Alone

After travelling all night, his ghouls had to hide. The sun would cause them pain and discomfort, severely weakening them before a raid.

Because of this, he had no choice but to hide them, but before he did, he issued a command.

"When it's time, the youngling will wake you, follow him and don't attack anything until I command otherwise."

There were no caves nearby and a lot of vast fields. Being limited in what he could do, Xue Yang decided down was the only other way.

He forced the ghouls to dig themselves a hole and hide within it. They could easily survive without air and get themselves out later.

Xue Yang planned to go ahead and find out any information he could while the ghoul army would be brought to the outskirts of town late into the night.

He wanted to find Bai Ling and to see if he could find any information on Li Qing.

Once he got what he wanted or simply got bored, Xue Yang would transmit his thoughts to his ghoul army to commence the raid.

The attack would be a distraction, allowing Xue Yang to act more freely when he pays the city lord's manor a visit.

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"Ahh," Finishing his drink, Xue Yan felt satisfied.

He was currently relaxing in a private room at the Purple Orchid Palace.

He had some history with this place, and before his plans commenced, he wanted to reminisce.

He had travelled ahead and spent some time walking around town.

Not finding anything out, he went to this place and occupied one of the better rooms for the entire night.

He was currently surrounded by beautiful women on either side. A table in front of him was littered with bottles of alcohol and plates of food.

Xue Yang looked out the window, sensing something off in the distance.

"It's time…" He muttered.

"Huh? What did you say, handsome?" Asked one of the women that were currently sticking closely to Xue Yang.

He smiled and looked at the woman, "Get the manager here for me."

Hearing the mention of the brothel manager frightened the girl.

"Is everything okay? If you are unhappy with our service, we can work something out without involving the manager…"

"That will be tough."

"Why is that?"

Xue Yang's smile deepened.

"I want his head."

His eyes glowed brightly as he continued, "So get him before I do it myself."

The woman nodded frantically before running out of the room.

The remaining girls were confused and slightly frightened. Not sure how to act next.

Xue Yang used his vampiric charm and decided to question them.

"Where is Bai Ling?"

"I don't know a Bai Ling."

He proceeded to also ask the other two women in the room, but he would receive a similar answer each time.

Not getting the answer he wanted, he changed his question.

"Tian Mei's maid. Where is she?"

"Oh, that little rat? The manager wanted her to replace Tian Mei. Unlucky for her, the city lord became interested in her, and the manager sent her a few hours ago to their manor."

Feeling the need to be pushed across the edge, Xue Yang asked another question.

"You disliked Bai Ling?"

"Yes, all she had to do was serve one lazy pretty girl, and just because of that, once that bitch died, she was going to take her easy job? Serves her right to go to that old pervert's home.

These words infuriated Xue Yang.

Unable to listen any longer to the true thoughts of the woman, Xue Yang slapped her.

The strength of the slap broke her neck and shattered her teeth, causing blood to splatter around the room.

Despite getting splattered with blood, the remaining girls remained perfectly still, waiting for their destiny.

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The doors to Xue Yang's room swung open, and three armed men entered.

Walking inside, they found a lone Xue Yang drinking the last of the wine.

"Oh, good you're here." He spoke, causing the armed men to halt.

"I'm out of wine, so bring me some more."

"We're not here to serve you."

"You're not?" He furrowed his brows.

"We are here to ask you to pay and escort you out."

"Why?"

"You've had too much to drink and made a dangerous joke towards our manager. You should feel lucky we are still letting you leave with your life. As long as you pay and leave without any trouble."

"HA HA HA HA HA!" Xue Yang erupted with laughter, bewildering the men.

"Ahhh…" Wiping a tear from his eye, he finally spoke.

"I'd like a refund. I asked for a specific head to deliver itself; instead, it sent me three clowns."

"Hey, who are you calling a clown!" One of the men shouted, attempting to step forward, but a hand blocked him.

"This is your last chance, young man. You can either pay and leave peacefully, or we can help you."

As he said it, he released his cultivation base, showcasing his strength.

Xue Yang became enveloped in his energy as it attempted to weigh him down and damper his spirit.

Unfortunately for the cultivator, he wasn't at a stage that would threaten Xue Yang.

'Heh, the sixth stage of the Core Formation realm.'

His primary opponent was four stages weaker in terms of cultivation. The other two also started to release their cultivation base, revealing to Xue Yang how outmatched they were.

Xue Yang jumped up with a smile, clapping his hands together.

"Perfect, I wouldn't mind some help."

Two of the men laughed at Xue Yang's ridiculous statement.

"Captain, this guy is kind of funny."

"I agree. Let's not kill him and just beat him half to death."

The men continued laughing, but their captain noticed something was wrong.

He saw Xue Yang sitting completely calm and relaxed, with a mouth that was stained red and pristine clothes as food and liquor bottles littered the area around him.

He was alone and saying things that could easily lead to his death, yet he didn't seem concerned.

This made the trio captain believe that Xue Yang might be insane.

His eyes widened as he realised a key fact.

'Alone, he is alone…'

'But I was told that some of our workers were here. What happened to them?' He asked himself as he recalled the information the girl Xue Yang sent shared with him.

He looked directly at Xue Yang.

His eyes were glowing bright red as his warm, charming smile transformed into something dangerous.