What Do You Like

Staring at the Man-Faced Owl King as he cursed up a storm, Chu Zeming could not help but freeze.

He was deeply surprised.

Because the Man-Faced Owl King in human form looked utterly unlike the fierce old-man-faced Man-Faced Owl in his true form. He was actually a young, handsome fellow with a baby face, his looks on par with Ling Tian's.

The contrast was simply too great.

Unfortunately, the handsome young man had one flaw—he was bald.

There was only a pitifully sparse tuft of white hair on the top of his head.

Chu Zeming tugged at that tuft of white hair and called, "Stop yelling. We are not going to kill you. Has your clan seen two human cultivators enter Torch Dragon Valley recently?"

"I am the King. Call me King. And you, you contemptible little man, do not touch my hair!" the Man-Faced Owl King roared, writhing on the ground like a maggot.

"Fine, King." Chu Zeming withdrew his hand, looked into his eyes, and asked again, "Two disciples from our sect accidentally entered Torch Dragon Valley. Have you seen them?"

The Man-Faced Owl King sneered. "No. Even if I had, they would definitely be dead. There are so many demons here that eat people. No one can survive."

Hearing that, Chu Zeming's expression turned grave. "We must see them alive, and see their bodies if dead. Take us to find them."

Struggling, the Man-Faced Owl King muttered, "Dream on. Contemptible little man, why should I take you to find anyone?"

The moment he finished speaking, a faint, almost imperceptible pain came from the top of his head.

The Man-Faced Owl King's body stiffened, and he stopped struggling.

Chu Zeming blew the hair he had plucked into the air.

The Man-Faced Owl King's eyes turned red, and his lips trembled. "You... you pulled out my hair!"

Chu Zeming raised a brow at him. "Will you take us to find them?"

The Man-Faced Owl King twisted his body and roared, "Dream on! You shameless, contemptible little man, you pulled out my hair! I will fight you to the death!"

Chu Zeming glanced at him, then mercilessly reached out and plucked another white hair.

Blow.

The Man-Faced Owl King: !!!!

Chu Zeming said expressionlessly, "Will you help or not?"

The Man-Faced Owl King stared at his precious hair drifting down, his eyes practically splitting open.

His lips quivered as he said, "A warrior may be killed but not humiliated. Contemptible little man, you... dream on."

Chu Zeming grabbed his entire tuft of hair in one hand.

The Man-Faced Owl King: !!!!!

"Stop pulling! I will help you find them!"

Smiling, Chu Zeming released him and patted the handsome young man's bald head. "Wouldn't it have been better if you had agreed sooner?"

Then, with great care, he picked up the two hairs that had fallen to the ground and placed them back on the Man-Faced Owl King's scalp, as though planting them again.

The Man-Faced Owl King's eyes went blank.

He was heartbroken beyond all measure.

He muttered despairingly, "This is too much. There were originally four hundred and fifty-five hairs. You pulled out two, so there are only four hundred and fifty-three left... I count them every day, terrified one might fall out. You contemptible little man... you pulled out two at once. You have gone too far..."

Everyone: ...

They were inexplicably speechless.

Chu Zeming coughed and said sincerely, "I am very generous. If you lead us to our sect disciples, I can teach you the secret to growing hair... If you do not believe me, look at him. Isn't his hair especially luxuriant?" As he spoke, Chu Zeming looked up and beckoned to Chang Wei.

Chu Zeming said, "Chang Wei, take off your hood and let him see you."

Chang Wei said, "All right, Brother Chu."

Before the Man-Faced Owl King's eyes, Chang Wei revealed his thick hair and his full beard.

"See that clearly?" Chu Zeming said. "I can have him teach you how to nourish and care for your hair, and give you thick, lush locks again."

The Man-Faced Owl King withdrew his gaze enviously. "Really?"

Chang Wei pulled his hood back on and said in a somewhat proud low voice, "Beauty care, skincare, hair growth, hair care—I have dabbled in all of them. Help us, and I absolutely will not deceive you."

The Man-Faced Owl King was persuaded.

He nodded. "All right. I will take you to find them."

After the ropes were loosened somewhat, the Man-Faced Owl King gave Chang Wei another envious look, then transformed into his true form and let out a long cry toward the heavens—immediately afterward, a black mass of Man-Faced Owls flew in from all directions, circling and gathering in the sky.

Then, five young-faced Man-Faced Owls that looked somewhat imposing and majestic landed before the Man-Faced Owl King.

"Get on. I will take you to search for them," the Man-Faced Owl King shouted to Chu Zeming.

Chu Zeming nodded, signaling for Xuan Mo and the others to mount up before he himself climbed onto the Man-Faced Owl King's back.

Although the process had been somewhat absurd,

Chu Zeming had still successfully achieved his goal.

With the Man-Faced Owls' help, the time required would be reduced even further.

After entering Torch Dragon Valley, Chu Zeming used his own methods to save as much search-and-rescue time as possible.

The six of them each led a group of Man-Faced Owls and split up. Tens of thousands of Man-Faced Owls searched day and night. Three days later, Chu Zeming finally found the two disciples trapped in Torch Dragon Valley—both were hiding in a cave on a cliff, their bodies covered in bite wounds of varying depths. In some places, the flesh had nearly been eaten away, exposing the stark white bones beneath.

These were wounds left by the Demon Race of Torch Dragon Valley gnawing at them.

Due to excessive blood loss, their faces were pale and bluish, and they were now half-conscious.

After more than half a month of terror in Torch Dragon Valley, if they fell into a deep sleep, they had no idea what demon might suddenly appear and send them to their deaths. Therefore, even though their bodies had reached their limits, whenever they heard sounds from outside, their will to survive still forcibly drove them to wake.

Hearing the cries of demonic birds outside, the two reflexively gripped their magical artifacts and tried to retreat farther back, forcing their eyes open.

Amid the white light at the cave entrance, they saw dozens of terrifying Man-Faced Owls, as well as... the young man in black robes seated on one of their backs.

His black hair flew in the wind, his brows and eyes arrogant and unrestrained, yet he was like a dazzling ray of light piercing their hopeless darkness.

Senior Brother.

He had come to save them...

The taut string in their minds, wound tight without a moment's reprieve, finally eased at this moment. After smiling in immense relief, the two disciples could no longer hold on. Their magical artifacts clanged to the ground, and they shut their eyes and collapsed into a deep faint.

Chu Zeming flew down from the Man-Faced Owl's back and entered the cave. He grabbed one disciple in each hand and was about to leave when he suddenly stopped.

Because from the corner of his eye, he noticed that although this cave was not a secret realm, its four walls were still covered in strange murals.

They were exactly like the paintings in the Extreme Sea Secret Realm and the Forbidden Pavilion of the Divine Tree, except that some of the immortals in these paintings had extra ears or tails.

These were likely demons who had become immortals.

Above, stringed music played in harmony; below lay a living hell.

Chu Zeming frowned at the paintings, thinking of what Fu Hongchen had said—were these portraits left behind by ancient great gods truly encouraging later generations to pursue the Great Dao with all their might, ascend to the Immortal Realm as soon as possible, and escape the living hell of the mortal world?

Looking at these paintings, Chu Zeming fell into a strange, chaotic train of thought.

Something about it felt so strange.

"Why have you not come out yet?"

The Man-Faced Owl King's voice sounded from the cave entrance, pulling Chu Zeming back from his thoughts.

No longer studying the murals, Chu Zeming directly took his two junior brothers and left the cave.

When they left Torch Dragon Valley, the Man-Faced Owls also escorted them to the valley entrance.

Chang Wei and the Man-Faced Owl King bid each other a lingering farewell.

The Man-Faced Owl King had always been unable to forget the beautiful Nine-Tailed Fox granny from the Fox Clan, but the Nine-Tailed Fox granny disliked his early hair loss and baldness. That was why the Man-Faced Owl King treasured his few remaining hairs so dearly. Looking at him, Chang Wei seemed to see his own unrequited love, and so he felt a few degrees more sympathy and camaraderie, teaching him everything he knew without reservation.

In just a few days, the two had become sworn brothers of different fathers, different mothers, and different races.

The two junior brothers had suffered grave injuries. Ever since Chu Zeming found them, they had remained unconscious, and their life force was gradually fading.

Hurrying back to the sect, the group promptly sent the two disciples to the hall specifically for treating sect disciples.

Only after the disciples inside the hall helped the two into the inner chamber did Chu Zeming finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Having been provoked by Chu Zeming's rapid progress in Torch Dragon Valley, Xuan Mo, Ling Tian, Chang Wei, and Wu Qi all chose to take their leave as soon as they left the healing hall, preparing to return and cultivate day and night.

Even if they could not catch up to Senior Brother, they did not want to be left too far behind by him.

Only Yue Lian showed no particular reaction. With a remarkably calm mindset, he stated that he was going to the back mountain to play.

Xuan Mo cursed bitterly, "Hopeless mud that cannot be plastered onto a wall."

Before leaving, Xuan Mo gritted his teeth and warned Yue Lian, "Before doing anything, first see whether you are worthy. Are you? Do not think that just because Senior Brother tore your clothes once, you can cling to him. As long as I am here, I will never let your plan succeed." With that, he flicked his sleeve and left.

Yue Lian shrugged innocently.

Just as he was about to leave, his collar was suddenly seized.

Then Chu Zeming's voice sounded gloomily. "Yue Lian, come with me for a moment."

Dragging Yue Lian into a secret chamber and confirming that the surroundings were safe, Chu Zeming folded his arms and stared at Yue Lian, asking coldly, "What exactly was your purpose in infiltrating the sect? Why did you not ascend? And what do those paintings mean?"

Ever since his disguise had been exposed, Yue Lian had played deaf and dumb the entire way, keeping as low a profile as possible. Now that he had been singled out, Yue Lian felt a little awkward. "Haha, what a coincidence. You actually discovered it."

Chu Zeming said nothing.

Yue Lian sighed. "I do not know what those paintings mean either. I have no memories from before. When I woke up, there was a seal on my body, which seemed to have been set by my former self. I only vaguely remember one very important thing—do not ascend. Maybe I was not a very good person in the past, so if I ascended, everyone up there would be shouting for my blood? As for infiltrating the sect, it was purely for fun, with no purpose... Now I suppose there is one. I want to be with you."

After asking for so long, he had gotten jack shit.

Chu Zeming's temples throbbed, and his head buzzed with pain.

Taking a deep breath, Chu Zeming looked at Yue Lian very seriously and begged with utmost sincerity, "What do you like about me? I will change it."

Yue Lian looked back at Chu Zeming just as seriously and answered with complete sincerity, "I think you are good-looking, especially captivating. Most of all, I like that force in you that does not like me."