Dual Cultivation System: The Villainous Servant’s Rise

By the faint, flickering light of the nearby bonfire, Mu Feng finally saw the face of his captor clearly. It was Han Lie.

Mu Feng’s eyes narrowed. He immediately tried to channel his energy to strike, but a wave of crushing weakness washed over him. No matter how hard he tried to mobilize his dantian, his spiritual power remained inert, dead silence responding to his call.

It was obvious. Han Lie had sealed his cultivation.

“You bastard! What exactly do you want?!”

Mu Feng’s expression was dark as stagnant water. He roared the words, trying to sound ferocious, but his bluster only belied the trembling fear taking root in his gut.

Han Lie sat nearby, calm and unbothered. “Young Master Mu, you possess the intellect to devise a scheme involving torture, coercion, and bribery to frame the Zhuo Family. That alone proves your exceptional cleverness. Surely, you don’t need me to spell out what I intend to do?”

Han Lie’s tone was flat, carrying a razor-sharp edge of mockery.

Hearing this, a chill shot down Mu Feng’s spine.

That night… the drunken ramblings…

If the treasonous words he had spouted in front of the songstress Qian’er were to reach the ears of the Great Qin Emperor… the Mu family would be finished.

And most fatally, Qin Lianyi had been there. She had heard every word!

“You bastard… the wine I drank that night…” Mu Feng’s eyes widened as the realization hit him like a physical blow. “Did you tamper with it? You actually dared to drug me?!”

It all made sense now.

Mu Feng was arrogant, yes. He was a tyrant who bullied the weak, yes. But he was not an idiot. He knew exactly what could be said and what would get a man killed. Even if he harbored the ambition to sit on the Dragon Throne, he would never, ever voice it aloud.

Yet that night, he had spilled his darkest secrets to Qian’er with overwhelming pride and arrogance. There was no other explanation—Han Lie had drugged him.

“I did drug you,” Han Lie admitted with a casual shrug. “Did you think I was playing house?”

He offered a cold, mocking sneer. “Being able to figure that out shows you aren’t completely brain-dead.”

Mu Feng had used torture to extract false confessions to destroy the Zhuo Family; what was a little sleeping powder in comparison? As the saying goes, evil men need evil men to grind them down. Since moral constraints meant nothing to Mu Feng, they naturally meant nothing to Han Lie.

Besides, Han Lie was a disciple of the Demonic Sect. In his world, using poison and drugs wasn’t underhanded—it was practically a legitimate strategy.

Mu Feng’s face turned an ashen gray.

“Han Lie!”

After a tense silence, Mu Feng’s expression suddenly softened. He forced a stiff smile, trying a different approach.

“Look, how about this? Let’s reconcile. If you release me right now, I will go back and demand my father clear the Zhuo Family’s name. From this day forward, the debt between us is wiped clean. I will never target the Zhuo Family again.”

“Hahahaha!”

Han Lie threw his head back and laughed. “Young Master Mu, do I look like a three-year-old child to you? Do you really think I’m that easy to fool?”

“Han Lie, don’t be ungrateful when I’m giving you face!”

Seeing his soft tactics fail, Mu Feng’s mask crumbled. His expression turned sinister and threatening. “Do you know where you are? This is the Great Qin Dynasty! You are nothing but a demonic sect fiend, despised by all. How dare you act so rampant on Imperial soil!”

Mu Feng leaned forward, his voice rising to a shriek. “Do you not know how to write the word ‘Death’?!”

“I really don’t,” Han Lie said, spreading his hands in mock helplessness. “Why don’t you teach me, Young Master Mu?”

“You…!”

Mu Feng felt a surge of blood and Qi roil in his chest. He nearly coughed up blood on the spot.

“Bastard! I advise you to release me immediately. If you don’t, when the experts from the Mu Manor find us, you will die without a burial place!”

“Heh… Young Master Mu, surely you aren’t pinning your hopes on that tracking jade slip you carry?”

Mu Feng’s pupils contracted violently.

His hand shot to his waist.

Empty.

“Did you think I would make such a rookie mistake?” Han Lie chuckled, his eyes dancing with amusement. “Rest assured, Young Master Mu. This location is extremely secluded. Even if your Mu Manor conducts a carpet search of the entire region, they wouldn’t find you in a hundred years.”

Of course, that was assuming the Mu family had a hundred years left.

Once Deputy Chief Councillor Li Yi presented that recording to the Emperor, the Mu family wouldn’t last the week.

As Han Lie’s words sank in, the blood drained from Mu Feng’s face, leaving him deathly pale.

Time was running out. Not just for him, but for his entire clan. Mu Feng knew this with terrifying clarity.

“Han Lie… no! Brother Han!” Mu Feng’s voice cracked, his haughty demeanor shattering completely. “I was wrong! I shouldn’t have opposed you! I shouldn’t have targeted the Zhuo Family! Please, give me a chance!”

Realizing the severity of his situation, Mu Feng broke down.

What was dignity? What was face?

Trouble comes from the mouth. Never mind the Emperor—if his father, Mu Qinghai, heard what he had said to Qian’er, his own father would flay him alive!

“Alright,” Han Lie said, flashing an innocent, harmless smile.

Hope flared in Mu Feng’s eyes.

But before he could rejoice, Han Lie leaned forward, looking down at him like a predator toying with a trapped mouse.

“I’ll give you a chance,” Han Lie said softly. “Go and tell the Great Qin Emperor what you told Qian’er. See if He is willing to forgive you.”

Mu Feng froze. “That… that is asking me to die!?”

“Wrong,” Han Lie corrected him, his voice dropping to a chilling whisper. “I don’t just want you to die. I want your entire Mu family to be plunged into eternal damnation!”

Supreme terror seized Mu Feng’s heart, driving him to the brink of madness.

This was too surreal. It had to be a nightmare. Wake up! Wake up!

But it was no dream. It was exactly as Han Lie had said—this wasn’t a game of house. This was a life-and-death struggle. A single careless mistake, once seized by an enemy, was enough to drag a man into the abyss.

It was just that Mu Feng’s mistake happened to be catastrophic.

Heaven is unpredictable.

In recent days, Qin Yang City had been shrouded in an almost suffocating atmosphere. The air was heavy, oppressive, like the calm before a devastating storm.

Most citizens of the capital didn’t know why, but a vague sense of dread hung over the streets. Something massive was about to happen.

Inside the Great Qin Imperial Palace.

The Throne Room.

Deputy Chief Councillor Li Yi stood before the Dragon Throne. With the Great Qin Emperor watching from above and the civil and military officials lining the hall, Li Yi activated the Recording Jade.

Mu Feng’s voice—arrogant, slurred, and undeniably treasonous—echoed through the vast hall.

Instantly, the entire court fell into a deathly silence.

It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

Chief Councillor of the Grand Secretariat and Minister of War, Mu Qinghai, stood frozen. His face turned black instantly.

Ever since his son went missing, Mu Qinghai had anticipated trouble. He knew his enemies would move. But he had never imagined the leverage Li Yi obtained would be this fatal.

If Li Yi had found evidence of embezzlement, abuse of power, or perverting the law, Mu Qinghai could have maneuvered. He could have found a scapegoat, paid a fine, or called in favors to survive.

But Mu Feng had dared to declare that he would become the Emperor?

The words exploding from the jade stone were not just evidence; they were a death sentence. A heavy bomb had detonated right next to Mu Qinghai’s ear.

“Y-Your Majesty, please quell your anger!”

After a brief, suffocating silence, Mu Qinghai scrambled out of the ranks.

He threw himself to the floor, prostrating completely before the hall in a display of total submission. His voice trembled, pale and feeble.

“Your Majesty! Please grant this subject time to investigate! This subject believes… my unfilial son absolutely could not have uttered such treasonous words! It must be a fabrication!”