Du Yufeng wailed even louder, his voice cracking with practiced grief.
"I raised her with my own hands, worked myself to the bone for her sake, spent all my wealth, time, and effort on her future… yet she repaid me by disgracing our family!"
He clasped his fists and bowed deeply toward the surrounding cultivators, his eyes reddened as if on the verge of tears.
"Please, fellow Daoists, I beg you to spread the truth of her misdeeds. Even if Moon City's Yamen chooses to show mercy, I, as her father, will personally see justice carried out!"
The performance was flawless… every word carefully chosen to paint himself as a tragic, wronged parent. In the crowd, murmurs rose and fell, some shaking their heads in sympathy, some mocking for the performance, others whispering excitedly.
Yet most cultivators didn't truly care who was right or wrong. To them, this was nothing more than a spectacle… an entertaining drama to watch while waiting for the bounty promised by Lu Tang. Sympathy was cheap, and truth even cheaper, but spirit stones were very real.
No one paid any attention to the tanned, scar-faced young man with an axe strapped to his back. He stood quietly at the edge of the crowd, arms crossed, watching everything unfold with cold, indifferent eyes. A faint, unsettling smile slowly crept onto his lips, one that clearly didn't belong on the face of an ordinary rogue cultivator.
'I could kill him right here and save everyone the trouble,' Su Wen thought lazily. 'One strike. Clean and simple.'
His gaze drifted back to Du Yufeng, who was still busy pounding his chest and playing the role of a grieving father.
'But that would be too easy… and too meaningless.'
Su Wen's expression remained calm, his thoughts steady and deliberate.
'Giving him to my wife would be better. Let her deal with it herself.'
His eyes darkened slightly.
'Her Dao heart is still weak. If this knot isn't untied properly, it could become a Heart Demon during her Heavenly Tribulation. Best case, she suffers qi deviation. Worst case… death, or being crippled.'
He exhaled softly.
'If she ends it with her own hands… cuts the past clean… then maybe she can pass her heart tribulation without fear.'
With that decided, Su Wen casually sat down on the stone steps nearby and took out a bottle of wine, blending seamlessly into the scene. To anyone else, he was just another rogue cultivator enjoying gossip and free drama. He drank slowly, eyes half-lidded, as if genuinely savouring the performance.
After nearly half an hour of exaggerated crying, finger-pointing, and moral preaching, Du Yufeng's voice finally grew hoarse. He wiped his face dramatically and straightened his robes… then suddenly paused.
As if sensing something, he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a jade slip. After scanning it, his expression tightened, caution flashing through his eyes.
Without another word to the crowd, Du Yufeng turned and walked into the inn.
Su Wen stood up unhurriedly, took one last sip of wine, and followed after him, his steps light, his presence completely unnoticed.
Du Yufeng frowned as he climbed the steps to the first floor of the inn, his brows knitting tighter with every step.
"Why is Young Master Lu Tang increasing the bounty again…?" he muttered under his breath, irritation and unease mixing in his tone. "Wasn't it already enough to draw every mad dog in the Eastern Continent…"
He brushed aside the curtain leading to the upper floor, and the noisy clamour outside instantly faded away. The corridor was quiet, lined with dark wooden planks and illuminated by dim spirit lamps that cast long, wavering shadows along the walls. His footsteps echoed faintly as he walked forward, his mind still tangled in calculations… how to appease Lu Tang, how to shift blame, how to keep Moon City's reputation from collapsing further.
Completely unaware, someone else had also entered the corridor behind him.
Using Celestial Void Steps, Su Wen merged with the surrounding space itself. With his Grade 2 Space Intent, his presence thinned until it was almost non-existent, like a ripple swallowed by still water. No sound, no spiritual fluctuation… he moved by the void as naturally as walking on the ground.
Du Yufeng stopped in front of a room and pushed open the door, his guard lowered, his thoughts far away.
Then, Tap... Tap... Tap...
Clear, deliberate footsteps echoed down the corridor.
Du Yufeng's body stiffened instantly. His hand paused mid-air, then slowly withdrew from the door. He turned around, eyes narrowing as his spiritual sense spread outward.
A tanned, scar-faced young man walked toward him unhurriedly, an axe slung across his back. His posture was relaxed, almost lazy, yet something about him felt… off.
"Du Yufeng…?" the man called out calmly, his voice steady and unhurried as he closed the distance step by step.
Du Yufeng frowned and swept him with his spiritual sense again, more carefully this time.
Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment. The tension in his shoulders eased slightly.
"Who are you?" Du Yufeng asked, his tone rough, tinged more with annoyance than caution. His gaze flicked briefly to the axe before dismissing it. "If you're here for the bounty, go back downstairs. I'm busy."
Su Wen didn't stop.
His footsteps continued to echo through the corridor, each one measured, unhurried, and deliberate… closing the distance as his cold, indifferent gaze remained fixed on Du Yufeng.
"I am Jiang Li from the Great Eastern Sect," Su Wen spoke in an arrogant manner and took out a fancy pendant that looked a little expensive but had no relation to the Great Eastern Sect; it was just a bluff. The pendant glinted faintly under the spirit lamps, its craftsmanship decent enough to intimidate outsiders, even though it carried no sect aura at all.
Du Yufeng was stunned. His pupils shrank for a brief moment before his expression shifted. Of course, he knew about the top sect in the Eastern Continent.
The Great Eastern Sect was an existence no one in this region could afford to offend. Just recently, even the Town Lord of Moon City had been forced to give a formal explanation to their emissaries. Compared to that, Du Yufeng himself was nothing more than a small fry.
"Sir, how can I help you?" Du Yufeng immediately adopted a respectful attitude, his posture straightening as he cupped his fists.
In his haste to curry favour, he completely forgot to stay cautious. He didn't even mind that a mere Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator was speaking to him in such an arrogant tone… after all, disciples of great sects were famous for bullying people several realms above them without consequences.