Li Quanfeng

“The area of this small shop is not large, but its location is extremely advantageous. Since there are no other buildings on the left, they opened several windows on the wall, so the natural lighting is quite good…”

Inside a simple yet grandly decorated room, a middle-aged man walked forward. He was considerably more robust than an average person, with broad shoulders and a tall stature that stretched his clothes tight. This man, who carried an air of nobility, was wearing a friendly smile as he introduced the interior layout of the shop to Lin Shao, who only reached his shoulder.

Lin Shao had changed his attire. It was not as flamboyant as the one he wore to the auction, but it was more form-fitting. He held a paper fan and nodded slightly whenever the middle-aged man looked at him, signaling his approval.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man grew even more enthusiastic. He exerted more effort to explain the potted plants from the Western Regions and the ink paintings created by national masters.

As the middle-aged man turned around, Lin Shao took the opportunity to heave a sigh of relief. Boss Lu was indeed an old veteran of the world; the shop decoration suited his taste perfectly. However, this worker left behind to receive him, named Li Quanfeng, was far too talkative. He had been rambling about north, south, east, and west for ages, practically introducing every single flower and blade of grass in the shop.

If it were not for the fact that this worker was thick-waisted, broad-shouldered, and had a face full of fierce authority, Lin Shao would not have listened for this long.

‘No wonder Mu Li said she felt unwell and went to sleep on the second floor the moment she arrived.’ ‘She must have predicted this and left me alone to deal with this chatterbox.’ ‘Honestly, what happened to mutual help?’ ‘We could have at least taken turns—you sit here for a bit while I go sleep.’

While Lin Shao was running small scenarios in his head, Li Quanfeng turned back and smiled at him.

“That is the general situation. If there is anything the Young Master is dissatisfied with, please do not hesitate to tell me.”

‘Thank heavens.’ Lin Shao felt the same sense of liberation one feels when a school principal finally finishes a graduation speech. He smiled at Li Quanfeng and said softly:

“I am very satisfied.”

Li Quanfeng smiled as well and was about to say something more. Fearing he would open the chatterbox again, Lin Shao quickly let out a half-real yawn and shook his head with a smile:

“I am not young anymore; I actually feel tired.” “You should head back.” “Tell Lu Haifu that he has done a good job with this.”

Hearing this, Li Quanfeng’s mouth opened slightly as if he clearly wanted to say something, but in the end, nothing came out. He nodded: “Understood. I will pass the word to Lu Haifu when I return.”

Watching Li Quanfeng leave, Lin Shao rotated his aching neck, thinking about asking Mu Li to give him a massage later.

‘Blind massage?’

The term suddenly popped into his head, and Lin Shao shook his head with a wry smile. Remembering something, he pulled out a red jade pendant. This was the very same pendant he had obtained from the girl at the auction—the one allegedly made by the Yuanshi Immortal Venerable that could dispel misfortune, gather blessings, and block disasters for its owner.

“This thing… I will just sell it as a handicraft.” “I would not want someone to actually believe it can block disasters and end up losing their life because of it.” He looked it over and placed the pendant in a conspicuous spot on a wooden shelf, then headed upstairs.

After he left, the large parrot with messy feathers flapped its wings and flew over. It tilted its head, staring at the red jade pendant. For some reason, the red pendant began to emit a faint red glow. The coiled azure dragon seemed to stretch its body, and bursts of dragon roars echoed within the room.

The parrot suddenly opened its beak and cursed in a sharp voice:

“So noisy! Shut up!”

With that angry shout, the red jade pendant actually dimmed, and the dragon roars gradually lowered until they returned to silence.

The parrot grabbed the pendant with its claws, then slammed it back down heavily. Like a human, its eyes showed disdain, and its beak opened and closed to let out a spit sound. It flapped its wings back to the desk and went to sleep with its belly facing up.

A hundred steps away from Guyue Residence stood a massive scholar tree. The burly Li Quanfeng had not actually left; instead, he was hiding behind the tree, his brow furrowed into the shape of the character [川].

As a Duke of the State, he was busy every day. He had finally found some time to rest at home when he received news from his steward, Lu Haifu, saying that a major figure had arrived at Liuli Hall—one whom even the Emperor had specifically sought out.

Internal affairs at court had not been peaceful lately. A few days ago, he had made some indirect inquiries during the morning assembly and learned that the Emperor intended to reorganize the administration. Now that she was secretly meeting someone in private, it was possible this person was heavily involved in that reorganization!

Knowing this person was going to stay on the antique street for a while, he had personally rushed over to oversee the renovations to cater to the man’s tastes. He wanted to see if he could fish out a word or two to understand the Emperor’s thoughts on the upcoming purge and who was destined for disaster.

During their meeting just now, he had introduced the place for a long time. He could see that this man named Lin Shao was quite satisfied with the shop. He had planned to take the opportunity to bring up court affairs and steer the conversation toward Lin Shao’s views, but he did not expect Lin Shao to use exhaustion as an excuse to usher him out.

“As expected of the person chosen by the Emperor.” “He saw through the purpose of my visit perfectly and preemptively cut off my topic.” A sharp glint flashed in Li Quanfeng’s eyes. He could not return empty-handed. He had to get some information; no one knew when the Emperor would strike. If he was involved and had not prepared in advance, he would truly be doomed.

‘Go back and see if I can overhear a key conversation.’ Li Quanfeng had mastered the Level 6 technique [Record of the Hidden Seal], which was excellent for concealment. Combined with a breath-hiding artifact in his possession, he was confident he would not be caught.

Having made his decision, he circulated the true qi in his body. With a twist of his feet, he transformed into a clear breeze and flew toward Guyue Residence. The breeze slipped through the gap in the door and reformed into a human shape inside the room. As the wind dissipated, Li Quanfeng had returned silently to the interior of Guyue Residence.

He stayed low, confirming that Lin Shao was not on the first floor. He then circulated his true qi again, preparing to fly to the second floor as a breeze. However, just as the wind began to manifest, a faint, ethereal dragon roar echoed, actually shattering the true qi he had gathered.

Li Quanfeng was greatly shocked. He looked toward the source of the roar and saw the red jade pendant on the wooden shelf emitting a faint glow. In the dim room, it looked like the eyes of a dragon, staring straight at him.

“This is…” Cold sweat poured down Li Quanfeng’s face. He recognized it instantly as the red jade pendant the Emperor always carried. It was said that the Yuanshi Immortal Venerable had plucked a scale from an azure dragon to create it, and it contained a strand of true dragon aura.

Since the Emperor had worn it for so long without incident, he had thought the dragon aura had long since faded. Who would have thought that at this very moment, that aura had been activated!

“Why would it suddenly activate?” He was baffled. Then, the red mist emitted from the pendant’s surface began to spread, snaking through the potted plants on the shelf, moving from one item to the next, then to the calligraphy and paintings…

Seeing this, Li Quanfeng suddenly remembered. During the decoration and design phase, he had specially invited a master of Yin and Yang. Following that master’s instructions, the placement of every flower pot, wooden table, and painting had a specific purpose. When connected, they formed the shape of a coiled dragon.

The master had given a bitter smile at the time, saying this dragon had the form but no spirit; laymen would not see it, and experts would just laugh it off. He had suggested it would be better to just buy a few more paintings. But Li Quanfeng felt Lin Shao might recognize it and appreciate the effort, so he kept it.

When he was explaining the room earlier, he had deliberately avoided mentioning the hidden dragon. Seeing that Lin Shao did not mention it either, he thought Lin Shao had not noticed and felt slightly disappointed. But now, it seemed that was not the case at all.

The position of the red jade pendant was exactly at the ‘Dragon’s Eye’. Since the pendant contained true dragon aura, placing it there was equivalent to ‘dotting the eyes of a painted dragon’. It instantly activated the hidden dragon in the room as a guardian of the shop.

Li Quanfeng’s cheek twitched. He had still underestimated Lin Shao. As a person personally received by the Emperor, how could he be so easily schemed against? Seeing the dragon formed of red mist slowly surrounding him while the roars intensified, he knew things were bad. He circulated his true qi, wanting to run out before the dragon fully solidified.

Just as he was about to move, a sharp, annoyed, and arrogant voice rang out from the distance:

“Fck, so dmn annoying!”