I Really Didn't Peek at Them Bathing

"So, why did you peek at them bathing?"

"I don't know, I'd just woken up..."

"Zhou Qing of Little Spirit Peak, this is the Discipline Hall. I hope you'll give us an honest account."

"I really don't know. After drinking too much last night, I fell asleep on that rock. When I opened my eyes, I saw them taking off their clothes."

"You mean all eighteen of those girls failed to see you?"

"Probably."

"That hot spring was only the size of a palm. You were lying right beside the pool, and all eighteen pairs of eyes ignored you?"

"That's what I'm saying. I think they simply didn't treat me as a person—more precisely, as a man."

"Hehe, do you think we believe that?"

"Let's not talk about whether you believe it. If it were you peeping, would you blatantly lie by the pool and watch?"

"Well, that really doesn't add up. Unless you were bold enough to want a better look?"

"You're looking down on me a little too much. I, Zhou Qing, am a Core Disciple of Little Spirit Peak. There's no need to question my eyesight. Besides, I was clearly the one who shouted first, so why was I the one arrested?"

"Then why did you wait until they'd stripped to that point before shouting?"

"I told you, I was asleep at the time."

Outside the Discipline Hall, more than a dozen women were weeping so miserably they barely looked human. Several black-clad Discipline Hall personnel comforted them while questioning them.

"That hot spring was rarely visited on ordinary days. Why did you suddenly think of going there together?"

"Not a single one of you noticed that you were being followed?"

"Who discovered him first?"

Whoosh!

Blade qi streaked across the sky, swiftly taking the form of a round-faced, small-eyed man with a sturdy build.

The man wore an anxious expression. After landing, he hurriedly swept his gaze over the women before letting out a cold snort.

"With the likes of you, do you deserve my junior brother peeping at you?"

After saying that, he ignored the female disciples, who had fallen silent as cicadas in winter, and barged straight into the Discipline Hall.

Not long afterward, he came out with two black eyes and a bleeding nose, proudly leading Zhou Qing out behind him.

Seeing his appearance, Zhou Qing could not help sighing.

"Third Senior Brother, wasn't that beating of yours completely undeserved? I was practically done proving my innocence, yet you had to shout about which bastard had arrested me. How could the Hall Masters not get angry?" Zhou Qing said.

Yan Xiaohu looked a little embarrassed. He lightly touched his nose and immediately bared his teeth in pain.

His eyes had been small to begin with, and they soon swelled until only slits remained.

Yan Xiaohu said, "I was in such a hurry that I forgot."

Among the Thirteen Peaks of the Taiqing Sect, disciples were divided into four ranks: Outer Sect, Inner Sect, True Transmission Disciples, and Core Disciples.

Only Core Disciples directly entered beneath the masters of each peak. If they committed an offense, they were jointly tried by the three Hall Masters of the Discipline Hall.

"So you really didn't watch them bathe?" Yan Xiaohu forced his eyes open and looked around. Those women from earlier had vanished somewhere by now.

Zhou Qing said, "I really didn't. If I were peeping, how could I not have called you over? Besides, didn't we drink there together last night? You even dug out that hot spring with your bare hands after getting drunk. Have you forgotten?"

Yan Xiaohu stared blankly at the grime beneath his fingernails.

"No wonder my fingers hurt so much when I woke up at noon. Now that you mention it, I do seem to remember something. But no, I remember you clearly leaving. How did you end up sleeping there?"

Yan Xiaohu asked in confusion.

Zhou Qing said indignantly, "You know perfectly well that I can't hold my liquor. You drank me into that state, then patted your butt and left. Otherwise, how could this have happened?"

Yan Xiaohu immediately looked embarrassed and hurriedly apologized.

Zhou Qing pretended to be angry, but his mind stirred, and a panel visible only to him appeared.

Name: Zhou Qing

Age: Nineteen

Cultivation: Qi Condensation Seventh Layer

Cultivation Art: Taiqing Mysterious Qi Art

Talent Skill: Reduce Presence

Level: LV1 (36/100)

Skill Shard: 1/3 (Cannot be obtained)

Looking at the newly added Skill Shard, Zhou Qing was thrilled.

Reduce Presence—this was simply too exciting.

Just imagine it: standing in a crowd, everyone subconsciously overlooked you. You stood off to the side like a little transparent nobody, yet you could hear, even see, scenes you would never have imagined.

Just like this time. So many female disciples, yet not one of them had so much as glanced at him. It was even more useful than an Invisibility Talisman.

No, even an Invisibility Talisman could not compare to having no presence.

"Right now, the talent skill Reduce Presence is only LV1. It only works on Qi Condensation disciples, and the chance of being ignored is only thirty percent. There's still a seventy percent chance of being discovered. This time, I was simply lucky that they all ignored me."

Zhou Qing muttered to himself, then looked back at the panel.

He only needed another sixty-four Ignorance Points to reach LV2. At that point, there would be a certain chance that even Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators would overlook him.

And the method for obtaining Ignorance Points was very simple: the more dangerous and tense the environment with many people, the longer he stayed there without being noticed, the more points he would receive.

This was the best way to grind a lack of presence, a method Zhou Qing had discovered through repeated experiments.

Take last night, for example. The moon was bright and the stars sparse—what a thrilling scene.

Listening to the Ignorance Points constantly tick up, +1, +1, how could he bear to interrupt them?

When the last two garments were about to come off, he had no choice but to quietly slip away. Yet he never expected his foot to slip, sending him crashing to the ground.

In an instant, pair after pair of eyes turned toward him.

At that moment, he wished he could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.

Left with no choice, he could only turn passivity into initiative and shout first that he was being molested.

He had not expected that amid that tense situation, he would unexpectedly obtain another Skill Shard.

Even a single Reduce Presence was this heaven-defying. Zhou Qing eagerly anticipated what kind of talent skill would be synthesized once he gathered all three.

When Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu returned to Little Spirit Peak arm in arm and chatting merrily, they saw a middle-aged man standing in the distance with his hands behind his back, anger written across his face.

Their expressions changed at once. They hurried forward and both dropped to their knees.

"Master, we were wrong!"

Mo Xingjian, the master of Little Spirit Peak, merely gave a cold snort.

"How impressive. A dignified Core Disciple actually went to peek at a group of girls bathing. Was all that pale white flesh pleasing to the eye?" Mo Xingjian said in a mocking tone.

Before Zhou Qing could speak, Yan Xiaohu hurriedly explained, "Master, you've truly misunderstood Junior Brother this time. The Discipline Hall has already investigated it thoroughly. Those women were simply blind and failed to notice Junior Brother sleeping beside the pool. In this disciple's opinion, those women did it deliberately, trying to lure Fourth Child into making a mistake."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? They're all Outer Sect disciples and wanted to use this chance to climb the ladder!" Yan Xiaohu said, slapping his thigh.

Mo Xingjian rolled his eyes and said angrily, "Shut your mouth already. Fourth Child being capable of doing something like this has everything to do with you."

Yan Xiaohu immediately refused to accept that. He rose to defend himself. "Master, what does this have to do with me? Oh, you mean that incident. I admit I did have some gambling in me that time, dragging Fourth Child there by force. I just didn't expect those old women to suddenly start bathing..."

Zhou Qing hurriedly tugged Yan Xiaohu's sleeve and quickly said, "Master, this disciple truly knows his mistake, but I really didn't intentionally peek at them bathing..."

Before Zhou Qing could finish explaining, Mo Xingjian waved his hand. "Enough, enough. Let's stop this topic here. If we keep discussing it, I think Third Child is going to hit me."

Mo Xingjian glanced at Yan Xiaohu's tightly clenched fists and said faintly.

Yan Xiaohu looked unconvinced. Ever since that accidental incident, his master had always used it to make fun of him.

Those old women... no, they should have been called Grand Elders. They had definitely done it on purpose.

It had been so long, yet he still occasionally dreamed of their wrinkled, loose skin. It was practically a psychological shadow.

"This disciple wouldn't dare!" Yan Xiaohu said through gritted teeth after dropping back to his knees.

Seeing Yan Xiaohu's aggrieved appearance, Mo Xingjian seemed to recall something. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly before he quickly resumed a stern expression and looked at Zhou Qing with earnest gravity.

"No matter what, if you really saw something you shouldn't have, then you must take responsibility. Women place great importance on their reputations. Don't let people wag their tongues behind your backs, saying that the disciples of Little Spirit Peak rely on their Core Disciple status to run wild and do as they please. Do you understand?"

After hearing his master's words, Zhou Qing nodded. "Master's lesson is correct. This disciple understands."

Then Mo Xingjian looked Zhou Qing up and down again, his voice becoming far gentler and kinder. "Were you injured?"

Zhou Qing shook his head, knowing that he had passed this hurdle. After all, his master had always had a knife-like mouth but a tofu-soft heart.

Mo Xingjian was somewhat surprised. "There were so many women, yet none of them scratched you? I heard that several of those bathing had reached Qi Condensation Ninth Layer."

Zhou Qing: "..."

No, why did Master look somewhat disappointed?

Wasn't it good that I came back in one piece?

Could it be that you also peeped at someone bathing before, and got your face clawed up afterward?

So you feel unbalanced?

Meeting Zhou Qing's suspicious gaze, Mo Xingjian could not help coughing dryly before saying, "Enough, enough. Get up. Since you're back, come with me to see your Sect Master Martial Uncle."

After Mo Xingjian spoke, he waved his hand, and two Jade Boxes carved from purple crystal jade appeared. Golden silk ribbons were tied around them, knotted into auspicious Ruyi knots.

The two rose in confusion and accepted the Jade Boxes.

Big-hearted Yan Xiaohu quickly put what had just happened behind him. Blinking his small eyes, he asked curiously, "Master, are we bringing gifts for Martial Uncle?"

Zhou Qing, meanwhile, curiously shook his box. It clanked around inside, and he had no idea what it contained.

Mo Xingjian gently stroked his beard and said, "Your Sect Master Martial Uncle took in a disciple some time ago. Today will be her formal appearance. Eldest Child is in seclusion, and Second Girl is away, so I can only take you two to meet her, lest there be any conflict in the future."

The two finally understood upon hearing this.

"A man or a woman?"

"Seems to be a little girl."

"Looks like we have a little junior sister. What are we waiting for, Master? Hurry up and go!"

Zhou Qing was also excited inside. An occasion like this was the perfect place to grind Ignorance Points.

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