Chapter 211: The Vendor

Chapter 211: The Vendor

Misty Waters City had a curfew. Once the night fell, people were not allowed to walk about freely in the streets and markets. The only exception was Chunlai[1] Lane. The whole lane was filled with brothels and other similar establishments, so it was known as a red-light district.

Speaking of which, it appeared that every city had its own red-light district, and Chu Liang had visited the red-light district of every city he'd been to, which was rather odd...

"I have transcended such vulgar interests. You don't have to look at me with that expression," Chu Liang said helplessly.

Lin Bei and Shang Ziliang had been looking at Chu Liang with a very amazed expression ever since he inquired about the location of the red-light district and made his way there. It was an expression that seemed to say... I didn't expect that you, with your prim and proper appearance, would be this sort of person.

"Ah, true, true." Shang Ziliang nodded repeatedly. "We may be visiting brothels, but we must do so with a critical eye."

Lin Bei nodded as well and chimed in, "That's right. The whole street here is filled with pitiful poverty-stricken women that don't have enough clothes to cover their bodies. What's wrong with us spending money to help them?!"

"..." Chu Liang was rendered speechless for a moment.

Then he quickly said, "We're here on official business, so put away your lecherous faces."

After that, Chu Liang entered the largest brothel.

There were very few people out at night due to the recent bizarre incidents of people being found dead with their hearts gouged out. Consequently, the brothel was quite empty of customers. So, when the beautiful young women standing by the brothel's entrance saw the three young men, they greeted the men warmly and welcomed them inside.

Chu Liang hurriedly waved his hand to refuse their services. He instead found a table and ordered a fruit platter and some snacks. The three of them just sat at the table for the time being.

Once things got quiet at the table, Lin Bei said, "You're the one who speaks the most virtuously, yet you were the one who entered the fastest. I usually hesitate before going to a brothel, afraid of being seen by someone I know. But you don't seem bothered by that at all."

"It's my first time at a brothel. My father never lets me come to places like this." Shang Ziliang's eyes were bright with excitement as he looked around. "Big Bro, I'll follow you for the rest of my life!"

"Let's not talk about that for now." Chu Liang lowered his voice and beckoned his two companions to lean toward him. "I'm here to investigate a diabolical cultivator."

"Oh, you don't need to pretend. It's just us here after all," Lin Bei commented with a smirk.

"I went through all the casefiles this afternoon, and I found that although the victims had been found in various parts of the city, all of them had been killed at around midnight. Misty Waters City is under curfew at this time, so it's unusual for people to be wandering outside," Chu Liang explained. "Those that roam around outside alone at that time of night are most likely people of a certain class."

Lin Bei immediately added, "Literati! Men of culture!" Alll latest novels at novelhall.com

Chu Liang continued, "That's right. Moreover, the brothels here charge extra for overnight stays, but most people wouldn't need to stay here for such a long time..."

"If it were me, I definitely wouldn't die since I'd stay here until dawn," Lin Bei muttered.

This was where Li Si found a book, which surprisingly contained information on cultivation. It was for a cultivation technique! Moreover, the technique didn't require the cultivator to have a high level of aptitude for cultivating; anyone could use this technique.

Li Si couldn't believe that he was this lucky. Was the heavens trying to save this insignificant life of his?

However, the cultivation technique was an extremely evil one. The first step was to kill a person.

Li Si's heart pounded as he read the book. He realized that this was probably the rumored diabolical cultivation technique. He couldn't let anyone else find out about it.

When Li Si stopped reading and raised his head, he realized that the thunderstorm had ceased. Furthermore, there was no sign of a river anywhere. He was in a graveyard on a barren mountain.

Everything else had changed, but the book was still in his hands.

When Li Si returned home, his wife hit and scolded him for losing the cart. Li Si was enraged, and a viciousness rose from the depths of his heart. He killed his wife straightaway, using her as a stepping stone for his cultivation.

Thus, Li Si embarked on the path of cultivation. The diabolical cultivation technique allowed him to advance very quickly. Furthermore, he didn't need to acquire any resources to advance; he just needed to keep murdering more people. During this process, Li Si's mind became increasingly twisted.

Li Si had rarely ever gotten angry during the last few decades. Yet, had been filled with hatred ever since he began cultivating this diabolical technique. He hated his ugly wife, high-ranking officials, literati, beautiful women, his low status... However, this hatred might not have been caused by the technique; it might have stemmed from the seed of hatred that had already been growing in his mind. Li Si hadn't even realized that he hated these bright and beautiful people so immensely.

Now, he had power as well as fury.

It had taken him ten years to get to the Core Formation stage. During those ten years, he had killed continuously, taking the lives of many. He'd committed all those murders in the village beside the city and left long intervals between the murders. That had allowed him to escape getting caught despite all those mysterious deaths. In fact, his existence hadn't even been discovered yet.

Li Si derived a great sense of pleasure from committing this ongoing massacre.

Nevertheless, the massacre did arouse some suspicion. Many people moved away from the village where Li Si resided, and those who remained didn't dare venture out alone.

Li Si needed to kill more people to form his core, so he decided to choose his victims from the city, targeting the people he had always loathed.

He had managed to stay undiscovered by being careful and discreet with his murders. Nonetheless, without a storage enchanted tool, the best Li Si could do was preserve the hearts he had extracted like he preserved pork. They couldn't be kept for very long before they went bad.

Li Si needed to speed things up. He still needed to kill two more people—just two more and he would have an opportunity to form his core. Then he would be able to leave Misty Waters City and venture into the world.

His gaze turned dark and icy as he stared straight ahead at two people. One was a wealthy big-bellied man, and the other was his servant, who wore green clothes and a small hat. The servant was driving a carriage, taking his master out of the red-light district.

Li Si thought, Once I'm done with these two, I can stop.

1. It means the arrival of spring (the season), which can also mean youth, love, and lust. ☜