Beastmaster of the Ages

Once Huiye Zhuzhu left, Tianming and Huiye Shi continued on their way to meet her parents. On the way, Huiye Shi kept smiling and cussing. "That damned old crook with a shitty personality finally died! He deserved it, that prick! That sneaky fuck constantly had his mind on taking advantage of girls and he's finally paid for it!"

She felt on top of the world. But when she turned back, Tianming's brow seemed furrowed in worry. "What's wrong? Liu Yizhao is dead. It's a great boon to me. Why don't you look happy? Do you pity him for dying? I asked Zhuzhu and she said his death doesn't have anything to do with our clan."

"It's not that I'm unhappy, I just wanted to ask you if this is something that usually happens around here," Tianming said.

"Nope, never. This feels like a coincidence! Don't worry, the killer will soon be caught and the truth will come out. Now that the moon guide is dead and there's nothing to contradict our story, we're completely safe."

The death of Liu Yizhao had in fact come as a great boon to Tianming. He was among the people who had met him on the Flameyellow Continent, after all, but Huiye Shi was the only one left. Had he seen Liu Yizhao here, the latter might have figured out that he had something to do with the death of Huiyue Yin. But as Tianming wanted to make progress in his cultivation, he had no choice but to take the risk and come here.

Initially he had planned to do his best to avoid the moon guide, which should be possible given the sheer size of Huiyue Palace. And even if they did meet, there wasn't too much Liu Yizhao could do about it. There simply wasn't any merit in exposing the truth behind Huiyue Yin's death. First, how would he explain the reason he didn't reveal the actual truth to Huiyue Du while they were slaughtering the specters? Second, even if exposing it would cause Huiye Shi trouble, that didn't take away from the fact that he was trying to use it to threaten her into providing sexual favors.

For someone with a status like him to lust after the daughter of a friend would be a huge blow to his character. The only reason he had even dared to attempt such a thing was that he thought he could take advantage of her youth and naivete.

No doubt, Liu Yizhao would instantly be able to tell that Tianming was the accomplice, but he wouldn't reveal it unless he really had to. If things came to that point, it would definitely look rather bad on him, which was the reason Tianming had even dared to head to Huiyue City in the first place. As long as he was careful, it was a non-issue, but to think Liu Yizhao would be killed without a witness before he even became a real problem.... At the very least, they were safe as far as Huiye Shi was concerned.

"What about your parents? Will they have anything to say about me?" Tianming had never expected things to turn out this way back on the Flameyellow Continent. Otherwise, he wouldn't have shown himself when her parents went to slaughter the specters.

"Well, it's a little risky, but it shouldn't be that much of a problem. I made sure to bury the matter of my brother within the past month, so it's never been brought up again. I even tested them a few times on this and I can say that they wouldn't think too much about it. After all, you're not even an ascendant, so you shouldn't have been able to kill my brother."

"Wouldn't they ask how I managed to come here even though I'm not an ascendant?"

"I'll just say I had a friend bring you here. If they ask who, I'll mention Jiang Feiling. The cover I gave her makes her someone from the Divine Moon Realm, after all. My parents haven't met her, and they don't keep tabs on who I hang out with."

"You sure are meticulous." Tianming had thought about these issues the night before. He had planned to talk it over with Huiye Shi before they left, to get their stories straight, though it was less important now with Liu Yizhao gone.

"Of course! I'm rather smart, you know! Just try to lay low later and let me do the talking. Once we deal with my parents, you'll be completely in the clear."

"Alright, I'll let you do your thing," Tianming said, seeing how confident she was.

......

Huiyue Du and Yusheng Luo were among the elites in Huiyue City, and had higher status than Liu Yizhao. Normally, they resided within Duyue Mansion. Among the divine moonrace, children usually moved out of their parents' abode at the age of twenty, but they would still visit often. Duyue Mansion was far larger than the Shiyu Compound, and the guards and servants there also had high cultivations. They were surprised to see Huiye Shi visit with a youth and were discussing who he could be among themselves.

"Mom, Mom, are you here?" she yelled when she entered the courtyard, pulling Tianming along through the complicated maze of corridors. Eventually, they reached her parents' chambers deep inside. There was a beautiful building constructed above a lake and surrounded with cherry blossom trees. It was a truly beautiful sight.

"Mom, are you here? Answer me! Or I'll come straight in!" she called out.

"Alright, just wait... Mmmmhh...." rang an oddly seductive voice that surprised Tianming and Huiye Shi.

"It's still midday! I'm impressed!" Huiye Shi said with her face flushed.

The two of them then sat near the center building as they waited. Soon, the rear door of the building opened, allowing a thick wafting fragrance to seep out. Tianming stood up and saw a beautiful woman dressed in a loose silk dress coming out of the door, her face still flushed. When she saw Tianming and her daughter, her eyes lingered on him for a moment. "What is it? Why'd you bring an outsider here?"

"Where's Dad?" Huiye Shi asked.

"He's cultivating. Don't interrupt him." Yusheng Luo sat down, her long, fair legs slightly revealed through the slit in her dress.

Huiye Shi hurried and brewed her some moon tea. Yusheng Luo then gracefully poured herself a cup and enjoyed a sip. Huiye Shi looked rather similar to her mother, but she was obviously much younger and jumpy.

"Why don't we ask Dad to come out? I have a matter to discuss and he'll definitely get angry at me if I don't tell him about it beforehand," Huiye Shi said, mischievously poking her tongue out.

"What is it? Tell me."

"Mom, I want to take a concubine. It's him," she said 'shyly'.

"Oh? Are you serious?" Yusheng Luo seemed rather surprised as she sized up Tianming once more. "Hmmm, why does he seem somewhat familiar?"

"You don't remember?"

"Not really. Since we're talking about this, I'll ask your dad to come discuss it together." Yusheng Luo then called out toward the building. Soon, a huge, burly man came out with a pot in hand. He had a head of messy hair and stubble on his unshaven face.

A little annoyed, he sat down beside his wife and took a swig of wine. "Shishi, you said you wanted to take a concubine?"

"Yes, Daddy, I like him. He's talented and charming. Apart from the fact that he's of low status, he's perfect in all other ways. With some nurturing, his future is boundless," Huiye Shi said.

Tianming didn't think that women here, not just the men, would actually be able to take concubines. Not to mention, they used the same word for male and female concubines; there was no distinction. It was indeed a bit of a culture shock.

Huiyue Du stared at Tianming like a beast and furrowed his brow. "I know him. He's that native of the Flameyellow Continent. I even had him clean up the remaining specters."

He had recognized Tianming after all.

"Ah, I remember now. It was him," Yusheng Luo said.