"Heh, Brother Lu is also staring entranced~"
Wang Cheng'an on the side watched Lu Yuan gripping the monocular telescope without letting go, grinning and chuckling foolishly.
Xu Erxiao wore an expression of complete understanding.
"A woman of such looks, even immortals would develop mortal desires upon seeing her. Who wouldn't want to look a few more times?"
He viciously bit into the dried rations in his hand, yet his gaze remained hazy as he smacked his lips, "Sigh, what do you think, we toil away miserably every day, when will we ever be able to marry such a flirtatious big rouge mare~"
"She's this seductive in public. If she were at home, on the kang bed swinging that big fat bottom, your very soul would be flung away..."
Wang Cheng'an glanced sideways at Xu Erxiao, also biting into his dried rations and saying indistinctly, "Become a Grand Celestial Master, and won't you have as many big rouge mares like this as you want?"
Hearing this, Xu Erxiao immediately deflated like a punctured balloon and sighed.
"How many ghosts would we have to catch to become a Grand Celestial Master..."
"I've got no hope in this lifetime..."
"If I could just suck on the fragrant spit from such a supreme woman's mouth and taste it, this lifetime would be worth it..."
Wang Cheng'an: "..."
Lu Yuan: "..."
Lu Yuan, who had put down the monocular telescope, wordlessly returned it to Wang Cheng'an, then looked at Xu Erxiao speechlessly, "Have some ambition, kid. Don't be so disgustingly crude..."
Wang Cheng'an had just received the telescope and wanted to feast his eyes again when Lu Yuan had already stuffed the last bite of smoked meat flatbread into his mouth and said in a low voice, "Stop looking, they're coming up."
About the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, that group came up the mountain in grand procession.
The three from Lu Yuan's group had already finished eating and stood beside a withered tree, quietly waiting.
Soon, over a dozen Wuqing Temple disciples wearing white Daoist robes walked at the very front, arriving first.
Lu Yuan bowed slightly toward the young Daoist priest leading them, who appeared about the same age as himself, and cupped his hands in salute.
"Daoist Master, may you be merciful."
The young man glanced at the three of them, his gaze lingering for a moment on the coarse cloth robes they wore that had been washed until they turned white.
A trace of subtle contempt flashed in his eyes.
He only perfunctorily returned the salute with a casual hand gesture.
"Junior Brother, may you be merciful."
Lu Yuan's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly, but his expression remained calm as he continued to ask, "May I ask, Daoist Master, whether this immortal visit is for traveling and visiting, or is there some Daoist destiny involved?"
The number one Daoist temple beyond the pass, Wuqing Temple, suddenly appearing in this desolate mountain wilderness was definitely not for a mere jiangshi.
Lu Yuan's mind raced. His target tonight was only Old Master Xu, he didn't want any complications.
With the mountain passes about to be sealed by heavy snow, the Daoist priests also needed to hurry and earn enough grain to chew on for the winter.
Their schedule was packed full. Delaying one day would throw off all the subsequent jobs. However, that young Daoist priest merely glanced at him again, then walked straight past him, not even bothering to reply with a single word.
Before Lu Yuan could react, Xu Erxiao beside him with his bull temper flared up instantly, immediately stamping his feet and cursing loudly, "Bah!! I call you Daoist Master, and you really think you're somebody!"
"My senior brother is speaking to you, are your ear holes actually assholes?!"
This outburst from Xu Erxiao was both filthy and loud. The dozen or so Wuqing Temple Daoist priests behind all turned to look, each face showing disdain.
Which temple's disciples were these, their speech so vulgar and crude, completely lacking in manners!
The leading young man was stunned by the scolding, his face turning green then white. Just as he was about to turn around and lose his temper, a clear and sharp female voice preempted him.
"Hey! You country bumpkins are really crude!"
A rather sweet-looking young girl walked out from the crowd, hands on her hips, her almond eyes wide and glaring.
"My senior brother can't be bothered with you, that's because you're not worthy! What are you people anyway, why should my senior brother acknowledge you!"
Hearing this, Wang Cheng'an stiffened his neck, unconvinced, and glared back defiantly, "What are we? Go ask around the Fengtian City area, who doesn't know my Brother Lu's reputation as the 'White-Robed Young Daoist'!"
After hearing this, the young girl actually made an extremely exaggerated motion and spat toward the ground with a "Ptui!"
"Ptui! What White-Robed Young Daoist, Black-Robed Young Daoist, what kind of crappy temple is True Dragon Temple anyway? Never even heard of it!"
She pointed at the yellowish robes the few of them wore, her face full of mockery, "Just this tattered outfit, how long has it been since you washed it? Still calling yourself White-Robed Young Daoist, truly shameless!"
Lu Yuan stood between the two groups, his expression somewhat dark.
He'd just asked one question, how did he end up getting cursed at along with everyone else.
Just as both sides were about to argue in earnest, a mature woman's voice, sweet and seductive to the bone, drifted over leisurely.
As if carrying a strange magic power, it instantly eased most of the tense atmosphere.
"Is this the White-Robed Young Daoist from True Dragon Temple, Young Daoist Master Lu Yuan?"
Hm?
Following the voice, the palanquin had already arrived nearby.
The beautifully mature and sexy supreme woman he'd seen through the monocular telescope appeared before his eyes.
Wang Cheng'an's monocular telescope was cheap goods bought from the Russians at the border market, after all, the view was blurry.
Now, with this woman less than three meters away, Lu Yuan could finally see her clearly.
This woman... truly embodied the word "seductive" down to her bones.
Her features and figure were perfect beyond mortal standards, without a single flaw but most deadly was the naturally seductive charm about her. Every frown and smile was like a hook planted right in a man's heart.
Without exaggeration, if she winked flirtatiously at you, those with poor self-control would probably immediately soil their pants with sticky liquid.
Just like Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an beside him, Lu Yuan could clearly feel their breathing had become heavier.
The group of Wuqing Temple Daoist priests in front also had red faces and thick necks. However, Lu Yuan was at least a man who had used up Xiaobai Bird 3.0TB several rounds over, he still had this much self-control.
From this woman's tone, it seemed like she knew him but Lu Yuan searched through all his memories and couldn't recall ever seeing such a stunning beauty.
This kind of woman, once seen, could never be forgotten.
"This humble one is Lu Yuan, disciple of True Dragon Temple. May I ask who Madam is?"
Lu Yuan cupped his hands, his gaze clear as he looked at the beautiful woman on the palanquin.
Seeing Lu Yuan acknowledge his identity, the supreme woman's soul-stealing phoenix eyes immediately lit up brilliantly as she laughed charmingly, "Song Meiqin, do you remember her? In the middle of the year, you went to her house to handle the matter of her deceased husband."
"After you left, Meiqin talked about you constantly in my ear, praising you to the heavens."
Lu Yuan suddenly understood.
"So you're Auntie Qin's friend."
The supreme woman nodded lightly, her gaze sweeping over the Wuqing Temple disciples in front, then looked toward Lu Yuan with some curiosity, "What happened? From what I heard, it sounded like an argument?"
Lu Yuan didn't hide anything and frankly cupped his hands, "In response to Madam, we're here tonight to catch a dirty thing. Looking at this formation, I'm afraid it might clash with your business, so I wanted to ask clearly."
At this point, Lu Yuan gave a helpless smile.
"As a result, the Daoist friends from Wuqing Temple seem to look down on us small sects and didn't want to acknowledge us. Our brothers here speak bluntly, so we exchanged a few words. We've disturbed Madam."
After hearing this, the supreme woman first paused, then looked at the surrounding graveyard and understood, "We're just passing through, we're heading to that mountain peak ahead."
Lu Yuan felt relieved and nodded, "That's good then. Apologies for disturbing Madam over such a small matter."
The beautiful woman waved her hand with a smile, "Hearing Meiqin talk about it, Young Daoist Master Lu Yuan is very capable and well-spoken. Meeting you today, you truly live up to your reputation."
Lu Yuan scratched his head embarrassedly, "Auntie Qin always exaggerates, she praises even small matters to the heavens."
The supreme woman smiled with pursed lips, a trace of meaningful light floating in her beautiful eyes.
"She never praises people lightly."
"We've grown up together since childhood, and this is the first time I've heard her praise a man like this. Young Daoist Master, you must have exceptional qualities."
Before Lu Yuan could respond, she asked gently again, "What is Young Daoist Master's business tonight? How long will it take?"
"Our commotion today will likely be quite large, I'm afraid it might delay you."
There was nothing to hide about this. Lu Yuan pointed at Old Master Xu's grave not far away.
"A jiangshi, coming out at ten o'clock tonight. If things go smoothly, we can resolve it before ten-thirty."
Hearing this, the supreme woman showed little reaction, but the group of Wuqing Temple disciples stirred, some even directly pulling out their compasses.
The young girl who'd had her hands on her hips earlier looked down at her compass, then ran to Old Master Xu's grave to sniff around. Immediately after, she shouted disdainfully, "Tch, putting on airs! There's no jiangshi here at all, pure nonsense!"
Lu Yuan couldn't be bothered with her and only looked at the supreme woman to ask, "Madam, how long will you be busy?"
"Our business is in the early morning hours."
Lu Yuan nodded. Now he was completely reassured, both sides would stay out of each other's way.
Just as he was preparing to say a few polite words to send them off, the supreme woman changed the subject, her tone carrying a trace of reproach, "The weather is so cold, the mountain passes are about to be sealed by heavy snow, and you're still wearing such thin clothing at night. How can your bodies withstand it?"
She instructed gently, "Wang Fu, go get three sheepskin coats for the young Daoist Masters."
An expressionless middle-aged man beside the palanquin acknowledged the order and turned to fetch the clothing.
Lu Yuan was stunned and was about to refuse when the beautiful woman smiled and waved her hand.
"They're just a few pieces of clothing, no need to be polite."
Her eyes sparkled with a somewhat teasing smile.
"On such a winter night, if Young Daoist Master catches a cold, won't Meiqin be heartbroken when she finds out?"
Hey, these implications...
Before Lu Yuan could say anything, this supreme beauty covered her mouth and laughed again, "Speaking of which, I originally wanted to ask Young Daoist Master to handle this trip's business."
"But when Meiqin heard about it, she absolutely refused, saying this matter was too dangerous and she feared you'd suffer a loss. She stubbornly stopped me."
Eh?
There was such a thing?
Lu Yuan didn't know what matter this supreme woman was talking about, but he couldn't let True Dragon Temple lose face. He immediately cupped his hands, "Auntie Qin knows how to care for people. Madam, please don't listen to Auntie Qin. Next time if there's any matter, just come directly to True Dragon Temple to find me. What others can handle, we naturally can handle as well."
After Lu Yuan finished speaking, the young girl on the side said indignantly in a delicate voice, "Tch, just bragging to swindle people's money. You come try and handle our business then!"