Huang Qiuyuan?
Lu Sheng did not recognize the name. The people he knew were mostly from the sects in Mountain-Edge City—and judging by these men’s attire, they clearly weren’t locals.
“Were you invited by Squire Xiao as well?” Lu Sheng asked casually.
“Yes, we’re all here to meet Squire Xiao,” they replied with respectful bows. Crimson Whale Sect was the dominant force of the Northern Lands. Even if their own sects held some influence in their respective territories, they were insignificant before the Crimson Whale Sect. Respect came naturally.
Receiving the confirmation he wanted, Lu Sheng simply nodded. “I’ll take my leave first.”
“Please, Sect Master, as you wish,” they replied, bowing again.
Lu Sheng stepped outside—only to find Xiao Hongye waiting at the entrance.
“I seek your understanding, Brother Lu. This was my senior’s order. The matter is of grave importance…” Xiao Hongye said with an apologetic smile, cupping his fists.
“Think nothing of it, Brother Xiao. Since your senior came all the way to Mountain-Edge City, the least I could do was pay a visit.” Lu Sheng returned a polite, distant smile. His relationship with Xiao Hongye was purely business; there was no need for excessive warmth.
“I was startled myself when Manor Lord Ye arrived without warning,” Xiao Hongye continued helplessly. “The fire from that place alone was alarming enough. Now that person has returned… and Manor Lord Ye has come personally. I fear the Northern Lands may fall into chaos again, so soon after a brief peace.”
“That person?” Lu Sheng lifted a brow. His newly grown brows were still faint, giving his expression a naturally fierce, predatory look.
“Who else but the District Mistress of Scarlet District?” Xiao Hongye said—perhaps intentionally mentioning her. “She kills without blinking. Returning to find her old home overturned, she flew into a rage. Many were captured, and even my Manor Lord must assist her in the investigation. What an eventful season indeed…”
“Scarlet District Mistress is back?” Lu Sheng let a trace of unease flicker across his face. Once, he had served under the Zhen Family—mortal enemies of Scarlet District. If the Mistress chose to vent her fury on the Crimson Whale Sect, the consequences would be dire.
Remaining completely unfazed would have been suspicious, so this reaction was appropriate.
“Sect Master should inform Young Miss Jiuli as soon as possible,” Xiao Hongye advised.
Lu Sheng nodded in acknowledgment. “Thank you for the warning, Brother Xiao. Farewell.”
He boarded the carriage with Xu Chui and departed swiftly, vanishing into the night.
Xiao Hongye watched the carriage disappear before turning back toward the main hall. The middle-aged men from earlier were now exiting, pale and drenched in cold sweat. They bowed hastily to him before retreating.
Only after they were gone did Xiao Hongye re-enter the hall.
“Manor Lord.” He bowed toward the man standing with his back to him. “Regarding the Scarlet District Mistress’ return, I’ve already reported it to the Shangyang Family.”
“Mm. Well done.” Ye Moling turned slowly. “Shangyang Jiuli is the second prodigy of the Shangyang Family. And now she’s in solitary confinement… I suspect she’s about to break through the Seven-Vein Level and step into Snake Realm. Once a genius of her caliber steps into Snake Realm, the Shangyang Family will have another contender for Family Head.”
“Yes, sir.” Xiao Hongye nodded. “If that happens, the family will surely focus more attention on her. And with her explosive temper… combined with Scarlet District Mistress’ fearlessness…” He trailed off, not daring to finish.
“I know what you mean.” Ye Moling smirked faintly. “Let’s wait and see.”
…………
Back in the Crimson Whale Sect, Lu Sheng brought the umbrella girl directly into his secluded cultivation chamber.
He circled her several times, examining her from head to toe as though deliberating something important.
The umbrella girl stood frozen in terror, her small frame trembling.
Time passed in heavy silence.
At last, Lu Sheng spoke.
“Your sister has returned…”
The umbrella girl stiffened—then her eyes widened with sudden joy. She clutched her red umbrella tightly.
“Re… really?”
“Do you want to go back?” Lu Sheng asked with a gentle smile.
She hesitated. She didn’t know what he was planning—but based on everything he had done so far, there was no way he intended to simply let her go.
“Your sister is in danger, and so am I. Her enemy is the same one I’m hunting. So I’m willing to release you… with conditions.” Lu Sheng’s smile deepened, his words deliberately vague.
“What conditions?” In her excitement, she momentarily stopped stammering.
“When the time is right, I’ll let you go. But I won’t remove what I placed inside you. As long as you don’t speak about me or expose me to your sister, it won’t activate,” Lu Sheng said casually. “All I need is this: stay by the Scarlet District Mistress’ side… and help me cover up the fact that I destroyed Scarlet District.”
The umbrella girl fell silent.
Over the past few days, she had realized the horrifying truth—The strange “seed” inside her had fully assimilated with her soul body. To remove it, she would need to cut away ninety percent of her essence. Doing so would mean absolute annihilation.
She did not want to die. But she did not want to betray her sister either.
“I… won’t… betray sis… even if I die.” Her eyes hardened with desperate resolve.
“I won’t do anything to harm your sister. I don’t have the power to, even if I wanted to,” Lu Sheng replied calmly, smiling. “All I want is self-preservation. A quiet, simple, ordinary life. Surely you won’t begrudge me such a small request?”
The umbrella girl fell deep into thought. She had tried everything—every method she could imagine—to expel the thing inside her. All had failed.
If Noblemen derived power from awakening the hidden potential within their bodies, then ghosts and Anomalies grew by feeding—on fear, on essence blood, on the terror of the living.
Because of this, ghosts and Anomalies possessed extraordinary control over their own forms, no less than Noblemen.
As the Deputy District Mistress of Scarlet District, the umbrella girl had exceptional mastery over the manipulation of her soul body. Yet even she had been unable to expel the foreign thing inside her.
That was why she knew, with sinking certainty, that even her sister would not be able to remove it. For all the Scarlet District Mistress’s overwhelming strength, her power was too vast—too unrefined—to be controlled with the precision necessary for such delicate work. She rarely attacked casually; once she unleashed her strength, even she struggled to fully restrain it.
In terms of fine control, the umbrella girl far surpassed her.
Thus, until she could be certain her sister could handle the strange web within her, she dared not say a word about it.
The umbrella girl lifted her head and stared at Lu Sheng.
“You really… promise… to let me go?”
“I have no need to lie to you,” Lu Sheng replied evenly.
She knew too much of his secrets—his killing of Ashoka Manor’s Officiator, his destruction of Scarlet District. There was no way he could simply allow her to roam free.
But Lu Sheng had his own plans, and every word he said was chosen with purpose.
“Of course, I don’t mean right now,” he added. He needed time—to allow the Yin–Yang transformation in his body to complete.
Whether or not he ever intended to release her was another question entirely. Even she found the idea difficult to believe.
In these past few days, Lu Sheng had thoroughly mastered the abilities of the Yin Crane Web: It could manipulate Yin souls. Assimilate them entirely. Transform them into extensions of his Aquarius Qi. The umbrella girl—and the ghosts he had captured for experimentation—were living proof.
“Think about it. We have no life-and-death feud with Scarlet District, so there’s no need for us to clash with your District Mistress,” Lu Sheng said evenly. “Better to make friends than enemies. All I did was destroy some buildings and a few wandering ghosts. At worst, I’ll compensate you and rebuild what was lost. And I’m sure you don’t want your sister making an enemy out of my Shangyang Family, do you?”
The umbrella girl hesitated… then slowly nodded.
“But…”
“No buts.” Lu Sheng stepped behind her, the corners of his mouth curling into a faint grin. “As long as you don’t act against my interests, I won’t activate the thing inside your body. We’ll continue living peacefully. Isn’t that nice?”
He continued, voice gentle but razor-sharp beneath the softness.
“Think about it. You only want what’s best for your sister. If she kills me because of you… well, you can imagine my standing within my family. If that happens, all of you would become enemies of the Shangyang Family. Do you think your sister alone can stand against one of the nine great Noble Families of the Central Plains?”
Lu Sheng shamelessly wielded the weight of his supposed “backing.”
The poor umbrella girl had no idea that, in the eyes of the true Shangyang Family, Lu Sheng was nothing more than an ant—an unremarkable martial artist with no real status to his name.
“So, if you truly seek what’s best for your sister, you should help me cover this matter up. I can even return the items I took,” Lu Sheng added lightly. “As long as you help me keep this quiet, everything will turn out fine for all of us. The Shangyang Family might be powerful, but I only have one life. I’ve no reason to push you to the edge.”
“But I… how should I say it…” The umbrella girl wavered. His words struck hard—brutally logical and painfully convincing.
If she truly returned and told her sister the truth, the best possible outcome would be this: the Scarlet District Mistress, enraged, would kill Lu Sheng on the spot—only to be hunted down by the Shangyang Family afterward, forced into exile with no home to return to.
After all, a Three-Vein expert was considered elite within any Noble Family. To kill such a figure was to declare war. Even if the Shangyang Family didn’t care about Lu Sheng personally, they could not tolerate the insult. To defend their prestige and absolute authority, they would never let her sister escape unscathed.
And even if she revealed that Lu Sheng had destroyed Scarlet District and killed Ashoka Manor’s Officiator, what punishment would he realistically face? At most a trivial reprimand.
Ashoka Manor and Scarlet District were nothing compared to one of the nine great Noble Families of the Central Plains.
After a long, agonizing silence, the umbrella girl finally whispered,
“I… promise you…”
“That’s a good girl.” Lu Sheng smiled in satisfaction. If she went back on her word, he could kill her with a single thought.
The power of the Yin Crane Web far surpassed his expectations. Once Aquarius Qi took root in a soul body, he gained complete control—perfect precision, perfect manipulation.
It felt almost like programming.
In his previous life, he had been a coding expert, capable of modding his own games with ease. Ever since returning to the sect, he had been studying this ability intensely.
Once he grasped the principles behind Yin Crane Web, he learned how to use it not only to control ghosts, but also to refine his own mastery over his body and strength.
Even the umbrella girl—an Anomaly—was subject to it. And that was the foundation upon which all his future plans would be built.
…………
Amid the ruins of Scarlet District, the Scarlet District Mistress stood before a shattered wall, arms crossed. All around her, massive slabs of stone and broken tiles floated slowly into the air, rearranging themselves under her command to form a brand-new perimeter wall.
In broad daylight, she directed the wandering ghosts she had captured—new, trembling servants—to rebuild the headquarters from the ground up.
Just as she was immersed in the reconstruction, she suddenly turned. Her sharp gaze locked onto a slender figure approaching from the distance.
The sky was heavy with clouds, yet the sight of that lone silhouette softened the expression on her otherwise cold and savage face.
“Yingying… I’m glad you’re alright…”
She stepped forward and embraced the umbrella girl tightly.
The umbrella girl trembled with joy—her long-awaited reunion finally here. But as she leaned into her sister’s embrace, the memory of her pact with Lu Sheng surfaced.
And a quiet shadow crossed her heart.
----7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiKIiiiCF9
[Editor’s Note:] If you'd like to support the series and unlock more chapters, visit Patreon for early access and exclusive content.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZEu7x76IX
https://www.patreon.com/taleriareads7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkIo2kLC7K
and then Add to home screen.