Night.

Bubai peeked out from his hut, ensuring the coast was clear. “Heh. Meeting in the forest? My mask is ready. Manager Qin isn’t back yet. Why wait any longer? It’s the best time to escape.”

Sneaking out, Bubai hurried forward with soft footsteps, heading north towards the direction of Ling City. However, his hurrying steps came to a halt as soon as he noticed a dim light at the edge of the farm not far from him.

Instinctively slipping behind a hut, Bubai peeked out, squinting his eyes to barely make out a muscular man holding a torch. He recognized him as one of the owners of the ‘better’ huts.

“Ba Fang? What is he doing out so late?”

After observing for a bit, Bubai frowned, seeing the man walking back and forth with his torch, as if patrolling the area. Slipping back into the shadows, Bubai then began to head west, running over the fields.

Unfortunately, he soon found another muscular man, his thick arms crossed as he stood next to a tall torch inserted in the ground. It was Tie San.

Squatting down on the field and blending into the darkness, Bubai turned his gaze towards the empty plains, hesitating and gauging if he could outrun Tie San.

However, in the end, he retreated. Running is easy, but if he alerts that demoness, he might not be able to escape.

Even if the demoness wasn’t there, it was best to escape unnoticed. Although he had a mask, it wasn’t foolproof. If he didn’t have enough time to escape from the vicinity of Ling City, there is a high risk that he would be captured back.

Never underestimate the tracking methods of cultivators.

Heading towards the east, Bubai hoped for the best.

Sneaking past Manager Qin’s courtyard, Bubai’s movement came to a halt once more as he pressed his back against the walls of Manager Qin’s abode.

Peering around the corner, his hopes were soon dashed as he saw Old Liu holding a lantern and patrolling the area with another scrawny man, Wu Gou.

"...Old Liu, why do we need to patrol this late at night? I’m exhausted."

“It’s that sl- Miss WeiWei… she said Manager Qin will not be back tonight, and so we are entrusted to guard the farm to prevent anyone from leaving.”

“Why would anyone leave at this time? They could’ve left before signing the contract...”

“Who knows. Maybe some have been dissatisfied… or it may be the one who did that to Ah Niu’s face. But regardless, if anyone is gone tomorrow, it will be us that will bear the brunt of the blame. So, don’t slack, Little Wu, just do our duty well…”

Listening to this point, Bubai slinked back, quietly walking back to his hut while gritting his teeth, “What the heck, did she guess I would sneak out?”

Yet, what truly made Bubai feel frightful was the unscrupulousness of her actions.

“I didn’t hear Manager Qin mentioning these orders before he left… The orders were probably falsified. Seeing how she can already play like this, it seems she is confident everything is within her grasp...”

Glancing towards the forest at the south end of the farm, Bubai let out a helpless sigh, “It seems I can’t escape tonight.”

Approaching the forest, Bubai scanned the area, “No guards…”

But Bubai didn’t have any idea of escaping through the forest. If that demoness was in the forest and was confident enough to arrange no guards, that means she is probably confident that he can’t escape.

Bubai knew that starting from mid-stage Qi-refining, cultivators can already learn detection techniques.

And from Foundation Establishment upwards, cultivators were rumored to have an inherent spiritual sense that can permeate their surroundings, enhancing their detection capabilities. Cooperating with detection techniques, it was difficult for others to escape their senses.

Based on his own speculation, a Golden Core’s spiritual sense would have no trouble covering a large portion of this small forest and if it’s a Nascent Soul…

There was a chance that she was just a normal woman who stumbled upon a lucky chance… but what if?

Bubai wasn’t willing to gamble whether he could escape her vision, especially when he knew he only had one chance.

“Eating soft rice… others may be unwilling, but me?” Bubai took a steady step forward and entered the dark forest.

Making out the familiar route in the darkness, he soon arrived at the natural spring.

The faint moonlight reflected off the crystal clear water and a soft glow lit up the beauty gracefully washing her own tender body. As if sensing Bubai’s gaze, the beauty glanced over, a seductive smile arising on her face as she waded over, “I knew Brother Chen will come…”

Observing the moonlit beauty wading towards him, Bubai’s spidey senses seem to be tingling. Why does he have a foreboding feeling that he might end up in prison after this time?

But this thought was thrown out the window when WeiWei’s slender arms wrapped around his neck. With her wet body pressed against him, her hot breath tickled his ear, “Tonight, WeiWei made sure she is completely clean… Brother Chen can play with WeiWei however he likes from now on.”

Step. Step. Wu Gou’s steps abruptly came to a halt, causing his lantern to swing slightly.

Old Liu glanced over, “What’s wrong?”

Glancing up at the misty cloud sea partially obscuring the moon, Wu Gou responded with an awkward look, “I gotta take a piss, must have drank too much water to keep myself awake past midnight.”

Old Liu rolled his eyes and waved his empty hand, “Be quick.”

Watching Wu Gou rush off towards the nearby forest, Old Liu turned around to continue his patrol back in the other direction, “Young ones these days, can’t even hold their water.”

In the forest, Wu Gou headed deeper in to find a good bush. Untying his knot, he let his coarse dirty pants fall and began to release water.

Shhh… As he listened to his pissing sound in silence, he seemed to hear a strange beat in the background. “Hmm?”

Pulling on his pants, he glanced in the direction of the sound. “That should be the direction of the spring?” With some curiosity, he headed deeper into the forest.

As he approached the spring, a faint heat arose on his face as he heard the sweet, delirious voice of a female.

Hiding behind a tree, he peered out from the shadows, and his eyes widened slightly-

“That is… honest Chen and Miss WeiWei?! How?!” Rubbing his eyes in disbelief, he looked again to confirm what he saw. (For a full version of what he saw, check you-know-where~)

Suddenly, he saw WeiWei’s gaze turning over, as if seeing through the darkness and peering into his very soul. He instinctively panicked, quickly retreating into the forest and rushing away.

Outside the forest.

Wu Gou staggered out with unsteady steps, narrowly avoiding colliding with Old Liu, who had his back turned.

Upon regaining his balance, Old Liu's wrinkled face contorted into a disapproving expression as he squinted at Wu Gou. "What's the matter? Did you run into a ghost?"

Wu Gou opened his mouth, intending to explain, but no words escaped. After a moment of hesitation, he closed his mouth, his eyes shifting as if concocting a plan. Finally, he replied, "Nothing, Old Liu. Now that I think about it… it was probably just a bird or something."

“...”

Old Liu eyed Wu Gou suspiciously, then glanced toward the dark forest, debating whether to investigate.

After a brief pause, Old Liu turned away. "Fine, let's continue our patrol. If no one tries to leave in the next hour, we can call it a night."

As Old Liu walked off, Wu Gou stole another glance at the forest with a sly grin, desire evident in his eyes as he gave the bulge in his pants a suggestive rub. He then turned to follow Old Liu, his thoughts clearly consumed on how to take advantage of the illicit scene he had stumbled upon.