"Are you all right?"
After Sword Thirteen left, Mo Shang leaped onto the city wall and pulled Gu Qingzhou down.
"That Old Deng sure hits hard..." Gu Qingzhou rubbed his butt and grimaced.
"Can't blame him when you keep running your mouth." Mo Shang shrugged.
He could've asked anything, but no, he had to ask whether the man's eyes were dry. He'd practically been asking for that kick. He got what he deserved...
Once Mo Shang saw that Gu Qingzhou was fine, he left him alone and started strolling down the street.
"This is so weird. Why am I the only one who got beat up for asking that...?" Gu Qingzhou muttered as he followed the others.
The four of them walked down the street.
Perhaps because Liu Ruyan and Jiang Shuyu were so beautiful, plenty of people turned to look at them as they passed.
Of course, some of those people were women. But they weren't looking at Liu Ruyan and Jiang Shuyu. Their eyes were all fixed on Gu Qingzhou...
"Look, that guy's so handsome."
"He really is. I wonder if he has a partner..."
"Should we go ask?"
"Wait, aren't you a man???"
"Ah, being too handsome really is a burden..." Under everyone's gazes, Gu Qingzhou looked thoroughly pleased with himself.
Perhaps it was because his physique had awakened. Not only had Gu Qingzhou's looks improved, but his aura had changed considerably, drawing plenty of attention.
But compared to Gu Qingzhou, Mo Shang was at the opposite extreme. With the Mediocre trait bolstering him, even standing right beside the others, people would unconsciously overlook him...
Mo Shang didn't seem to mind, though. At that moment, he was frowning slightly and muttering to himself, "Something's off. Seriously, twelve out of ten levels of off..."
"What's off?" Gu Qingzhou asked, puzzled.
"It's too peaceful. That's not normal..." Mo Shang said again.
They had two Children of Fortune with them. According to the usual rules of how the plot unfolded, someone should be eyeing their beauty and coming over to cause trouble by now...
"Too peaceful? What's so abnormal about that?" Gu Qingzhou scratched his head, utterly baffled.
Just as the two of them were talking, a group of richly dressed cultivators came around the street corner. Their clothes were uniform and luxurious; they were clearly disciples of some major sect.
At the head of the group was a woman with a tall, slender figure and an alluring air about her. Every frown and smile carried an indescribable charm.
As the group continued forward, they soon reached Mo Shang and the others.
"Wow, what a beauty." Gu Qingzhou's eyes lit up at the sight of her.
"What, smitten?" Mo Shang glanced at him.
"Heh, a little..."
The woman's gaze swept over the group before suddenly settling on Gu Qingzhou. Her eyes lit up at once.
She stopped, a warm smile curling her lips. Then a voice rang out. "Young man, you're so handsome. Would you like to be friends?"
But instead of the gentle, lilting voice one might expect, the woman spoke in a deep, rough rumble. She sounded nothing like a woman—instead, she sounded like a weather-beaten middle-aged man.
At the sound of her voice, the lively street fell silent. Every passerby stared wide-eyed, their faces full of disbelief.
"Who just spoke?" Gu Qingzhou froze for a moment, then looked around.
"If I'm not right in front of you, handsome, then where are you looking?"
The woman spoke again, her low, resonant voice shattering Gu Qingzhou's last hope. He froze on the spot.
"What's wrong, handsome?" Seeing his reaction, the woman edged closer to Gu Qingzhou.
"Don't come any closer! Are you a man or a woman?"
Gu Qingzhou stumbled back a few steps. The woman before him had a perfect figure and beautiful looks, but the moment she opened her mouth, her voice made him feel as if his desires had been locked away. He even began to wonder if something was wrong with his ears.
"Oh, handsome, you're such a tease. Your big sister is so pretty, of course I'm a girl. And I don't even have a partner..." The woman spoke again, tossing Gu Qingzhou a flirtatious wink.
Gu Qingzhou instantly turned to stone. He squeezed his eyes shut in pain, afraid to open them, hoping that it was all just a hallucination...
"Ah, it really is true that being too handsome is a burden. Beautiful women fall for you even when you're just walking down the street." Mo Shang patted Gu Qingzhou on the shoulder with a bright smile.
To be fair, the woman's looks and figure were both perfect. Aside from her voice, which could lock away a man's desires, there was nothing wrong with her...
"Handsome, why aren't you saying anything? Are you shy?" Seeing Gu Qingzhou's silence, the woman spoke again.
"I want some peace and quiet..." Gu Qingzhou said, looking utterly hopeless.
"Oh! How did you know my name is Jingjing? You're already thinking about me after just meeting me. Was it love at first sight?" At his words, a blush spread over the woman's pretty cheeks.
Gu Qingzhou: ???
Mo Shang: ???
Everyone present looked confused.
"May I ask your name, miss?" Unable to hold back his curiosity, Mo Shang asked.
"I'm Guo Jingjing, Holy Maiden of the Ten Thousand Flowers Sect. It's a pleasure to meet you, fellow Daoists." The woman bowed slightly to the group and introduced herself.
"I'm Mo Shang, from the Falling Cloud Sect..." Mo Shang returned the greeting with a slight clasp of his hands.
"Liu Ruyan."
"Jiang Shuyu."
Liu Ruyan and Jiang Shuyu returned Guo Jingjing's greeting as well.
"So you're fellow Daoists from the Falling Cloud Sect. A pleasure to meet you. And what about you, handsome? Could you tell your big sister your name?" Guo Jingjing smiled and nodded, then turned her gaze to Gu Qingzhou.
"I refuse to answer that." Gu Qingzhou shook his head frantically, refusing to answer her.
"Why? Do you not feel anything for me at all?"
"No. Not the slightest bit!"
"I don't believe you..."
"Your Ten Thousand Flowers Sect's Holy Maiden must be quite popular, right?"
Mo Shang took out a handful of melon seeds, split them with a disciple from the Ten Thousand Flowers Sect beside him, and invited him to join the gossip session.
"No. Because her voice sounds like a man's, whenever the Holy Maiden speaks, people keep their distance. You're already reacting better than most..." The disciple took the melon seeds and started cracking them as he launched into the story.
"Hey, you have no idea. Once, a man tried to flirt with our Holy Maiden. The moment she spoke, he fainted from fright..."
"This is the first time I've seen the Holy Maiden take the initiative like this..."
"Really? Was your Holy Maiden born with that voice?" Mo Shang asked again.
"I'm not sure. The first time I met the Holy Maiden, she already sounded like this..."
"That's a shame. Is there no way to cure it?"
"I don't know. There probably is..."
Before you continue