The woman moaned softly. This was Madame Xue. She was twenty years old, a former disciple of a Yin-focused sect whom Gu Yan had married recently.
She was stunning. Her skin was flushed pink. She wore only a translucent gauze robe that hid nothing. Her chest heaved up and down violently because she was suffering.
Gu Yan smiled cruelly. "My little kitten. The Yin Fire Pill I fed you at dinner... is it working?"
Madame Xue bit her lip, tearing the silk sheet with her fingers. "It burns... husband... I feel empty... please... give me your Yang... fill me..."
Gu Yan walked to the table. He did not rush to the bed. He enjoyed seeing her desperate.
"Patience," Gu Yan said, although he himself was already unbuttoning his robe. "You know my body is not as young as it used to be. I need to prepare."
Gu Yan was fifty years old. Although he was a cultivator at the Body Tempering Stage 9, his 'essential energy' was weak due to years of indulgence. He opened a small jade box on the table. Inside was a Red Dragon Pill.
It was a potent drug to boost male potency.
"Wait for the medicine to dissolve," Gu Yan sat on the edge of the bed, stroking Madame Xue's thigh. "We have time."
She nodded. "What's troubling you, my husband?"
"A pig." He scowled.
Although Madame Xue asked that question, she was barely in the mood for chit-chat. She grabbed his hand and pressed it against her chest. "The pig... Zhu?"
"Yes. That disgusting creature, I should have strangled it fifteen years ago when my foolish older brother brought it home."
"Why..." Madame Xue panted, trying to distract herself from the heat in her belly. "I heard…he is... so strong suddenly, how?"
"Who knows? Maybe he ate a lucky herb," Gu Yan scoffed. "But it doesn't matter. He must die. He reminds me too much of them."
"Them?"
"My brother and his wife. The former Clan Leaders," Gu Yan poured himself a glass of wine to wash down the pill.
He felt safe here. No ears could hear him. So his arrogance made him loose-lipped.
"Do you know why they died in the Beast Tide three months ago?" Gu Yan laughed sinisterly. "Everyone thinks it was an accident. Bad luck. Fate."
Madame Xue froze for a second, her lust momentarily replaced by shock. "It wasn't... an accident?"
"Accident? Bah!" Gu Yan sneered. "My brother was powerful. He was at the Spirit Gathering Realm! A simple beast tide couldn't kill him."
Gu Yan leaned closer to his wife, his face twisting into a malicious grin.
"I put 'Luring Beast Powder' on their cloaks before they left. It attracts Level 3 Spirit Beasts. They were swarmed by hundreds of Demon Wolves. They were torn to pieces!"
"But... why?" Madame Xue asked, trembling.
"Because they were insane!" Gu Yan slammed his cup on the table. "Do you know what they planned? They found out they could not have children. So, they wanted to formally adopt Zhu. A Pig! They wanted to make a Spirit Beast the Heir of the Gu Clan!"
Gu Yan stood up, pacing the room.
"Can you imagine? I, Gu Yan, would have to bow to a pig? My son Gu Bo would have to serve a pig? Unacceptable! I had to kill them. I did it for the glory of the Gu Clan!"
He took a deep breath, feeling the Red Dragon Pill finally starting to heat up his lower abdomen. The heat returned to his eyes.
"But enough about dead ghosts," Gu Yan looked at Madame Xue's glistening body. "The pill is working. The pig will be dead by morning. Tonight, I will plant a human seed in you."
Madame Xue looked at him. She was disgusted by the murder, but she was a weak woman relying on him for survival, and right now, the drugs in her blood made her desperate for relief.
"Come... husband..." she reached out her arms.
Gu Yan laughed, "Hahaha! Little slut, here I come!"
He lunged toward the bed.
However.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
A loud, mocking sound clicked from the dark corner of the room.
Gu Yan froze mid-air. He landed clumsily on the bed. His heart nearly stopped.
"Who is there?!" he screamed, pulling a dagger from under the pillow. "This is a forbidden room! Guards!"
"No need to shout. The soundproofing array you paid so much money for is very good. Nobody can hear you scream," a rough, gravelly voice spoke.
From the shadows in the corner, a figure emerged.
It was a large, round silhouette.
Tian Wudi walked into the light. He held a half-eaten peach in his hand. He was leaning against a pillar, crossing his short legs casually.
"You!" Gu Yan's eyes bulged. "Zhu!"
Madame Xue screamed and pulled the blanket to cover her chest.
Tian Wudi took a bite of the peach. Slurp.
"The story was very touching," Tian Wudi chewed loudly. "For the clan? Right? I almost cried. But honestly, murder? Betrayal? Fratricide? It is so... cliche."
Tian Wudi threw the peach pit onto the expensive carpet.
"I knew there was something fishy," Tian Wudi shook his pig head. "My previous owners…Mother and Father…were strong. Dying in a beast tide seemed stupid. But hearing you admit it... well, that makes things simpler for me."
Gu Yan trembled. Not with fear, but with shock. How did the pig get in? Why were the alarms silent?
"How...?"
"Your array formation is trash," Tian Wudi interrupted him, reading his mind. "It relies on a basic spirit loop. I simply urinated on the western corner rune outside. The acidity disrupted the flow. I walked right in."
"You pissed on my sanctuary?!" Gu Yan roared.
"It was a very long pee. I drank a lot of wine," Tian Wudi shrugged.
He looked at Madame Xue on the bed. He looked at her sweat-drenched body, her flushed face, her eyes that were hazy with lust.