Step by Step

Those eyes, like the venomous gaze of a serpent lurking in the darkness, flickered with a cold glint as they swept toward Yang Fan's position.

"There's such a cleverly concealed trap beneath the ground?" Yang Fan's heart skipped a beat. He had inadvertently triggered the mechanism, causing a soft chime to ring out. 

If it had been a magical restriction, Yang Fan's keen senses would have detected it. However, this was a physical trap—void of any spiritual energy fluctuations—making it nearly impossible to spot without thoroughly investigating beneath the surface.

Swish!

The sentry, an otherwise unremarkable man, narrowed his eyes, scanning the area where Yang Fan hid. After a moment of hesitation, he found nothing amiss and resumed his watch, his focus shifting elsewhere.

A cold sweat broke out on Yang Fan's forehead. He had nearly been exposed. 

In the instant the trap was triggered, Yang Fan reacted swiftly, casting his *Concealment Technique*, merging his form into the very air around him. 

The concealment method from the *Xianhong Manual* was extraordinarily advanced, and with Yang Fan's cultivation level far exceeding the sentry's, he managed to evade the man's detection. Yet, despite his mastery, Yang Fan could not afford to move or cast any spells while hidden—doing so would risk revealing his position.

With his close call, Yang Fan became even more cautious, pushing his *Life Mist* into the ground below, blending his awareness with the earth itself. Now, no mechanism, no matter how hidden, could escape his notice. He could even sense the smallest insects crawling beneath the soil.

One... two... three…

Yang Fan drew a sharp breath. There were over a dozen hidden traps scattered around the sentry's post!

"This has to be the handiwork of that old fox, Hu Bansian," Yang Fan thought grimly, his face tightening in concentration.

It dawned on him that tonight was not merely a battle of cultivators—it was a silent war of wits, a delicate dance of strategy and caution. And his opponent was an old trickster, a man who could be his grandfather, with wisdom, experience, and cunning far beyond that of an average cultivator.

Inwardly, a surge of fighting spirit welled up within Yang Fan. Any sense of complacency vanished. This was no longer a matter to take lightly—he had to secure a flawless victory, leaving no room for error.

With that thought, the sentry, positioned just three meters away, suddenly collapsed. His body slumped to the ground, blood seeping from his seven orifices as life left his body.

Yang Fan revealed himself, holding a small dark-purple bead in his hand. A faint, colorless vapor emanated from the bead, slipping into the sentry's body in just a few breaths. His blood had clotted, his spiritual energy lost all control, and his life force was extinguished without a sound.

This dark-purple bead was a poison talisman Yang Fan had crafted some time ago, using rare ingredients like the Blue Moon Centipede and Purple-Scaled Flower roots. A mere wisp of spiritual power could unleash a deadly toxin, subtle and swift, without regard for wind direction.

With the sentry dead, Yang Fan's task became much easier. He darted forward, using the night as cover, gliding toward the second sentry.

Without a sound, Yang Fan crept up behind the bright lookout, slipping past the traps hidden beneath the ground. As before, he used his poison talisman to silently take down the second guard, a cultivator in the early stage of the Qi Refinement Realm.

In this way, Yang Fan had stealthily eliminated both sentries, completing a crucial step in his plan. If Hu Bansian or Li Pang were alerted too soon, the night's mission would be jeopardized.

Quiet as a shadow, Yang Fan vaulted over the courtyard wall and entered the Liu family estate. With his spiritual awareness nearing the peak of the Spirit-Concentrating stage, he could easily evade Hu Bansian's detection without even entering full omniscience mode.

Meanwhile, Li Pang had already made his way to the door of Liu Manxiang's boudoir. He pierced the paper window and inserted a slender copper tube, through which a faint wisp of sedative smoke drifted into the room.

From a distance, Lin Zhong watched Li Pang's actions with an icy, murderous glint in his eyes, his hand instinctively reaching for the pouch at his waist.

"Stay calm," a familiar voice whispered beside him, a hand gently resting on his shoulder.

"Master..." Lin Zhong started, surprised that Yang Fan had approached so silently. Such mastery of stealth was something even a peak Qi Refinement cultivator would struggle to achieve.

"I've already made arrangements. The woman in that room is not Liu Manxiang, but merely a maid," Yang Fan said with a faint smile.

"A maid?" Lin Zhong was taken aback. "Then wouldn't that give Li Pang the upper hand?"

"Heh," Yang Fan chuckled, a mysterious and unreadable smile playing on his lips. "Let's wait and see who's really at an advantage."

Lin Zhong's face contorted with a mix of surprise and confusion. "Since you've planned for this, Master, I'll follow your lead."

"Remember, Li Pang is the favorite grandson of the Yang Fortress Patriarch. Right now, we cannot afford to kill him. Doing so would bring disaster upon us," Yang Fan warned.

Li Pang had few close allies or enemies, and his death would inevitably lead the Yang Fortress to investigate. Once they started, it would be easy to trace the crime back to either Hu Bansian or Yang Fan. The consequences would be dire for everyone involved. 

Until Yang Fan's strength grew enough to rival the Yang Fortress, Li Pang's life had to be spared. 

The real threat was Hu Bansian—the man was as cunning as a serpent, ruthless in his methods. He posed far more danger than the reckless and arrogant Li Pang.

As Lin Zhong and Yang Fan watched, Li Pang finished blowing the sedative into the room and swaggered through the door, heading toward the bed. A soft fragrance filled the room, making his heart race with anticipation. He swallowed hard, eyes gleaming with lust.

"He's inside," Lin Zhong whispered.

"Wait," Yang Fan said calmly.

A few moments passed, and faint sounds of pleasure could be heard from within the room.

For cultivators, such sounds were unmistakable.

Hu Bansian, keeping watch from within the Liu estate, glanced around cautiously, keeping an ear out for danger. When he heard those faint moans, a smug expression crossed his face.

"Go around to the back and be ready in case Hu Bansian tries to flee," Yang Fan instructed Lin Zhong, guiding him with his spiritual sense to avoid Hu Bansian's line of sight.

Soon, everything was in place, and Yang Fan felt a sense of reassurance.

Meanwhile, Hu Bansian continued his vigil, though he began to feel a growing unease. The sounds from the room were too loud. Even with the door closed and the walls providing decent insulation, it was strange that he could still hear them.

As his suspicions mounted, a figure suddenly appeared in his line of sight—it was Yang Fan.

Yang Fan glanced at him with a smile but said nothing, walking straight toward the room where Li Pang was.

"Stop!" Hu Bansian barked, ready to alert Li Pang.

Yang Fan merely chuckled and, without hesitation, pushed open the door.

Inside, the scene was grotesque. Li Pang, his face twisted in a lustful frenzy, was entangled with the woman on the bed, completely unaware of the outside commotion.

But when Hu Bansian's gaze shifted to the woman's face, his expression froze.

It wasn't Liu Manxiang.

In that instant, he realized—this was a trap!

What shocked him even more was the identity of the woman. She wasn't a girl, but a middle-aged hag, her face greasy and pockmarked, with a large mole sprouting hairs near her lip. Her body was burly and muscular, dwarfing Li Pang in both size and strength.

At that moment, the hag was straddling Li Pang, a look of bliss on her face as she pinned him beneath her, eyes ablaze with unquenchable desire.

The bed, which had once belonged to a noble lady, creaked and groaned under the weight of the hag's robust frame.

Hu Bansian was utterly stunned.

From his distant hiding place, even Lin Zhong was speechless, staring in disbelief.