Some people had unexpectedly filmed what happened at the construction site and posted it online.
Those videos were quickly deleted from some of the larger platforms, though they did make the rounds briefly on Moments and in WeChat groups.
Su Mu had returned to the cultivation world by then. Seeing that Xiao Wu was absent, he asked a maid to fetch her.
Xiao Wu had been preparing to leave the palace herself and was somewhat puzzled to hear that Su Mu wanted her.
"Was there something you needed?"
"I wanted to go out of the palace and have a look around. I thought it would be safer to bring you along," Su Mu said frankly.
Xiao Wu pursed her lips and stamped a foot. "You're far too timid. You may be a soul, but you belong to Great Liang's imperial household now. Those cultivators certainly wouldn't dare lay a hand on you lightly."
Su Mu was not particularly reassured. "How would they know I belong to the imperial household? What if they attacked me the moment they saw me?"
"Doesn't that token on you show who you are?" Xiao Wu pointed at the token on Su Mu's waist. The eldest princess had bestowed it on him earlier so he could enter and leave the palace grounds.
Su Mu lowered his head for a look and understood. So the token served that purpose too.
By the look of things, his life had gained another layer of insurance.
"Ahem, well, I'm not familiar with this place either, am I? It wouldn't be good if I got lost going out alone." Su Mu gave a dry cough to hide his embarrassment.
Despite her reassurance, Su Mu still felt it would be safer to have her accompany him.
As he spoke, Su Mu pulled her toward the palace gates.
Xiao Wu pursed her lips and said nothing more. After leaving the palace grounds with Su Mu, she soon arrived before a tall building.
The signboard on the building read "Righteous Pavilion," a few of the rare characters Su Mu recognized.
"This is where I sell all the calligraphy. Would you like to come inside and have a look?"
Xiao Wu turned to ask Su Mu beside her.
Su Mu instinctively shook his head. He could sense extremely dense Righteous Qi inside, and the sensation made him deeply uncomfortable. Instinctively, he did not want to enter.
Xiao Wu seemed to have guessed how Su Mu felt. Seeing this, she said, "Then have a look around nearby. This servant will come find you once she comes out."
She paused briefly, her lovely eyes curving into crescents. "Don't worry. This servant is a cultivator, after all. As long as you don't go more than three li away, this servant will be able to find you."
It seemed she had noticed how frightened Su Mu was, hence those reassuring words.
Seeing Xiao Wu like this, Su Mu could only nod.
After watching Xiao Wu enter, Su Mu tentatively began wandering around nearby. At first, he dared not stray too far, worried that some monk or cultivator would suddenly appear and try to deliver him.
A little while later, however, he spotted several monks and cultivators in succession. After glancing at him, their gazes clearly lingered on his waist token before they left.
This let Su Mu breathe a sigh of relief. Now that he knew the token really worked, he grew bolder and began looking around.
What attracted Su Mu most here was actually the food. All sorts of novel-looking things seemed delicious even from a distance. Unfortunately, he could not eat any of them and could only look on and sigh.
"Come, come, everyone, take a look! A fairy in a painting! Buy her and take her home to wash your clothes, cook your meals, or warm your bed-she can do it all!"
"Come and have a look! It doesn't matter if you don't buy her. Come feast your eyes on the fairy in the painting!"
By then, Su Mu had wandered to the riverside. As painted pleasure boats drifted past on the river, he could hear the twittering voices of women inside. When he looked up, he seemed to see a few women leaning against the upper railings, pointing at him.
Su Mu knew this was most likely his imagination. They had not noticed him at all.
Just then, however, Su Mu heard a booming voice.
In the distance, a burly man held up a painting and called loudly to the people around him.
Before long, quite a crowd had gathered.
* A fairy in a painting? Could she be that spirit Xiao Wu mentioned before, the one who went to have her painting repaired and was discovered?*
Curious about what he had heard, Su Mu could not resist floating over. He had never seen anything like this before.
"You make it sound good, but have the person in that painting come out so we can take a look!"
"Exactly! Don't just stand there talking. Let her out for us to see."
The people around him all spoke up.
It seemed that wherever one went, gathering to watch a spectacle was common.
The burly man laughed at their words. "All right, I'll have her come out right now so you can all get a good look!"
With that, the burly man shouted at the painting in his hand, "Come out and let everyone see you!"
Nothing unusual happened to the painting after he spoke. It looked like an ordinary painting.
The crowd burst into laughter. Feeling he was losing face, the burly man's expression darkened. "If you still refuse to come out, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"
As he spoke, a flicker of flame appeared in his hand.
The painting trembled, and at last a graceful figure stepped out. Her jade-like feet were bare, all ten translucent toes exceptionally dainty.
Tsk, this painter really understood men. That detail alone was painted beautifully.
Even Su Mu could not help marveling at the sight.
Farther up, the woman in the painting wore a long dress, its thin gauze fluttering without a breeze, faintly revealing her shapely figure. Her face, however, could not be seen clearly because she wore a veil, and even the veil was not enough for her.
The woman in the painting seemed somewhat ashamed and indignant, holding her jade-like hands in front of her face.
The crowd could not see much, but they still felt quite satisfied.
"Mm, not bad. Not a trace of Yang Qi on her."
Several people nearby examined her carefully, then nodded in satisfaction.
Su Mu was somewhat bewildered. What did it mean that she had not been tainted with Yang Qi?
"Not being tainted with Yang Qi means this woman in the painting has never served any man."
Just then, a gentle voice sounded. Su Mu turned and saw that Xiao Wu had returned.
She had apparently noticed his confusion and offered an explanation.
Su Mu understood at once. So that was it. No wonder these people had demanded that the woman in the painting come out.
Besides looking at her appearance, they had that deeper intention as well.
Was this more or less like asking a girl out and then asking whether she could drink something iced?
"How much are you selling this painting for?"
Having confirmed this, several people immediately began calling out, ready to bid.
Seeing how many people had come, the burly man grew even more excited. He would probably make quite a bit of money this time. Cultivation was hard; every day, he worried about money.
This time, he had come into an unexpected windfall!