Douluo: Wuhun Qimen Formation, control everything!

Chapter 136 Tea House
The setting sun, like blood, stained the long street with a shimmering gold.

Next to the Zhou residence, there was a teahouse that had not yet closed. Zhou Xuan, standing in the distance, stared intently at the teahouse, a strange look flashing in his eyes.

He bought this mansion because there were few vendors around and the residents were mostly elderly people, so he wanted a peaceful place.

The teahouse was small, with a few polished square tables and a few long benches, but there wasn't a single customer.

"Whoosh—" A gust of hot, humid air swept out of the teahouse. A waiter dressed in an indigo jacket and with a worn white cotton towel draped over his shoulder sat idly on a stool outside, fiddling with a copper teapot.

However, upon closer inspection, one would notice that his eyes were glancing at Zhou Xuan's front door, intentionally or unintentionally.

Just as he was about to get up and go back, he caught a glimpse of Zhou Xuan walking towards the mansion.

Immediately, the waiter wiped the sweat from his brow, his eyes lit up, and then he displayed the kind of respect and enthusiasm that a nobody shows when meeting a big shot.

A fawning smile appeared on his face. He quickly put down the copper teapot in his hand and hurried to the entrance of the teahouse, his face beaming with a chrysanthemum-like smile: "Oh! Isn't this Young Master Zhou? It's such a rare treat to be back!"

“Hmm,” Zhou Xuan nodded slightly, “I’m back to take care of some things.”

"Alright, sir! You should attend to your business first! We're just about to open our shop." Li Xiao'er quickly stepped aside and respectfully gestured for them to proceed. "Please take care, sir!"

Zhou Xuan glanced into the teahouse and then quickly left.

He used his mental power to probe the teahouse as he passed by, but to his surprise, he couldn't see what was inside.

"There's definitely something wrong." He thought to himself as he stepped through the gates of the Zhou residence.

If he wasn't mistaken, this waiter was most likely just an ordinary person, which wouldn't be strange under normal circumstances.

After all, it's perfectly normal for an ordinary person to work as a waiter in a teahouse.

But what was abnormal was his gaze. Although he appeared very respectful to me, there was no look in his eyes that an ordinary person would give to a Soul Master.

He couldn't quite put his finger on the look in the waiter's eyes, but he knew for sure that something was definitely off about it.

Also, this teahouse doesn't seem quite right.

This teahouse opened next to his house a year ago, and it has been open for a year now.

Although Zhou Xuan doesn't come back often, according to what Uncle Wang said each time he returned, the teahouse was doing very poorly, and it was estimated that it could barely afford to cover the daily living costs.

He had never met the owner of the teahouse before, and for the past year, the teahouse had been managed almost entirely by this waiter.

This made Zhou Xuan even more suspicious. It wasn't that he was overly paranoid, but rather that he had experienced so many unexpected events that even the slightest anomaly made him more cautious.

Li Xiaoer only straightened up after Zhou Xuan's figure entered the gate of the Zhou residence.

The respect on his face had vanished. He quickly brought the tables and chairs outside the teahouse inside, then closed the door and shut down.

The waiter returned to the teahouse, placed the towel he was carrying in its usual spot, and then went down the stairs.

He looked around, then gently pressed a button on the wall, activating a small mechanism.

A secret passage leading underground appears beneath the stairs.

The waiter slipped inside, and once he was inside, the secret passage closed automatically, as if nothing had happened.

The secret passage was deep and winding, and the stone steps were covered with slippery moss, indicating that it had been there for a long time.

Xiao Er was already used to this. He pressed a button on the wall, and a series of soul-guiding lamps lit up. Xiao Er walked down skillfully.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the waiter arrived at the door of a not-so-spacious stone chamber.

The walls of the stone chamber were made of hard obsidian, which has the effect of blocking the detection of spiritual power. This is why Zhou Xuan's spiritual power could not detect anything at all.

The waiter gently knocked on the stone door and then waited respectfully at the entrance.

"Come in!"

The stone door opened automatically, and the waiter went inside.

In the center of the stone chamber, a figure sat cross-legged with his back to the entrance of the secret passage.

The waiter dared not be negligent in the slightest. He stopped three steps away from the figure, knelt on one knee, and said in a very low voice, "Master, the 'target' has returned to the Zhou residence."

The figure sitting cross-legged in the center of the stone chamber suddenly opened his eyes: "Oh? He's back?"

"Yes."

The figure slowly rose and turned around.

This was a middle-aged man with a sinister face, a hooked nose, thin lips pressed tightly together, and a pair of triangular eyes that gleamed with a venomous light in the dim stone chamber.

He was the assassin sent by the Star Luo Emperor to kill Zhou Xuan, but the difficulty of assassinating an inner disciple of Shrek Academy was extremely high.

So to this day, he has never made a move, nor has he ever even shown his face.

Although he is a titled Douluo, in Shrek City, if he fails in one strike, it will be difficult to have a second chance.

“Heh, Zhou Xuan…” He grinned, his voice hoarse like sandpaper.

His triangular eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced at Li Xiaoer, who was kneeling respectfully: "Has he noticed anything?"

Xiao Er lowered his head even further: "I'm just an ordinary person, he didn't realize it."

"Didn't notice? Ha!" He sneered. "He just tried to use his mental power to investigate the teahouse, but luckily I was prepared, or I would have been exposed long ago!"

The waiter suddenly knelt on the ground: "Please forgive me, sir! Please forgive me, sir!"

"It's already suspicious that a teahouse with a dismal business and an owner who never shows his face could operate safely next to Zhou's residence for a year. This Zhou Xuan is even more cautious than the intelligence reports suggest."

He paused, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes: "However, his intelligence is also his greatest weakness."

He looked at the waiter again and said, "Find out why he came back. You can be a little aggressive, you know what I mean?"

The waiter trembled all over: "Master, Master."

"Hmm? You have a problem?" Even the slightest trace of a Title Douluo's aura is something an ordinary person cannot withstand.

"No, no." The waiter dared not say anything more and could only bury his head even lower.

"Very well, Zhou Xuan is nothing but a caged bird that can't fly away!"

After saying that, he sat back down in the center of the stone chamber: "Get out!" A burst of soul power sent Xiao Er out of the stone chamber. He slowly closed his eyes, and the terrifying soul power fluctuations around him subsided once again.

At this moment, Zhou Xuan, who had just entered the Zhou residence, paused slightly as he passed through the front gate.

He slowly closed his eyes, and his spiritual power spread out like mercury, carefully exploring every corner of his mansion.

At the very least, our own home must not be infiltrated by the enemy.

He only went inside after confirming that there was nothing unusual.

"Uncle Wang," he said calmly.

"Young master, this old servant is here."

Zhou Xuan didn't turn around, his voice calm and even: "Is there anything unusual about the teahouse next to the mansion?"

Uncle Wang shook his head: "Nothing's wrong, it's just that there are fewer customers. I wonder which spendthrift son opened a teahouse in a place like this. Isn't this just giving money away to Shrek Academy?"
"What's wrong, young master? Have you noticed anything unusual?"

"Hmm, it feels a bit strange. This teahouse hasn't gone out of business despite hardly any customers over the past year. Do you think that's normal?"

Uncle Wang was taken aback, then nodded: "Now that you mention it, young master, there are indeed some problems. Should this old servant investigate?"

Zhou Xuan shook his head: "No need for now. If they don't have any ulterior motives, then so be it. But if they're really after me, and they dare to play tricks at Shrek Academy, they're probably not weak. It's too dangerous for you to go alone, Uncle Wang."

"So we're just going to leave such a time bomb by our side?" Uncle Wang frowned.

Zhou Xuan sneered: "Of course not. Although investigating the teahouse might pose some threat, who said that investigation can only be done by physically infiltrating?"

"What does the young master mean?"

"A teahouse like this, with hardly any customers, must still have all its expenses collected by Shrek City. There must be other financial transactions involved, and it's not a small amount!"

By investigating where the rent for this place comes from, we can find out their true colors.

"Young master is wise!"

"Well, I'll leave this matter to you. However, they haven't made any moves this year, so I doubt they'll act easily in Shrek City. I came back mainly to find out about the Soul Master Academy. How's it progressing?"

Upon hearing this, Uncle Wang respectfully replied, "Young Master, the matter concerning the Elementary Soul Guidance Academy is progressing smoothly."

As you instructed, I have selected several colleges that are poorly managed and on the verge of bankruptcy.

One of them, a junior soul guidance academy called 'Qiming', has a decent location, but due to its weak teaching staff and declining student enrollment, it has been losing money for two consecutive years.

They're on the verge of collapse, and their director seems interested in selling. I'm in the initial stages of contact and evaluation, and if all goes well, there should be substantial progress soon.

Zhou Xuan nodded. Acquiring an existing academy was indeed much easier than starting from scratch, and it would also allow him to make some preparations for future plans. "Hmm, Qiming Academy... that's a good name."

"How come there are still Soul Master academies that can't stay afloat these days?" Zhou Xuan asked in surprise.

The Soul Master Academy of this era is no different from the aristocratic academies of the previous life. This world is never short of rich people, let alone such a noble profession as Soul Master. As long as the dean wants to, there is no way he would go bankrupt because of money.

Uncle Wang nodded: "Yes, I didn't expect that either. Afterwards, I did some research and found that the dean himself was just a Soul Master, and that he only accepted children from poor families when he founded this junior Soul Master academy."

He even used his own money to ensure these children didn't have to worry about food and clothing, and he also helped the surrounding villages awaken their martial spirits. As you know, cultivation consumes resources, so in the process, he...
The college gradually became unprofitable, and the fact that it hasn't gone bankrupt yet is a result of the old dean using his life savings.

Zhou Xuan sighed: "I didn't expect there to still be people like this. They are truly admirable! Just agree to whatever conditions he has. Ask him if he is willing to stay in the academy. We can also raise his salary a bit."

“This old servant understands,” Wang Bo replied.

"Wait!" Zhou Xuan seemed to suddenly realize something: "Is this place far from Shrek Academy?"

"It's not far; it only takes one night by carriage."

"Well, in that case, I'll go there myself."

"Isn't this too dangerous?" Uncle Wang asked hesitantly, after all, they had just discussed the teahouse.

Once you're outside the city, it's not as safe as it is inside Shrek City.

Zhou Xuan's lips curled up: "I want to give them a chance. Like you said, it's always unsettling to have such a hidden danger around. This is a good opportunity to test them."

I'll take advantage of this trip out of the city to get my fourth spirit ring sorted out as well.

"Don't worry, I know what's going on."

Uncle Wang nodded and said no more.

"By the way, how are those two little ones doing?" Zhou Xuan looked at the two rooms in the side hall and suddenly asked.

Mentioning the two children, Uncle Wang's smile widened, his eyes filled with affection: "They are both very talented and hardworking. In addition, with the various cultivation resources provided by you, young master, their cultivation is progressing very smoothly. Just last month, both of them reached level sixteen."

"Oh? They're already level sixteen? Gou Dan is one thing, he started cultivating early, but Xiao Nuan is level sixteen too?" A hint of surprise flashed in Zhou Xuan's eyes. This past year he had only provided cultivation resources for the two of them.
He would occasionally come back to give the two guidance, but he had been too busy with things at the academy in the past few months to come back and visit. It was only now that he realized the level of their cultivation.

Moreover, because of malnutrition in her childhood, Xiao Nuan did not have full innate soul power when she awakened her martial soul, so she was inherently a little weaker than Gou Dan. However, she is now at the same level as Gou Dan.

"Yes, Master."

"Not bad!" Zhou Xuan nodded. It seemed that he had really struck gold.

Zhou Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "Tell them that cultivation cannot be neglected, but they should also pay attention to the balance between work and rest. They must lay a solid foundation. Has Gou Dan been neglecting his cultivation? Xiao Nuan has caught up with him."

"Yes, this old servant will certainly pass on the message." Uncle Wang also laughed heartily, "After all, they are still children, it's understandable that they are a bit playful."

Zhou Xuan then asked about other trivial matters within the manor, and Uncle Wang answered them all in detail.

Before we knew it, the night had deepened.

"Alright, Uncle Wang, you can go and rest now." Zhou Xuan waved his hand.

"Young Master, you should also get some rest." Uncle Wang bowed and slowly withdrew.

Inside the study, the candlelight flickered, and Zhou Xuan sat alone behind the desk, his fingers unconsciously tapping the surface.

"They came a year ago, definitely because of the embryo incident. I just didn't expect that even after all this time, they still wouldn't let me go. I want to see which force is so persistent?"

But soon, once Huo Yuhao returns, he will prepare to merge with the Snow Emperor's embryo. After all, merging now would mean certain death.

(End of this chapter)