Upon returning to Hei Lan Mansion, Zhou Hong began refining the Demonic Spring.
A continuous stream of energy from Zhou Hong's inner world nourished his body.
Thus, half a day passed.
The real Xiao Cui also returned.
"Senior Zhou Hong, I'm back."
Hearing Xiao Cui's voice, Zhou Hong hurried to open the room door.
"You're finally back. Did the City Lord discover you?"
"Of course not, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to return."
"That's good. After I left, the City Lord must have interrogated you all."
Xiao Cui nodded.
"Not just an interrogation. He saw the words you left on the wall. He suspected that one of us thirty geniuses was hiding among you. So, he made us all undress for a thorough inspection. After the inspection, we weren't allowed to take anything with us, and had to leave empty-handed. Some geniuses had their personal belongings confiscated, and some had very valuable items stored in their spatial rings, which were also all seized."
Zhou Hong nodded, smiling, "No wonder you changed your clothes when you came back."
"The clothes I'm wearing now were specially provided to us by the City Lord's servants."
"That's for the best. In the future, using your identity will prevent the City Lord from suspecting me. After all, he had you undress and inspect you, so he won't suspect me no matter what," Zhou Hong chuckled.
"Senior Zhou Hong, when I returned just now, I encountered a maid named Xiao Hong from the courtyard. She told me that you had already returned, so why are you returning from outside again?"
Zhou Hong frowned and said, "That's right. When I returned, I also ran into her, and she even greeted me. What a coincidence that she saw you returning again. How did you answer her?"
"I said I went out again. But she said she saw me enter the room and hadn't gone out since, looking utterly confused."
Zhou Hong nodded. It seemed that for safety's sake, Xiao Hong needed to be brought into his inner world.
"I'll handle Xiao Hong. You should enter my inner world now."
"Okay."
After Zhou Hong had Xiao Cui enter his inner world, he immediately went to find the maid named Xiao Hong.
"Xiao Hong, sweeping the floor?" Zhou Hong saw Xiao Hong in a hall and quickly walked over with a smile.
"Xiao Cui, what was that just now? I clearly saw you didn't leave the mansion, so why are you back from outside? Do you have a doppelganger technique?" Xiao Hong asked, full of confusion.
Zhou Hong chuckled and instantly absorbed her into his inner world. After entering the inner world, Xiao Hong appeared next to Xiao Cui, and Zhou Hong left the rest to Xiao Cui to explain.
Zhou Hong returned to his room and continued refining the Demonic Spring.
Time slowly passed, and a month went by in the blink of an eye.
Zhou Hong finally finished absorbing the Demonic Spring.
"Haha, broke through to a Rank Seven Demon!" Zhou Hong exclaimed with joy. Although demon cultivation relies mainly on comprehension, heavenly treasures can naturally aid in cultivation. Of course, for those with insufficient comprehension, even more heavenly treasures would be of no help.
Zhou Hong walked out of his room. Hei Xiao Lu saw him and quickly asked, "You were cultivating, weren't you?"
"Yes," Zhou Hong chuckled.
"What happened to the Demonic Spring that was lost from the City Lord's Mansion?" Hei Xiao Lu asked.
Zhou Hong was about to say that he had stolen the Demonic Spring from the City Lord's Mansion, but just as he was about to speak, his grandfather in his mind urgently shouted, "Zhou Hong, don't speak!"
"What is it, Grandpa?" Zhou Hong asked, confused.
"The Hei Xiao Lu in front of you is not the real Hei Xiao Lu. She's an imposter."
"What?" Zhou Hong was shocked. He looked at Hei Xiao Lu without detecting anything unusual. If his grandfather hadn't noticed, Zhou Hong would never have found out. If Zhou Hong had admitted to stealing the City Lord's Demonic Spring, what would have happened?
"Who is impersonating her?" Zhou Hong quickly asked in his mind.
"Do I need to ask? It must be the City Lord, or someone related to him. You must not let slip anything now, just treat her as if she were the real Hei Xiao Lu."
"Mmm-hmm."
Zhou Hong immediately calmed down and said to Hei Xiao Lu with a slight smile, "I don't know what happened. The City Lord originally invited us to soak in the Demonic Spring, but when we got there, the pool was dry. We thought the City Lord hadn't released the Demonic Spring yet. Who knew it had been stolen?"
Zhou Hong's acting skills could probably win him a Golden Rooster award. He spoke flawlessly in front of the fake Hei Xiao Lu, with no trace of artifice.
The fake Hei Xiao Lu felt a surge of frustration upon hearing Zhou Hong's words. The reason he impersonated Hei Xiao Lu today was simply to test the waters discreetly. He had impersonated not only Hei Xiao Lu but also the families of several other geniuses, including his own niece.
"Xiao Lu, we haven't been intimate in a long time. Let's go to the room and be intimate," Zhou Hong pretended to walk towards the fake Hei Xiao Lu, intending to be intimate.
As expected, the imposter Hei Xiao Lu felt a wave of disgust.
"We'll talk about it later. I have something to do and need to go out." The imposter Hei Xiao Lu quickly left.
A faint smile played on Zhou Hong's lips as he watched her retreating figure and scoffed, "City Lord, with your petty tricks, you still want to fool me."
Although Zhou Hong thought this in his heart, cold sweat was still trickling down his back. If his grandfather hadn't warned him, Zhou Hong would have fallen for it, and the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Grandpa, I really didn't expect the City Lord to know disguise techniques, and I didn't notice anything at all."
"What's so strange about that? After all, his strength is greater than yours. It's perfectly normal that you couldn't detect him."
"Then now, he shouldn't have any suspicions about me, right?"
"Hard to say. You still need to be cautious in the future."
Zhou Hong suddenly thought of a mischievous idea. He quickly took out a demon-subduing staff from his person and stuck it into the ground.
"What are you doing?" Zhou Hong's grandfather asked, confused.
"I'm going to stick this demon-subduing staff into the ground, then use it like a brush to enter the City Lord's Mansion from underground. I'll go to the City Lord's house, preferably his bed, and pee there. What do you think?"
Zhou Hong's grandfather wiped a cold sweat.
"Why do such a pointless thing?"
"Haha, this isn't a pointless thing. The City Lord just left me, and at the same moment, in his house, a person named Zhou Hong peed on his bed and wrote 'visited here'. What does this prove? It proves that I, Xiao Cui, have absolutely nothing to do with the Zhou Hong he suspects. From now on, he won't suspect me no matter who he suspects."
"You're truly speechless...!" Zhou Hong's grandfather didn't know what to say. This reborn grandson was sometimes too playful.