54: Chapter 54 Cleaned up and back in business.

In the private room on the second floor, the aroma of tea curled in the air.

Jiang Feng did not even stand up; he merely took in everything happening downstairs through the gaps in the window lattice.

The sound of slaps, a young girl's muffled whimpering, and the arrogant cursing of a middle-aged man with a goatee all drifted up clearly.

Beside him, Yao Shifei's fingers holding her teacup paused slightly. Her brow furrowed, and a cold light settled in her eyes.

She was originally a Prodigy of the Medicine King Valley; her innate pride remained, and she absolutely detested such filthy acts of bullying.

Moreover, the one being beaten belonged to the Qixia Alchemy Pavilion.

It was the first business under her name.

To beat a dog, one must first look at its master.

Jiang Feng said nothing; he simply withdrew his gaze and shot Yao Shifei a look.

She was the public owner of the Qixia Alchemy Pavilion, so it was only natural for her to deal with these troublemakers who had come knocking.

Jiang Feng had long expected the He Family to show up. In fact, the other families of the Huoyang Commandery were bound to come and test the waters sooner or later. The Medicinal Pill market was highly lucrative; with him barging in so flamboyantly to claim a share, there was no way they could sit still.

He just hadn't expected them to be so impatient and to use such low-class, crude methods.

That was fine too.

It saved him the trouble of setting a trap.

Today, he would use these blind fools to establish a bloody rule for all the lowlifes in the entire Huoyang Commandery.

Yao Shifei understood immediately. She set down her teacup, stood up, and glided silently to the top of the stairs.

She still wore her veil, revealing only a pair of cold, dark eyes.

In the main hall, no one dared to speak.

The middle-aged man with the goatee was basking in the fearful gazes of the crowd, his foot grinding into the back of the young girl's slender hand. The girl's face was pale with pain, but she bit her lip hard, not daring to make a sound.

Just then, he felt a sudden hush behind him.

A fresh, herbal fragrance drifted over, crisp and carrying a trace of chill.

Turning around, he saw a graceful figure standing at the top of the stairs.

Draped in an elegant, simple palace gown, her figure was slender and her curves exquisite. Though her face was veiled, her ethereal, otherworldly aura still caused every man present to catch his breath.

Furthermore, there was no fluctuation of spiritual energy coming from her body.

The goateed man sized Yao Shifei up from head to toe, his eyes filled with lust.

"Are you the one in charge?"

She merely stared at him in silence.

There was no anger or killing intent in her gaze—only a cold indifference, as if she did not even register the living person before her.

Unnerved by her gaze, the goateed man instantly flew into a rage out of shame.

"What are you looking at? I asked you a question!"

Yao Shifei moved.

With a flick of her pale hand, an official document stamped with the vermilion seal of the Commandery Lords Mansion shot out. With a sharp thud, it was nailed half an inch in front of the goateed man's foot, its edge deeply embedded into the bluestone floor.

"The Qixia Alchemy Pavilion is approved and registered by the Commandery Lords Mansion, pays its taxes on time, and is protected by the Commandery Lords Mansion."

Her voice was not loud, but every word echoed clearly throughout the entire hall.

The goateed man froze for a moment, glanced down at the document, and then burst into a fit of arrogant laughter.

"Hahaha! The Commandery Lords Mansion? You're trying to pressure me with the Commandery Lords Mansion?"

He laughed so hard he bent double.

"Little lady, are you new to the Huoyang Commandery? Do you even know whose surname rules Huoyang City?"

The several He Family Cultivators behind him also roared with laughter, their eyes full of mockery as they looked at Yao Shifei.

The Commandery Lords Mansion?

In this chaotic region of the West City, such official nonsense was worth less than scrap paper. Here, whoever had the biggest fist made the rules.

The goateed man cut off his laughter and spoke.

"It seems you don't know the rules. Since that's the case, this Third Master will teach you a good lesson today."

With that, he actually reached out, clawing toward the veil on Yao Shifei's face.

"I'd like to see just how alluring the face beneath this veil is!"

The surrounding Loose Cultivators let out a collective gasp.

They all thought this ethereal proprietress was bound to suffer today.

However, just as the goateed man's hand was about to touch the pristine white veil...

From the second floor came a lazy, even somewhat impatient voice.

"Kill them."

The voice was very soft and casual.

The He Family members were taken aback, while the goateed man grew even more arrogant, turning to yell upstairs.

"Who? Who the hell is farting up there? Get your ass down here!"

Before his words could fully land...

A bone-chilling light suddenly erupted in Yao Shifei's eyes.

"Noisy."

Her red lips parted slightly as she spat out those two words.

The next moment, her figure vanished from the spot.

Among the Loose Cultivators present, the highest cultivation was only at the eighth level of Qi Refining. They only saw a faint green afterimage flash through the seven or eight He Family Cultivators.

*Puff! Puff! Puff...*

A series of soft sounds of sharp blades slicing into flesh rang out, so rapid they almost merged into one.

The sinister grin on the goateed man's face was still frozen, and his outstretched hand remained suspended in midair, but his pupils dilated rapidly as a rattling sound came from his throat.

A razor-thin line of blood slowly emerged on his neck.

He wanted to say something, but could not utter a single word. His vision went black, and his consciousness plunged into boundless darkness.

*Thud.*

*Thud, thud, thud...*

Seven or eight bodies collapsed stiffly almost at the same time, blood spurting from their necks and instantly staining the floor red.

A single move.

A mere single exchange.

Eight He Family experts at the Late Stage of Qi Refining, including a manager at the ninth level of Qi Refining, were all dead.

The entire Qixia Alchemy Pavilion fell into a dead silence.

Everyone's eyes widened, their mouths hanging open in a daze as they stared at the scene.

Without anyone realizing when, Yao Shifei had returned to her original spot, standing perfectly steady, her robes not even slightly disheveled.

With a gentle flick of her sleeve, she helped up the terrified young girl from the ground, led her aside, and offered a soft word of comfort.

Then she turned around, her calm gaze sweeping across the dumbfounded Loose Cultivators as she spoke in a flat tone.

"My apologies for disturbing you all."

Disturbing?

Was this a disturbance? This was pure terror!

One Loose Cultivator's legs went weak, and he nearly fell to his knees.

What had they just witnessed?

Instant kills!

This was a completely one-sided massacre!

This proprietress, who looked so ethereal as if exuding Immortal Qi and could only be admired from afar, was actually such a terrifying god of slaughter! Her cultivation was truly unfathomable!

Amidst this dead silence, that lazy voice from the second floor drifted down once more.

"Clean it up."

"Resume business."

The voice remained flat, without a single ripple of emotion.

The Loose Cultivators in the hall looked at one another, the expressions on their faces incredibly rich.

Shock, fear, awe—and finally, it actually transformed into a bizarre fanaticism. For how many years had it been since anyone dared to defy the Four Great Families?

A scarred Loose Cultivator muttered to himself.

"This boss is truly an interesting character. He just killed people and yet he's going right back to selling Medicinal Pills?"

Someone beside him lowered his voice, his tone brimming with excitement.

"What do you know! This is called dominance! This is called confidence!"

Some were also filled with worry.

"We're finished. This completely offends the He Family to the death."

But even more people had a gleam in their eyes.

In a place like the West City of Huoyang Commandery, reasoning was useless. Only by being ruthless enough in slaughter could one earn respect.

Today, the Qixia Alchemy Pavilion had proven itself to everyone using the lives of eight He Family members.

Soon, several young girls in green robes composed themselves. Under Yao Shifei's direction, they began fetching water to clean up the blood. Though their faces were still somewhat pale, their hands and feet were very quick.

Before long, the smell of blood was replaced by a rich medicinal fragrance, and everything returned to how it was.

The brief and bloody slaughter from moments ago left absolutely no trace.

"Everyone, we still have twenty bottles of High Grade Qi Gathering Pills today. Buy them while they last."

The moment Yao Shifei spoke, the dazed crowd instantly snapped back to their senses.

"I'll buy! I'll buy two bottles!"

"Don't push! Everyone get in line, damn it!"

The crowd instantly boiled over, even more frantic than on the opening day.

What they were scrambling for was no longer just cheap, High Grade Medicinal Pills.

What they were scrambling for was a sense of security—the security brought by a Medicinal Pill shop that dared to challenge the Four Great Families!

On the second floor, Jiang Feng picked up his lukewarm tea and drank it in one gulp.

Looking at the long queue forming downstairs once more, the corners of his mouth curled into a satisfied smile.