Chapter 56: 56. Accidents will never be unexpected. The weather was gradually getting warmer, and at the top of South Bamboo Peak, the green grass was lush, swaying neatly to one side in the wind... A beautiful woman in green pushed a wheelchair to the edge of the cliff, watching as the honest disciple departed, her skirt fluttering in the breeze. A moment ago, that disciple had sincerely called her "teacher’s wife." But the words "teacher’s wife" seemed particularly grating, causing her pain, fear, and the feeling that she was nothing but a prostitute... "Huayi..." The old man called softly. "Shi Lang!" Bi Huayi responded hastily with nervousness. The old man chuckled gently and said, "I truly don’t blame you for what happened with Feng’Er. I had already told you that if you’d taken a liking to some young lad, I would even be willing to help him..." "Shi Lang, I was wrong, wrong." Bi Huayi, frightened, immediately knelt down and clutched the old man’s leg tightly. Stone Seat Elder sighed softly and said, "Your Divine Soul is fragile now, but whether you believe it or not, what I’m saying is true. However, I truly didn’t expect you and Feng’Er to poison me. Had I known this... I might have had a good talk with Feng’Er." He gazed into the distance and murmured, "You know, I’ve come from hardship, and I value legacy greatly. Naturally, I must choose carefully, for this... is my most precious thing." "It’s just a pity..." He looked at the gradually fading figure, showing a painful expression. Bi Huayi said nothing, nor did she respond. Stone Seat Elder gently patted her hair and said softly, "I owe you much as my young wife, and you’ll be fine, nothing will happen to you. Once I’m gone, your fears should ease considerably, and you can start anew. It won’t be long now." He looked into the distance, as if he had already glimpsed the conclusion. He taught Shi Peng a part of the "Hundred Forms Divine Control," nine parts true, one part incomplete. Before his death, he would have Shi Peng leave the sect. Shi Peng was very obedient; whatever he said, Shi Peng would do, especially since it was his dying wish. Gu Tianyang was petty and lacked a sense of the bigger picture. With his grandson’s death, Gu Rufeng would surely not forget. By then, he would come for me, but I would die cleanly. Then he would definitely seek out Shi Peng. And Shi Peng would inevitably be found by him. The incomplete "Hundred Forms Divine Control" might also be extracted through torture. After that, Gu Tianyang would definitely perform a Soul Search, extracting Shi Peng’s memories and discovering Shi Peng had received his legacy, as he "had no other choice but to pass on his inheritance to a relative." Thus, the matter of the "inheritance" would be considered finished. No matter how crazy Gu Tianyang was, he wouldn’t dare to perform a Soul Search on everyone close to him, as that would destroy the entire line of the Shadow Puppet. ... ... A month later... In the height of summer, at dusk... A newcomer of great beauty among the servants at the Tannery attracted a lot of attention. The servants, living in "male-only accommodation," rushed forward, hoping to partner with her to improve their "living conditions." The beauty seemed to have sniffed around carefully, chosen one person, and after sitting together for a short while, the man proposed to take her out for a stroll and walked out of the Tannery. A man and a woman walked along the back mountain. The servant’s quarters were located on the edge of the Evil Land, where even during the day, they might encounter spirits, so no one usually ventured there. However, the beauty playfully gestured with her fingers, smiling enchantingly. The man, mesmerized, eagerly followed her closely. The two talked and laughed. Suddenly, a downpour began. The beauty exclaimed in surprise. The man hurriedly took off his clothes, holding them high above his head. The two hurriedly ran under the cover of the "clothing umbrella" to a small cave in the back mountain to take shelter from the rain. "Oh no, it’s getting dark soon," the man suddenly realized. The beauty replied, "What happens when it gets dark?" "The foul mist, there will be foul mist!" The man quickly tried to stand up and said, "We should leave!" The beauty grabbed him and said softly, "My clothes are all soaked, would you help me take them off?" The man looked over and indeed saw that the wet clothes clung to her snow-white skin, thinly like green leaves against red flowers, accentuating the enticing, voluptuous curves... The beauty let out a soft moan and lunged into the man’s arms, grinning, revealing her teeth, ready to bite down, but suddenly heard the man’s chuckling voice. "Haven’t you figured it out yet?" The beauty was taken aback: "What?" The next moment, she suddenly felt the man embrace her. It was as if she was caught between two massive iron doors, being crushed into a pulp. Crack... Bang!! The beauty was instantly squashed flat, her entire skeleton shattered. When she fell, she was a shriveled Fox Demon. The man swayed, no longer appearing as a man. He was clearly a strange, massive fox demon, with odd protrusions all over, like a colossal dead fox demon preserved in water. "Hoo~~~" With a gentle exhale, two shadow puppets flew out of the "monster’s" mouth, appearing as two "deformed one-tailed grey fox shadow puppets," then disappeared into the storage space with a casual wave. The "monster" then immediately transformed back into an unremarkable-looking man. Who else could it be but Song Yan? Today, luck was on his side too. He saw from afar a batch of new servants, and noticed a woman among them being swapped by the Fox Demon during a roadside break, which sparked his idea to try out his "Hundred Forms Demon Body." Thus, he swallowed two Fox Demon Shadow Puppets. The strength of the Shadow Puppet lies in its ability to inherit, and even surpass, the power of the "Demon Beast inits lifetime." However, for most Skin Masters, "surpassing" is quite an absurd notion; being able to barely match the Demon Beast’s former power is already impressive. But this certainly does not apply to Song Yan, who has mastered the "Skin Painting Strange Soul Technique". Having swallowed two "Deformed One Tail Grey Fox Shadow Puppets," Song Yan was equivalent to additionally inheriting part of the strength and technique of those two Fox Demons on top of his own. In front of another Fox Demon, he tested the illusion technique that the Fox Demon touted with pride, and surprisingly...that Fox Demon was truly deceived. At this moment, he was in a rather good mood. He skinned the fox with ease, fled, and returned to his cave mansion. Two women from the Fu Family were practicing martial arts; Fu Hongmian seemed to be facing difficulties and just as she was about to speak, the Empress directly interjected, "Don’t ask him; what could he possibly know?" Song Yan said, "Why are you practicing so seriously?" Fu Hongmian replied, "Song Lang, the martial arts here are truly amazing, you wouldn’t understand since you don’t practice... for us, it’s quite a big opportunity." Song Yan retorted, "Sounds like you guys can leave this place." The Empress, hands on her hips, snapped, "Mind your own business!" Fu Hongmian hastily pulled the fiery Empress and gently said, "Song Lang, we all know you’re a good person... Otherwise, the Empress and I wouldn’t have been able to be nourished for so long and have so much energy to cultivate martial arts. Not only that, our martial arts progress has been incredibly fast lately." Song Yan replied, "You misjudge people." After saying this, he yawned, returned to the cave mansion, lay down, and reminisced about the details of "tricking the fox" and the application of "Hundred Forms Demon Body." ... ... Rumble... Thunder rumbled through the mountains, a serpentine lightning bolt descended from the sky, illuminating everything in white. On the main peak of Shadow Puppet Peak, Gu Tianyang had an uncertain expression, his mind still echoing that woman’s cries. "Feng’er couldn’t have died for no reason; someone must have killed him! You mentioned he was competing for inheritance; that old scoundrel didn’t give him the inheritance and didn’t let Feng’er kill him properly. So... Feng’er’s death must be related to him. I’ve heard over the past few days that the scoundrel has already passed the inheritance to his adopted son, Shi Peng! Feng’er’s death must be related to Shi Peng!" "Wait?! Why wait! Did they wait when they killed Feng’er? You’re scared, you want to consider the bigger picture, but you’re ignoring your only offspring, you’re going to be without descendants, do you know that? Gu Tianyang, you coward!" Voices echoed in Gu Tianyang’s mind until a sound came from outside the door. "Peak Master, Shi Peng is here." Gu Tianyang then opened his eyes, glanced madly into the distance, and coldly said, "Let him in." ... ... Moments later. The utterly dazed Shi Peng collapsed on the ground, drooling from his mouth. Gu Tianyang stood, sighing, and frowned, saying, "He really doesn’t know about Feng’er’s death? Could it truly be unrelated to the inheritance? Could it... really be Ghost Cultivators who killed Feng’er? Or perhaps those sly Fox Demons secretly infiltrated, killed Feng’er, and wanted to frame Ghost Cultivators to stir conflict between us and the Ghost Cultivators?" "Could it really be so coincidental, coincidental enough that as Feng’er was trying to harm Stone Seat Elder, he died?" "Stone Seat Elder, still Stone Seat Elder! As long as we search his soul, we can definitely know the truth!" Gu Tianyang’s expression grew colder and colder. Suddenly he clapped his hands, a disciple walked in from outside, saw Shi Peng lying on the ground, and was immediately terrified, eyes wide open. Shi Peng, who is the inheritance heir of Stone Master... This... This... "Take him away." Gu Tianyang coldly spoke, and then with his arms crossed, sat in place, lost in thought, as though making a difficult decision, his eyes already red; he cannot let Gu Rufeng die unjustly! Torrential rain fell wildly, with streams flowing across mountain paths... Amidst the green branches and leaves, a pitch-black crow silently watched Shi Peng being carried out, its pupils round and wide, seemingly in disbelief. ... ... "...Deplorable... enough!!" "Deplorable enough!!" At South Bamboo Peak, Stone Seat Elder’s voice trembled as he furiously stood, summoned a skin boat, and headed straight towards Paperman Peak.