A Family of Hopeless Romantics, Except for the Evil Little Junior Brother

Xiao Ran slowly woke up in the underground cave.

He looked around and raised his hand.

That familiar power, that familiar sensation.

The feeling of spiritual energy flowing smoothly through his body was back!!

Everything was back.

Xiao Ran was overjoyed—he couldn’t help but want to roar out loud.

Soul Elder truly lived up to being a powerhouse of the Great Ascension Stage—this pill was just too miraculous.

Even his injured body suddenly felt significantly recovered.

Xiao Ran pulled off the pendant, then knelt on both knees and kowtowed to it, speaking solemnly:

Soul Elder said blandly, “What’s this about repaying a favor? Just don’t go around blabbing about me when you cause trouble in the future.”

Xiao Ran checked the cave once more and found nothing left except that pill.

Then he left the cave.

After he departed, the cave collapsed, as if nothing had ever happened there.

“...........”

In the City Lord’s Manor.

Li Xuanxiao gently exhaled and looked at the chessboard in front of him.

Everything that had happened so far was still within his control.

Xiao Ran had been an unexpected variable, but luckily, three years ago Li Xuanxiao had already taken on the identity of Soul Elder and gradually earned Xiao Ran’s trust.

This move, yeah, this move was called walking someone else’s path and letting them go wherever they pleased!

From now on, call me Shushan’s Idea King.

Actually, this was forced by circumstance.

Standing in front of Li Xuanxiao was the founder of the Abstract Realm—Su Wan.

An unpredictable, unnameable, unseeable, indescribable, ancient and evil existence.

You could never figure out what she was thinking.

Never know what she was going to do next.

If you looked her in the eyes, she’d assume you liked her.

If you spoke to her, you’d never know which of your words might lead her to some bizarre conclusion.......

Mm, if Su Wan had become the Swordbearer back then—

You think the Trisolarans wouldn’t have fled? She’s way more intimidating than Luo Ji.

So Li Xuanxiao just changed his entire approach.

Since Su Wan couldn’t be predicted, then he’d just swap her out.

And so he solved the problem at the root—reached out his wicked little hand toward Xiao Ran.

Li Xuanxiao stared at the chessboard in front of him and placed another piece.

The matter of canceling the engagement had come to an end.

As for Xiao Ran seeking a sword duel with Mount Shushan in the future, that was a matter for later, and under his control—it wouldn’t spiral beyond expectations.

Next was the case of the missing Shushan disciples and the citizens of Panlong City.

Last time he came to Panlong City, Li Xuanxiao had a clear goal and went straight to the Xiao family.

So he hadn’t noticed the large-scale disappearance of Panlong City’s population.

This time, the disappearances included five Shushan disciples as well.

There was clearly more to this.

Li Xuanxiao conducted a rough investigation and estimation.

The Daxia Dynasty had over 1,400 counties, each with an average population of 200,000 to 300,000.

A prefectural city like Panlong City was even larger, governing five counties.

Its population had reached one million.

After several days of investigation, he estimated that about twenty percent of the population had disappeared—men, women, young, and old alike.

That was a full two hundred thousand people!!!

Even Li Xuanxiao himself was stunned when he came up with this number.

So many people missing—how could the local authorities in Panlong City ignore it? Why wasn’t the imperial court doing anything?

Li Xuanxiao suddenly felt he had been caught up in the vortex of some grand conspiracy.

Just then, a servant from the City Lord’s Manor came to tell Li Xuanxiao that Lu Ziyin had found the five missing fellow disciples.

Li Xuanxiao immediately left the manor to find Lu Ziyin.

“.........”

What they found wasn’t the five Mount Shushan disciples—

But their belongings.

The Demon Suppression Bureau had found them while raiding a cultist base.

Lu Ziyin nodded. “It’s definitely Shushan stuff.”

He looked at the cult leader, “Where are they?”

“You’ll spare my life if I tell?”

“Try me.”

“They were killed.”

“By you?”

“No, I don’t have that kind of power. It was the messenger from headquarters.

They happened to run into those disciples, and the messenger lured them to a place and killed them all. He also claimed to have some sealing technique that could seal the jade tokens inside Shushan disciples, so he wasn’t afraid of being tracked.”

“Where is he?” Lu Ziyin asked in a low voice.

“If I say, the messenger will kill me.”

“If you don’t, I can kill you right now!” Lu Ziyin said coldly.

The man hesitated for a moment, but eventually told the truth.

Li Xuanxiao glanced at the so-called cult leader.

Lu Ziyin grabbed the man and headed straight for the messenger’s hideout.

Li Xuanxiao and the Demon Suppression Bureau quickly followed.

But Lu Ziyin was too fast. By the time they caught up, he had already engaged someone.

That other person must’ve been the messenger.

The two clashed in a fierce battle in mid-air.

Many citizens looked up to the sky, only to see a dazzling white light streak across the sky like lightning.

At the same time, a mysterious green light howled into view.

The white and green lights hurtled toward each other with terrifying speed and crashed together in the sky with a thunderous impact!

Then came a sharp and piercing sword cry.....

Finally, Lu Ziyin descended from the sky dragging the blood-spewing messenger.

Seeing this, the City Lord who had just arrived tugged the corner of his mouth.

“Shushan’s Peak Master really is something else!”

The messenger was equal in cultivation to Lu Ziyin.

But Lu Ziyin had just turned forty, while the messenger was already over three hundred years old.

In terms of age, Lu Ziyin wasn’t even a fraction of his opponent.

Age meant experience, combat knowledge, battle strategies, and depth of cultivation.

But in the cultivation world, it’s hard for age to keep up with a genius.

They fought for just a brief moment, and Lu Ziyin had already secured an overwhelming victory.

Lu Ziyin grabbed the man by the neck, “You’re the one who killed the Shushan disciples?”

“Cough cough... you... who are you?”

“Lu Ziyin, Peak Master of Silver Sword Peak, Mount Shushan.”

Lu Ziyin said calmly.

“Mount Shushan....”

The messenger coughed up more blood. “How... how did you find me?”

“You thought you could kill Shushan disciples and just walk away?”

Lu Ziyin turned to the City Lord, “Thank you and everyone for your help this time.”

“We didn’t do much, Peak Master Lu. No need to be polite. But what do you plan to do with this person?”

“Of course, take him back to Mount Shushan and let the sect deal with him.”

Just as he said this, the messenger who had been bound by a magical artifact suddenly burst forth with power and broke free.

“Trying to run?”

Lu Ziyin formed a sword finger, and the flying sword at his waist turned into a stream of light, stabbing straight for the man's shoulder.

But at that moment, the messenger suddenly turned and slammed his head directly into the flying sword.

Lu Ziyin raised a brow. “Iron Head Technique? Interesting.”

The next second, the messenger’s head was pierced by the sword, and his body fell stiffly to the ground.

Lu Ziyin:..........

I didn’t even use that much force. Have my sword skills really reached this level of mastery?