The small courtyard was engulfed in silence, both Xiao Qi and Xiao Shi were deep in thought.

　　“Young Chu Li, where did you see this Vitality Sealing Finger?” asked Guo Mulin.

　　“Thaumaturgy Encyclopedia,” replied Chu Li.

　　“I will look it up when I return,” Guo Mulin said. “Is there really such a thing called Vitality Sealing Finger or are you just making things up?”

　　“Sir Guo Mulin, I don’t have the guts to do that! However, this matter does not have to be rushed, we can take our time,” answered Chu Li.

　　Chu Li gave Xiao Qi a meaningful glance.

　　Xiao Qi nodded slightly to indicate that she understood.

　　After dinner, Chu Li went into Xiao Qi’s room.

　　The small courtyard had a total of four rooms, one room to the east and one to the west as well as the two bedrooms in the main hall.

　　Xiao Qi stayed in the bedroom to the left. When Chu Li went inside, Xiao Qi was reading a book under the lights, the tallow candlelight was as bright as day. Her face exuded a warm luster like nephrite jade.

　　Xiao Qi put down the book and pointed at the garden stool.

　　Chu Li gave a fist salute and sat down two steps away.

　　“What do you want to tell me?” asked Xiao Qi.

　　Chu Li sighed. “My Lady, it seems to me that there’s not much left of Second Lady’s life vitality.”

　　“You are even able to see that?” Xiao Qi frowned.

　　Chu Li nodded slightly. “This is not martial arts, nor is it a medical skill. It’s a Buddhism technique.”

　　“How long does my second eldest sister have?” Xiao Qi asked.

　　“Less than half a year,” replied Chu Li.

　　“Six months?” Xiao Qi furrowed her eyebrows and asked, “She’s really affected by Vitality Sealing Finger?”

　　“Yes.”

　　“Are you sure?”

　　“Yes.”

　　“If so, why are you still hesitating?”

　　“My words may not be believed by others, and Second Lady has honorable status. It is better to let others see first, and also to look for a Grandmaster.”

　　“You have no confidence in yourself?”

　　“If you have a low standing, people won’t take you seriously, no matter if it’s Second Lady or Master Xiao Tieying, they will not allow me to do it.”

　　“If it’s you, are you able to remove it?”

　　“… Yes,” Chu Li said slowly.

　　Chu Lu was actually extremely confident as he could see the situation inside her body clearly and his inner energy was strong enough too. With just a palm, it would be enough to remove the Vitality Sealing Finger.

　　However, this issue was very complex, his status was not high enough. If it was a Grandmaster, the Public House would value and put their trust in him, while Chu Li was just an Innate Master. Although he had become a chief, he still could not convince others to place their trust in him.

　　Xiao Qi placed the book down and went to push open the window. The night breeze blew into the house and the flame of the tallow candle flickered.

　　Xiao Qi looked at the crescent moon in the sky, her heart still as water, thinking about the stakes in this issue.

　　She understood Chu Li’s concerns, Big Brother was an important hurdle to overcome.

　　Big Brother will never trust Chu Li so he would not allow him to preside over this matter and he may not believe Chu Li’s judgment, he would definitely deny the matter of Vanity Sealing Finger.

　　“Half a year…” Xiao Qi muttered.

　　Chu Li said, “My Lady, it may not necessarily be half a year.”

　　“We will take our time, we can’t rush this matter!” Xiao Qi stared at him hard. “The stakes of this matter, it is needless for me to tell you.”

　　She trusted Chu Li because this matter had no benefits for Chu Li, it would only bring him great risks.

　　Chu Li was second eldest sister’s savior, his credit was big enough, to save Xiao Shi again would be like putting the icing on the cake, there would only be limited benefits, but once he failed, it would be life-threatening for him. In accordance with Big Brother tendencies, he would absolutely vent his anger on Chu Li and it would be impossible for Chu Li to stay alive.

　　However, Xiao Qi was fully aware of the difficulty of this matter, Big Brother was very anxious about Second Elder Sister, and he did not believe that Chu Li had such capability, thus he would never let second eldest sister take the risk.

　　Chu Li sighed. “Maybe there are other methods to resolve the Vitality Sealing Finger, I will check it out.”

　　“Very well, I will find someone to check it out too,” Xiao Qi said.

　　Chu Li nodded.

　　“Keep this matter a secret first, and do not disclose it in advance,” said Xiao Qi.

　　Chu Li sighed. “Of course.”

　　Xiao Qi waved her hand. “You can leave now.”

　　Chu Li stood up feeling a little disappointed. Sitting in a room with Xiao Qi, being surrounded by her peaceful atmosphere, there was an unexplainable feeling of satisfaction and pleasure. The time passed too quickly and when it was time to leave, he suddenly had the feeling of emptiness and melancholy, Chu Li just felt like staying there and not leaving.

　　He choked back his sadness, gave a fist salute and went out of the room.

　　Chu Li reached the middle of the courtyard and sat in the pagoda. He looked at the crescent moon in the night sky. His mind wandered and he was strangely emotional. Chu Li felt like drinking wine to erase the sadness in his heart.

　　All of a sudden, Chu Li’s ears jolted and jerked slightly towards one side.

　　He activated the Omniscient Mirror and saw a dozen people in black clothing lying prone below the flower trees and hiding in the shadows of the corners, motionlessly, blending in with the surrounding darkness.

　　His brows lifted, these people from the martial arts world were really impatient. They did not want to let Grand Secretary Kang finish celebrating his birthday.

　　Increasing the power of Omniscient Mirror, Chu Li read their minds and found out that they were from two separate factions.

　　He shook his head, Grand Secretary Kang snuffed out two factions at that time and these people were the remnants of the two factions. They had endured suffering for many years. They wanted to take revenge in one go and let the whole world know, to give all the imperial court officials a bombshell.

　　Chu Li thought for a while and did not take any action.

　　The Kang Residence was not the Public House. As a guest, Chu Li did not have to get involved. If he did, he would invite a lot of trouble for himself, and moreover, there were Grandmasters protecting Grand Secretary Kang so there would be no danger.

　　He retracted one level of the Omniscient Mirror and only paid attention to their movements.

　　The night deepened and unknowingly, it was already late at night. The entire Kang Residence was asleep.

　　Chu Li knew that Xiao Qi and Xiao Shi were asleep, Guo Mulin was also asleep after tossing and turning restlessly for quite a while. The whole small courtyard was in silence.

　　Chu Li got to his feet and went out. He stood with his hands behind his back in the small courtyard, motionlessly staring at the bright moon.

　　The bright moon was shaped like a hook.

　　After quite some time, with his Omniscient Mirror, he saw the group of people in black clothing and came into contact with them.

　　They were arranged into groups of three and there were a total of seven groups, running towards different directions: some went to the main hall of Kang Residence, some went to the back kitchen, some went to the backyard, some went to the guest room, and three people were coming towards their small courtyard.

　　Chu Li did not want them to disturb Xiao Qi’s sleep. When they were close to the small courtyard walls and were about to leap up, Chu Li suddenly appeared behind them, his Heart Destroyer Palm broke their heart meridian straight away and they died silently.

　　Only one person flew into the air and over the walls into the courtyard.

　　After Chu Li killed the other two, he once again appeared behind the remaining person and killed him with a palm. He caught his corpse in the air and landed quietly outside the walls.

　　Chu Li put the three corpses together, and then in a flash, went back to the pagoda in the small courtyard.

　　The Kang Residence was thrown into chaos. Soon, the woodshed of the back kitchen was consumed by fire. Some workers woke up and shouted for help. A lot of people rushed out to put out the fire.

　　The assassins in black clothing made use of the confusion created, took out their knives and started killing people.

　　Chu Li frowned, the Protectors of Kang Residence were not of any help. They failed to detect such a situation on time.

　　His figure flashed twice, Chu Li killed three people in black clothing and then disappeared.

　　Chu Li did not involve himself any further when the rest of the assassins went to the backyard, he only observed the situation through his mind.

　　When this four groups of people in black clothing neared the backyard, each of them swallowed a medicine. Soon, their eyes turned blood red and their whole bodies were surrounded by a violent and brutal aura.

　　When they broke into the backyard, a Grandmaster appeared all of a sudden and six of them encircled the Grandmaster, completely disregarding their own safety and paying no heed to the attacks of the Grandmaster. They kept attacking desperately as if they had no regard for their lives at all. They were apparently sacrificial warriors.

　　The remaining six people broke into the bedroom and lunged at a thin old man.

　　This was the first time Chu Li had seen Grand Secretary Kang. He was skinny and short, with white hair and cauterizing eyes. Although he did not practice martial arts, his spirit was impressive and he was exuding a mighty and imposing aura.

　　His countenance was inscrutable when facing the six men in black clothing, instead, Grand Secretary Kang scoffed angrily, “Presumptuous!”

　　An old man in a gray robe stood beside him, using both his left and right palms to press against the six people from a distance. The powerful palm energy weighed down on them, making it hard for them to even move an inch.

　　Blood red completely filled the eyes of these people, they were like monsters. Two of them lunged at the old man in the gray robe, leaving their chests unprotected. They were hit in the chest directly by the palm energy and spat out blood but yet they continued to lunge forward.

　　The remaining four people in black clothing leaped towards Grand Secretary Kang. The Grandmaster saw this critical situation, quickly slipped past the blockage of the two people in black clothing, stood in front of Grand Secretary Kang and struck out his palm strangely fast. The shadows of his palms filled the space and his palms hit the four people in black clothing.

　　He originally thought that his palm strikes would have sent them flying, but he had never thought that they would endure his palm attack. Spitting out blood but not retreating, instead, they leaned closer. All four people in black clothing dived at him and held onto him.

　　The other two red-eyed people in black clothing lunged at Grand Secretary Kang with their mouths wide open, their sharp white teeth aimed at the throat of Grand Secretary Kang.