THE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS
Chapter Nineteen — Divine Eye Long Jiu

“Two hundred thousand?”

Zhuo Fan rubbed his chin and chuckled softly.

Then he reached for the scroll.

“If Miss Long is this lacking in sincerity,” he said calmly, “then perhaps this deal ends here.”

Long Kui immediately leaned back and hugged the formation scroll tightly against her chest as if afraid he would truly take it away.

“Mister Zhuo,” she said quickly, “it’s only a first-grade formation diagram. Two hundred thousand spirit stones is already generous. Especially since this is hand-drawn and not stored inside a jade slip. I’m offering a very fair price.”

Zhuo Fan laughed again.

“Miss Long,” he said, extending his hand, “just because I look poorly read doesn’t mean you can cheat me this easily. Return the scroll.”

He sounded relaxed.

But his eyes never left hers.

Long Kui bit her lip and tightened her grip on the diagram.

“Three hundred thousand,” she blurted out suddenly. “This time I’ll take the loss.”

“Still not sincere enough.”

Zhuo Fan sighed in disappointment and leaned farther forward, fingers already reaching for the scroll again.

Long Kui shrank back instinctively, clutching it tighter as if avoiding some demonic hand.

The formation diagram itself truly was only first-grade.

And she was not unfamiliar with first-grade formations. By her own estimation, the real value should have been around two hundred fifty thousand spirit stones. Her original offer of two hundred thousand had already been cautious because she could tell Zhuo Fan understood the trade. Bluffing him would not be easy.

But the problem was not the grade.

It was the formations themselves.

Several of the structures within the diagram were things she had never seen before.

Hidden Dragon Pavilion possessed the largest archive of formation records in the Tianyu Empire. Yet even among those records, she could not identify portions of this scroll.

That alone made it priceless to her.

Which meant Zhuo Fan had already won the negotiation before it began.

Seeing no progress, Long Kui suddenly turned toward Luo Yunshang.

“Miss Luo,” she said earnestly, “three hundred thousand is already the highest reasonable price. And in the entire Tianyu Empire, only Hidden Dragon Pavilion has the resources to purchase something like this. Anywhere else, you wouldn’t even get half.”

Luo Yunshang hesitated.

Long Kui immediately pressed forward.

“Besides, if the Luo family does business with Hidden Dragon Pavilion at this level, you’ll naturally become honored guests here.” She smiled faintly. “Our doors will always remain open to you.”

Honored guests?

Luo Yunshang blinked.

Wouldn’t that mean… backing?

Her expression brightened almost instantly.

“Zhuo Fan, maybe we should—”

“Quiet.”

His voice cracked through the room sharply enough to make everyone flinch.

Luo Yunshang froze.

Zhuo Fan turned toward her with cold irritation in his eyes.

This foolish woman.

A few sweet words and she was already imagining Hidden Dragon Pavilion as their protector.

Pavilion guests meant nothing.

If he truly wanted Hidden Dragon Pavilion to shield the Luo family, then their interests had to become inseparable. Anything less was fantasy.

Zhuo Fan slowly exhaled and looked back at Long Kui.

“I am the Luo family steward,” he said flatly. “All matters concerning the Luo family are decided by me.” His eyes lowered toward the scroll in her arms. “Now return it.”

Long Kui stared blankly between Zhuo Fan and Luo Yunshang.

Completely speechless.

A steward managing household affairs was normal.

A steward overruling the family head herself?

That was not a steward anymore.

And yet Luo Yunshang clearly had no authority over this man at all.

After a long silence, Long Kui reluctantly stroked the scroll one final time before handing it back.

“What a pity, Mister Zhuo.” She sighed. “Your expectations are too high. Hidden Dragon Pavilion truly cannot satisfy them.” Then she added firmly, “But I guarantee you under the Pavilion’s name — a first-grade formation diagram is worth no more than three hundred thousand.”

Zhuo Fan accepted the scroll.

Then, unexpectedly, he bowed slightly toward her.

Long Kui blinked in surprise.

Before she could react, Zhuo Fan spoke again.

“My apologies. I thought Miss Long was intentionally trying to deceive us.” He looked at her evenly. “It seems you genuinely don’t understand its value.”

Silence.

Long Kui’s face reddened instantly.

“What did you say?”

Anger surged into her eyes.

Since childhood, anything she examined once could be remembered perfectly — structure, flaws, value, origin. Her talent was the reason she had risen through Hidden Dragon Pavilion so quickly. It was why she could distinguish genuine ink jade from a counterfeit at a glance in the marketplace.

It was not training.

It was genius.

And now this man was questioning it directly.

“Mister Zhuo,” she said with a smile far colder than open anger, “confidence is admirable. Excessive arrogance is not.”

Everyone in the room could practically hear her teeth grinding together.

But Zhuo Fan only smiled politely.

“Is there another appraiser here?”

Long Kui stared at him for several long seconds.

Then she nodded sharply.

“Fine.”

She turned and left without another word.

The moment she disappeared, Luo Yunshang looked nervously toward Zhuo Fan.

“Did we just offend Hidden Dragon Pavilion?”

Zhuo Fan only smiled faintly.

A strange smile.

Not long after, slow footsteps echoed from outside the chamber.

Long Kui returned.

This time, someone walked beside her.

An old man with one blind eye.

The instant Luo Yunshang saw him, she gasped.

“Divine Eye Long Jiu?”

Then she hurriedly whispered toward Zhuo Fan:

“He’s Hidden Dragon Pavilion’s chief steward in Windforest City. Their head appraiser. Divine Eye Long Jiu.”

“Miss Luo.”

Though still dozens of steps away, the old man’s voice arrived clearly in everyone’s ears.

“Twenty years ago, when I met your father, he was still a proud and ambitious man.” The old man sighed lightly. “I never imagined his descendants would someday be forced to sell their inheritance.”

Zhuo Fan’s heart tightened slightly.

This old man was far stronger than Cai Rong.

So much stronger that Zhuo Fan could not even judge his cultivation properly.

It was not because Zhuo Fan lacked insight.

Nor because the old man was hiding it.

The gap between them was simply too vast.

As expected of Hidden Dragon Pavilion, Zhuo Fan thought.

Even a branch steward possessed this level of strength.

Long Jiu soon arrived before them with Long Kui supporting his arm.

Luo Yunshang bowed immediately.

“Elder Jiu.”

Commander Pang hurried to follow.

Only Zhuo Fan remained standing straight.

Long Jiu’s cloudy eye lingered on him for a moment.

“So,” the old man said slowly, “you’re the Luo family’s new steward?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Long Jiu nodded lightly.

“As long as it isn’t that old fool from before, anyone else would be an improvement.”

The words seemed casual, but his gaze drifted meaningfully across the room before settling back on Zhuo Fan.

“I hear you questioned Little Kui’s appraisal?”

“I did.”

Long Kui snorted from the side.

Long Jiu laughed softly.

“Little Kui may still be young, but her eyes are exceptional. If she says something is worth three hundred thousand, she’s usually correct.” He extended his hand. “Still, since you have doubts, let this blind old man take a look.”

Zhuo Fan handed over the scroll.

“Please.”

Long Jiu accepted it with a smile.

Then he opened the formation diagram.

The smile vanished.

His body froze.

His single visible eye locked onto the scroll without blinking.

“Uncle Jiu,” Long Kui said proudly from the side, “just like I told you. A first-grade formation diagram. Worth about three hundred thousand.”

Long Jiu did not answer.

He continued staring.

Only after a long silence did he finally look back up at Zhuo Fan, his expression completely serious now.

“I didn’t expect the Luo family to still possess something like this.”

His gaze sharpened.

“Boy.”

“One million eight hundred thousand.”

“How does that sound?”

The room exploded into silence.

Everyone froze.

Especially Long Kui.

No matter how wildly she guessed, she never could have imagined that Hidden Dragon Pavilion’s chief appraiser would place a price like that on the scroll.

[End of Chapter Nineteen]

Chapter Twenty — Trouble Arrives

Trouble came at dawn.

Zhuo Fan was seated in meditation inside his room at the inn when hurried footsteps rushed down the corridor toward him. A moment later, the door slammed open with a heavy crash.

Commander Pang burst inside, breathing hard, his face tight with alarm.

“Bad news. The Sun family has surrounded the inn.”

Zhuo Fan slowly opened his eyes.

A strange curve touched the corner of his mouth.

“So they finally came.”

Commander Pang stared at him.

“How are you not worried?”

Zhuo Fan rose and brushed past him.

“I was waiting for them.” He walked toward the door. “Bring the siblings.”

Commander Pang’s mouth twitched.

Technically, Zhuo Fan was the Luo family’s steward. In front of outsiders, he still called Luo Yunshang and Luo Yunhai “my lady” and “young master.” But in private, he had never treated them like masters a day in his life.

Once, Commander Pang would have dragged him before the family law for that.

Now he was used to it.

More than that, he had begun to understand something.

Zhuo Fan’s mouth was poison, but his heart was not as empty as he pretended. He cursed the Luo siblings daily, but whenever danger came, he was always the first one standing in front of them.

Just yesterday, after returning from Hidden Dragon Pavilion, he had scolded Luo Yunshang until she could barely lift her head, blaming her for nearly ruining his negotiation with one careless sentence. She had been wronged and confused, not even fully understanding what he had negotiated in the end.

But Commander Pang had seen Long Jiu’s expression before they left.

Zhuo Fan had won something enormous for the Luo family.

One million spirit stones.

Enough to keep them from sleeping on the streets. Enough to prevent them from becoming parasites under another clan’s roof. Enough to let the Luo family breathe again.

And more important than the money was what Long Jiu had said.

As long as Zhuo Fan remained with them, the Luo family still had a day when it could rise again.

Commander Pang rubbed his chin, watching Zhuo Fan’s back with reluctant admiration.

“A capable man can be arrogant even as a servant.”

He sighed and turned to fetch Luo Yunshang and Luo Yunhai.

A short while later, they gathered in the inn’s main hall.

Luo Yunshang arrived with Luo Yunhai at her side, Commander Pang behind them. Her face still carried traces of resentment from yesterday’s scolding, subtle but very much alive.

“Let’s go, my lady. Young master.”

Zhuo Fan glanced toward the door.

Luo Yunshang gave a soft, cold hum and led her brother forward.

The inn doors opened with a long creak.

The moment Luo Yunshang stepped outside, every private emotion vanished from her face.

Grievance. Anger. Fear.

All of it disappeared.

In its place came the composed dignity of a noble daughter raised beneath old rules and old expectations. Even Zhuo Fan had to admit it: Luo Yunshang was what a great family’s eldest daughter should look like.

Outside, more than thirty Sun family guards had gathered, most of them Qi Gathering experts.

Two people stood at their front.

One was Sun Yufei, the young woman Zhuo Fan had struck at the Cai estate.

The other was a handsome young man with a refined bearing and a folding fan resting in his hand. He looked elegant at first glance, almost graceful — except his eyes kept drifting across Luo Yunshang’s figure with open, practiced interest.

Luo Yunshang noticed.

She shifted slightly and turned her gaze toward Sun Yufei.

“Miss Sun. What brings you here with so many people?”

Sun Yufei sneered.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. Have you forgotten what he did to me at the Cai estate?”

She pointed straight at Zhuo Fan.

“Today, the Luo family ends here.”

Luo Yunshang’s brow tightened.

Her grip around Luo Yunhai’s hand strengthened.

Then she glanced at Zhuo Fan.

He looked bored.

And with that, the tension in her chest loosened.

Too many times now, they had stood at the edge of disaster. Too many times, Zhuo Fan had dragged them out by means no one expected. Cai Rong. Long Jiu. Hidden Dragon Pavilion itself. If Zhuo Fan looked confident, then the situation was still under control.

The people before them were not even close to those two.

By now, Luo Yunshang understood one simple rule.

If Zhuo Fan did not panic, there was no need for her to panic.

A faint smile touched her lips.

She lifted her chin.

“The Luo family has stood in Windforest City for centuries,” she said, her voice clear. “It will not vanish because Miss Sun declares it so. The Sun family has been here barely more than ten years. I suggest you watch your words.”

For the first time in days, Luo Yunshang sounded like herself again.

Proud.

Controlled.

The eldest daughter of the Luo family.

The change was striking enough that even the watching guards fell briefly silent.

Compared side by side, Sun Yufei looked less like a noble young lady and more like a spoiled street shrew. Luo Yunshang, despite everything she had lost, still carried herself like someone born to rule a household.

Sun Yufei saw the shift in the crowd’s eyes.

Her face flushed red with rage.

“Luo Yunshang,” she snapped, power beginning to leak from her body, “today I’ll teach you what happens when a fallen phoenix thinks it can still stand above chickens.”

She lunged.

Commander Pang immediately stepped in front of Luo Yunshang.

But before the two could clash, a folding fan snapped open between them.

“Cousin, you—”

Sun Yufei stared at the young man in disbelief, eyes red with anger.

The young man did not look at her.

He only faced Luo Yunshang and bowed with polished courtesy.

“Miss Luo, forgive my cousin’s manners. We came today for your steward, not for you.” His smile was gentle. “Hand him over, and I guarantee no one from the Luo family will lose a single hair.”

“Cousin,” Sun Yufei said sharply, “that isn’t what we agreed on. We said we would wipe them all out—”

The fan shifted, covering her face completely.

He ignored her.

“And if Miss Luo is willing,” the young man continued, “I can help restore the Luo family to its former glory.”

“No need.”

Luo Yunshang stepped forward.

“Zhuo Fan is a member of the Luo family. To come for him is to come for us.” Her eyes hardened. “I am the head of this family now. If there is a debt, bring it to me.”

The young man laughed softly and shook his head.

“I advise you not to act out of emotion, Miss Luo. If you knew who I was, you would choose your words more carefully.”

Luo Yunshang narrowed her eyes.

The young man smiled.

“My name is You Quan. Disciple of Nether Valley.”

Luo Yunshang went pale.

She staggered back two steps before she could stop herself.

“You’re from…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “One of the Seven Houses Under Imperial Decree.”

Sun Yufei burst out laughing.

“Afraid now?”

A terrible weight settled over the Luo family’s side.

This was different from facing Long Jiu.

At Hidden Dragon Pavilion, they had been negotiating. Dangerous, yes, but not hostile.

Nether Valley was different.

This was enmity.

Anyone from the Seven Houses could raise or destroy a secular clan with the movement of a finger. Now they finally understood why even Cai Rong had treated Sun Yufei with such caution.

The Sun family really did have the Seven Houses behind them.

“Zhuo Fan…”

Luo Yunshang grabbed his hand unconsciously, her voice trembling despite herself.

Zhuo Fan gave her a calm, reassuring smile.

Then he stepped forward.

“I’m Zhuo Fan, steward of the Luo family.” He looked at You Quan. “What do you want? One-on-one, or all of you together?”

You Quan’s smile cooled.

“Just as my cousin said. Arrogant. A servant dog who doesn’t know his place.”

He walked slowly toward Zhuo Fan.

“Against someone like you, sending everyone would only stain Nether Valley’s reputation.”

The words had barely left his mouth when his body vanished.

Zhuo Fan’s pupils tightened.

He threw himself sideways.

A breath later, he lifted his head.

A thin line of blood had opened across his cheek.

Fresh red slid down his face.

Where he had been standing a moment ago, You Quan now stood, fan held loosely in one hand, smiling as if examining a toy.

“You dodged,” You Quan said. “Interesting.”

“Qi Gathering Stage Six,” Zhuo Fan murmured.

His eyes narrowed.

“A Demon Path cultivator.”

Then he smiled.

“Good.”

You Quan’s movement had been ghostlike, vicious and strange. If Zhuo Fan had not carried a lifetime of combat instincts, that first strike would have ended him.

But the attack had told him something useful.

Nether Valley’s cultivation method belonged to the Demon Path.

Against anyone else, You Quan would be a nightmare.

Demon Path techniques pursued power through dangerous, brutal shortcuts. They were strange, fast, aggressive, and often lethal to the user as much as the enemy. Orthodox cultivators advanced step by step, slower but safer, with fewer risks of backlash.

Which meant You Quan’s Qi Gathering Stage Six cultivation was far more dangerous than the number suggested.

And Zhuo Fan was only at Stage Two.

Four stages apart.

Among Demon Path cultivators, that gap was worse than it looked.

Fortunately, Zhuo Fan was no ordinary cultivator.

He was an old demon wearing a young man’s skin.

He knew Demon Path techniques. Their patterns. Their habits. Their flaws.

That knowledge might be his only weapon.

“Zhuo Fan!” Luo Yunshang called out, staring at the blood on his face. “Are you all right?”

Zhuo Fan slowly stood.

He wiped the blood from his cheek with one finger.

Then he smiled.

Not calmly this time.

Excitedly.

In his previous life, he had challenged stronger opponents before. But most had been Orthodox Path experts. This was the first time since his rebirth that he had crossed hands with a Demon Path cultivator stronger than himself.

A rare sense of freshness stirred in his chest.

“Fight.”

Even without the Luo family, even without the plan already forming in his mind, this battle had become necessary.

Not because it was rational.

Because some impulses belonged to old demons, and no rebirth could erase them.

You Quan noticed the change in Zhuo Fan’s eyes.

For the first time, his expression faltered.

Normally, that opening strike killed. On the rare chance someone survived, fear did the rest. Their courage broke. Their breath scattered. Their hands shook.

But Zhuo Fan was not afraid.

He looked pleased.

“Could it be…”

You Quan’s thought broke as a sharp rush of wind cut toward him.

He raised his hand on instinct.

Impact.

A bloody palm print exploded across his palm.

The force drove him back several steps before he regained his balance.

Only then did he look down.

His hand was bleeding.

“Cousin, be careful!” Sun Yufei shouted. “Uncle Cai suffered from that same palm strike!”

You Quan’s elegant face finally turned serious.

“Troublesome,” he muttered.

His eyes lifted toward Zhuo Fan.

“I didn’t expect to meet one of my own kind here.”

Across from him, Zhuo Fan smiled without explanation.

You Quan breathed out slowly, regret beginning to darken his thoughts.

If I had known this servant was like this, I never would have stepped into this mess.

[End of Chapter Twenty]