*Knock, knock!*
The bathroom door was rapped firmly twice, followed by a security guard's voice:
"Miss, do you need help?"
Inside this private club, in addition to the waiters serving tea and pouring wine, there were security personnel responsible for maintaining order, even if their protective capabilities were virtually nonexistent before a group of official Spirit Realm walkers.
Having asked, the security guard outside pushed the door open without hesitation.
He had already heard the cries for help and couldn't simply wait outside. The guests invited by the young mistress were either rich or noble, and nothing could be allowed to go wrong.
Pushing the door open, the young security guard in a black formal suit swept his gaze across the restroom, his pupils instantly constricting.
Slumped against the sink counter was a young woman. Her gorgeous gauze dress and collar showed signs of having been violently torn open, and her necklace lay broken on the floor.
She lay motionless against the counter. The young guard noticed that her chest and abdomen showed no movement whatsoever.
Standing beside the sink counter was the young man who, just moments ago, had been surrounded and fawned over by the crowd.
The guard first glanced at the young man, saw him frowning in deep thought, and cautiously stepped forward. He felt for the girl's carotid pulse, then checked for any breath at her nose. His face instantly changed, and he bolted out of the restroom.
*Now this is troublesome—I've been framed.* Zhang Yuanqing looked up at the guard's panicky departing back, making no move to stop him.
Calming his mind, he went over what had just happened.
On the surface, it appeared that Yan'er, born of an extramarital affair, wanted to climb the social ladder and hook up with Yuanshi Tianzun. So while drinking, she secretly used an Illusionist's ability to subtly stir his lust. She had done it very inconspicuously, and amid the alcohol and the presence of so many beautiful women, he had indeed been influenced, feeling the heat rise to his head.
Then, seeing Yuanshi Tianzun enter the restroom, she quietly followed him in. She first used words to tempt him, suggesting they could indulge their desires right here, followed by explicit teasing to completely detonate his lust.
Through patient accumulation crowned by that final spark, she had successfully driven a Saint into a state of burning desire.
Truly impressive!
Fortunately, thanks to Yin Ji's warning, Zhang Yuanqing had sensed something amiss. He did often yearn to find a stunningly beautiful young lady to impart all his knowledge to, but he would never be this desperate and lecherous.
If it were someone of his generation, wasn't Little Green Tea vastly prettier than Yan'er?
Therefore, on the verge of losing control, he had promptly retrieved the Ghost Mirror.
That mirror was truly extraordinary. The moment he held it, every worldly desire vanished—more effective than practicing the Evil-Warding Swordplay.
After dispelling his lust with the Ghost Mirror, Zhang Yuanqing had originally intended to lecture Yan'er a bit, telling her to respect herself and not wander down crooked paths at such a young age.
He never expected that she would commit suicide on the spot...
At this point, Zhang Yuanqing was at a loss. An illogical suicide, screaming for help at the top of her lungs to frame him—what was the motive?
"This is absurd..." he muttered under his breath, activating Spirit Devouring. Thick, pitch-black energy surged within his eye sockets as he prepared to commune with Yan'er's spirit body to see what was going on.
However, something unexpected occurred.
There was no trace of a spirit body lingering in Yan'er's corpse. It was as if she were a body that had been dead for days.
*This...* Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank.
Had Yan'er been dead all along? Dead for more than seven days?
*No, the greater possibility is that the person just now wasn't Yan'er at all. Her body was possessed, and her spirit body was swallowed whole, leaving nothing behind.*
This matched what had just happened far better.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately recalled what she had said before dying: *Yuanshi Tianzun, you are my prey. You can't escape!*
Taking a bold guess, had the person possessing Yan'er targeted him from the start?
*Impossible. Aside from Yin Ji, who invited me in advance, no one knew I'd attend the banquet tonight. There's no way she came here targeting me.*
Just then, chaotic and hurried footsteps approached.
The next second, the restroom door was shoved wide open. The first to enter was Miao Teng'er in her plain-colored gown. Her expression was grave, and upon taking in the scene and seeing Yan'er dead against the sink counter, grief and fury washed over her.
"You..." Her beautiful eyes widened, glaring furiously at Yuanshi Tianzun beside the sink counter.
Behind Miao Teng'er were Yin Ji, Lingjun, Xie Lingyun, Sister Manyan, Liu Zhiyi, Duanqiao Canxue, Gaoshan Liushui, and others. Further back were the guests who couldn't squeeze into the restroom, craning their necks from the corridor outside.
Lingjun abandoned his usual playful nonchalance. Frowning tightly, he pushed past his cousin, asking questions while touching Yan'er's forehead.
His heart instantly grew cold. She really was dead.
As a Beast King, he could tell clearly that the form on the sink counter was a corpse devoid of life.
"What happened?" Lingjun asked in a low voice.
Zhang Yuanqing shook his head slightly. "I don't know."
"You don't know?" Liu Zhiyi, the third-generation scion, barked, "Yuanshi Tianzun, do you realize what you've done? Do you know who she is? Duanqiao Canxue, you're a Scout—tell us what he did!"
Duanqiao Canxue squeezed forward a few steps, his gaze sweeping across the restroom. Frowning, he said, "Yuanshi Tianzun intended to violate this young lady, met with resistance, and killed her by mistake... I'm merely drawing an inference from what I see."
Hearing this, the male guests shook their heads and sighed, while the female guests showed faces full of anger and disappointment, never having imagined Yuanshi Tianzun was such a person.
"Killed her by mistake? Where's the wound?" Lingjun looked back, glaring at Duanqiao Canxue.
He then swept his gaze over the furious crowd and declared loudly, "None of us wanted something like this to happen, but now that it has, we must investigate thoroughly. Everyone, calm down and let Yuanshi Tianzun speak first."
Though the young master was irresponsible and lived a dissolute life, his words still carried weight as the grandson of Grand Elder Baihui and the son of the Taiyi Sect Master.
The crowd promptly turned to Yuanshi Tianzun, awaiting his explanation.
After a brief pause, Zhang Yuanqing recounted everything that had transpired in detail.
"Yuanshi Tianzun, did she hold a grudge against you?" Sister Manyan, dressed like an elegant noblewoman, suppressed her grief and took a deep breath.
"We only met today," Zhang Yuanqing answered.
"If there was no grievance between you, then what was her motive for framing you?" Tears welled in her eyes as she demanded loudly.
"That is precisely what puzzles me," Zhang Yuanqing replied, shaking his head.
"Sophistry! You simply coveted Yan'er's beauty and used the alcohol as an excuse to assault her, killing her when she resisted. Yuanshi Tianzun, let me tell you, she is the daughter of Elder Yang from the Xie City Branch. You're finished—not even the Songhai Branch can protect you!" Liu Zhiyi yelled sharply.
Zhang Yuanqing glanced at him without answering, turning instead to Duanqiao Canxue to ask calmly, "Aren't you a Scout? Can't you tell whether I'm lying?"
Duanqiao Canxue shook his head. "I naturally believe you wouldn't do such a thing, but I am merely an Extraordinary. Insight cannot pierce a Saint's disguise. I apologize, but I cannot help you."
Zhang Yuanqing let out a scoff.
Lingjun thought for a moment and said, "This matter is indeed strange. Earlier, I noticed Miss Yan'er was quite fond of Yuanshi Tianzun. Logically speaking, it wouldn't have come to this."
He subtly pointed out that if Yuanshi Tianzun wanted to sleep with Yan'er, there was no need for violence.
Miao Teng'er's brows knit tightly.
After her initial rage and grief, she had calmed down slightly. Upon careful reflection, there were indeed several illogical points.
"There's no need for pointless arguing. Let Deacon Yin Ji conduct a spirit questioning,"
Gaoshan Liushui's steady voice called out from the crowd.
Gaze after gaze turned toward the gentle woman in the black dress standing near the door.
Yin Ji pondered for a few seconds before saying, "Very well! I will truthfully relay the results of the spirit questioning to everyone."
With that, her limpid eyes filled with thick, pitch-black energy.
Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing sighed inwardly. *This is only going to make things look worse.*
A few seconds later, Yin Ji's delicate brow furrowed. She looked up at Zhang Yuanqing and said in a grave voice, "Her spirit body has completely dissipated."
As soon as the words fell, an uproar broke out among the crowd.
Zhang Yuanqing noticed that while Yin Ji's gaze had held trust earlier, it was now filled with confusion and a hint of suspicion.
After all, only Yuanshi Tianzun here had the means to do such a thing.
If even Yin Ji reacted this way, let alone the others.
"And you still claim it wasn't you!" Liu Zhiyi pointed at Zhang Yuanqing. "The person is dead, and the spirit body is gone. Besides you, who else could have done that? You wanted to make sure dead men tell no tales, didn't you? So many of us saw it; we are all witnesses! Don't you dare try to deny it! Yuanshi Tianzun, today is the day your reputation is thoroughly ruined!"
Xie Lingyun choked back tears. "How... how could you treat Yan'er like this? She's only seventeen..."
Miao Teng'er, her eyes red, glared at him with fury. "What else do you have to say for yourself?"
Several socialites close to Yan'er directed burning glares of anger toward him.
Zhang Yuanqing defended himself: "First, I had no motive to kill her. Beauty cannot serve as a valid reason for me to kill someone; that claim doesn't hold up. Second, the absence of a spirit body points to another possibility: Yan'er was already dead. She had been possessed, and when the entity possessing her departed, no spirit body remained in the corpse. Deacon Yin Ji, am I correct?"
Yin Ji nodded, confirming his reasoning. "That is true. However, Yuanshi Tianzun, you are a Night Walker. Did you not notice anything at all?"
Zhang Yuanqing shook his head. "I saw nothing."
Yin Ji frowned. "That makes no sense—unless that person was not a Night Walker. Or, in addition to Night Walker abilities, they possessed other means capable of deceiving your perception."
"More excuses! Deacon Yin Ji, don't believe him!" Liu Zhiyi scoffed. "Perhaps there is another possibility: he didn't desire Yan'er's beauty at all, but rather, Yan'er entered the restroom and accidentally overheard something she shouldn't have, so Yuanshi Tianzun silenced her! Everyone, doesn't that sound far more reasonable?"
The crowd's expressions toward Yuanshi Tianzun shifted instantly.
"Stop wasting words on him! Call Elder Yang! Deacon Gaoshan Liushui, call the elders of the Songhai Branch! Everyone, keep your eyes on Yuanshi Tianzun—don't let him escape!" one socialite shrieked in fury.
Immediately, several people reached into their pockets for their phones to make calls.
*Possessing other abilities in addition to those of a Night Walker?*
Zhang Yuanqing paid no mind to the agitated crowd. Yin Ji's words had struck him like a flash of insight. An idea crossed his mind. He first picked up Yan'er's necklace, then examined every piece of jewelry on her body one by one.
Next, his hands searched Yan'er's corpse, inspecting every part meticulously without missing a single detail.
*None?!*
There were no items. Yan'er carried no props or items whatsoever.
This discovery caused Zhang Yuanqing's pupils to contract slightly.
Without an item, how had she stirred his lust? How had she utilized the methods of an Illusionist?
From the moment Yan'er began seducing him to when her scheme was exposed and she "committed suicide," Zhang Yuanqing had watched the entire process. Not a single object on her body had been added or removed.
This could only mean one thing: the perpetrator was an Illusionist.
Yet an Illusionist lacked the ability to possess someone. Possession was essentially Spirit Devouring combined with Soul Attachment—a unique trait exclusive to the Night Walker class.
An enemy who possessed both the skills of a Night Walker and the abilities of an Illusionist... Zhang Yuanqing's eyes widened abruptly.
*No way... Could it be him? The one who was flirting with me, seducing me, and flaunting her charms just now... was an old monster from a thousand years ago?*
*And a male old monster at that?!*
A name sprang into Zhang Yuanqing's mind: Pure Yang Sect Master!
"Wait, why is there no cell service?"
"Mine too..."
Soon, someone discovered that the mobile signal was blocked. Hearing this, people pulled out their phones to check. Without exception, every phone had lost its signal, and even the Wi-Fi was gone.
At the same time, a white-haired elderly man pushed through the crowd, walked up to Miao Teng'er, and whispered, "Miss, the clubhouse has been enveloped by a mysterious power. I cannot break through it. None of us can leave."
"What?" Miao Teng'er's expression changed drastically.
The surrounding guests paled just as quickly.
*Trapped? And the cell signal is gone... From the looks of it, the Pure Yang Sect Master wasn't targeting me initially. It was because I showed up halfway that he changed targets and tried to seduce me first. So his original target was Yin Ji? Or those two Night Walkers from the Taiyi Sect?* Zhang Yuanqing's previous doubts were answered.
"Yuanshi Tianzun, what are you pulling now? I get it—did you see your crime exposed and now want to kill us all to keep us quiet? Laughable! Just who do you think you are?" Liu Zhiyi demanded loudly.
"Yuanshi Tianzun, don't be reckless," Duanqiao Canxue chimed in.
Looking at the two of them now, Zhang Yuanqing could see their jealousy had clearly been inflamed, making them target him at every turn. The others' emotions were somewhat off as well; aside from a few Saints, the rest were overly furious and lacked reason. It was all the Pure Yang Sect Master's doing—not only was he a Night Walker, but he was also an Illusionist capable of manipulating emotions.
Seeing everyone eyeing him warily as if facing a mortal enemy, Zhang Yuanqing said in a low, steady voice, "Why would I kill you? Have I lost my mind? Do I look insane to you?"
The crowd remained suspicious and uncertain. In contrast, Lingjun and Yin Ji had already come to believe Yuanshi Tianzun completely once they discovered the blocked cell signal and the mysterious power enveloping the club.
Lingjun went without saying—he knew Yuanshi Tianzun.
As for Yin Ji, it was half trust in his character and half logical deduction.
Lingjun asked, "What did you find?"
Miao Teng'er and the others stared intently at Yuanshi Tianzun.
"It's quite obvious. We've been targeted by a powerful and unknown enemy, and his target is every single one of us." Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath. "I did discover something, and I roughly know what's going on."
Chapter 390