Chapter 25 : Smooth-Talk Successful, Preparing to Set Off
Chapter 25 Smooth-Talk Successful, Preparing to Set Off
“Senior Brother, what you said really made sense, but… but asking me to spy on… on Master while she bathes… I… I really can’t…”
“Can’t make up your mind? Then that’s exactly right!” Long Tao’s tone carried praise.
“If you’d agreed without hesitation, I’d actually have to keep my distance from you in the future! What matters is the courage and thought to take this step! Besides, do you really think you’ll see anything? The bathing chamber will be filled with white mist—you’d be lucky to make out even a shadow! The key point is… as long as you dare to entertain this thought and take this step, that long-suppressed ‘male’ energy will naturally be ignited by the thrill of breaking a taboo! When that happens, the goal will be achieved!”
Long Tao’s “participation matters” rhetoric untangled Nan Yuchen’s inner struggle.
His gaze gradually grew resolute.
“Senior Brother Long! I understand now! You’re right! I’ve lived too comfortably on Moon-Washing Peak for too long, protected too well by my senior sisters—I can’t go on like this! I also need to… occasionally be a bad kid!”
The instant Nan Yuchen finished speaking, the entire room trembled extremely lightly yet distinctly.
Although it was faint, Long Tao still asked curiously,
“Do floating islands get earthquakes too?”
“Impossible. It’s probably someone cultivating a technique or refining artifacts or pills. That kind of thing happens from time to time.”
At this moment, however, at the source of the tremor, Su Muzhi’s spiritual power surged violently as she desperately tried to rush out of the room.
Two Foundation Establishment junior sisters naturally couldn’t stop her; only thanks to an invisible pressure quietly released from behind the curtain by True Person Mingzhu was she firmly pinned in place!
“Master! Please don’t stop me—Yuchen, he… will be ruined by that bastard! He’s instigating Yuchen!”
“Muzhi!” True Person Mingzhu’s voice was still gentle, yet carried unquestionable authority.
“You are already a Golden Core cultivator, yet you lose your composure over the wild words of a Qi-Refining child. If this got out, what would people think? If Yuchen learned that we’ve been listening the whole time, how do you think he would see you?”
Hearing her master say this, Su Muzhi finally calmed down.
Just as she was about to speak again, the junior brother’s voice came through once more.
“Senior Brother Long, why… are you helping me so much? Spying on… on Master—your risk is also very high, right? If we’re discovered, I’ll at most be severely punished, but you might…”
Hearing this, an extremely complicated emotion flashed across Long Tao’s face.
He fell silent for a moment.
When he spoke again, his voice held less of the earlier hypocrisy and incitement, and more of an indescribable sincerity.
“Sigh… consider it a kind of emotional anchor for me.” He tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a self-mocking smile.
“When I was young, I was also ignorant of my own limits, always thinking I was some buried genius, fantasizing that one day I’d catch True Person Mingzhu’s eye and be taken as her disciple. And the result? I was just an ordinary mediocrity. The True Person wouldn’t even spare me a glance. But you, kid… you actually achieved the lifelong wish I never even dared to imagine.”
His tone carried profound loneliness, yet it was utterly frank.
“Before I met you, to be honest, I was jealous of you. But after you saved me at Windless Cliff that time… I realized you’re just a pure, slightly foolish guy, with a heart as clean as flawless crystal. So I thought, if I can help you, then I will. Someone like you standing beside True Person Mingzhu, even achieving a great Dao in the future, is far better than letting those bastards who rely on a bit of talent and become arrogant and crooked rise to power. What’s more… we wastes whose names will never be known in later generations also hope to leave something behind in this world.”
After Long Tao finished this half-true, half-false monologue—mixed with selfish motives and ideals—the Listening Insect finally exhausted its spiritual power.
With a pa sound, it fell to the ground, ending its mission.
Silence filled the room.
The emotions of the four female cultivators were all quite complicated.
Their hatred toward that surnamed Long seemed to have lessened, but a deeper vigilance arose instead—this man absolutely must not be allowed to approach the junior brother again! If for nothing else, then because of the sheer persuasiveness of his words! Look how little time it had taken—just a few sentences, and he had already smooth-talked their most innocent junior brother into preparing to spy on Master bathing!
“Master…” Zhu Huaisu spoke tentatively.
“What should we do now? How about knocking that kid out first and throwing him off the peak, so he can’t keep egging on the junior brother?”
Behind the curtain, there was complete stillness.
The three of them were all guessing what kind of thunderous wrath Master would unleash upon the junior brother who was about to “defy his superior and cause chaos.”
However, True Person Mingzhu’s gentle voice sounded, and its content took everyone by surprise.
“No need. Tonight, I will bathe as usual.”
“Wait! Master!” Su Muzhi almost thought she had misheard.
“Are you really going to let them…?”
“Hmph.” An ambiguous soft snort came from behind the curtain, carrying a faint trace of… anticipation.
“First, I want to see whether Yuchen and that person actually have the guts to come. Second…” Her voice took on a teasing note.
“Could it be that you think I would let them see anything?”
The three disciples instantly fell silent.
Indeed, with Master’s cultivation, there was naturally nothing to worry about.
It was just Master’s reaction—this almost indulgent attitude… It seemed she really had developed a bit of interest in that audacious, glib-tongued outer sect disciple surnamed Long.
Meanwhile, on the two men’s side, they were also making preparations.
“Senior Brother Long, are you going too? This… I am Master’s disciple; I can’t let you also—”
“What are you thinking? I’m not crazy enough to spy on your master right in front of you. I’m going to keep an eye on you. Your will isn’t firm—you might chicken out halfway. Besides… I’m also curious what a True Person’s bathing chamber looks like. It should be very luxurious, right?”
The reason Long Tao insisted on going was, of course, because he needed to complete the Check-In task there.
Watching over the kid was also true.
But he hadn’t forgotten that the System’s task also included stealing True Person Mingzhu’s bellyband or underpants—damn it, that was another major difficulty later on.
Yet someone who had originally planned to die tonight had forcibly pushed the task to this stage.
His desire to survive suddenly surged to an unprecedented level, and so he asked the System in his mind,
“Hey! System! If I only complete the spying and don’t steal anything, what happens?”
As before, as long as it was related to a task, the System’s grand voice responded promptly,
“Spying is the primary task and must be completed. Stealing garments is an auxiliary task. If it is not completed, no Destiny Luck reward will be granted.”
Excellent! This was rare “good news” brought by the damn System.
Forget that Destiny Luck reward—he only wanted Nan Yuchen to take a quick glance and retreat immediately, absolutely no extra complications!
“Master’s bathing place is naturally an immortal realm as well. It’s inside that pocket realm.”
“Oh… if we get close, won’t we be instantly locked onto by her divine sense and captured on the spot?” Long Tao asked the question he was most worried about.
“Well… that depends on luck. Most of the time, when Master bathes, she restrains her divine sense and doesn’t deliberately probe. After all, Moon-Washing Peak is as solid as a fortress. She also wants to completely relax and doesn’t want to make things that troublesome.”
“So that’s how it is. Your master is more laid-back than I imagined.”
“Yes,” Nan Yuchen nodded.
“But tonight, we should still be prepared for the worst! If we really get caught, I’ll definitely beg with all my might and preserve Senior Brother’s life!”
“Then many thanks. But if I can die at the hands of True Person Mingzhu, this life of mine won’t be a loss.”
“Don’t think like that! There’s still some time before Master’s bathing. Let’s first pretend to enjoy the scenery and head into the pocket realm.”