The white-robed man glanced at the old demon and moved, leaving a trail of afterimages.
The old demon shrieked and retreated, instantly transforming back into a snake.
Yu Qing punched the snake's belly, causing it to collapse inward and bleed, as the massive snake body was sent flying again, howling in pain.
The old demon dared not speak again after getting up, and Li Fan, controlling the young man, evidently understood the situation. Li Fan released him a bit, and he coughed violently, sobbing, "Junior comes from the Medicine Cleansing Lake, and this visit was meant to meet Senior. This dog servant cannot speak properly, please do not blame him, Senior."
Yu Qing's gaze swept over him indifferently, and the young man directly knelt on the ground, saying, "Junior knows his mistake."
"Get lost," Yu Qing's voice was calm.
"Thank you, Senior." The young man kowtowed to Yu Qing and hurriedly ran outside, glancing back to scold the old demon, "Dog servant, hurry up."
"Yes, young master." The old master struggled to run outside, appearing extremely disheveled.
As he walked out of the courtyard, the young man clenched his fists, nails digging into the flesh of his palms, his eyes filled with intense murderous intent, and he roared inwardly, "I will kill them all, kill them all; those Li Mountain Sword Cultivators, cut them into pieces; the snake demon, enjoy it first then kill; the Jiao Long, skin and dismember."
"Useless thing." He hoarsely glared at the old demon beside him, this useless dog servant had cost him his dignity. If not for his cleverness, he might have lost his life.
In the courtyard, now reduced to ruins, Li Fan looked at the white-robed man and said, "Senior spared that little beast, but he probably won't be grateful."
"No problem," the white-robed man replied, "Medicine Cleansing Lake is a top beast-taming force of the Da Li Dynasty, where many great demons are reared. This young man is not a core disciple and cannot access many resources, posing no threat to you. Killing him would cause Medicine Cleansing Lake to intervene, which would be more troublesome."
Li Fan nodded, realizing this Mr. Yu was considering him and did so carefully. That little beast was evidently mentally twisted, half-crazed; although he did not know much about Medicine Cleansing Lake, he trusted Yu Qing's words.
Li Fan sensed the refined aura on the other, finding it hard to associate him with a great demon Jiao Long.
Moreover, according to the old demon, Yu Qing's parents should be top-ranking great demons, influential figures in the Demon World, yet they were flayed and crippled by humans. What had happened to him?
Furthermore, why was he involved with Li Mountain?
Rumors had claimed that Fulong Manor was backed by Li Mountain, and the old demon said Yu Qing was being kept by Li Mountain.
Additionally, Liu Ji's attitude towards him, seemingly seductive but actually hostile, suggested hidden truths here.
Yu Qing glanced at the ruins, then looked towards several white-clad cultivators standing not far away, knowing they were from the Demon Slayer Bureau.
"It seems even here is no longer peaceful. Why not come with me to Fulong Manor?" Yu Qing said to Li Fan.
"Alright," Li Fan didn't mind; he wanted to figure out some things himself.
Yu Qing turned to lead the way, Liu Ji quietly following behind, and Li Fan leapt forward to catch up, while Li Hongyi hesitated a moment before following as well.
Li Fan knew her nature and let her be.
Fulong Manor was located in the west of Lin'an County. Near the western mountains, the manor was a restricted area in Lin'an County, very quiet, with few residents around.
The manor itself was also very quiet. After entering, Li Hongyi curiously observed everything around her, having held doubts about all she had known since the City God Temple incident.
"Mr. Yu, Sister Liu."
While walking in Fulong Manor, two girls about fourteen or fifteen greeted Yu Qing and Liu Ji.
"An Ling, An Xin, why aren't you resting so late?" Liu Ji asked softly, completely different from outside.
"We're just chatting with Sister Xiu, heading back to rest now, don't be mad, Sister Liu," the two girls giggled, and Liu Ji glared at them, saying, "Hurry back."
"Got it, Sister Liu," the two responded playfully, then ran off.
Along the way, they encountered many females, mostly very young, which surprised both Li Fan and Li Hongyi. The external rumors about Fulong Manor seemed half-true, half-false?
Fulong Manor indeed had many women, but their conditions did not match the sordid tales from outside.
Reaching a courtyard, Li Fan met the middle-aged man who had clashed with the Wuxiang Monks from Jingang Temple earlier.
"Liu He, prepare some food and wine," Yu Qing ordered.
"Alright," Liu He nodded, smiling at Li Fan, "We meet again."
"Thanks again for your help that day, Mr. Liu," Li Fan said.
"No matter, even without my intervention, you wouldn't have been in trouble," Liu He stated casually and turned to get food and wine prepared.
Soon, food and wine were ready in the courtyard.
Yu Qing and Li Fan sat in the courtyard, with Liu He and Liu Ji behind Yu Qing and Li Hongyi at Li Fan's side.
There were two young girls serving wine nearby, as Li Fan had asked Liu He about Fulong Manor having a hundred female attendants, to which Liu He confirmed.
Now it seemed quite true.
"We didn't drink to our satisfaction at the tavern last time; let's have a few more," Yu Qing, still appearing refined, raised a cup to Li Fan.
Li Fan had many questions and drank his cup dry.
"What do you want to ask?" Yu Qing seemed to have sensed Li Fan's thoughts and asked with a smile.
"Is Senior truly a Jiao Long?" Li Fan asked curiously.
"Why, doesn't it seem so?" Yu Qing looked at the boy's naive demeanor, smiling casually.
"Not really," Li Fan shook his head, "Seems more like a refined cultivator."
"I have half human blood," Yu Qing responded, "My father is a great demon Jiao Long, but my mother is human."
Li Fan looked at him in surprise and whispered, "Humans and demons can also..."
Saying that, he felt it might be inappropriate and shut up.
"Humans are the spirits of all creation, as demons achieve higher cultivation realms, they become more like humans, able to live as humans. Even marrying and having children with humans is not impossible," Yu Qing explained unconcernedly.
Li Hongyi glanced at Liu Ji upon hearing this.
Liu Ji seemed aware of her gaze, smiling seductively at her, leaving Li Hongyi feeling defenseless and looking at Li Fan beside her.
Does he really have such tastes?
"Earlier, that old demon said Senior was kept by Li Mountain..." Li Fan questioned again.
"Indeed, I am confined here by Li Mountain; there's a Dragon Lock Array in Fulong Manor, preventing me from leaving a certain range," Yu Qing responded calmly.
As he talked about this, Liu Ji's expression clearly changed, her gaze towards Li Fan carrying a hint of coldness.
Li Hongyi also grew somewhat tense.
Li Fan's expression turned odd as he asked, "Why?"
"Over a decade ago, a great war broke out between human cultivators and the Demon World, affecting the entire Da Li Dynasty. Do you know of it?" Yu Qing asked.
"I know a bit," Li Fan nodded, his mind relapsing into unpleasant memories.
The piles of corpses, the scenes resembling hell.
He had traversed hell and was later brought to Li Mountain.
But he was too young back then to understand what had happened specifically.
"I made a mistake, ate people, and was imprisoned by humans, as it should be," Yu Qing spoke calmly, though a trace of emotion seemed to surface as he lifted his cup and drank it all.
Li Fan's smile vanished, with a hint of color in his eyes.
"Humans killed your parents, why is eating humans wrong?" Liu Ji beside him became agitated.
Yu Qing glanced at her, and Liu Ji persistently returned the gaze without avoidance.
She was disgruntled.
Humans kill demons, so demons naturally eat humans.
Yu Qing sighed, looking at Li Fan, noticing his subtle change.
"In this world, there is no right or wrong, only positions." Yu Qing raised his wine cup towards Li Fan, "Drink?"
Li Fan was somewhat moved.
Indeed, is there truly right or wrong in this world?
Humans killed Yu Qing's parents, so naturally, he would eat humans.
On hearing Yu Qing ate people, it also displeased him.
That's the position, because he was human, he had witnessed demons eating humans...
"Therefore, Li Mountain imprisoning me here is not problematic," Yu Qing's demeanor returned to calm as he drank several cups.
Li Fan, upon hearing Yu Qing's words, felt inner turmoil; if he were Yu Qing, he certainly couldn't view things so calmly.
Parents killed and himself imprisoned, from Yu Qing's perspective, this was a deep blood feud.
"How is it not problematic?" Liu Ji's voice was hoarse, eyes turning jade-green, holding a trace of hatred.
"During the Da Li turmoil years ago, countless people died across the Da Li world, even the famed Li Mountain Sword Master perished. Whose fault was it then?"
Yu Qing sighed.
Hearing the Li Mountain Sword Master's demise, Li Fan's expression turned somber.
That was his senior brother's father.
Perhaps because of this, the Old Blind Man said his senior brother had an aura of heavy slaughter, especially towards demons; Li Fan had witnessed his brother slaying demons.
Liu Ji lowered her head, silent, not understanding such reasoning.
"Let's not mention these disheartening matters," Yu Qing shook his head, looking at Li Fan, "Speaking of Li Mountain Sword Cultivators, I heard they all possess extraordinary talent, and some can draw the power of sun, moon, and stars, tempering their Sword Seeds. Being a sword cultivator, can you do it?"
All things in heaven and earth contain spiritual energy. Practitioners absorb this energy for cultivation, utilizing water, fire, vegetation, rare treasures, and even rivers, lakes, thunder, and rain.
But some gifted individuals can cultivate using the power of sun, moon, and stars; the Li Mountain Sword Master was such, but Li Fan's method of sword refinement was unknown.
"Hmm?" Li Fan was startled, looking up at Yu Qing.
"If it's inconvenient to say, it's alright," Yu Qing smiled.
"I think, I can," Li Fan responded.
"You think you can?" Yu Qing heard Li Fan's words and appeared puzzled, then smiled understandingly, perhaps the young man was maintaining face.
Li Fan practiced other abilities besides, so weaker talent in the Sword Dao was normal, but the youngest Five Realms Sword Cultivator of Li Mountain could likely do it.
Of course, what he considered 'weak' wasn't truly 'weak,' but compared to the top sword cultivators of Li Mountain.