"Greetings, Third Young Master!"
As Yang Yanpeng strolled in leisurely, Zhao Tianhu and the household servants who were practicing their martial arts all bowed in greeting.
"It's fine, carry on with your training. I'm just taking a look around." Yang Yanpeng wore a smile, seemingly in a good mood.
This was a complete departure from his usual expression, which made him look like everyone owed him money.
Although Zou Feng kept his head down, he was secretly observing Yang Yanpeng.
He noticed that while Yang Yanpeng had scanned everyone present, his gaze lingered for an extra moment on Xu Haoran and himself.
Furthermore, as Yang Yanpeng passed by him, the faint fragrance he had smelled last time was now nearly imperceptible.
This sent a slight chill through Zou Feng's heart.
He was now an expert in Poison Skills and knew exactly what this meant.
If his previous guess had been debatable, Zou Feng was now certain that Yang Yanpeng was secretly cultivating a Poison Skill.
Moreover, he had likely cultivated that Poison Skill to the level of "Entering the Hall and the Room," or perhaps even the higher Realm of Integration and Mastery!
Cultivating a skill to the Realm of Integration and Mastery meant that Yang Yanpeng had a chance to attempt a breakthrough into the Entering Grade...
'So, as a fellow practitioner of the Poison Dao, this guy might have already discovered that something's off about me.'
'But maybe he isn't certain, so he hasn't exposed me?'
'And Xu Haoran... he probably has his own secrets, too.'
'It seems the waters of this Yang Mansion run much deeper than I thought.'
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Zou Feng didn't panic.
'So what if his Poison Skill is at the Realm of Integration and Mastery?'
'My own progress with the Five Poison Palm is also on the verge of a breakthrough.'
'Not to mention, my Drunken Immortal Moon Gazing Step and Chaos Finger are also about to reach the level of Entering the Hall and the Room.'
With three Evil Skills at his disposal, Zou Feng's combat prowess below the Entering Grade could only be described with one phrase: truly terrifying.
Other people had to be extremely cautious when cultivating even a single Evil Skill, where the slightest misstep could lead to irreversible doom.
But Zou Feng was cultivating three Evil Skills at once.
This completely subverted the normal laws of the Martial Dao.
Therefore, upon sensing that Yang Yanpeng was likely up to something, Zou Feng simply raised his guard but did not become flustered.
More importantly, it was actually Yang Yanpeng who was caught in his grasp.
'Heh, now that you're on my transfer list, it doesn't matter how cunning you are. You'll still get trampled all over by me.'
Zou Feng immediately decided to scrap his plan of using his ability sparingly.
He would spare Yang Ling for now and transfer all the side effects to Yang Yanpeng.
'This way, even if Yang Yanpeng is plotting something, I have nothing to fear. I'll cripple this bastard first and deal with the rest later.'
Besides, the results of his modified Five Poison Palm should be clear by tonight.
It was time for the venomous creatures he had captured outside the city and purchased at the Ghost Market to serve their purpose...
'What if the side effects of the Five Poison Palm don't work on Yang Yanpeng?'
'Then let's see how the bastard deals with my new, improved Five Poison Creatures... '
After this, Yang Yanpeng truly did stand to the side and watch the household servants practice for a while.
The entire time, he wore a smile, looking to be in high spirits.
Only when the training session ended did Yang Yanpeng depart at a leisurely pace.
As he passed Zou Feng again, he even intentionally turned, nodded, and smiled at him.
"Good work. Keep it up!"
After "encouraging" Zou Feng with that one sentence, Yang Yanpeng left, perfectly content.
At that moment, looking at the man's sickeningly fake smile, Zou Feng almost lost control and slapped him across the face.
After all, the guy all but had the words "I have a scheme" written on his face.
'It seems that just using the side effects of my Evil Skills to trample all over Yang Yanpeng isn't enough.'
'I should just strike first and kill this bastard as soon as possible.'
'After all, in many situations, there's no need to rack your brains trying to guess and analyze someone else's plot.'
'Just kill them, and all your problems are solved.'
Once his cultivation was complete, Zou Feng was about to leave the front courtyard when a maidservant suddenly hurried toward him.
Zou Feng was quite familiar with this maid, named Xiaocui, as he had eaten many of the pastries she had brought him.
On one dark and windy night, Xiaocui had even snuck over to the woodshed, wanting to "chat" with him.
But he had been cultivating an Evil Skill at the time and could only pretend to be fast asleep.
Now, however, Xiaocui's eyes were red, as if she had just been crying.
Seeing this, Zou Feng casually asked, "Xiaocui, what's wrong? Did someone bully you?"
Xiaocui pressed her lips together and said nothing, but her expression was one of clear grievance.
"Who bullied you? Tell me. Next time I'm cooking in the back kitchen, I'll add some 'special ingredients' to their bowl..."
Xiaocui quickly waved her hands. "Brother Feng, no, I wasn't bullied."
"I just made a mistake and was scolded by the Young Miss... Also, the Young Miss said she has something for you and wants you to go see her..."
'Ugh, Yang Qianqian wants to see me?'
'Tsk, is this woman ever not annoying? Can she really not stand the thought that a servant's Martial Dao Talent might be greater than hers?'
With a helpless wave of his hand, Zou Feng couldn't be bothered to ask what nonsense Yang Qianqian wanted with him. "Lead the way, then," he said.
Following Xiaocui out of the front courtyard and onto a path paved with crushed stone, Zou Feng knew that Yang Qianqian was likely waiting for him in the rear garden.
"Xiaocui, did the Young Miss scold you because of the recent rumors in the mansion?"
Seeing they still had some distance to go before reaching the rear garden, Zou Feng decided to ask directly.
He had, of course, heard the rumors circulating in the mansion.
After all, rejecting the advances of so many maids was bound to stir up some gossip.
'Can't be helped. This is the inevitable consequence of being handsome and showing off my "talent."'
Fortunately, the rumor was that he was infatuated with Yang Qianqian, not that he had a preference for men.
'I just didn't expect Yang Qianqian to actually seem to care.'
'Normally, wouldn't a young lady from a prominent family just treat such rumors as a ridiculous joke?'
Hearing Zou Feng's question, Xiaocui nodded furiously. "Mhm... It wasn't just me. Several other maids were called in and scolded together."
"The Young Miss said that if she hears anyone wagging their tongue again, she'll have it pulled out..."
Zou Feng sighed helplessly. "Spreading rumors is indeed improper, but that punishment seems a bit too severe... And for some reason, I get the feeling that even in a rumor, she can't stand the idea of a mere household servant like me admiring her."
At that moment, Zou Feng couldn't help but recall a wuxia comedy film he had seen in his past life.
In it, an actress named Zuxian delivered a famous line: "You can't even think about it, even thinking is a crime!"
Hearing this, Xiaocui's face paled with fright. "Brother Feng, stop talking! For saying that... you'll be beaten with a plank, beaten to death!"
Zou Feng just smiled and said no more.
Of course, he hadn't said that to actually stand up for Xiaocui.
He was purely and simply annoyed with Yang Qianqian.
After cultivating Evil Skills, he could clearly feel himself becoming more petty and vengeful.
Soon, Xiaocui led Zou Feng to the rear garden.
Just as he stepped through the garden gate, he saw a baffling scene in a clearing not far away.
Yang Qianqian was in a Horse Stance, appearing to be cultivating her skill.
And in front of her stood a large stone, the size of two water vats stacked on top of each other.
This large stone must have originally been part of the rockery in the garden's pond.
Perhaps sensing Zou Feng's arrival, Yang Qianqian slowly reached out, her movements graceful as she placed her fair palm upon the surface of the stone...