The area around the Crown Prince’s palace was strangely deserted, which offered Xiao Yifeng a convenient opportunity.
He touched down silently beside the main hall. With a thought, he conjured a layer of water mist to shroud his body. From a distance, he was invisible, a blur in the air that would only be detected if someone walked right into him.
He focused his hearing.
Inside, the sounds were unmistakable—the heavy, animalistic panting of a man and the pained, muffled gasps of a woman.
Debauchery in broad daylight, Xiao Yifeng thought with disgust.
Who was this Crown Prince favoring that required such secrecy? It had to be someone who couldn't be seen in the light.
His mind raced back to the previous night. The Crown Prince had led the search teams. The probability of Yuge falling into his hands was extremely high.
Is he... is he violating Yuge right now?
The thought that his late arrival might have condemned Yuge to such humiliation ignited a fury in Xiao Yifeng’s chest. His Killing Intent spiked.
Bang!
He shattered the window latch with a burst of Qi and dropped into the room like a hawk.
The scene inside was grotesque.
Crown Prince Dai Yun was completely naked. He had a woman’s jade-like legs draped over his shoulders and was thrusting away with beastly diligence, his head buried in her chest. He was so absorbed in his lust that he didn't even notice Xiao Yifeng’s entrance.
"This Prince made you act so high and mighty before!" Dai Yun shouted, his voice thick with dominance. "But look at you now! Aren't you just a bitch beneath my hips?"
One of his hands was clamped tightly over the woman's mouth.
The woman seemed terrified. She tried to speak, but with her mouth covered, she could only emit muffled whimmers, enticing gasps leaking from the corners of her lips.
Rage exploded in Xiao Yifeng’s heart.
He flashed forward, a blur of motion. Instantly, he appeared behind the bed.
His hand shot out like a viper, clamping onto the back of Dai Yun’s neck.
"Gack—!"
Dai Yun let out a squawk like a dying chicken. Xiao Yifeng ripped him off the woman and hurled him backward.
Thud!
The Crown Prince crashed heavily onto the floor, skidding across the expensive carpets.
Xiao Yifeng turned to the bed, his voice trembling with concern. "Yuge, are you okay? I—"
He froze.
"What the... You?"
Xiao Yifeng cursed, the corner of his mouth twitching uncontrollably. "Damn it!"
Now that the Crown Prince had been flung away, the woman on the bed was fully revealed. She lay there, stark naked, her figure curvaceous and jade-white, legs still spread wide in invitation.
But it wasn't Yuge.
Her face was flushed with arousal, her eyes silky and seductive as she stared up at Xiao Yifeng. She didn't scream. She didn't cover herself. Instead, she let out a foolish, delighted giggle.
"I didn't expect it to be Young Immortal Master Xiao," she purred. "Could it be that the Young Master also wants to join Yaoyao for a journey to Mount Wu?"
As she spoke, she hooked her long, flawless legs toward Xiao Yifeng, completely unconcerned that her 'spring scenery' was fully exposed to his eyes.
It was Consort Lin. The Emperor's favorite concubine.
Xiao Yifeng didn't dare let those legs touch him. He leaped backward instantly, landing beside the groaning Crown Prince. He reached down and seized Dai Yun by the throat as the Prince tried to scramble to his feet.
Xiao Yifeng stared coldly at the enchantress as she lazily sat up on the bed.
"Young Master Xiao," Consort Lin stretched her arms, her chest heaving with the motion. She looked at him with feigned shyness. "Do I look good? You're staring at me without blinking... You’re making this servant girl embarrassed!"
Xiao Yifeng remained expressionless. He simply looked her over coldly, without the slightest hint of embarrassment.
"Good-looking? Sure," he sneered. "Pity you're a bit thin. And small."
He tightened his grip on the Prince’s throat. "I didn't expect to find Consort Lin here. You two certainly play wild games."
Xiao Yifeng was left speechless. This was the woman who had escaped the Imperial Palace only yesterday, yet she was already having an affair with the crown prince.
Xiao Yifeng looked down at the pale, trembling Crown Prince.
"Your Highness," he mocked. "You really have guts. Daring to play with your father's woman? I wonder what the Emperor would think if he knew? Is this what they call 'different roads leading to the same destination'?"
"Kid!" Dai Yun gasped, clawing at Xiao Yifeng’s iron grip. "Why are you... cough... like a ghost? You're everywhere! If you know what's good for you, let me go! Otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?"
Xiao Yifeng smiled cruelly. He channeled a surge of biting Frost Qi into Dai Yun’s meridians.
"Argh!" Dai Yun convulsed, his skin turning blue as he shivered violently.
"What can you do to me?" Xiao Yifeng asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "I ask you once: Where is Yuge?"
A flash of panic flickered in Dai Yun’s eyes. He shook his head frantically. "I... I don't know!"
"Still stubborn?"
Xiao Yifeng switched his Qi flow. He retracted the frost and injected a stream of scorching Heat Qi.
"AAAAHHH!"
Dai Yun screamed as his blood felt like it was boiling. He was thrown into a hell of alternating fire and ice, a pain that made death seem like a mercy.
Outside the palace, the guards heard the screams but didn't dare move. Some even exchanged knowing grins.
"His Highness is certainly enjoying himself today," one whispered after hearing the cries from within.
Inside the room, Consort Lin watched the torture with interest.
"Immortal Master Xiao," she said, her voice dripping with honey. "Can you still call yourself a member of the Righteous Path? Staring at a naked woman without shame, torturing a mortal... tsk tsk."
"Whether I am Righteous or not isn't for you to decide," Xiao Yifeng replied flatly. "And you don't need to worry about my methods. Besides, if Consort Lin insists on sitting there naked to let me feast my eyes, who am I to refuse?"
He squeezed Dai Yun’s neck harder, cutting off the scream.
"I assume this piece of trash is still useful to you," Xiao Yifeng said to her, "otherwise you wouldn't be sitting there so calmly, afraid to act. Speak. Where are Yuge and the others?"
"If I told you Yuge isn't in our hands at all," Consort Lin tilted her head, "would you believe me?"
"Of course not," Xiao Yifeng laughed. "Don't believe me? Ask him."
He gave Dai Yun another jolt of thermal shock.
"She's... She's here!" Dai Yun broke instantly, tears and snot running down his face. "She's locked in the underground secret room! Inside this house! Let me go! I can't take it anymore! Spare me!"
Xiao Yifeng’s torture technique was indeed not something a Righteous Cultivator would typically use. It was a Demonic Sect interrogation art he had learned in the Starry Sky Sacred Hall during his past life. It was designed to make a man wish for death.
Xiao Yifeng pinched Dai Yun’s jaw, forcing his mouth open, and flicked a small black pill down his throat.
"Cough! Cough! What... what did you feed me?"
"A poison," Xiao Yifeng lied smoothly. "Without my antidote, your intestines will rot and you will die in agony within seven days. Now, lead the way."
"Immortal Master Xiao," Consort Lin hissed, her playful demeanor cracking. "How are you any different from the demons of the Evil Sects?"
"I hate trouble," Xiao Yifeng shrugged. "Efficiency is all that matters."
He grabbed a robe from the floor with a wave of Qi and tossed it onto Dai Yun’s shivering, naked form.
"Cover yourself up, Your Highness," Xiao Yifeng sneered. "Your little earthworm is offensive to the eyes. It’s far too small."
"Pfft." Consort Lin covered her mouth and giggled, her eyes darting to Xiao Yifeng’s lower body with a suggestive gleam.
Xiao Yifeng rolled his eyes. "Don't look, Consort Lin. That is something you can't have. You are better suited for someone like Crown Prince Dai Yun."
He paused, then added a final strike. "Though I do wonder... is there any point in using a chopstick to stir a water vat?"
"You!!"
Dai Yun’s face turned purple. To have his manhood insulted in front of his lover—his humiliation was absolute. He trembled with rage.
But the trembling stopped abruptly when the tip of the Falling Rainbow sword hovered inches from his forehead.
"Lead. The. Way."
Defeated, Crown Prince Dai Yun shuffled towards a large porcelain vase in the corner of the room. He gripped the neck of the vase and twisted it gently.
Click. Rumble.
A bookshelf on the far wall slowly slid aside, revealing a dark, damp passage leading underground.
"Ladies first," Xiao Yifeng gestured with his chin, but kept the sword locked on Dai Yun.
The Crown Prince had no choice but to descend into the darkness first, the bone-chilling cold of the flying sword pressing against the back of his neck.
Xiao Yifeng followed.
Consort Lin didn't stay behind. She casually grabbed a sheer, translucent gauze robe and draped it over her shoulders. It did nothing to hide her body; the half-concealed, half-revealed look only made her more dangerously alluring.
She followed them into the tunnel.
Her cultivation was only at the early Foundation Establishment stage. Xiao Yifeng wasn't worried about her trying anything, so he let her tag along.
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