Chapter 1689 - 307:

"There are plenty of fun places. Once I've finished cleaning up the house, I'll take you all out to have some real fun. We'll get ourselves a boat, drift along the river, and listen to some pipa tunes."

"Listen to the pipa?"

"Haven't you read 'Song of the Pipa'?"

"It's in the Chinese textbook. I've memorized it."

"First line."

"At Xunyang's river head, on a night I send off a friend."

"The Xunyang there is Jiujiang."

Zhao Yi parked the car beside an old three‑story building.

"Everyone, out we go."

Lin Shuyou shouldered his pack, looked up at the rusted iron railings above, caked with generations of bird shit, then lowered his head and looked at the shabby, paint‑peeling front door.

This place sat at the edge of the city, like a corner that had been forgotten.

"Three-eyed, this is the setup we get?"

Ah You didn't quibble about conditions, but he liked quibbling with Zhao Yi.

He's the Eldest Young Master after all, and yet when his friends come, he puts them up here.

"Sorry, conditions are limited, I can't entertain you properly."

Zhao Yi took out a key and opened the door. Inside was pitch black, with a rotting smell seeping outward.

Everyone walked in.

The rotting smell was still there, but it transformed into another kind of "decay" in its manifestation.

Inside, the spatial layout expanded several times over in an instant—absolutely not something that building outside could possibly contain—and the interior was lavishly decorated, antique in style, extremely grand.

Lin Shuyou: "Wow."

In that moment, Lin Shuyou felt the gap between the Official General Head Temple and an old Jianghu family.

You had to remember, Zhao Yi had already split off from the Jiujiang Zhao Family; this should be part of the extras he got when they divided the family.

Zhao Yi patted Lin Shuyou's shoulder. "Quit 'wow'ing. Your Brother Xiao Yuan's family assets are way more over the top than mine. Later, when there's a chance, have your Brother Xiao Yuan take you to tour the ancestral estates of the Qin and Liu Families. Even I go there and have to 'wow'!"

Right after that, Zhao Yi led everyone upstairs.

"Come on, the bedrooms are on the third floor. This place is an annex under my name, but I already dismissed the staff here long ago."

Once they entered the bedroom and pushed open the window, the view outside was wide open, Jianghu silhouettes overlapping, mountains and rivers reflecting each other.

After settling everyone in, Zhao Yi said to Li Zhiyuan, "I'm going to meet my people, hear the intel I told them to dig up inside the family. Tonight might be quiet, or it might not be."

Li Zhiyuan: "That cousin of yours?"

Zhao Yi: "That guy has a bit of a special kink. I've already set the bait. It's either tonight or tomorrow night he comes out. Don't worry, he won't be able to hold it in."

Li Zhiyuan: "If he bites, let us know so we can go watch the show."

Zhao Yi chuckled. "Watch what show, my Zhao family's dogs tearing into each other?"

Li Zhiyuan nodded.

Zhao Yi: "Alright, as the first event after coming to Jiujiang, I'll make sure everyone has a great time watching."

After saying a few words to the others, Zhao Yi left.

From then on, the gang stayed in this lavish, first‑class riverside inn, drinking purified water and eating compressed biscuits.

Li Zhiyuan took a shower, lay down on the bed.

The window in front of him was wide open; the night wind, heavy with moisture, blew in constantly, bringing both coolness and stickiness.

Even though he had already slept in the car, the young man still planned to keep resting.

But before closing his eyes to sleep, Li Zhiyuan snapped his fingers, breaking the Array‑based soundproofing between all the rooms on this floor.

At one in the morning, the sound of a brick phone came from Tan Wenbin's room.

In no time, they were all out of bed.

Li Zhiyuan opened his eyes, sat up, got dressed, and walked to the door.

Tan Wenbin was standing at the door. "Brother Xiao Yuan, Zhao Yi called. He wants us to go perform."

Everyone went downstairs, and as they pushed the door open to step out, they saw a jeep parked outside, with Liang Yan behind the wheel.

"Brother Xiao Yuan."

Li Zhiyuan gave her a slight nod and got in the car.

On the way, Liang Yan gave a brief rundown.

Zhao Yi's cousin is named Zhao Xu.

To cover up a scandal during this period, Zhao Yi's second uncle had arranged for him to stay in an outer residence.

Originally Zhao Yi had planned to charge straight into the outer residence and take him down, but when he realized that so many eyes were on the Zhao family, he had no choice but to change tactics and become more cautious.

After all, Emperor Fengdu and the Bodhisattva, those two terrifying beings, were just the ones they knew about. Could you be sure it was only those two?

The full‑frontal approach was temporarily scrapped; they had to think of a way to lure him out.

Fortunately, a dog can't stop eating shit, and tonight Zhao Xu had taken the bait.

Lin Shuyou asked curiously, "What exactly is that Zhao Xu's kink?"

Liang Yan glanced at the rearview mirror and answered, "Women."

Hearing that answer, Lin Shuyou blinked, a bit puzzled, and sat back.

For a man, liking women… counts as a special kink now?

Run Sheng sat quietly.

Tan Wenbin had guessed a few things already, so he didn't ask.

Li Zhiyuan spoke up. "And the bait is Liang Li?"

Liang Yan: "Yes."

Li Zhiyuan: "Is Zhao Xu really that dumb?"

Liang Yan: "As our boss puts it, once he bites, the rest is just a matter of tying a few extra knots."

Li Zhiyuan closed his eyes.

Tan Wenbin asked, "What about Xu Ming and Chen Jing?"

Liang Yan: "According to the new formula Young Master gave him, Chen Jing is soaking a new solution and can't leave seclusion. Xu Ming is staying by his side to take care of him."

That little Taoist Chen Jing, half demon and half human, was someone Zhao Yi had deliberately kept back to deal with the Yu Family's trump card.

So the little Taoist, still in his growth phase, wasn't going to be used yet and needed to be kept carefully protected.

The car stopped halfway up the mountain; the road ahead was gone.

Liang Yan: "From here, we'll have to run a stretch."

Run Sheng bent down.

Li Zhiyuan climbed onto his back, one arm wrapping around Run Sheng's neck, the fingers of his other hand gently rubbing as he said,

"It's going to rain."

Run Sheng pulled a Luo Sheng Umbrella out of his backpack.