Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Lan Jian, unaware of the intricacies of the matter, asked casually, but Xu Lingguang and the others had already understood and unanimously looked at the soul-guiding lamp in Nie Yuqin's hand.

The faint light from the soul-guiding lamp flickered, and Qin Long's bewildered voice came out: "What does this mean? My mother died early, and my only blood relative is my father, but he was seriously injured and unconscious in the back mountain. It can't be him. And even if he wasn't injured, he couldn't possibly possess me..."

Hearing his increasingly lower voice, Xu Lingguang and the other two looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

Qin Long's blood relatives... come to the only one, indeed, is Qin Kan, the severely injured and unconscious master of the Ten Thousand Beasts Manor.

Moreover, Qin Kan's serious injuries and unconsciousness... correspond perfectly to the symptoms of the soul leaving the body after a soul swap.

Everyone saw it clearly, but Qin Long, who was involved in the situation, refused to accept the fact. From the soul-guiding lamp came his muttered words: "It can't be my father..."

"How could it be my father... He's never laid a finger on me since I was a child, how could he do such a thing..."

He lost consciousness while leading people to investigate the incident on the back mountain.

His memory was a bit hazy at the time, but he clearly remembered that his father was lying on the ground covered in blood, and the guards who usually followed his father were also lying nearby, lifeless.

The entire back mountain was in a mess, looking like it had just been the site of a bloody battle with heavy casualties.

Everyone else had already lost their breath, but his father, protected by a magical artifact, was fortunate enough to retain a trace of life.

He had originally planned to take his father back to heal his injuries, but then he lost consciousness... When he woke up, he found himself trapped inside a lamp, with no one to turn to for help.

His father lay unconscious on a bed not far away.

The Soul-Guiding Lamp flickered faster. Qin Long lay on the lamp's wall, looking at his other self, who was tightly bound by the Spirit-Binding Rope, and hesitated to speak.

Dongyang Li couldn't stand it anymore and kicked the imposter on the ground: "Now that things have come to this, do you still want to pretend to be dead?"

Qin Long glanced at the soul-guiding lamp, his expression changing several times before finally saying, "If the situation hadn't been urgent and there hadn't been any other way, I wouldn't have used the soul-swapping technique on you."

This statement is tantamount to admitting that he is Qin Kan.

Qin Long didn't speak, but the light of the Soul-Guiding Lamp became very dim.

"The anomalies in Fengling City, and the Qilin, are all related to you, aren't they? Did you steal the Qilin's remains?" Xu Lingguang continued to ask.

Qin Kan said in a strange tone, "What do you mean by stealing a corpse? I accidentally found the Qilin in the Xiaohengshan Secret Realm. At that time, it was trapped in the formation and looked like it was on the verge of death, so I brought it back."

"At first I didn't know it was a Qilin."

"The Ten Thousand Beasts Manor is dedicated to cultivating powerful and rare spirit pets. At the time, I thought it was some kind of rare spirit beast, so I tried every means to break the formation and bring the Qilin trapped in the formation back."

"As for knowing that it was a Qilin, I only discovered it by chance when I was flipping through ancient books trying to find out the species of this spirit beast."

The Qilin were an ancient divine race, which is said to have been wiped out long ago with the collapse of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

Qin Kan never expected to find a Qilin in the secret realm of Xiaoheng Mountain. Moreover, this Qilin was clearly in trouble, lacking consciousness and only able to roar and howl like a wild beast.

Looking at the qilin placed on the table, he finally couldn't resist the temptation.

The benefits that an ancient Qilin that has lost its mind can bring are simply too great.

Taking advantage of the Spirit Pet Exchange Conference, he secretly sent out invitations, intending to sell them at a higher price. However, just before the conference started, the Qilin locked in the back mountain suddenly went berserk.

Most of the time, the Qilin lay on the ground, howling and barely alive. To prevent it from escaping, he set up countless trapping formations in the back mountain and used numerous spirit-binding ropes to lock the Qilin's limbs and vital points to ensure that nothing went wrong.

He just didn't expect that even the most meticulous plans can have a flaw, and that the Qilin actually had an accomplice.

First, countless thick vines emerged from the ground, breaking the spirit-binding ropes that bound the Qilin. Then, the Qilin, which was originally on the verge of death, suddenly went berserk, emitting bursts of black energy, and roared as it leveled the back mountain.

"As soon as I received the news, I led people to stop them, and this is what you see. The Qilin escaped, and the vines sealed off the entire Fengling City."

Qin Kan said, "I have a magical artifact to save my life and retain a wisp of consciousness. Just then, A-Long came over. In order to turn the situation around and resolve the predicament of Fengling City, I have no choice but to use the soul-swapping technique. His soul is trapped in the soul-guiding lamp. Although he will suffer some pain, as long as I switch it back in time, it will not have any effect on him."

He looked at the dimly lit soul-guiding lamp, his tone becoming much heavier: "A-Long, your father never intended to harm you."

Qin Kan's explanation was reasonable and seemingly flawless, but Xu Lingguang still felt that something was amiss.

Just as he was frowning in thought, Amei suddenly rolled to his feet.

Xu Lingguang was bumped by him, and a thought flashed through his mind. He asked, "Why do you insist on looking for Amei?"

Only Chongxue and he knew that Amei had a remnant Qilin soul inside her, and he had only found out about it a little while ago.

Aside from its single horn, Amei has absolutely nothing in common with the legendary Qilin. Even Qin Long, who found it, didn't know Amei's origins.

However, after Qin Kan and Qin Long swapped souls, Qin Kan went to the Spirit Pet Garden immediately, clearly heading there for Amei.

He must know something.

Moreover, he only found out after the incident at the Beast Manor, which is why he tried every means to find Amei after the soul swap.

Otherwise, if he had known Amei's identity earlier, he would never have allowed Qin Long to raise Amei in the Spirit Pet Garden so casually.

But if we accept Qin Kan's earlier statement that he discovered the Qilin by accident and didn't know much about it, then his purpose in heading straight for Amei doesn't make sense.

Sure enough, Qin Kan paused upon hearing the question. Just as everyone was waiting for his answer, Qin Kan suddenly broke free of the Spirit Binding Rope and leaped towards Xu Lingguang.

He realized that Xu Lingguang was the weakest among the group and planned to take him hostage.

Xu Lingguang was surprised that the paralysis pill and the spirit-binding rope could allow him to break free. Before he could react, Qin Kan had already flashed in front of him.

Qin Kan was too fast; before he could even throw the poison pill, Qin Kan's finger was already in front of him.

Qin Kan's cultivation level was far higher than he had shown.

Yu Yun's eyes sharpened: "The Divine Integration Stage."

She moved the silk threads swiftly with her hands, manipulating the puppet to stop Qin Kan; Nie Yuqin also took out her magic weapon, attempting to trap Qin Kan again.

But Qin Kan was clearly prepared and determined to win.

With the hostages right in front of him, Qin Kan sneered, "Being too smart isn't a good thing."

As soon as he finished speaking, his five fingers turned into claws and suddenly grabbed at Xu Lingguang's neck.

A smug smile had even spread across his face.

But the smile froze on his face the next second.

A pair of cold, white, jade-like hands reached out from the side, easily pressing down on his arm, and then gently squeezing it—

Qin Kan cried out in pain as his arm, which had just been healed by the Bone-Growing Pill, broke and shattered again, hanging limply at his sides.

Lan Jian did not stop. He moved his palm up to Qin Kan's shoulder and pressed down. Qin Kan felt a tremendous force pressing down on him. Unable to bear it, he knelt down and his knees sank deep into the soil, unable to move anymore.

His eyes showed terror.

He himself was already at the Divine Integration Realm, yet he couldn't even withstand a single blow from his opponent.

At this moment, Xu Lingguang reacted quickly, immediately picked up Amei and hid behind Lan Jian, and gave Qin Kan the middle finger fiercely.

See? His previous fabrications actually worked; he fooled a fool.