Yang Dechang kept his comments brief, only continuing to drink with Huo Qi. He complained about others being “sycophantic” and “the deterioration of human morality” until late into the night before excusing himself.

Huo Qi remained seated, lost in thought.

Yang Dechang’s departure wasn’t for sleep; he directly sent a message to Lu Xingzhou and then secretly monitored Huo Zhang.

If Huo Qi was indeed responsible for killing Huo Lu, and considering his ruthlessness in killing Huo Shang years ago, it was easy to guess what the provoked Huo Qi, fueled by alcohol, might be thinking.

The question was whether he would act impulsively tonight or plan something over time.

A smart person would plan for a while, as acting tonight would be too obvious. But who knew?

Tonight, Huo Zhang was also drinking heavily. He spent the night at a gambling house with a group of dissolute friends, got lucky and won a bit, then continued to drink boisterously until nearly dawn. Drunkenly stumbling, he entered a brothel with a few guards.

Due to the earlier Huo Yu incident, Huo Liancheng had eliminated the “shadow” security detail for Huo family members. Now, Huo family members only had overt guards, not shadows.

At this moment, even the guards were each embracing a woman and had entered their respective rooms.

How could Huo Zhang have imagined an assassination attempt in the capital? He had no sense of risk prevention, much like the little demoness who abused the Teleportation Secret Art. The little demoness was immediately captured and “stacked,” and the unprepared Huo Zhang was about to face the consequences.

When Huo Zhang entered the brothel, Lu Xingzhou had already finished his “stacking” activities. He was embracing his two wives, one on each side, feeling sleepy as he turned off the lights and prepared for bed.

Even with the lights off, the women in his arms had night vision like day. Their gazes met, still seeing the lingering passion on each other’s faces, and both pouted. Although still a bit annoyed, any shyness had disappeared; they had given up.

After all, they had been “stacked” in various positions—front, on their backs, kneeling side-by-side—and their moans had echoed one after another. Now, they were almost as familiar with each other’s bodies as they were with Lu Xingzhou’s. They had seen each other in the most unseemly states, so there was truly nothing left to be ashamed of.

The little demoness had little shame, and the “Melon Girl” (Gua Mei) was also straightforward. Once done, she didn’t dwell on it. Now, the two felt a strange camaraderie, as if they were the best of friends, and even found each other pleasing to look at. This was truly miraculous, considering they used to clash whenever they met.

So, was the best solution to “backyard” problems simply to “just go for it”?

Besides, one person truly couldn’t handle his furious vigor; even two women together felt a bit overwhelmed. Sheng Yuanyao silently mouthed: “Judging by your usual fiery demeanor, I thought you were incredibly capable, but you’re not even half as good as me.”

Pei Chuyun felt humiliated, allowing this “Guagua” to gloat.

“What do we do now? Neither of us could rein him in. Do we need three people next time?” Sheng Yuanyao wasn’t triumphant; in fact, she was quite annoyed.

Pei Chuyun silently said: “I will work harder…”

Sheng Yuanyao: “…”

Was there something odd about declaring one’s “effort” for such matters?

Lu Xingzhou actually knew what his wives were whispering about. His heart felt soft, overflowing with a sense of accomplishment and happiness.

Pei Chuyun was saying, “Hey, are we really staying here tonight? Don’t we need to go back? Won’t your Old Sheng kill you tomorrow?”

Sheng Yuanyao lazily replied, “I’m exhausted, too tired to move. I don’t care.”

“How about we coordinate our stories and say we went somewhere together…”

“Give up. You don’t know how sharp Old Sheng’s eyes are, someone who’s solved cases his whole life. What kind of false testimony could fool him?”

Pei Chuyun sighed. Indeed, Old Pei, though he didn’t solve cases, was clear about everything, he just pretended to be confused.

Lu Xingzhou spoke at this moment: “If they want to hit anyone, they should hit me. You’re both married to me now; they can’t control you anymore, can they?”

A sudden pain simultaneously struck both his sides, and the two women gnashed their teeth: “Are you very proud of yourself?!”

“Damn…” Lu Xingzhou tensed his body: “You two have been holding that in for a long time, haven’t you?”

Amidst their playful banter, Yang Dechang’s message arrived.

“?” Lu Xingzhou wordlessly sat up, unfolded the paper crane carrying Yang Dechang’s secret message, and chuckled: “This Huo Zhang is practically saying, ‘Come kill me!’ What an enticing target. Could Huo Qi really act tonight?”

Even their post-coital rest wasn’t peaceful. The two women sat up, holding their blankets, a hint of resentment in their eyes: “What’s wrong?”

“Old Yang sent a message saying he saw assassins around Huo Zhang,” Lu Xingzhou said with a smile. “Don’t we have a good excuse now to avoid being scolded by Old Pei and Old Sheng? We’re not even home tonight.”

Sheng Yuanyao’s “melon-eating” eyes lit up: “What do we do?”

“Let’s go, first report it to the Zhenmo Si, or should we report directly to Chief Sheng?”

Sheng Yuanyao: “…”

Yihong Lou.

Heavy snow fell, and dawn was very late.

At this hour, usually a glimmer of light would appear, but today it was still dark, the time when people were in their deepest sleep.

Huo Zhang had just reached the climax with the courtesan, and as he convulsed, a sword light silently pierced through the window, striking his neck.

Huo Zhang, after all, was a Grade Three cultivator who had experienced battles. At the moment the sword light reached him, he instinctively reacted, twisting his body sharply.

With a scream, half of Huo Zhang’s neck was severed, blood instantly staining the courtesan beneath him. That twist meant his bones weren’t completely severed, still connected to his body, but it was useless. He was left with only half a breath, collapsing into unconsciousness and near death.

“Murder!” The courtesan’s scream echoed through Yihong Lou, instantly plunging it into chaos as lights flickered on everywhere.

A figure flew away from the back. Before he could get far, shadowy figures appeared all around. Numerous Zhenmo Si formidable warriors pursued from a distance, the fastest among them being Sheng Qingfeng, the Chief of the Zhenmo Si and a Grade One grandmaster.

The assassin was stunned.

Although this wasn’t an ambush, the Zhenmo Si seemed to have just arrived from a distance, but how could they be so fast? Sheng Qingfeng, weren’t you supposed to be sleeping with your wife on this holiday? Were you holding an all-night meeting at the yamen?

Indeed, Sheng Qingfeng had just been called out of bed by his beloved daughter, who reported a case.

Sheng Qingfeng knew that no matter how unruly his daughter was, she wouldn’t report a false case. He could only crawl out of his wife’s bed, gathering some trusted subordinates and heading straight for Yihong Lou.

Halfway there, he heard the commotion. Sheng Qingfeng’s Grade One divine sense covered the area, instantly locking onto a suspicious figure. The Zhenmo Si pursued without a word.

Meanwhile, Lu Xingzhou quickly entered the room. Bishui Dichen first stopped Huo Zhang’s bleeding and provided treatment, then swiftly fed him a pill.

Unfortunately, Huo Zhang could no longer swallow.

Lu Xingzhou frowned slightly, continuing to apply healing spells to him. Huo Zhang slightly opened his eyes, revealing a bitter smile: “Thank…you…”

Lu Xingzhou shook his head: “Don’t speak.”

After applying bandages and external medicine, Huo Zhang fell unconscious again.

“How is it? How is it?” Sheng Yuanyao peered in: “Will he live?”

Lu Xingzhou shook his head: “Difficult. With what an alchemist can do, at most, we can keep him breathing and conscious for a day or two to leave a last will… I don’t know if the Huo family’s own elixirs will work. Given his inability to swallow, I doubt there’s a good solution.”

The two women exchanged glances but said nothing.

Huo Zhang was not Lu Xingzhou’s true brother, but an enemy. Yet, Lu Xingzhou had only instigated trouble, never intending to personally kill Huo Zhang, and even attempted to treat him. After all, Huo Zhang genuinely held no direct enmity with him. Even if Huo Zhang harbored intentions of eliminating him after using him to climb to power, it was about actions, not thoughts. What hadn’t happened couldn’t be counted.

Whether the instigation would be effective depended on Huo Qi.

The fact that his own brother would act, when even his enemy hadn’t, was unbelievable even to Yang Dechang, the instigator.

He really dared, really did it!

What a ruthless noble son…

In the distance, the assassin, caught in the dragnet led personally by the Chief of the Zhenmo Si, finally couldn’t escape. There were people in every direction, and Sheng Qingfeng was drawing ever closer.

The assassin ferociously attempted to commit suicide, but it was too late.

Sheng Qingfeng pointed from afar, remotely striking his tiger’s mouth, “smack,” knocking the sword from his hand.

The next moment, countless Zhenmo Si warriors surrounded him, sabers at the assassin’s neck.

Sheng Qingfeng then sealed all of the assassin’s acupuncture points with a few strikes, capturing him on the spot.

The assassin’s hands and feet went cold. It was over.

Due to the existence of soul-searching and spirit-extraction techniques, interrogation in this world wasn’t so troublesome. Once captured alive, the masterminds behind the scenes couldn’t hide! Moreover, soul-searching wasn’t even necessary. A Grade Three individual like him was rare in the world, and a quick check of his connections would lead straight to Huo Qi, the Vice Minister of Revenue.

The assassin couldn’t understand how the Zhenmo Si had arrived.