Originally, Lu Yang and his companions had planned to find concrete evidence to expose Kang Wei's true colors and make Zhong Qinger realize that her past romance was nothing but a fraud.
Now, there was no need. Her affections had shifted, and she had fallen for Shi Chan instead.
"Senior Brother Meng must be joking. This poor monk is merely a bit more handsome than ordinary men."
"Alas, worldly mortals care only for this poor monk's fine skin and flesh, remaining utterly indifferent to my Buddhist teachings."
Meng Jingzhou's urge to hit someone grew ever stronger.
On the other side of the courtyard, the melodrama of two men fighting over one woman was still playing out in the small pavilion.
"Kang Wei, you're a good man, but we're not right for each other."
Zhong Qinger nestled in the fake Shi Chan's embrace. Even while speaking to Kang Wei, she kept watching the fake Shi Chan's expression, terrified he might be displeased.
The fake Shi Chan tapped her small nose playfully. "Little fool, how could I be unhappy? You rejected him and chose me; I couldn't be happier."
"Shi Chan, you're so good to me."
"You are too."
Kang Wei: "..."
What was going on? Everything had been fine yesterday, so how had he been cuckolded today?
And in a dream, no less!
"Looking at Kang Wei, he really is just an ordinary mortal. There isn't the slightest trace of cultivation on him."
Even when cultivators did not display their cultivation, their breathing patterns and gait differed from ordinary mortals who had never trained.
That was unless the person was deliberately concealing it, or had reached the realm of returning to simplicity and truth.
"How could an ordinary mortal use a dream-entering spell?" Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou frowned. Didn't that make the two of them look like fools?
"Why don't we just make a move? I really can't watch this anymore; I'm getting goosebumps," Meng Jingzhou suggested.
Shi Chan watched the fake version of himself being mutually affectionate with Zhong Qinger and found it rather hard to stomach as well. He gave a silent nod of agreement.
"Get him!"
Meng Jingzhou bellowed at the top of his lungs, his voice so loud it even startled Lu Yang.
"Who's there?!"
Kang Wei was the first to react; he was fully conscious in the dream. Zhong Qinger was the master of the dream, but her mind was muddled, leaving her reactions sluggish.
Even with Kang Wei's quick reaction, it was useless. When the contemporary three great chosen of heaven made a move, even Soul Formation cultivators would temporarily avoid their edge rather than engage head-on, let alone an ordinary mortal like him.
The three swarmed forward and pinned Kang Wei to the ground. With a thought, Shi Chan conjured a rope and bound Kang Wei securely.
"We've had our eyes on you for a while, brat. Behave yourself!" Meng Jingzhou said menacingly, his expression ferocious.
Only then did Zhong Qinger finally react. "T-Two Shi Chans?"
Shi Chan gazed at Zhong Qinger in silence, deciding that once this matter was resolved, he would stay as far away from the Zhong Manor as possible.
Suddenly, Kang Wei's figure began to fade. Quick of eye and deft of hand, Shi Chan conjured a talisman and slapped it onto Kang Wei's forehead, halting any further change.
"This poor monk has stopped him from waking up. May the two Senior Brothers wake up and head to Patron Kang's home? This poor monk will stay here to guard against unexpected developments."
"Alright, but how do the two of us wake up?"
"Follow my lead." Shi Chan formed a hand seal before his chest. He made no effort to conceal the meridian circulation required for the seal; with Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou's talent, they grasped it with a single glance.
The two slowly awakened, kicked off their blankets, and bounded to their feet with a carp flip.
They had already gotten Kang Wei's address from Zhong Ming. Carrying Shi Chan's physical body between them, the two jogged along, ignoring the astonished stares of passersby. After hurrying through two streets, they found Kang Wei's home.
Kang Wei's home was just an ordinary brick-and-tile house, far inferior to the Zhong family's grand three-courtyard mansion.
The two kicked open the door and found Kang Wei fast asleep inside.
"He really is an ordinary mortal."
"What's that in his hand?"
Kang Wei's fingers were interlaced over his chest, clutching a pendant.
"There are spiritual energy fluctuations on the pendant. It should be a Dharma treasure. His ability to invade Miss Zhong's dreams is connected to this."
Lu Yang shook Shi Chan. "Wake up, we're here."
In the dreamscape, Shi Chan felt himself waking up and threw Kang Wei out of the dream ahead of him.
Otherwise, if he left while Kang Wei remained, Kang Wei might take Zhong Qinger hostage.
Kang Wei and Shi Chan woke up one after the other.
Kang Wei knew immediately that these men were cultivators; there was no way he could fight them.
"Patron Kang, this poor monk hopes you will confess truthfully."
"Take your pick: will you confess obediently, or will we beat you half to death first before you confess?" Meng Jingzhou cracked his knuckles with a sharp pop, pinned Kang Wei against the wall, and smashed a fist right beside his ear.
Lu Yang said nothing, merely extending two fingers. A zhang-long burst of azure sword qi flared out, and with a casual swipe, a corner of the nearby table sliced cleanly off, terrifying Kang Wei out of his wits.
He was just an ordinary mortal; where would he have ever seen such a display?
"I'll confess! I'll confess everything! Where should I start?"
"Start with how you met Miss Zhong, and where you got that pendant!"
"Yes, yes..."
"The first time I saw Miss Zhong was a month ago. It was a chance encounter on the street. I saw her and fell in love at first sight."
"From then on, I couldn't eat or sleep, my mind filled with thoughts of her."
"Yet I knew that with my circumstances, I was unworthy of a rich young lady, but I just couldn't let her go."
"That was when Boss Hong approached me. He said he had a pendant, and as long as I pointed it at Qing'er, I could enter her dreams every night when I slept. Over time, under continuous suggestion, she would fall in love with me."
"To buy this pendant, I even borrowed a lot of money from a chamber of commerce."
"Who is Boss Hong?"
"He's the local tyrant around here. I met him at a gambling den. He has over thirty men under him. He used to cultivate at the Bamboo Leaf Sect and is a cultivator with unfathomable abilities. Later, he committed an offense in the sect and was expelled."
"Even though he was expelled, I heard that he still privately keeps in touch with the distinguished figures of the Bamboo Leaf Sect." Kang Wei tried to invoke the Bamboo Leaf Sect's reputation to scare the three off.
"Where is Boss Hong?" Lu Yang remained entirely unmoved—it was some tiny sect he had never even heard of.
When Kang Wei hesitated, Meng Jingzhou assumed a wrathful visage like the legendary Immovable Wisdom King, frightening Kang Wei so badly that he trembled all over and had no choice but to lead the three to Boss Hong.
Boss Hong's residence was not far away, just across the street.
"Hong Manor. Quite grand."
Boss Hong's residence was even larger than the Zhong family's.
"Halt! Who goes there?!"
As the local tyrant, Boss Hong had stationed guards at the main gate of Hong Manor to prevent enemies from coming to his door.
How could Lu Yang and his companions bother answering? With a casual wave of a hand, the guards were sent flying.
Inside Hong Manor, Boss Hong's underlings were drinking, dining, and shouting rowdily. Seeing the three barging in, they swarmed forward to block their path.
Meng Jingzhou threw a punch into the air, and the resulting sonic boom knocked them all unconscious.
...
Deep inside a room in Hong Manor, Boss Hong was speaking with a young woman. "Junior Sister, this request of yours is a bit difficult. The yamen keeps a very tight lid on this sort of thing. If an investigation leads back to your senior brother, I'm afraid my life will be ruined."
The young woman smiled faintly and handed Boss Hong a wooden box. "I must trouble Senior Brother Hong to go to some trouble for me."
Boss Hong opened the wooden box, his heart skipping two beats.
This was actually a Foundation Establishment Pill! And it wasn't even of the lowest grade!
Calming himself, he put away the box and smiled. "Although the yamen regulates strictly, what kind of man is your senior brother? How could I have no way around it? But who is it you want your senior brother to kill?"
"Her name is Fu Ling, from Xuan City, with a cultivation in the first three layers of Qi Refinement. She came here to negotiate business. Merely a woman with a bit of looks, yet she dares compete with me for my darling brother! She truly doesn't know how the word 'death' is written!"
Boss Hong smiled ingratiatingly. "If that's the case, she truly deserves to die."
Suddenly, the sounds of fighting came from outside.
Boss Hong frowned. "I'll go out and see what's going on."
"Who are you people?!"
Boss Hong stepped out of the room, radiating the aura of Qi Refinement Great Perfection, hoping to intimidate the three intruders.
A beautifully dressed, shapely, and pitiable-looking woman also followed Boss Hong out.
At first, Lu Yang thought she was someone Boss Hong had kidnapped, only to discover that she was actually at Foundation Establishment.
A disciple of the Bamboo Leaf Sect?
"Did you sell this pendant to Patron Kang?" Shi Chan chanted a prayer to the Buddha, bringing out Kang Wei and the pendant.
"What if I did?" Boss Hong frowned, not expecting it was over this.
Selling a pendant was hardly against the law. In the dead of night instead of sleeping, why had a monk brought two protectors to confront him?
Lu Yang sneered. "Selling a pendant truly isn't against the law, but instigating Kang Wei to seduce and deceive the Zhong family's young lady is."
There was another reason he kept to himself: this pendant was a Dharma treasure. Kang Wei was a mere mortal, yet he could afford it on a loan alone; the pendant's origins were bound to be shady.
"Who do you think you are? Aren't you overstepping your bounds?!" Having drifted through the underworld for years, Boss Hong was no pushover. He barked sharply, and two pitch-black hands formed of dark mist manifested behind him.
"Dao Seeking Sect, Lu Yang."
*Clatter.*
Without another word, Boss Hong dropped straight to his knees, clasped his hands behind his head, and blurted, "I am guilty, I turn myself in!"
Chapter 660