Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Evening, Bright Grand Hotel.

Zhang Fan sat in the hotel lobby, taking out a stack of documents from a manila envelope.

These materials were gathered by Fang Changle and the Qi Brothers from their respective sects, all more or less related to the Rat of the Thirteen Zodiacs.

"Where are Old Fang and the Qi Brothers? Why didn’t they hand this to me themselves?" Zhang Fan asked Li Miaoyin, who sat opposite him.

"They only asked me to pass it to you, saying..." Li Miaoyin paused before continuing, "won’t interfere with you."

"Won’t interfere with me? Interfere with what?" Zhang Fan was taken aback, then his expression turned peculiar.

"I’d like to ask you, what did you say to them privately?" Li Miaoyin scrutinized Zhang Fan.

"What could I have said to them?" Zhang Fan pursed his lips as if he’d guessed Li Miaoyin’s implication and couldn’t help shaking his head, saying, "Rumors are fearsome."

As he spoke, Zhang Fan lowered his head to look through the documents in hand.

"You’re quite interested in the Rat of the Thirteen Zodiacs." Li Miaoyin remarked, shifting her tone.

"You’ve read it?" Zhang Fan didn’t lift his head.

"Those documents aren’t exactly top-secret; the real, bottom-drawer stuff, Maoshan and Laojun Mountain wouldn’t divulge." Li Miaoyin said firmly.

The Wuwei Sect has been passed down for thousands of years, and its relationship with the Daoist Sect is complex, holding many secrets outsiders wouldn’t know.

"The position of the Rat is particularly mysterious..."

"In the history of the Thirteen Zodiacs, other positions might have been vacant, but this position has always been occupied." Li Miaoyin said calmly.

"It is indeed peculiar." Zhang Fan frowned slightly.

The Thirteen Zodiacs are led by humans.

Over the long ages, the Human Xiao Great Position has been vacant from time to time.

For instance, when Li Linglong met with disaster under Dragon Tiger Mountain, the Human Xiao position was vacant for ten years, yet the Rat’s position has never been empty.

"Not only that..." Zhang Fan stared at the documents, his eyes filled with even more doubt.

"Sixty years ago, during the Jiazi Demon-Vanquishing, the Wuwei Sect was nearly wiped out, and the Thirteen Zodiacs were nearly all killed, yet the Rat kept out of it, free from the tribulation."

After that great catastrophe, the Wuwei Sect vanished, never seen in public again.

It was during that time that the Thirteen Zodiacs almost perished; Jin Mao Day then inherited the Rooster Great Position, becoming the most senior member of the Thirteen Zodiacs today.

But the Rat from that time was unaffected.

"Is the Rat from sixty years ago the same person as the Rat today?" Zhang Fan pondered.

If so, then the Rat is from the same era as the Three Corpses Daoist and Chu Chaoran, among the Thirteen Zodiacs, even older than Jin Mao Day in seniority.

"The Rat is mysterious, never showing itself to anyone."

Li Miaoyin paused meaningfully, glancing at Zhang Fan.

"Ten years ago, the Great Spirit Sect King was ambushed under Dragon Tiger Mountain, the Thirteen Zodiacs almost all appeared, but only the Rat averted disaster by going far away."

"Really crafty, always able to keep away from trouble." Zhang Fan looked at the documents in hand.

"Such people can live long."

"Sensing danger and avoiding it, seeing tribulation and hiding from it." Zhang Fan said solemnly.

"Worthy of the Rat."

"Such people are quite troublesome; why do you want to engage with them?" Li Miaoyin asked.

"You know more or less about my family matters." Zhang Fan mused.

At this moment, he opened his heart, subconsciously treating Li Miaoyin as one of his own.

"Chen Dragon!?" Li Miaoyin guessed something.

"Zhang Nanfeng, he’s from the Zhang Family, trained in Five Elements Mistaken King, and has obtained the True Dragon Treasure Horn. My father now hides in Ailao Mountain, unable to manage, to deal with such a person, I can only seek outside help." Zhang Fan said solemnly.

At present, the Rat is the best choice.

"The gap between you and them is too great, honestly speaking, with such disparity, your value in the Rat’s eyes is obvious, they have no reason to cooperate with you." Li Miaoyin insightfully remarked.

"You’re right." Zhang Fan nodded.

Though he had successfully achieved Divine Fusion, escaping the Great Night of Darkness, he was ultimately only at the Great Master Sixth Realm.

But Chen Dragon was already at the Celestial Master level.

With such disparity, Zhang Fan indeed lacked the leverage to cooperate with the Rat.

"The Rat values not just me, or only me." Zhang Fan said calmly.

"You are the last descendant of the South Zhang line, with a Great Spirit Sect King behind you, a presence that even Chen Dragon must be wary of." Li Miaoyin analyzed.

"Indeed, cooperating with me is about forging a good connection, while I’m seeking to win over an ally." Zhang Fan said firmly.

"Planning for a distant future, this ally might one day become a thorn embedded in the enemy’s heart."

Beep beep beep...

At this moment, Zhang Fan’s phone rang; he opened it to find an encrypted message from Meng Qiwu.

Zhang Fan opened the message; it contained only one sentence.

"Tonight at eleven, Yujing City, Red Sun Building!"

"Finally, it’s time." Zhang Fan exhaled deeply.

Eleven o’clock, that is, midnight!

...

Yujing City, Red Sun Building.

The cold street was already devoid of pedestrians; the street lights crackled, flickering on and off.

Under the chilling moonlight, the [Red Sun Building] appeared desolate and eerie.

This was an abandoned building, infamous in Yujing City, ranked among the top ten evil buildings alongside the [Taoyuan Square] where Zhang Fan had previously been.

The Red Sun Building was initially built fifteen years ago, originally with a commercial complex on the lower floors and residential apartments above.

Later, a murder occurred. A man kept a mistress living on the thirteenth floor. His wife came, and during the commotion, the man accidentally killed his wife, then, along with the mistress, dismembered her, packed the remains into woven bags, and scattered them throughout Yujing City.