Chapter 65: Night Roaming

He bathed, changed clothes, and then lit a stick of incense…

Mu Feng sat cross-legged on the floor, holding his concentration and calming his mind. In front of him, a stick of incense, about as long as a chopstick, was burning, its smoke curling upwards. A faint, delicate fragrance soon spread to every corner of the room.

It was a stick of sandalwood incense, the kind his mother never used except on his father’s death anniversary. He had quietly taken it out.

According to the Yinfeng Record, sandalwood incense not only helped with sleep and calming the mind but also warded off evil spirits and stabilized the soul. For a cultivator who had just broken through to the Middle Mortal Realm and could let their Spiritual Soul leave the body and roam at night, the benefits were even greater. Lighting a stick of sandalwood incense in the quiet of the night was like setting up a lighthouse for a newborn soul in a dark, rainy night, illuminating the way home.

Climb high, look far, and jump!

Sitting cross-legged, Mu Feng once again imagined himself climbing the mist-shrouded Heavenward Platform and leaping off. His Spiritual Soul once again left his body.

Looking down from above, his body sat motionless on the floor. In front of it, thin smoke rose, bringing waves of warmth. It was no longer as bone-chillingly cold and windy as on the Back Mountain. Outside the window, unknown insects chirped from crevices in the stones. At the end of a wild rose branch climbing the wall, a bud slowly opened into a large, bright red flower, dotted with glistening dewdrops.

Every table, chair, plant, and tree remained unchanged. But from this new angle, looking down from above, his Spiritual Soul sensed something magical. It felt as if the entire world had subtly changed at that moment. He had never realized that the courtyard he had lived in for over a decade was so rich in colors, and every plant and tree was so captivating.

Cough… cough… cough…

Faint coughs came from the eastern room.

Mu Feng’s heart stirred, and his Spiritual Soul floated like a cloud to the space above his mother’s room. Soon, his mother’s coughs sounded again from below. They were very soft, as if she was covering her mouth and coughing under the covers, careful not to disturb the deep night. After a moment of silence, she coughed again, each bout worse than the last.

“No, Mother’s illness can’t drag on like this. I’ll go into the mountains first thing tomorrow. Shuang’er might have some solution.”

Hearing his mother’s increasingly severe coughs, Mu Feng felt a pang in his heart and quickly made up his mind.

A gentle breeze blew, and his Spiritual Soul cautiously drifted forward, passing over a patrol of guards carrying torches and over the common houses where maids and servants lived, gradually reaching the depths of Mu Manor.

Behind him, the smoking sandalwood incense grew farther away, like an oil lamp that could go out at any moment.

Slowly, his Spiritual Soul felt colder and colder, especially in the direction of Mu Manor’s inner sanctum, which gave him a sense of dread. Even from a distance, without getting close, his soul sensed an instinctual danger. After a quick glance from afar, he hurriedly turned and floated southward. He carefully controlled his distance and direction, afraid of accidentally moving beyond the sandalwood incense’s range and getting lost in the cold night.

The depths of Mu Manor were filled with powerful restrictions, and Mu Feng dared not trespass recklessly. After floating in the air for a while, he was about to turn back when he suddenly heard some familiar voices. Below, in a majestic palace that was still brightly lit late at night, faint whispers of a man and a woman could be heard. Curious, he descended and peered through a transparent glazed tile on the roof, only to see a disgraceful scene.

A pale-faced young man was holding a woman who looked aggrieved and struggling desperately, sitting on a grand chair. His hands slipped under her clothes, boldly roaming all over. With his pale complexion, thin lips, and a bandage wrapped around his left eye, it was none other than that scoundrel Mu Qingyuan.

The woman on his lap was not a servant but surprisingly his cousin Mu Shu’s wife, Li Niang.

“Beast!”

Mu Feng cursed inwardly. He had long known that Mu Qingyuan was lustful, but he never expected the guy to even target his own cousin’s wife.

Worse than a beast!

His cousin Mu Shu used to be a handsome young master, but unlike this playboy, he trained diligently and had reached the Late Mortal Realm at a young age. However, half a year ago, while out on a mission, he accidentally contracted a serious illness. Though he managed to return to Mu Manor alive, his muscles withered, he couldn’t speak, and he could never stand again, a tragedy that made people sigh.

Just half a year, only half a year, and Mu Qingyuan had already taken his cousin’s wife. Clearly bullying his seriously ill cousin—what was he if not a beast?

Watching the disgraceful scene below, Mu Feng suddenly regretted not hitting harder that day outside the Shangling Terrace. Such a beast deserved to be castrated, so he could never harm innocent women again!

“Second Young Master, no… don’t do this!”

Li Niang half-heartedly resisted, putting on a show of reluctance to tease Mu Qingyuan’s appetite. With a gasp, she grabbed his clawing hand as it moved downward. “Second Young Master, it’s late and quiet, not like this—others might hear.”

“Hahaha, let them hear, what’s there to fear!”

Mu Qingyuan was brazen, his right hand persistently pushing downward. He leaned close to Li Niang’s ear and said fiercely, “Li Niang, stop struggling. If you were so chaste, why didn’t you resist to the death last time at your place, right in front of your husband? Hahaha, your husband Mu Shu is already a cripple. From now on, let me comfort you!”

Recalling the thrilling time he had with Li Niang at her home, right in front of her husband, Mu Qingyuan laughed heartily, savoring the memory.

“Don’t… Second Young Master, not like this. I’m… having my time of the month, it’s really not convenient today. Also, Eldest Young Master Mu Tie will be back soon. What if he finds out?” Li Niang grabbed Mu Qingyuan’s hand again, quickly changing the subject and voicing her concern.

Eldest Young Master?

Mu Qingyuan’s face stiffened, and his mood for fun vanished instantly.

If the guards knew about his affair with Li Niang, it wasn’t a big deal. But if Eldest Young Master Mu Tie caught him red-handed, that would be trouble. Though they were brothers, given Mu Tie’s nature, he might even gouge out his remaining eye on the spot. If not for Mu Feng pushing him too far, he wouldn’t have dared to crush the Messaging Talisman to call back this estranged elder brother.

“Be careful for a while, it should be fine.”

Seeing Mu Qingyuan’s fearful expression, Li Niang’s eyes flashed with disdain, but she quickly returned to normal. She pressed her full chest against him intentionally or not and continued, “But… Second Young Master, that Mu Feng is so fierce. Are you sure Eldest Young Master can handle him? What if…”

“Hmph, what ‘what if’?”

Hearing Mu Feng’s name, Mu Qingyuan’s face twisted viciously. “As the Chief Transmission Disciple, Big Brother has long reached the Mortal Realm Peak, with astonishing strength. After the Blood Pool Baptism, he might break through to the Elite Realm at any time. On this training trip, I heard he even gained a great opportunity at Beiliu Mountain. With his power, dealing with that brat Mu Feng will be a piece of cake. This time, Mu Feng is doomed, absolutely doomed. If he can still turn defeat into victory, I’ll gouge out my remaining eye myself!”

Touching the wound on his left eye, Mu Qingyuan gritted his teeth.

One eye—Mu Feng had blown out one of his eyes! Such a deep-seated hatred kept him awake at night; he dreamed of tearing Mu Feng apart.

Mu Tie?

The young master of Mu Manor who had reached the Mortal Realm Peak at a young age, known as the Chief Transmission Disciple?

Mu Feng was startled, feeling a heavy pressure well up inside him.

In that moment of mental turmoil, a cold wind seeped into his soul, chilling him to the core. The next moment, the dark night sky suddenly filled with eerie, lonely ghosts howling and wailing. The situation changed abruptly, becoming perilous in an instant. The surrounding air rippled, and the tiles on the roof rustled as if shaken.