As the moon rose above the branches, the gate to the Dragon House 's inner mansion had long been closed, and the place was quiet.
Through the crack of the window, Li Feng could be seen sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, his eyebrows alternating between frowning and relaxing.
He was surrounded by more than eight hundred ever-burning candles. However, most of these eight hundred lights have been extinguished, and at best, there were only about three or four hundred remaining now.
In cultivation terms, these were candle lamps that divided yin and yang and prevented the Underworld from touching his soul.
When all these candles were extinguished completely, the barrier between the yin and yang realms dissipated, and the Underworld could come over at any time to collect the person's soul.
Li Feng exhaled slightly and looked around.
However, the moment he raised his eyes, he saw one of the candles' lights swaying, trembling, and finally turning into a line of blue smoke and dissipating.
"Ahem-- there are three hundred and seventy-two lights left..."
Li Feng counted on his fingers and did a simple calculation. He only had sixty days left to live.
He smiled bitterly as Li Longling's face suddenly appeared in his mind, and he felt sorry for her.
In the past sixteen years, he had searched countless elixirs and medical methods all over the Western Region , but so far, he had been unable to cure his daughter's sight.
And once he left, Li Longling would be alone in the future.
"Longling... sigh---"
After he sighed, two candles on his right side turned into smoke and scattered in the air.
When Li Feng saw this, he immediately put the depressive thoughts behind him.
He understood that if he continued to be sentimental, he might be able to put out all the remaining three hundred or so lights tonight.
Knock knock---
At this time, there were two soft knocks at the door.
There was no one else who could come here except Li Longling.
Li Feng closed his eyes to calm down and put a slight smile on his face. Although Li Longling couldn't see it, he knew that his daughter had extremely good hearing and could clearly hear the sadness and joy in his tone.
"It's you, Longling?"
"Yes, Father."
"Come in."
After hearing the response from inside, Li Longling slowly pushed open the door and walked in. Because there was an anti-spy spell here, she could not use her spiritual sense to see the way, so after crossing the threshold, she stopped.
She wrinkled her nose, smelling a lot of oil from candles. She asked in confusion:
"Father, are you burning something?"
Li Feng glanced at the ever-burning candles in the room and responded with a smile. "I just lit some candles for a small cultivation technique."
"Oh..."
"Why are you looking for me at this late hour? Is there something on your mind?"
"Well..." Li Longling organized the order of words and stated, "Father, earlier, a demonic cultivator in the Core Formation stage appeared here, in the Dragon House ."
"..."
Hearing this, Li Feng's expression suddenly froze.
In an instant, there were two "poofs" behind him, and two more lights went out.
When he didn't respond for a long time, Li Longling tilted her head in confusion and called out:
"Father?"
"Hmm..." Li Feng responded quickly, pretending to be calm, and then asked, "What's that person's background?"
"He was the guardian of a branch of the Demonic Sect."
"Oh..."
"I have also asked someone to check the list of people entering and leaving the Dragon House . At least in the past few months, the name of this demonic cultivator was not on the list, so I suspect that someone in the Dragon House communicated with him. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to sneak in."
Puff puff puff puff---
After Li Longling said this, Li Feng seemed to feel a dark wind blowing in the room. Almost instantly, about ten more of the remaining ever-burning candles were extinguished.
Li Feng glanced at the life candles and took a deep breath, composing himself for a while. Then, he advised, "Daughter, it's better if you let me deal with this matter. After all, it's a demonic cultivator...You don't have to..."
Li Longling shook her head slightly, raised her hands, and said: "Father, please let me try."
"..."
"Father, although I can't see, I am confident that I can manage well," Li Longling insisted.
"..."
She reached out, gently took Li Feng's old hand, and said worriedly: "You and the Immortal Matriarch fought against the demonic cultivators in the past, so I'm worried that they want to take advantage of your 1,200th birthday to seek revenge. So, father, you should be careful in the near future."
Li Feng nodded, patted her head gently, and asked her, "Then, have you thought about how to investigate?"
"Yes." She nodded and stated, "The demonic cultivator who was killed was exposed by two Black Star Sect disciples."
Li Feng raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "Who? That girl Xiao and the other one?"
"It's not Sister Xiao, but other Black Star Sect disciples. I've sent people to look for them, and they should find them soon. Then, I will ask them to work with me to flush out all the other demonic cultivators hiding in the Dragon House . I will also find out the traitors in the mansion and give you an explanation, Father."
"..."
Li Feng was left speechless, and only after a while, he was able to squeeze some sentences out.
"Longling, please remember that your current cultivation level is only Qi Refining perfection. Don't act out of anger. If you feel that you can't cope with it, come to me... Dad will do it for you. This matter may be too much for you."
"Don't worry, after all, I've already reached maturity." Li Longling agreed with a smile, paused, and said, "And also, I wanted to write a letter to the Black Star Sect and invite the Immortal Matriarch to come over. So, can I borrow your seal?"
Swish---
A gloomy wind suddenly rose in the mansion.
Hearing that she wanted to write a letter to Si Xuanji about the demonic cultivator, Li Feng felt a little flustered, could not control his emotions for a moment, and interrupted sharply. "No!"
Li Longling was so startled by his voice that she took a step back with a look of fright on her face:
"Eh? Fa... Father?"
Realizing his blunder, Li Feng took a deep breath and explained. "There is no need to make a fuss and trouble the Black Star Sect."
"Ah... but... you and Immortal Matriarch are old friends. If we can invite her over..."
"It's okay, Longling." Li Feng interrupted quickly and explained, "I am in charge of the Dragon House . Even if the demonic cultivator wants to do something, I can handle it myself. There is no need to call a Void Returning cultivator here... She won't come, anyway."
"But father, this is about demonic cultivators after all..."
"I said it's not necessary."
Seeing Li Feng's persistence, Li Longling had no choice but to lower her head and agree: "... Alright, I understand."
Although she could not see her father's expression now, she could hear the warning in his tone.
After thinking for a while, she asked, "Father, have you thought of something?"
"No, just feel free and go check it out. I will help you investigate."
"Ah... well, thank you, Father... By the way, Sister Feng told me earlier that she felt there might be something wrong with the spell suppressing the extreme flaming spiritual energy. Father, you said before that the spiritual veins energy is stronger this year, but I think what she said makes sense. Maybe the people who went to check the formation this year didn't check properly. So, Father, if you are free, you can check it yourself later. The extreme flaming energy in the eye of the formation is too strong, and I can't get in."
"Well... I'll find time to go over there and take a look later."
Li Feng forced a smile and looked at the night outside. "It's getting late, you should go back and rest. Don't tire yourself. The Dragons' Convention is coming soon, and you will be the one to preside over the opening."
"Alright... then, I'll go now. Father, you rest early too."
"Sure, you go ahead."
Li Longling cupped her hands and bowed, then exited the room.
After Li Longling's footsteps faded away, Li Feng let out a heavy breath and turned to look at the bright lights in the room again.
When Li Longling came in, there were still three hundred and seventy lights, but now the number has halved, and nearly one hundred and fifty lights have been extinguished.
Li Feng pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes twitching. Then, he smiled helplessly and looked up at the ceiling, sighing. "My daughter is urging me to die... Haha..."