This is Awkward

Chapter 16: This Is Awkward

As Shen Gui appeared outside the stone hut, the door silently swung open.

At the same time, a voice emerged from within.

"Fellow Daoist, please enter."

Seeing this, Shen Gui didn't hesitate and walked straight into the stone hut.

The interior was simply furnished—only a stone table, a few stone stools, and a stone bed.

When Shen Gui entered, a woman in green robes was sitting on the stone bed, watching him.

"You must be Fellow Daoist Qing Luan, I presume?"

With a slight smile, Shen Gui casually sat down on a stone stool and spoke calmly.

As for Qing Luan being female, Shen Gui wasn't surprised at all.

After all, Qing Luan was Empress Nuwa's mount, not Great Sage Fuxi's.

Though, even if she were Fuxi's mount, that wouldn't be much of an issue either.

Ahem.

Seeing Shen Gui sit down so casually, Qing Luan frowned but said nothing. Instead, she cut straight to the point: "This Fellow Daoist mentioned earlier having news about Her Majesty and Great Sage Fuxi to share with me. What is it? You can speak now, I hope you weren't deceiving me before. Otherwise, though I am merely a Golden Immortal under Her Majesty's command, I am not so easily trifled with."

Since Shen Gui had already seen her true form, Qing Luan no longer used the ambiguous, gender-neutral voice she had before; her tone was now crisp and clear.

Hearing this, Shen Gui smiled openly: "How could I lie about such a matter?"

Nodding, Qing Luan said, "In that case, Fellow Daoist, please speak."

"It's like this." Shen Gui coughed, feeling a bit guilty.

After all, strictly speaking, what he had done was somewhat underhanded.

But despite his guilt, he pressed on: "Ever since I broke through to the Golden Immortal realm, I've been traveling the Primordial Wilderness, seeking opportunities. I've heard of the many powers in this wilderness—whether the Demon Country, the Immortal Court, or the Palace of the Demon Master, each is a colossal entity."

"However, Di Jun and Tai Yi founded the Demon Country, East King Gong established the Immortal Court, and Kunpeng built the Palace of the Demon Master—all more or less for the sake of conquest. Only Empress Nuwa and Great Sage Fuxi created the Heavenly Demon City to shelter all beings, with no ambition to dominate the Primordial Wilderness."

Pausing, seeing Qing Luan's confused expression as she wondered what he was getting at, Shen Gui said sheepishly: "I have long admired this righteous act of Empress Nuwa and Great Sage Fuxi. I've always wanted to pledge myself to Great Sage Fuxi but had no way in. By chance, I heard that Fellow Daoist Qing Luan is an immortal under Empress Nuwa's command, so I came to visit, hoping you might introduce me."

After Shen Gui finished speaking, Qing Luan's face turned dark.

"So the matter you mentioned concerning Her Majesty and Great Sage Fuxi is this?"

Shen Gui nodded sheepishly: "I didn't lie, did I? It does relate to Empress Nuwa and Great Sage Fuxi."

Hearing Shen Gui emphasize that he hadn't lied, Qing Luan's face grew even darker.

Though she felt thoroughly deceived, strictly speaking, Shen Gui hadn't told any falsehoods—she had simply misunderstood.

Still, despite that, she felt a strong urge to beat the man before her to death.

Yet, with Shen Gui repeatedly professing his admiration for Nuwa and Fuxi and claiming to have traveled a great distance to pledge himself, she was full of anger but had no outlet for it.

However, as the saying goes, if you want to find trouble, you'll always find a way.

After stewing for a moment, Qing Luan suddenly latched onto a key point.

Glaring at Shen Gui, she said: "You keep saying you admire Her Majesty and Great Sage Fuxi, but why do you only speak of pledging yourself to Great Sage Fuxi and not Her Majesty? Could it be that you look down on Her Majesty?"—Setting aside truth or falsehood, she'd slap a big accusation on him first.

But Qing Luan didn't know that her deliberately provocative question had hit Shen Gui's sore spot.

Hearing her ask this, Shen Gui's scalp went numb.

Admitting it was out of the question—he'd die before he did.

Look down on Empress Nuwa?

If he said that, with his current frail frame, he wouldn't survive even ten deaths.

"Fellow Daoist Qing Luan jokes. How could I possibly have such thoughts? Empress Nuwa and Great Sage Fuxi are siblings. So, what difference does it make whom I pledge myself to?"

Yet, though Shen Gui spoke with heartfelt sincerity and every word seemed earnest, some mysterious intuition told Qing Luan that he wasn't being entirely honest.

"In that case, Her Majesty's side has been short-handed lately. Why don't you work for Her Majesty instead? After all, Her Majesty and Great Sage Fuxi are siblings—it's the same wherever you serve."

"This..." Shen Gui was dumbfounded.

This was a bit awkward.

Seeing Shen Gui's reaction, Qing Luan was also taken aback: "I just said that offhand—you don't actually have some issue with Her Majesty, do you?"

The two stared at each other, both at a loss for words.

In the end, Shen Gui was the first to react.

With a twist of his body, a flash of earthy yellow light passed, and Shen Gui vanished from the stone hut.

Qing Luan froze for a moment, then snapped to attention, transforming into a streak of cyan light as she shot out of the hut: "Stop right there! Don't run! Explain yourself first!"