Setting down the jade pendant, Li Guanqi decided to pay a visit to the Meng clan in the city first.
Yet before long, Ji Yuchuan sent a reply.
His voice carried a hint of bewilderment. "Guanqi, among all the first- and second-rate family powers in Feiyun City, there is no such thing as a Meng clan!"
Li Guanqi frowned upon hearing this, genuinely surprised.
The man in the tavern earlier had spoken with glowing excitement, and his baffled expression and fluctuating emotions had shown he wasn't lying.
He truly had been completely perplexed by the matter.
"Look into whether Guanyun Pavilion has someone like that on the inside—a native of Feiyun City, the youngest son of a Meng family. I don't know how many older siblings he has, but he possesses rather delicate features."
Ji Yuchuan voiced his acknowledgment. Li Guanqi set down the jade pendant, his eyes flickering.
With a flicker of his figure, he arrived instantly in a small courtyard on the northern edge of the city.
Inside the courtyard, that very man had kicked off his shoes and was sprawled across the bed, reeking of alcohol.
Li Guanqi sat on a chair beside him, his entire body shrouded in black robes.
Casually tossing a hundred taels of silver, he hit the man right in the face.
Stung by the pain, the man jerked awake, shooting to his feet in a fury. "Who the hell dare throw things at me?!"
Turning his head, he caught sight of Li Guanqi and sneered, baring his teeth. "What blind bastard tries to rob *me*?"
Li Guanqi pointed toward the bed.
A faint, wispy trace of pressure bled from him.
Yet that mere sliver was enough to plunge the man into an icy abyss, breaking him out in a cold sweat.
Looking down, he saw glittering silver scattered all around him.
The man licked his lips and hurriedly stuffed the silver into his robe. Straightening with a humble bow, he tilted his head up slightly toward Li Guanqi. "My lord... is there something you wish to know?"
Surrounded by four bare walls, he had nothing worth taking; the only possible thing of value was the loose tongue in his mouth.
Li Guanqi asked in a raspy voice, "The youngest son of the Meng family you mentioned in the tavern today—which Meng family is that?"
The man's heart jolted. He hadn't realized anyone had overheard what he said earlier.
Yet seeing how lavishly the stranger paid, he answered cautiously, "To answer your lordship, the Meng family I spoke of moved here during the second city expansion.
"They have only a few dozen people in all—a small clan. Their estate is on the Sixteenth Street in the south of the city, and they deal in spiritual herbs.
"Years ago, I delivered charcoal to them for the winter and saw that youngest son once, though it's been quite some time."
The man kept his head bowed. After waiting half a beat without hearing a response, he looked up, only to find the room completely empty.
Right at that moment, an inexplicable force swept over him, and Li Guanqi wiped away this memory entirely.
The man collapsed unconscious to the floor, knowing nothing of what had transpired.
Concealing his presence, Li Guanqi flickered through the air and arrived outside the Meng clan estate in the south of the city.
Looking at the two characters written on the plaque—*Meng Family*—Li Guanqi frowned slightly.
This Meng family didn't even dare style itself the 'Meng Estate.' Nothing stood before their gates, not even a pair of stone lions. It was unpretentious to a fault.
Yet Li Guanqi did not believe there was smoke without fire.
Shifting his form, he stepped into the compound. Maidservants and attendants bustled to and fro, and Li Guanqi walked right past them.
None of them could see him in the slightest.
Li Guanqi strolled through the estate as though wandering his own home.
The residence was small, and he soon reached the main hall.
The hall doors were tightly shut. Li Guanqi teleported inside, taking a seat in the chamber as if he were simply a member attending the family council.
Tucking his hands into his sleeves, Li Guanqi looked over the people present.
They were all getting on in years—six people in total, and the strongest among them was merely in the mid Soul Formation Realm.
Li Guanqi's brows knitted tightly.
*This is the Meng clan? Isn't this... a bit too trivial?*
The man on the raised dais spoke with a grim countenance.
"Lately... some of you haven't been able to restrain your desires and have been flaunting your wealth outside!"
As soon as the words fell, one of the men below bowed his head.
Yet he could not help but retort, "Eldest Brother, the Meng clan's wealth has already accumulated to an unimaginable scale.
"Why haven't we left Feiyun City yet?
"Are we supposed to keep up this charade for the rest of our lives?"
At these words, the expressions of several others shifted; clearly, they shared the exact same thought.
A cold smile tugged at the corner of Li Guanqi's lips.
*It seems this truly has everything to do with the Meng clan...*
*But what method are they using?*
The man on the dais turned slightly pale, and in a fit of rage, he slammed his hand down, shattering the table beside him!
*Bang!*
"Fools!!"
"Do you have any idea that the Yanluo Sword Venerable has returned to the Great Xia Sword Sect?"
"Qianqiusui is a founding elder of Guanyun Pavilion. The current situation is bound to draw suspicion.
"If anyone slips up now, every single one of us will die!!"
The man below in the simple robe was still reluctant to yield. "Heh, it's not like we don't know Zhiping's methods.
"Even if that great figure comes in person, he won't be able to dig up a thing!"
Gathering his primal energy, the man on the dais sent him flying with a single slap!
*Smack!*
"Bastard! Mind your tongue!!"
*Clap, clap, clap!*
Li Guanqi willingly revealed himself, clapping slowly as his true appearance materialized, seated calmly at the very end of the hall.
"Indeed, one must mind one's tongue. Well struck."
At the sight of him, terror seized everyone's hearts!
No one knew when Li Guanqi had arrived, nor did anyone know how he had appeared there!
*Clang, clang, clang!*
Swords were drawn from their scabbards, yet in the very next breath...
*Boom!*
The entire Meng estate collapsed into ruins as four bolts of lightning crashed down from the heavens.
Aside from the man on the dais and his brother, the four elders of the clan instantly dissolved into piles of ash.
Crushing pressure forced the man and his brother to their knees, rendering them utterly immobile.
Li Guanqi said softly, "Speak up. I'm rather curious myself as to what method could possibly control Qianqiusui."
With that, Li Guanqi casually produced a shadow-casting stone, placed it on a table, and aimed it at the man.
The man's eyes darted frantically as his dantian swelled rapidly—he was actually trying to detonate himself in death!
Yet Li Guanqi was standing right there.
With a flick of his finger, he instantly scattered the chaotic primal energy churning inside the man's body.
"Tsk. With me standing here, if you want to die, you have to ask my permission.
"If I don't let you die, you won't be dying..."
After saying that, Li Guanqi felt it was too much of a bother.
Instead, he simply extracted the souls of both men and browsed through them at will.
Li Guanqi frowned slightly. He had originally thought Meng Zhiping had obtained some special parasite from the Ethereal Immortal Domain.
Yet the truth took him by surprise.
In his earlier years, Meng Zhiping had acquired an ancient jade slip.
However, he had never discovered its marvelous use until he happened upon an ancient musical instrument at the Yunding Auction House.
The jade slip had reacted to it, prompting the Meng clan to empty their entire fortune to win it.
To their surprise, the instrument was actually tied to the Zhuyou art.
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curled upward slightly. He hadn't expected such a twist.
"Fascinating. Taking the Zhuyou art and turning it into a soul-snatching craft to bewitch the mind!"
Chapter 1422