Duan Shaohong sat in the middle of the Lu Family estate howling and crying loudly, "Little Sister! Please!! I am begging you! Let me take Huaiyi away! If this goes on, I will die here!"

Lu Maoxian had not shown the Zhang Family the slightest bit of mercy. Zhang Bochu, who was Zhang Huaiyi's father by name, had been beaten up so badly that he looked more dead than alive.

At first, Duan Shaohong had acted terribly tough and stubborn.

"Go on then!" she had shouted at Lu Maoxian's men. "Beat us however you like! Our family will never yield!"

Naturally, she did not care in the slightest if Zhang Bochu got thrashed. She felt absolutely no sympathy for the man. However, she did not expect that Lu Maoxian's men would beat her too. When the fists and sticks came crashing down on her own body, the pain suddenly became a very real thing indeed.

Not only had the husband and wife been beaten, but their house had also been burned to ashes. Every bit of their family property had been seized, and even the old master of the Duan Family had been dragged into the mess.

Only then did Duan Shaohong finally understand what sort of monster she had provoked. All this time, she had only seen the Lu Family's wealth. Yet she had never once considered how ruthless a family had to be to hold onto such wealth.

It had been easy to hand the boy over, but taking him back would be difficult as the current Zhang Huaiyi was no longer her actual son.

Duan Shaoxia comforted, "Elder Sister, at times like this, we absolutely cannot lower our heads. We must show the backbone of the Duan Family!"

"The backbone's gone already!" Duan Shaohong cried, shaking her head miserably. "Several of my bones have been broken! Little Sister, please, just have mercy on me. Let's pretend I never said anything and let this whole matter die quietly. Alright?"

SMACK!

Duan Shaoxia slapped the table and declared fiercely, "I refuse to swallow this humiliation! When the first day of the month arrives, we are still holding the banquet! This matter must go through no matter what!"

"We can't hold it! We absolutely can't!" Duan Shaohong cried as she threw herself at Duan Shaoxia and clung to her tightly. "If that banquet really happens, then you might as well start preparing coffins for my entire family!"

Duan Shaoxia frowned at once. "That will not do. What has been decided cannot be changed. Qiu, how are the banquet preparations coming along?"

With a troubled expression, Qiu Zhiheng replied, "The Grand Old Master gathered the entire clan and announced the matter in public. Now no one in the family is even willing to accept the invitations."

Duan Shaoxia said nothing after hearing this, but the look on her face made it very clear that she was not pleased with Qiu Zhiheng at all.

Duan Shaohong quickly chimed in from the side. "Little Sister, you need to listen to Steward Qiu. We can't go against the entire Lu Family over this. The whole Lu Family refuses to acknowledge it, so even if we hold the banquet, it will be pointless. Little Sister, just let me take Huaiyi away. I am begging you, alright?"

Duan Shaoxia sighed. "We can postpone the banquet for now, but Huaiyi is already my son. From now on, he must live in the Lu Family's house."

"Th-Then what about me?"

"How about you go home first?"

Duan Shaohong exploded. "Where am I supposed to go? My house has already been burned down! Little Sister, are you really trying to leave me with no way to survive? At the very least, let me stay here for now!"

Duan Shaoxia reluctantly agreed to let Duan Shaohong stay temporarily in the Lu Family estate. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

That night, Duan Shaohong wanted to see her son. However, Zhang Huaiyi claimed that he was not feeling well and refused to meet her.

***

Lu Maoxian sat in the main hall.

SMASH!

A tea bowl shattered against the floor.

SMASH!

Another one followed right after it.

Before long, several tea bowls had already been reduced to glittering piles of porcelain shards scattered across the hall. The incident at the cinema had completely exploded out of control.

After that ten-minute film was shown, the entire city learned that although Lu Maoxian was already very old, he remained remarkably vigorous.

Unfortunately for Lu Maoxian, that was only the second most important thing people took away from the film. The real problem was something far worse.

Thanks to that film, countless people had discovered Lu Maoxian's rather extraordinary hobby. The old fellow liked recording the entire process from beginning to end.

Lu Maoxian was an elder of the Pure Conduct Society. He spent his days lecturing others about the teachings of the Sages and always carried himself like a man overflowing with virtue and dignity.

Yet behind closed doors, he secretly enjoyed filming such activities from beginning to end and even enjoyed letting other people watch the recordings afterward.

Could this perhaps be the ultimate hidden truth behind the Sage's teachings? Mind you, people were not inventing these rumors out of thin air. The newspapers were the ones saying it.

The Ling Family's newspaper boldly declared that the true essence of the Sage's teachings was honesty. Meanwhile, Night-Blooming Jasmine, the flashy new darling of the newspaper business, announced that the profound truth of the Sage's teaching was straightforwardness.

Did Lu Maoxian really film this himself? Of course not. That was precisely what made the whole thing so wonderfully disastrous.

Lu Maoxian liked women, but he had no interest in films. The events shown in the film had indeed happened, but he hadn't filmed them himself.

Ling Miaoying had witnessed everything using the abilities of a Spycraft Cultivator, then used an enchanted artifact to recreate the scenes onto the film.

Lu Maoxian flew into a rage. That night, he summoned over twenty trusted subordinates and ordered them to closely monitor Ling Miaoying's movements. The moment an opportunity appeared, they were to strike immediately and kill him on the spot.

On top of that, Ling Miaoying's film company couldn't be spared either. From the actors to the stagehands, every single person would be dealt with so thoroughly that no one would ever dare work under Ling Miaoying again.

The cinema would also be targeted mercilessly. If anyone dared screen The Legendary Bloodblade Detective again, they would burn the entire cinema down.

He had wanted to do this for a long time already. It had been the Sage's orders from the beginning, and if anything happened, the Sage would take responsibility for it.

Now that he had completely fallen out with the Ling Family, there was no point continuing to maneuver around them. Before the Ling Family could make a ruthless move first, he might as well settle matters himself.

At around ten o'clock that night, Lu Maoxian received news that Ling Miaoying was still at the film company discussing a script with the popular award-winning actress, Tu Yinghong.

Lu Maoxian immediately led his men to the film company. He knew Ling Miaoying was a high-level Spycraft Cultivator. Any obvious move would immediately put him on guard, so he first had the level-seven Poison Cultivator Xu Huairong spread poison around the building.

Xu Huairong had killed quite a few Spycraft Cultivators before and was familiar with their abilities and habits. He set a bamboo basket on the ground several dozen meters away from the building, then sat by the roadside smoking his pipe.

To anyone passing by, he looked like a tired old fellow taking a break by the roadside with his bamboo basket beside him. Dealing with a Spycraft Cultivator was a terribly tricky business. One could not simply creep up and stab them in the back like in cheap stories. Those people noticed everything. A tiny scrape of a shoe, the faintest rustle, even a cough at the wrong moment could put them on guard at once.

And so, the clever way was to show yourself openly while doing the real killing in secret.

Hidden inside the bamboo basket was a colorless and shapeless snake spirit. Basically, it was invisible. It slithered toward the building without making the slightest sound. Then, it opened its mouth and started releasing poison.

Several of the support hooks guarding the area around the building suddenly went blank-eyed. The poison had already taken hold of them. Yet from the outside, nothing seemed unusual at all. They continued patrolling around the building just as before, pacing back and forth.

The snake spirit slithered quietly into the building and spat out more poison as it went.

Xu Huairong sat on the ground drenched in cold sweat. It took him more than ten minutes to empty every last trace of poisonous mist from the snake spirit. By the end of it, he looked half-dead himself, completely drained of strength.

Inside the film company, every single person became strange. Their eyes turned dull and empty, yet not one of them stopped what they were doing.

The accountant still sat there "doing accounts," flicking the abacus beads about with complete nonsense, clickety-clack, clickety-clack.

The screenwriter continued revising the script, except his pen was now wandering wildly across the pages, scratching loops and crooked lines.

As for the stagehands, they kept repairing the scenery with tremendous enthusiasm and absolutely no sense whatsoever. One fellow hammered the same plank over and over again, banging away so hard and so aimlessly.

Ling Miaoying was still discussing the script with the award-winning actress. There were fewer changes to the plot now, but the story had kept its depth nicely intact.

The Poison Cultivator Xu Huairong nodded toward Lu Maoxian, signaling that the job was done.Lu Maoxian pressed his hand downward, signaling for him to call the poisonous mist back.

Xu Huairong tapped the ash from his pipe bowl a few times and sat there quietly for a moment. Then he hoisted the bamboo basket onto his back and walked away from the building.

He summoned the snake spirit back, along with all the poisonous mist it had released.

To be safe, Lu Maoxian waited a few more minutes before he had his men head upstairs. He had no intention of entering the building himself. There was no telling what traps or tricks might be hidden inside, and Lu Maoxian never took unnecessary risks.

Lin Zhixiao, a level-six Martial Cultivator, led more than a dozen men into the film company and ignored everyone else as they headed straight for the top floor of the building.

When they pushed open Ling Miaoying's bedroom door, the award-winning actress Tu Yinghong stood in front while Ling Miaoying stood behind her. Their expressions were blank and lifeless, yet they continued chatting away as though they were still deep in discussion.

Lin Zhixiao whipped out his short saber and sprang forward so suddenly it was like a jack-in-the-box exploding open.

Swish!

Off flew Ling Miaoying's head.

For one moment, the body remained standing there as though nothing at all had happened. Then blood came spurting out of the neck in great splashing bursts, spraying Tu Yinghong from head to toe.

Tu Yinghong did not seem to notice in the slightest. She simply kept swaying gently back and forth, as calm and dreamy as ever.

Lin Zhixiao let out a delighted cackle. "Old Xu's poison really is powerful!"

The instant Lin Zhixiao finished speaking, he swung his saber again and chopped down Tu Yinghong.

The men brandished their weapons and stormed through the building, slaughtering everyone they came across from the top floor all the way down to the ground floor.

After killing the accountant who had been working on the books, Lin Zhixiao discovered another hidden door tucked away inside the room. He pushed it open and found several more people inside, their eyes dull and vacant as they continued counting money.

A vault! Lin Zhixiao exclaimed inwardly.

Naturally, he killed them too. Then, just when he thought he was finished, he discovered another hidden door inside the vault itself.

This film building seemed to have a lot of rooms.

***

Lu Maoxian waited quietly downstairs for news from inside the building.

Then one of the support hooks whispered, "Grand Old Master... I think I hear something."

Faint screams and the sounds of killing began echoing down from above.

Lu Maoxian froze for a moment. He had heard it too.

Lin Zhixiao was a well-known assassin. Normally, a man like him should have been able to kill an entire floor of people without making this much noise.

Lu Maoxian glanced around uneasily. It was already late, and there were barely any pedestrians left on the streets, but if someone happened to notice what was going on inside the building, everything could still fall apart.

A rickshaw puller trotted past without so much as turning his head, as though he had heard nothing at all.

Nearby, a beggar crouched beside a pile of trash, digging through rotten scraps for food. He too seemed completely oblivious to the noise.

How many people could there possibly be in that building? Lu Maoxian muttered inwardly with a frown. They have already all been poisoned. With a level-six Martial Cultivator leading so many men, what's taking him so long?

All he could do now was wait for Lin Zhixiao to finish the job quickly.

"What the hell is that kid doing?" Lu Maoxian muttered as he looked around uneasily.

One of the support hooks said, "He's on the third floor. I can see him."

You can see him?

Lu Maoxian quickly looked toward the film building, and sure enough, he saw Lin Zhixiao too. He was on the third floor, slaughtering several stagehands who had been working on the set.

The entire film building had turned transparent!

The building is fake? Oh no! We have been tricked!

Just as Lu Maoxian turned to leave, Ling Miaoying's voice suddenly rang out beside his ear.

"Grand Old Master, where are you going? The movie is not over yet, and you are already leaving?"

Ling Miaoying suddenly appeared in front of him, with the award-winning actress Tu Yinghong standing at his side.

Lu Maoxian nodded and praised him. "Boss Ling, your skills truly are impressive. To think you could create a fake building this large!"

Ling Miaoying shook his head. "This isn't fake. It's real. Your men are inside killing people right now, and there are endless people in that building for them to kill. Why don't you ask Lin Zhixiao whether the people inside are real?

"They can talk. They can walk. A blade cuts their skin and they bleed just like anyone else. Even your poison worked on them. So tell me, Grand Old Master, can you really say they aren't real people?"

Lu Maoxian didn't know what to say. Even at his age, he had never seen such a method before.

Ling Miaoying gave Tu Yinghong's butt a playful pat, then pointed toward the "Ling Miaoying" and "Tu Yinghong" inside the building.

"Look! They are alive again. Their heads have already grown back, and now they have started doing it again. They are completely immersed in the performance. Doesn't it look real enough to you?"

Tu Yinghong shook her head. "I don't think it feels real enough yet. They still aren't completely absorbed in the act. Let me show you what it really means to be fully immersed in a role."

Ling Miaoying pinched Tu Yinghong's cheek. Seizing the moment, Lu Maoxian suddenly tried to activate an ability, but a feathered arrow instantly pierced through his left cheek and burst out the other side of his face.

Lu Maoxian spat out a mouthful of blood and pulled a writing brush from his robe, preparing to write something.

A short saber suddenly came slashing down from above and chopped off Lu Maoxian's forearm at the elbow.

Lu Maoxian endured the intense pain and staggered back several steps. Some of the support hooks hurried to shield him, while the others charged at Ling Miaoying with their lives on the line.

The support hooks who charged at Ling Miaoying could touch neither him nor Tu Yinghong. The two of them were merely illusions.

Ling Miaoying calmly looked at Lu Maoxian and said, "Ever since the fire at the company burned my film reels, I started pouring money into preparations for this day. Grand Old Master Lu, let me ask you something. Were you the one who came here to set the fire before?"

Lu Maoxian shook his head.

"Still refusing to admit it?" Ling Miaoying sneered. "I am about to film a new movie, but I am afraid you won't live long enough to see it."

Author's Note:

PS: He Jiaqing told Ling Miaoying to spare Lu Maoxian’s life, but Ling Miaoying has no intention of letting him leave alive.

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