Volume 1, Chapter 37: If I Can’t Best Qin Tanlang, Can’t I Still Deal With You?

After Zhu Zhihan discovered the clue to the Rose Treasure, Lin Yao immediately took the diary from her hands and began to examine it carefully. Xia Mengying and Xia Yumeng also hurriedly crowded around. Although Liang Xiaofei was curious, he was very tactful and did not peek, standing respectfully to the side to await Lin Yao’s instructions.

Noticing Liang Xiaofei’s behavior, Lin Yao became increasingly satisfied with this subordinate. Capable, strategic, tactful, and fiercely loyal—this was a model subordinate indeed! Having secretly credited Liang Xiaofei for his conduct, Lin Yao began browsing through Ms. Song Xiyan’s diary.

"July 11, nothing to do!"
"July 12, nothing to do!"
"July 13, nothing to do!"
"July 14, Song Xiyan, oh Song Xiyan, you must not remain so degenerate, so steeped in debauchery and hedonism."
"July 15, nothing to do!"
"July 16, the old geezer finally took me to see the Rose Treasure today. It wasn't in vain that I spent the last few days pandering to him in and out of bed, letting him try every trick in the book."

Even if Lin Yao hadn't understood the true meaning of "nothing to do" at first, he grasped it perfectly now. In fact, this diary of Song Xiyan’s could truly be called a "log" in every sense of the word. Lin Yao, Xia Mengying, and Xia Yumeng all understood immediately, but Zhu Zhihan remained completely bewildered.

Zhu Zhihan asked in a low voice, "Brother, why does it feel like Miss Song’s diary is contradictory? She said she had nothing to do a few days ago, but then said she did so many things to please her godfather during that same time?"

Lin Yao said solemnly, "Zhihan, you aren't old enough to understand these things yet. When you promote to SSSR-rank aptitude, I will tell you."

"Oh!" Zhu Zhihan nodded obediently, muttering to herself, "So it's high-level knowledge only accessible at SSSR-rank; no wonder I didn't understand."

Zhu Zhihan’s comment made Lin Yao and Xia Mengying exchange glances, their expressions turning peculiar. Xia Yumeng, being the heartless one, had already let out an uncharitable snicker. Just then, Lin Yao caught a glimpse of the contents of the notebook in Xia Yumeng’s hand and immediately broke into a cold sweat for her. If the information Xia Yumeng had compiled were to reach Murong Tiansheng, she would surely be in danger of being silenced.

It turned out that Xia Yumeng had calculated that in her nineteenth year, Song Xiyan had slept with at least seventy-nine men! To prevent Xia Yumeng from being killed, Lin Yao suddenly condensed a deep blue energy orb in his palm. Seeing this, Xia Yumeng grew anxious: "What are you doing! This is precious intelligence I gathered after flipping through so many diaries and journals!"

Lin Yao thought for a moment and eventually dissipated the energy orb. With a flash of speed, he reached out and snatched the notebook from her: "The water here is too deep for you to handle; let your husband keep it for you."

Xia Yumeng was immediately displeased: "Why can't I handle it, but you can?"

Lin Yao smiled faintly: "Don't you know that the 'Yao' in my name comes from the Obsidian Sea? I am the sea; I can contain water of any depth!"

With that, he flicked his wrist and stored the intelligence booklet into his system space. If he and that old monster Murong Tiansheng ever became enemies, he could simply pull out Xia Yumeng’s notebook and tell him, "Your mother slept with seventy-nine men when she was nineteen; it’s really hard to say who your real father is!" If he threw that out there, the old monster’s Dao heart would surely shatter on the spot.

While Lin Yao was calculating these underhanded tactics, Liang Xiaofei suddenly spoke with a grave expression: "Master, there is a situation! A group of beast tamers who have been causing trouble nearby is approaching!"

"They don't look like subordinates of those three animals, but they are definitely not good news!" Liang Xiaofei added, "There are quite a few of them, about twenty or so."

Lin Yao knew this was Liang Xiaofei using his "Heavenly Sight and Earthly Hearing" talent to detect the enemy in advance. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he dispersed his Shadow Werewolves around the perimeter of the estate, leaving the long-range surveillance to Liang Xiaofei.

"How far away are they? Is this estate their target?" Lin Yao asked casually. Zhu Zhihan, Xia Mengying, and Xia Yumeng all looked toward Liang Xiaofei in unison.

Liang Xiaofei did not answer immediately. He observed intently for a moment before saying in a deep voice, "They are not targeting here. However, I suggest we take care of this scum while we are at it. When I found them, they had just executed three men and two women by beheading them!" Liang Xiaofei’s voice turned cold as he spoke, clearly shaken by the sight of those five headless corpses.

Lin Yao nodded: "Since they are such scum who slaughter the innocent, it’s a perfect opportunity to stretch my limbs."

For the past two days, Lin Yao had been busy with the Rose Treasure. Although he had been continuously using his Shadow Taming talent to spawn Shadow Werewolves, he hadn't really leveled up properly. His level remained at 12, with about 45% progress toward level 13. However, the number of Shadow Werewolves under his command had grown from twenty-four to thirty in just a few days.

As his army of Shadow Werewolves grew, his leveling speed naturally rose as well. After all, every time a Shadow Werewolf killed a target, 50% of the pure energy was credited to him instantly.

Just as Lin Yao decided to take action himself, Xia Mengying offered a different suggestion: "Why not let them fight those three animals and wear each other out? Neither side is any good anyway."

Lin Yao pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "A good suggestion, but it’s too much trouble. Besides, these bullies would likely lose their edge if they actually ran into those three animals like Qin Tanlang." Xia Mengying thought about it and agreed with Lin Yao’s approach.

About 15 kilometers away in the wilderness, two more unfortunate beast tamers were surrounded by Lu Hongbo’s group. The five previously executed headless corpses lay nearby, their blood not yet congealed, the pungent smell of which was nauseating. The two poor souls were pale with terror.

Lu Hongbo was the leader of the group Liang Xiaofei had spotted. He had just coldly executed five members of a rival faction. After Qin Tanlang and his cohorts began their massacre in this pocket dimension, Lu Hongbo had initially tried to surrender to them, only to be nearly shot in the head by Qin Tanlang. Not only did his defection fail, but his girlfriend had been snatched away by Black Bear. His girlfriend was none other than Zhou Meiting, who had previously been rescued by Old Wang.

Lu Hongbo was a complete coward; after his girlfriend was taken, he didn't dare to rescue her. Later, hearing that she had been humiliated and tortured to death by Black Bear and the others, he didn't dare seek revenge on Qin Tanlang. Instead, he vented all his rage on weaker beast tamers.

Any beast tamer Lu Hongbo encountered from then on would be controlled by his "Golden Cicada Seal." The Golden Cicada Seal was a skill of his beast, the Twin-Winged Golden Cicada. It allowed him to plant a seal in the mental domain of a person or beast. Once planted, Lu Hongbo could detonate it at any time to claim their life.

The twenty or so people currently around Lu Hongbo had all been marked with the seal. After trapping the two new victims, Lu Hongbo couldn't be bothered with pleasantries and said coldly: "Will you open your minds, abandon resistance, and let me plant the Golden Cicada Seal to control you, or will you choose to die?"