropping. However, a mere three-story building could not stop him; he formed a hand seal and slipped inside.

As soon as he entered the villa, Xiao Cheng was nearly bowled over by a foul stench. Looking closely, he saw over a dozen corpses, some rotting and others in the process of decay, scattered haphazardly across the room. These bodies were stark naked, with horrific expressions: mouths agape, eyes wide, bodies shriveled, and purple veins covering their skin.

Although Xiao Cheng was accustomed to death and had killed many people himself, he could not help but feel a wave of nausea at the sight. Beyond their identical expressions, all the corpses shared one commonality: they were all men.

Xiao Cheng had seen this type of death before; it was the result of male essence being drained by evil practitioners. These corpses were likely the same. Could the woman he sensed earlier be an evil practitioner? Xiao Cheng frowned. In his previous life, he had concluded that the deaths of his brothers and uncles were linked to evil sects. Now, it seemed the truth was not far from his suspicions.

Suppressing his nausea and covering his nose, Xiao Cheng vaulted upward without hesitation. As he leaped, he formed an Earth-Escape seal, passing directly through the ceiling to the second floor, then repeating the maneuver to reach the third, slipping through a wall into the room adjacent to where Wang Qiyi and the woman were staying.

The soundproofing here was clearly inferior to that of the Ninth Bureau. Xiao Cheng focused his hearing, and the conversation next door came through clearly.

"It seems Wang Qiyi is indeed inextricably linked to the deaths of my brothers and uncles!"

Xiao Cheng snorted coldly. He took out his phone, set it to airplane mode, turned on the recording function, and then used the Earth-Escape technique to reach a suitable position, extending his hand to place the phone beneath the wardrobe in the next room.

Since his entire body could pass through walls, slipping a phone into the next room was a simple matter. With that done, Xiao Cheng listened intently, his expression darkening with every word...

...

Wang Qiyi and Leng Yuchan did not notice the hand that had suddenly emerged from beneath the wardrobe, nor did they know that a phone was quietly recording them.

Although Leng Yuchan was not a peerless beauty, her figure was perfect—a wasp waist, full hips, and crystal-clear skin. She wore only a thin slip of silk, her alluring curves partially visible, even the hair between her thighs clearly discernible. Yet, looking at this seductive woman, Wang Qiyi felt no desire, only a chill down his spine. He knew what kind of woman Leng Yuchan was—a man-eating siren who had brought countless men to their ruin.

"Brother Wang, it’s been a year. How have you been? Have you missed your little sister? I’ve been missing your scent terribly. Come, let me take a sip first!" Leng Yuchan laughed coquettishly, licking her lips with her tongue, her bosom trembling with her laughter.

Even though Wang Qiyi knew she was a venomous scorpion, he couldn't help but feel a physical stir at her provocation.

"Hmph, Leng Yuchan, don't forget I am a protector of the Fangtian Sect. Behave yourself; it’s disgusting!" Wang Qiyi said with a trace of anger. He admitted he was lustful, but he wasn't desperate. If he let her drain him, his cultivation would plummet, especially since he was already injured and unstable.

"Oh! I almost forgot that Brother Wang is the forty-seventh protector of the sect," Leng Yuchan said with a sneer, emphasizing the number forty-seven.

There were forty-nine protectors in the Fangtian Sect; Wang Qiyi was merely third from the bottom, a bottom-tier role. Moreover, protectors were only peripheral members, whereas she was a disciple of the sect's inner circle—her status was naturally much higher.

Leng Yuchan scoffed, "Protector Wang, don't forget we are the same kind of people. You’ve likely killed no fewer women than I have over the years. Sometimes I envy you, staying in the secular world for ten years—the amount of female resources you must have! I, on the other hand, can only come out for half a month each year, and only then can I have a taste. By the way, I heard the Xiao family has four beautiful maidens. Have you gotten your hands on them yet?"

"Hmph, that is none of your concern!"

Wang Qiyi struggled to suppress his rage. If not for her status as an inner-circle disciple, he would have killed her on the spot. He did want to target the four women of the Xiao family, but he knew that one must not let small impatience spoil a grand scheme. His mission at the Xiao family was not simple; if he were discovered by Xiao Fusheng because of women, his efforts would be for nothing, and neither Xiao Fusheng nor the Fangtian Sect would spare him. It wasn't worth the risk.

"How boring. Fine, let's talk business. Tell me about the progress of your mission at the Xiao family over the past year." Leng Yuchan knew not to push him too far; Wang Qiyi was an innate-stage expert, and if she pushed him to the brink, it wouldn't be fun to be killed.

Hearing her finally mention the mission, Wang Qiyi relaxed. Once he handed these tasks over, he could return to the sect, and his status would likely see a massive promotion. Smiling, he fished several wrinkled sheets of paper from his clothes. He handed them to Leng Yuchan and said, "Look at this."

Leng Yuchan looked at the words on the paper, momentarily lost in thought. After reading it over carefully, she couldn't help but sigh, "This is the Songyang Heart Sutra. What an ingenious piece of work."

Just by reading it once, she knew it was genuine. A heart sutra could not be faked; this was exactly what the Fangtian Sect needed. With this sutra, they could cultivate countless "cauldrons" for their evil practices.

Watching Leng Yuchan’s excitement, Wang Qiyi smiled coldly. If not for him, how could the Fangtian Sect ever obtain such a thing? This was all his doing. He had spent years gaining Xiao Fusheng’s trust, and just last month, he had used every trick in the book to extract from him the location of the original Songyang Heart Sutra—hidden under the old woman's bed. He had seized the opportunity to copy it.

"Not bad, not bad. The Sect Envoy will surely reward you for this. And what of the final cauldron?" Leng Yuchan asked with a seductive smile.

"Heh, that’s the second piece of good news. The cauldron has reached the peak of Foundation Building and is ready to be used!" Wang Qiyi laughed.

With both tasks completed, once Xiao Cheng served his purpose as a cauldron, he could gracefully leave the Xiao family and return to the Fangtian Sect to continue his role as a protector.

"Oh? It has already reached the peak of Foundation Building? Wasn't it only at the first stage of Foundation Building this time last year? How could it be so fast?" Leng Yuchan asked, full of doubt.

"Hmph, that is not for you to worry about. My mission is complete. You only need to notify the Sect Envoy to come and use the cauldron as soon as possible so I can leave the Xiao family early."

Wang Qiyi was annoyed by her questioning; the sect only cared about the cauldron, not the process.

"It won't be so easy to leave the Xiao family. The Sect Envoy didn't just send me here to check your progress; there is something else I must inform you of!"