Chapter 41:
Con Job
MO TIANLIAO STEPPED INTO the palace, and the over-the-top opulence immediately punched him in the face. The high dome above was carved with intricate and resplendent patterns, while dragons sculpted from expensive sunstones coiled around the black-and-gold pillars. The floor was covered in a thick rug made from the wool of highland goats and dyed a dark red. Countless maidservants thronged the hall, carrying wine, serving tea, or dancing, each of them strikingly beautiful.
A jet-black lion lay on the floor. This was Lord Shidi’s soul beast, the Black Nightmare Lion. The lion was about ten feet long, and he had strong, powerful limbs and a ferocious expression. Beside him stood an ornate throne.
Tall and burly, Lord Shidi was wearing a dark-colored, formfitting outfit, uniquely designed with several large openings connected by gold-and-silver armor. With one muscular arm that had been left bare, he accepted a cup of wine from his maidservant and downed it in one gulp.
As he sized up Mo Tianliao, Mo Tianliao scrutinized him back from under the hood of cloak. It had been three hundred years, but the guy hadn’t changed a bit—still a pretentious culture snob who loved putting on airs. He clearly preferred drinking out of large bowls, but he insisted on using exquisite jade cups—and then, finding it unsatisfactory to drink from tiny cups, he went and had those jade cups made into extra-large bowls.
“You’re the one looking for me?” Lord Shidi held the cup out for the maidservant to refill as he glanced nonchalantly at the cultivator below.
“Greetings, Lord Shidi.” Mo Tianliao raised his hands in a perfunctory greeting.
The fact that this junior didn’t kneel on seeing him displeased Lord Shidi. Sensing his master’s mood, the lion raised his head and bared his fangs at Mo Tianliao.
“I’ve come to see you uninvited as I was left with no choice, for you are the only one who can fulfill my late father’s wish,” Mo Tianliao said in a young and clear voice.
“And who the hell is your father?” Shidi grew impatient. He’d seen too many people like this, offering him treasures per their deceased ancestors’ wishes, throwing in their lot with him because it was their mother’s last wish, or pledging servitude for their family honor, and so on. Who the heck did these people think they were?
Mo Tianliao’s lips curved into a smile as he threw his hood back, revealing an impeccably handsome face with chiseled features, sharp brows, and bright eyes.
CRASH! The bowl-sized jade cup fell to the ground, splashing spiritual wine all over the lion’s head and soaking his majestic mane. The lion leaped up and bared his fangs at his master.
“Duantian!” Shidi sprang to his feet. The intimidating spiritual power in his voice sent the maidservants to their knees.
Mo Tianliao, having already erected a defensive shield around himself, steadily blocked out Shidi’s shouting. “May I talk to you in private?”
It finally hit Lord Shidi that this junior had claimed to be here on his deceased father’s wishes. Duantian had already been dead for three hundred years. Even if he’d come back to life through possession, his cultivation level shouldn’t have been at the foundation establishment stage. So this person wasn’t Duantian, but with that face of his, he was definitely connected to him. Lord Shidi waved his hands at the others. “Go, go. Everyone, out!”
The maidservants filed out, leaving only two men and two beasts behind in the hall.
Nightmare went down and circled Mo Tianliao. Baring his fangs at him, he leaned in to sniff his scent. A furry white head popped out of Mo Tianliao’s collar and opened his little pink mouth in a yawn.
At the little kitten’s appearance, the lion’s mane stood on end. Whining, the lion flattened his ears and lowered his body, looking frightened.
Dumb lion. The cat glanced at the huge beast. It had been three centuries since they last met, and the lion was still as stupid as ever.
The lion took several steps back, then several more, then turned tail and ran to hide behind Shidi. Alas, it was impossible for an animal his size to be fully concealed behind a human man, so he simply hid his head behind his master’s rear end in a stubborn but pitiful attempt at self-deception.
“This cat…” Shidi’s eyes widened. All of the demon lords had soul beasts, and each one was more ferocious than the last. Duantian, with that precious baby kitten he was always carrying around, was the sole outlier. But even though the other demon lords were constantly poking fun at him, Duantian carried on doing whatever he wanted—he even refused to form a blood pact with that kitten.
“It’s my father’s cat. Before he passed on, he instructed me to take good care of him.” Mo Tianliao looked down tenderly at the cat in his arms and patted him on the head.
Now Shidi felt certain that this man wasn’t Duantian—because whenever Duantian showed affection to his cat, he would always make an embarrassing spectacle of pressing his face against the cat and smooching it from head to paws, and he’d always come away with scratches.
“I’ve never heard anything about Duantian having a son.” Calming down a bit, Shidi looked at the young man, who appeared to be no more than twenty. Duantian had been dead for three hundred years. If he’d been reborn through possession, it would have happened at the time of death, so any sons he’d had would have to have been born three hundred years ago. There had never been any shortage of people who wanted to climb into Duantian’s bed, but that unappreciative guy had only ever used his beauties as furnace tenders. It was hard to imagine who might have borne him a son. And besides, how could a three-hundred-year-old son still be at the foundation establishment stage?
“Would you like to hear a story, my lord?” Mo Tianliao smiled. Without waiting for Shidi’s nod, he sat on the rug, took a deep breath, and began narrating.
In the past, Lord Duantian had sensed he was about to undergo a heavenly tribulation and ascend to immortality, but he couldn’t find a worthy successor among those who sought to be his disciples. Instead he’d used his own blood essence, along with materials from several types of divine trees, to create a one-of-a-kind puppet.