First thing that morning, the odd-job worker Xu Ziqing got up to work.
Liu Tianfeng's courtyard was different from Niu Yuanshan's Small Courtyard. It was larger and far more luxurious.
Niu Yuanshan's elegant Small Courtyard had only four odd-job workers serving him, while the Liu Family's courtyard had a full fifteen!
The steward had even recruited three more people yesterday.
Xu Ziqing was among those three.
As a newcomer, he was naturally assigned the hardest, most exhausting, and dirtiest work.
All the residences in the Dao Sect had small Dust Removal Arrays.
That meant that even if you stayed away for a long time, your home would not gather dust by the time you returned.
Aside from that, under normal circumstances, there was no need to do much cleaning.
But that only applied to dust removal.
It went without saying that among the areas the new odd-job worker Xu Ziqing was responsible for, there had to be the master's outhouse.
"I hate this!" The Delicate-looking youth had a strip of cloth wrapped over his nose and mouth. As he worked furiously, he cursed the Storyteller inwardly.
He hated that Storyteller for toying with his feelings.
"I was so stupid. Truly."
"I actually believed that if I went to Biyou Meadow on Wumeng Mountain, some great expert would really come down the mountain to receive me."
"Heh heh, I was so stupid. Truly." He began to wallow in self-pity.
On that night when the rain poured down, he had stood at the foot of Wumeng Mountain and let himself be drenched for so long that he had nearly lost his soul.
Xu Ziqing, Xu Ziqing, though all kinds of tales of unexpected adventures and fortuitous opportunities had circulated throughout the Xuanhuang Realm, how could you be so ridiculous as to think that such an enormous stroke of luck would suddenly fall upon you?
You were merely a Pseudo-Spirit Fetus!
What made you think you deserved it!?
Just because you had been a swordplay prodigy since childhood, able to learn every sword technique from mortal martial arts at a glance, you arrogantly assumed you could become an unrivaled Sword Cultivator?
"Wake up! Wake up!" He had laughed bitterly that night.
So what if he had mastered every sword technique in the world of mortal martial arts?
Wasn't he still helpless before a true cultivator?
"Dad, Mom, Grandma, Little Sis, when will I ever be able to avenge you?" Xu Ziqing had looked up at the night sky after the rain stopped and muttered to himself at the foot of Wumeng Mountain.
Though he had delicate features and had been born with a man's body and a woman's appearance, he had practiced swordsmanship since childhood. His physical fitness was therefore far better than an ordinary person's.
Thus, despite being drenched for so long, he had merely ended up with pale lips and suffered no serious harm.
His trembling all over was only because he had been driven into a rage.
Xu Ziqing's parents were both dead, and he bore a blood feud. He was practically the most standard protagonist template imaginable.
The figure of that Storyteller surfaced in his mind once again.
The man's appearance was utterly ordinary, while his words, actions, and bearing were all shamelessly flamboyant and vain.
At first, when Xu Ziqing saw him vanish on the spot after finishing his speech, he had thought the man was an expert beyond the mortal world who enjoyed toying with people.
Now that he knew the man's idea of toying with the mortal world was toying with Xu Ziqing himself, he felt that the Storyteller looked exactly like an evil heretic!
On that night after the rain stopped, he roared at the top of his lungs to vent his emotions. Immediately afterward, the Delicate-looking youth suddenly bit down on his lip, nearly drawing blood.
Once he had regained his senses, he looked toward Mountain Beyond Mountain, wreathed in clouds and mist.
The youth secretly swore that since he had already come here, he would enter the Dao Sect no matter what it took—even if he had to stake his life.
After daybreak, he began to take action.
Unexpectedly, through a twist of fate, he really found a way in.
The steward of Liu Tianfeng's household was recruiting three new odd-job workers.
"Such a coincidence? They just happen to be recruiting today?" Xu Ziqing grew excited.
Never mind. An odd-job worker was an odd-job worker. He would get into the Dao Sect first and worry about the rest later!
But had it really been a coincidence?
Let's not forget that someone had happened to be sent here by his organization at precisely this time, specifically to go up the mountain and work as an odd-job worker!
And so, Xu Ziqing's "Metamorphosis" began.
Because he was far too delicate-looking, with none of the height or handsomeness people expected from a man, he was a typical man with a woman's appearance, radiating an overwhelming feminine air. As a result, the Liu Family's steward looked at him rather strangely.
—What a beautiful young man, as lovely as a delicate maiden!
He was middle-aged already. So what if he was a little perverted?
Xu Ziqing was perceptive. How could he fail to understand the meaning behind that look?
He had never imagined that coming to the Dao Sect to work as an odd-job worker would be so fraught with danger!
After finishing a mountain of work that day, he was summoned by the steward to gather at a certain place.
A group of odd-job workers began carrying gifts. Accompanied by Master Liu and his young master, they headed together toward the Bamboo House.
Along the way, quite a few Outer Sect Disciples respectfully saluted Steward Liu. Then, seeing the pile of gifts, they all turned their heads to look.
Xu Ziqing gazed at the robes they wore and the Outer Sect Tokens hanging from their waists, his heart filled with envy.
He could not help looking down at the odd-job worker's uniform he wore. Sensitive and prideful as a young man, he kept his head lowered the entire way and buried it as deeply as he could, even though no one knew him.
After arriving at the Bamboo House, he continued to keep his head lowered.
It was only during a brief lull that he vaguely heard Master Liu speaking with some young man. He could not help raising his head to glance at the other person.
The man had an impressive bearing and extraordinarily handsome features.
He was the typical kind of handsome man whose beauty came from his bone structure.
His brow ridge was slightly prominent, and the ends of his eyebrows tilted subtly upward. This created the legendary effect of the brow bones shading the eyes, making his ink-black eyes appear even deeper.
His nose was high and straight, his facial lines distinct, and his jawline exceptionally sharp.
A few strands of hair that had escaped their tie fell across his forehead, adding a touch of wild nonchalance instead.
On top of that, Chu Huai Xu had broad shoulders and a slim waist, filling out his robes beautifully. He lacked the frail look of thin paper.
Whether it was his bearing or his temperament, there was not a single flaw to be found.
As sunlight spilled over him, Xu Ziqing could not help staring in a daze.
Since he had looked like a girl from childhood and had constantly been mocked by his peers for looking too feminine after growing up, he had no idea why, but he always found himself silently observing tall and handsome men, filled with envy and longing.
Over time, he became even more interested in such men than in the opposite sex.
That was why, despite Chu Huai Xu standing beside the breathtakingly beautiful Han Shuangjiang, his attention still landed on Chu Huai Xu first.
Xu Ziqing could not understand how a man with such charisma could exist in this world.
He had just seen the smile in Chu Huai Xu's eyes and at the corners of his mouth as he spoke with the steward in a calm and composed manner. His bearing was exceptional as well.
After standing there blankly for several seconds, the sensitive youth lowered his head deeply once again out of pride.
From there, events took an inexplicable turn.
Liu Tianfeng was certain that when he had first asked Chu Huai Xu whether he needed an odd-job worker, the expression on his face and the right hand he had already raised had clearly shown that he intended to politely refuse.
It was understandable. Living with such a stunning beauty, adding a third person would only create more trouble.
The old man had been around. How could he not understand the stirrings of youth?
Yet, strangely enough, something unexpected happened.
Chu Huai Xu casually swept his gaze across the group, and his eyes were completely drawn to the short odd-job worker with the delicate features.
He immediately shouted, "I want him!"
He even seemed a little overeager?
Everyone, including Han Shuangjiang, turned their eyes toward them.
Xu Ziqing instantly grew flustered, nearly dropping the gifts in his hands.
"Huh? Me?" He had not expected this extraordinarily handsome man to point at him.
That gaze was so determined!
—I've decided I want you!
Xu Ziqing's heart began to race uncontrollably. He truly could not understand how the twists of fate in his life had become so unpredictable in such a short time.
Then, a scene he had experienced countless times before, one he knew all too well, unfolded once again.
Xu Ziqing clearly felt everyone's eyes first settle on his face, then move to his Adam's apple, and finally turn toward his chest.
(P.S. Third update of the day! Thank you all for wishing me luck in taking the monthly-ticket crown today! Let's create a new monthly-ticket myth for this year's Qidian books, one that has never existed before! This is the only one across the entire site this year!)
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