The introductions went along as after Ye Ling, the others greeted Wu Mengqi as well. Wu Long’s guests curiously looked at the young lady as well, not understanding why everyone else greeted her without any questions.

“Uh… hey, sister, is that..?”

“Yes, Cui’er. I think he just brought back the young lady of the Wu Family…”

Gong Liwei answered the dumbfounded little sister’s question in a light daze. She highly doubted that the noble family, one of the two most prominent noble houses of this Empire would have let her go so freely with him.

Cao Xiang and Cao Mei did not know the status of the lady so they greeted her without as much surprise, although it did seem curious to them that Wu Long’s women seemed to know about her beforehand. ．

“The time is late, and there is a busy day tomorrow, so let’s retreat to the rooms, shall we?”

Wu Long chuckled and everyone went into the inn. The inn workers looked with questioning gazes at the two people who were hauled like sacks of potatoes. One was clearly in pain, soaked in blood and contorting while the other had a crushed face and steel needles piercing his back and neck. But as they were trying to say something the smiling manager shooed them away and handled the guests personally with an amicable smile as a true experienced professional in the innkeeping business that dealt with cultivators.

The inn did receive minor damage from the attack that targeted the pirate mother-daughter pair earlier today but it was minimal and the sum Wu Long paid to the innkeeper upfront for their stay covered more than enough even if the inn was razed to the ground.

Wu Long had Butler Bang bring the two captives to a separate room on the floor they reserved, and while his guests retreated to sleep, Wu Mengqi was taken by her new sisters to talk a little more.

Wu Long inserted some needles into Nie Changsheng’s neck and back, and his body froze, while the agony in his eyes intensified.

“Did you decide to end the technique?”

Old Yen asked a little puzzled, as Wu Long did not seem so kind to him as to free the prince from pain for the night.

“No, I just froze his movements without undoing the move, he is just unable to express the pain he is in with body movements, while his sensitivity actually gone up since he now cannot find an outlet for the pain in movements”

Wu Long chuckled and Old Yen shook his head at his own naivety. Butler Bang and Old Yen then sat the two captives on two small chairs.

“It is a great technique, their muscles are fixed in whatever position you move them into…”

Old Yen said with some appreciation, as it was easy to move their bodies, and the parts of their bodies separately into desired positions by applying some force, but once they were in that changed position, it was as if they were not incapacitated, their body’s muscles adjusted to maintain that position like they would if the position was assumed of their own volition.

They could make statues of them doing dance moves if they wanted and the two would stand in those positions as long as there was no mistake in the pose that was given to them that ruined the center of balance.

Butler Bang chuckled as he also saw such a technique for the first time in his long life.

“Hahah, Young Master, it seems this prince has heard some strange rumors and tried to kill himself by biting his tongue off on our way here”

Butler Bang noticed that Nie Changsheng’s tongue was bloody from bites when Wu Long opened up his mouth to throw a pill into it.

“Hehe, Your Highness, you were fooled. Not even a common mortal would die from biting his tongue, let alone a cultivator”

Old Yen also chuckled. It was likely that the prince heard this myth from someone or read it somewhere and thus tried to end his misery with this common misconception of a method. Nie Changsheng’s terrified gaze full of pain shifted to the two and there was a hint of regret in his eyes as he only worsened his pain without any actual results.

Wu Long shook his head with a smile and fed both Nie Changsheng and the man in gray some pills and made them swallow by accurately hitting certain points with his fingers. The butler and Old Yen who now stood behind him noted how easily he manipulated such motor functions of the body from the outside, which coupled with the technique they admired before showed how intricately familiar he was with how a human’s body was constructed and how it worked.

“Don’t worry so much, it is some medicine, we cannot have you die before the meeting with his aunt right?”

Wu Long chuckled when he saw fear in the gray-robed man’s eyes. He did not have any particular grudge against him, so he did not make him feel any pain, only binding his movements, unlike the prince who sat next to him.

The man’s fear slightly subsided, but there was still worry in them since the situation did not promise any good future for him.

Wu Long then turned his gaze to the prince, who was largely unscathed despite being bloody all over. He was soaked in the blood of the lake for so long, moving in contortions that there was not a spot on him that was not covered by the already partially drying up scarlet. But all the damage Wu Long made was contained in a loop, and some small injuries from his attempt at ending his own life, with no signs of injuries outside.

Wu Long walked in front of him and sat down on a chair directly opposite that was brought by Butler Bang as soon as he saw Wu Long approach that spot, looking into the eyes of the prince with a pondering gaze. He was more surprised about this man’s appearance here than angry. He did plenty to him to vent his anger in his past life, so much so that he at some point saw it as a futile effort, since no amount of suffering and misery he brought to the man made him feel any better or brought back Wu Mengqi. However, it did not mean that he did not find slight comfort in the painful expression in Nie Changsheng’s eyes at this moment.

He then leaned in and touched the prince’s forehead with his fingers, as Soul Power ran through the prince’s Niwan Palace. He was surprised to find that he was indeed in front of the same man from his past life that he killed once already. Even though it seemed that he did not have memories of his past life given the reactions of the prince, his soul fluctuations matched what Wu Long remembered.

Wu Long was not a Soul Cultivator, and his skills tended to be more defensive than offensive. He also could not go through memories of others, since that required a special talent even among Soul Cultivators.

Not to mention that even Soul Cultivators were risking a lot in offensive moves, or techniques that delved deep into the minds of others. He would normally not use Soul Cultivation techniques so openly as he did in the Wu Family manor, since a decently skilled Soul Cultivator could use that as an opening for an attack.

When Soul Power was used it was like a stream that had to be constantly connected to its source, the Niwan Palace. Thus a skilled Soul Cultivator could use it as a guide to go upstream, bypassing the defenses by following the path of the Soul Power.

But in the case of the events that transpired earlier, he did not see any threats, thus allowing him to slightly fool around with the tricks he knew. He was also constantly on guard, ready to retract, or in the worst case cut off the Soul Power sent out at any moment. He then took back his hand and sat back straight with a pondering expression.

After some more time pondering Wu Long shook his head.

“Haa~ I don’t know why are you in front of me once more, but you will regret it again, Nie Changsheng. All the things I did to you before, and all that I will do when the time comes… and all the misery that befalls you will be of your own making since it was your choice that brought it upon you”

Cold shivers went through everyone in the room around Wu Long, regardless of enemies or allies despite his calm tone and demeanor. He said those words like a simple statement of truth, with no fluctuations in his voice to indicate a threat or even emotion. But the dread that emanated from the depths of one’s consciousness gripped anyone who heard them.

He then stood up and went out of the room, leaving Butler Bang to look after the two. Old Yen followed behind Wu Long as he went outside. While they went through a corridor of the inn, one side of which was open with the view of the inner courtyard, Old Yen somewhat timidly followed to his side and behind at a respectful distance of a few steps.

“You did well with all of the tasks that I gave you”

Wu Long slowly walked, looking at the inner courtyard illuminated by the moonlight.

“Thank you…”

Old Yen slightly shook as they reached a long wooden bridge suspended over the courtyard that led to the other side of the floor, to the rooms occupied by Wu Long and his women. Wu Long stopped there and looked back at Old Yen.

“It looks like you have something to say”

He chuckled and Old Yen first gulped and then nodded, steeling his resolve.