"And here I was getting all worked up about not being able to use my flying mount. Thank God we've failed to obtain a flying permit, or I would have missed out on that fine piece of ass." From within a carriage driven by two flaming horses, one young man stared at Taotie, overtly leering at her backside, and flicking his tongue over his lips. Several tall and muscular men dressed in black armor surrounded the young man, some inside the carriage, but many more outside.
As the capital of a province, Linzi was a super city of over two million people that kept the streets busy around the clock. But while usually crowded, the streets typically stayed at a manageable level, with pedestrians, mounts and carriages alike, having enough space to move at a reasonable pace.
In recent days, however, things were different. The current Linzi was so packed that pedestrians butted into one another every three seconds. Carriages had it worse, forced to wait out impossibly long lines to avoid barreling through hundreds of citizens.
Things got so bad that even nobles now struggled to obtain permits for their flying mounts.
There was one simple reason to this oversaturation of people in Linzi, the marriage announcement of two of the most prominent members of the Yin Dynasty's junior generation: Dongfang Bai and Wen Tiexin.
In a society of millions, there would always be a handful of people whose lives looked like fairytales. Born in wealthy and influential households, surrounded by luxuries, and destined to stand above the masses. Dongfang Bai and Wen Tiexin were two such people.
The only daughter of the Eastern Duke, and renowned as the most beautiful woman of the East, Dongfang Bai was born with both peerless looks and outstanding martial talents. At the mere age of 16, she'd already reached the tenth level of Blood Purification, and was almost guaranteed to break through to the Sacred Bone realm before the age of 20.
In a world where most people started training around the age of 5, and the average talent needed 25 years of body refinement to reach the Sacred Bone realm, Dongfang Bai's martial achievements established her as one of the elites of the Yin Dynasty's junior generation.
Wen Tiexin was even better. As the great-nephew of Wen Tianhua, and heir to the eminent Wen clan, though only 18 years old, Wen Tiexin possessed vast influence in the Yin Dynasty. More importantly, his cultivation speed exceeded that of the Yin princes, having already reached the first level of the Sacred Bones realm.
If common knowledge was to be trusted, even the most gifted princes of the royal family hadn't exceeded the twelfth level of Blood Purification at that age. And while by no means comparable to his great uncle, Wen Tiexin's cultivation speed already ranked top ten in the history of the Yin Dynasty.
One can therefore understand why the marriage announcement between Wen Tiexin and Dongfang Bai drew visitors from all around the nation. Both belonged to mighty clans and possessed Golden Bloodlines. Both were destined to become dominant figures of the Yin Dynasty. And they loved one another.
This was no different from a fairytale—a fairytale with crushing political implications for the royal family, but a fairytale all the same. So, from wealthy citizens to high-ranking nobles, including members of the Zi royal family, many had made the trip to enjoy the spectacle of that wedding.
If they could take the opportunity to get into the good graces of that nascent power couple, all the better. The young man in the carriage was one such person, having made the trip all the way from the Southern Province to get acquainted with the couple.
But despite his powerful background, he wasn't allowed to purchase a flying permit, and like many other nobles, now had to deal with the oversaturated streets. Little did he expect that, as he complained about the situation, a bombshell in ordinary clothes would enter his line of sight.
As soon as the young master laid eyes on Taotie, his heart rate sped up. All rational thought left his brain. He couldn't stop ogling her, and had to possess her!
"Young master, Heaven is rewarding you for your patience. Don't worry. Our men are following the beauty, and will capture her as soon as an opportunity arises." One of the bodyguards said.
"No…that won't do. I must be the first to touch her! No one else is allowed…NO ONE!" Overwhelmed by lust and greed, the young master's eyes turned red, veins pulsing across his temple as his body trembled in excitement.
Though they'd been by the young master's side ever since he could walk, and helped him ruin more than one woman's life, never had they seen him so captivated, so hungry for a woman.
'If I didn't know better, I'd think that he got possessed by a demon.' The surrounding bodyguards thought, unaware of how right they were.
Indeed, unbeknown to them all, Huan Yi had been manipulating this young master's Karma to make him stumble on Taotie. He then fanned the flames of the man's desires, pushing them to psychotic levels.
And as if that wasn't bad enough, Huan Yi didn't stop there, casting an invisible Karma Net over the entire city. Now, unbeknown to the millions of citizens, invisible threads of silver flames connected them to Huan Yi, and enabling him to manipulate their destinies.
But why was the Demon Child going through all that trouble?
Simple. He needed a bait.
"Come Taotie. Today I will show you the beauty of human nature," Huan Yi said, and pulling Taotie by the hand, pushed his way through the crowd, entering the merchant district. There, an abundance of stalls and shops lined up the streets, ranging from trinket vendors to prestigious auction houses. Huan Yi ignored them all, all except for an ordinary street food vendor that called out to customers.
"Come try my tanghulus! Only five copper coins the skewer! Come try my tanghulus! You can't do better!" The man screamed for all to hear, attempting to draw the crowd's attention. Occasionally, customers would drop by and purchase a few skewers of candied thorn fruits. But most of the time, despite the abundance of people on the street, a small desert surrounded the stall.
This was to be expected. Though tanghulus were popular in most cities, there were over a dozen such vendors on that street alone, with many other street food vendors all competing for the same crowd. With such fierce competition, how much could the old vendor sell?
But as he was starting to lose hope…
"Dad!" A melodious voice came from his right, drawing his attention.
"Dad? Me?" The old man, a lifelong bachelor, asked himself before turning to the origin of that voice. There, an eye-catching pair made up of a voluptuous bombshell dressed like a standard restaurant cook, and a beautiful young boy stood, waving at the old man.
'Di Yi, we are Di Xin and Di Yao. From now on, you are our father.' Huan Yi's voice boomed in Di Yi's mind, and for the split of a second, his eyes glazed over. Boundless parental love then took over, and breaking into a hearty laughter, Di Yi rushed at the pair.
"Xin'er, Yao'er!" Di Yi exclaimed, pulling the two into a hug. A warm exchange followed, after which the two joined Di Yi in managing the stall. The difference was immediate. Be it because of Huan Yi's manipulations or Taotie's curves, a crowd assembled at the stall, with so many customers that Di Yi soon found himself unable to meet the demand.
But as the new family prepared to close shop, a large purple carriage driven by two flaming horses pulled over, surrounded by a platoon of 12 armored men whose mere presence caused the crowd to clear a path open.