Yanbo City had a curfew, and after nightfall, no one was allowed to wander around the city’s markets, except for Chunlai Square. This was because the entire street was filled with brothels and other places of pleasure, also known as the Flower Street.

It seemed that every city had its own Flower Street.

And Chu Liang had visited the local Flower Street almost every time he arrived at a new place, which was somewhat strange…

“I am a person who has risen above low-level tastes, you don’t need to look at me with those eyes,” he said helplessly.

After he asked for the location of the Flower Street and led the way there, Lin Bei and Shang Ziliang looked at him with a subtle gaze.

That gaze seemed to say… I didn’t expect you, a handsome young man, to be this kind of person.

“Ah, yes, yes, yes.” After hearing Chu Liang’s words, Shang Ziliang nodded repeatedly, “Although we are going to visit the brothel, we should also go with a critical eye.”

Lin Bei also nodded, “That’s right, the whole street here is full of poor women who are barely clothed, what’s wrong with us giving them some money?”

“…” Chu Liang was speechless for a moment, and quickly said, “We are here for serious business, stop showing your vulgar faces.”

With that, he walked straight into the largest brothel.

Due to the recent heart gouging case, there were very few people out at night, and the business in the brothel was very quiet. So when the girls at the door saw them, they immediately welcomed the three of them in with great enthusiasm.

Chu Liang quickly waved his hands in refusal, found a table, ordered some fruit platters and snacks, and the three of them sat down for the time being.

After settling down, Lin Bei said, “You really talk the most decently, but you walk the fastest. I usually hesitate to enter a brothel, afraid that acquaintances will see me, but you don’t care at all.”

“This is my first time here, my father never let me come to such places before.” Shang Ziliang looked around excitedly, “Big brother, I’ll follow you for the rest of my life!”

“Let’s not talk about that for now.” Chu Liang lowered his voice and called the two closer, “I really came here to investigate the demonic cultivator.”

“Alright, there are no outsiders here.” Lin Bei laughed.

“I spent the whole afternoon checking the files and found that although the victims were killed all over the city, the time was basically at midnight, when Yanbo City was under curfew and people wouldn’t normally be wandering around.” Chu Liang explained, “The people who would be out alone at night, most likely have a special status.”

“Literati!” Lin Bei immediately added.

“Correct, because staying overnight in the brothel here requires an extra expensive fee, many people don’t need to stay that long…” Chu Liang continued.

Upon hearing this, Lin Bei murmured, “If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t die, I would have to stay until dawn before leaving.”

“I’m the same.” Shang Ziliang quickly said.

“Cough.” Chu Liang coughed to interrupt their digression.

“So they would go home at night?” Shang Ziliang quickly asked, pulling his thoughts back.

“Yes, although there are curfew soldiers patrolling, experienced literati can avoid them. I just asked the city guards, even if they are caught, if they haven’t committed a crime, they are usually just fined some silver.” Chu Liang said, “And these people naturally become the best targets for the demonic cultivator.”

“This demonic cultivator is too hateful!” Lin Bei said angrily.

They empathized deeply.

“He targets literati who are going home as his victims, and he definitely won’t patrol the whole city to find them, so this Flower Street must be his starting point.” Chu Liang said solemnly, “Perhaps at this moment, he is just like us, waiting here for the night to fall.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Bei and Shang Ziliang immediately became tense, their breathing a bit heavy.

…

Li Si stood in the middle of the long street, running a beef offal stall, with a pot boiling in front of him. He was short and thin, and passersby wouldn’t notice him.

Or the murderous look hidden in his eyes.

Today’s business was surprisingly good, because although there were fewer customers on Flower Street, the number of vendors who dared to set up stalls had also drastically decreased, leaving only him in the vicinity.

No one would have thought that such an honest-looking vendor would be the heart-gouging demon who had killed seven people.

Even Li Si himself couldn’t believe it.

He had lived a simple life for the past thirty years, with a small, not very sturdy house outside the city, and a strong and fierce wife. Every evening, he would push his cart into the city to sell snacks on Flower Street, and as soon as the sky began to lighten, he would quickly push his cart home and sleep during the day.

Every day, watching the decadence and prosperity here, his heart was unmoved, only feeling that these glamorous girls and well-dressed nobles were in a different world from him, close yet far away.

Until that day ten years ago.

At that time, there was a thunderstorm in the sky, and it was as dark as ink. On his way home pushing his cart, he found a cave to shelter from the rain, and accidentally fell into a big river.

He had taken shelter in this cave before, but he didn’t know when there was such a cold river in the cave. He was washed a long way by the river, and when he climbed up again, he found himself in a strange place.This place was cold and gloomy, with bones scattered all over the ground, as if it was hell itself.

He found a book here, which surprisingly contained some cultivation methods. These were cultivation techniques! Moreover, they didn’t seem to require high aptitude, anyone could practice them.

Li Si had never dared to dream of such an opportunity before.

Was this a sign that the heavens were going to save his humble life?

However, this cultivation method was extremely sinister. To start practicing, one had to kill a living person. Li Si’s heart pounded as he read, thinking that this must be the legendary demonic cultivation method. He couldn’t let anyone find out.

When he looked up again, he found that the thunderstorm had stopped. Where was the river that was there before? He was standing in the middle of a desolate mountain graveyard.

Only the book remained in his hand.

When he returned home, his wife berated him for losing the cart. Anger surged in Li Si’s heart, and he killed his wife, making her the stepping stone for his cultivation.

From then on, he embarked on the path of cultivation.

The progress of the demonic cultivation method was fast, and it didn’t require any resources, just continuous killing. During this process, Li Si’s heart seemed to become more twisted and insane.

He had hardly ever been angry in his previous decades of life, but since obtaining this cultivation method, he began to hate. He hated his ugly wife, the powerful officials, the literati, the good girls, and his own insignificance… This might not be the result of the cultivation method, but the seeds that had always existed in his heart. For decades, he had never realized how much he hated these glamorous people.

Now, he had power.

And with it, anger.

It took him ten years to reach the stage of forming his core. During these ten years, he killed many people for his cultivation, all on the outskirts of the city and at long intervals, so he was never discovered. Some of the murders were not even noticed.

He gradually derived pleasure from the killings.

But it also aroused some vigilance. Many people had moved away from the village where he lived, and those who stayed did not dare to go out alone.

That’s why he set his target for forming his core in the city, on the people he had always hated.

Because he was very cautious, he had not been discovered yet. But he didn’t have a storage artifact, so the human hearts he had dug out could only be preserved like pork, and couldn’t be stored for too long.

He had to speed up.

Only two more. He just needed to kill two more people, and he would have the chance to form his core, and then leave Yanbo City to venture into the world.

Li Si’s eyes were cold as he fixed his gaze on two figures ahead, a fat rich man and a servant in a green hat, who were leaving in a carriage.

Li Si silently chanted in his heart…

After this job, he could stop.

Good morning.

(End of Chapter)