Facing Fang Henian’s concern, Gu Qingwan gave a bitter smile.
“I am fine! I thank the City Lord for his concern. I wonder, where are you headed?”
Fang Henian replied, “I am looking for Young Master Chu Yuan. It just so happens that you were the one who led him to the guest rooms last night, were you not? Do you know his specific location?”
Last night…
At the thought of last night’s events, Gu Qingwan’s delicate hand trembled within her sleeve.
That figure who had unhesitatingly closed the door was still vividly etched into her mind, even after a night had passed.
Recalling the path toward those guest rooms, she deliberately slowed her pace.
The moonlight had stretched their two shadows until they overlapped.
But in the end, they were only shadows.
‘Perhaps… Ayuan really doesn’t need me anymore…’
She lowered her eyes and instinctively replied, “Ayuan… He is at…”
Before she could finish, a warm male voice suddenly echoed within her sea of consciousness.
‘Fairy Gu, this is a great opportunity!’
Within the Chu Clan residence 10 miles away, Chu Yunlan looked at the image appearing on the token in his palm, the corners of his lips curling into a smile.
Gu Qingwan was startled, immediately realizing it was the Transmission Token. She secretly inquired, ‘Young Master Yunlan, what do you mean by this?’
Chu Yunlan smiled and replied, ‘Do you still remember our plan?’
Gu Qingwan instinctively nodded. ‘Of course!’
When they woke up this morning, the two of them had already discussed a plan to win him back.
They would use the fact that she had invited Chu Yuan to the Small Auction to create an opportunity for the two of them to be alone.
‘It is perfect. Since the City Lord is looking for Little Brother Yuan, you can go along with him and invite him to attend tomorrow’s Small Auction.’
Gu Qingwan felt dejected. ‘What if Ayuan refuses?’
Chu Yunlan was momentarily speechless.
If the other party truly refused, he would be at his wit’s end. At that point, Chu Yunlan would have to consider abandoning this pawn.
However, thinking that there was still hope, Chu Yunlan consoled her, ‘How could he? Fairy Gu, last night he definitely just — ‘
‘Little Brother Yuan just didn’t see your illness flare up, that is all.’
‘As long as you are willing to invite him, he will definitely go.’
‘During the auction, I will arrange a room for the two of you. You only need to pretend that your illness is flaring up in the room…’
‘That way, he will see it, and you can take the chance to tell him that everything between you and me was just an act.’
‘Once the misunderstanding is cleared and your relationship is repaired, you can be together again.’
As Gu’s advisor, Chu Yunlan had to make good use of her “weak and sickly” attribute.
As he spoke, he did not forget to lead her on. ‘At that time, while the room is dark, no one will know what the two of you are doing in there.’
Thinking of such an intimate scene, Gu Qingwan’s beautiful face flushed red. ‘Young Master Yunlan, what are you saying!’
Chu Yunlan felt frustrated.
‘Didn’t they say the Immortal Dynasty was a matriarchal society? Why does this Fairy seem so proper? Forget it! It is enough as long as she pulls herself together!’
‘Fairy Gu, hurry and volunteer to lead the way for the City Lord!’
Gu Qingwan’s gaze focused. ‘Fine!’
At that moment, seeing her gloomy silence, Fang Henian hesitated. “Fairy Gu, are you truly alright? Do you have something on your mind?”
Gu Qingwan shook her head and replied, “City Lord, Ayuan is staying at the Tingzhu Pavilion in the East Garden. Walk to the end of this corridor and turn right… If you don’t mind, let me lead the way.”
Fang Henian clasped his hands. “Then… I shall humbly accept your offer!”
With that, the two headed toward the Tingzhu Pavilion where Chu Yuan was staying.
Seeing this through the token, the smile on Chu Yunlan’s lips gradually turned cold.
‘Very good! The plan is going smoothly!’
‘By utilizing Fairy Gu’s pitiful, infatuated heart, I’ll get to see exactly how much that waste named Chu Yuan cares about his childhood friend.’
***
Inside the Tingzhu Pavilion.
Chu Yuan was sitting cross-legged, breathing in and out.
Through one night of meditation, he had managed to stabilize his rapidly advancing cultivation.
Feeling the abundant spiritual energy stored within his meridians, Chu Yuan’s spirits soared.
Knock, knock!
The sound of knocking at the door made Chu Yuan frown. “Who is it?”
A clear, gentle female voice floated in from outside. “Ayuan, the City Lord has something to discuss with you!”
As she spoke, Fang Henian’s voice also rang out, “Young Master Chu Yuan? I am Fang Henian. Is it convenient to meet?”
‘The City Lord?’
Chu Yuan’s frown deepened.
‘I suspect the Crown Prince sent him here to summon me to act as a guide. I need to think carefully about how to show off my cultivation while I’m a guide today.’
With that thought, he opened his eyes, stood up, and retracted the flags of the Nine Bends Heaven-Confusing Array into the Array Disk.
He opened the door and saw Fang Henian and Gu Qingwan standing outside. Chu Yuan clasped his hands in greeting. “It is my honor to have the City Lord visit personally.”
Fang Henian waved his hand and smiled. “Young Master, do not flatter me so. Yesterday, that thing of yours…”
Glancing at Gu Qingwan beside him, he was cautious and did not speak plainly, only lamenting, “It was truly exquisite! I am truly filled with admiration!”
Chu Yuan gave a light laugh. “The City Lord overpraises me. I have only scratched the surface; it is good as long as it was useful. By the way! Have you come because Her Highness the Crown Prince is headed out and wishes for me to be her guide?”
Fang Henian waved his hand. “That is not it! The Crown Prince has official business to handle today, so the matter of the guide will likely have to be postponed for a few days. This is the reward we agreed upon previously. Please take it.”
As he spoke, he pulled out a storage bag.
Chu Yuan took it with both hands and immediately projected his Divine Sense into the bag.
In an instant, he sensed the dazzling array of Spirit Stones inside.
If it were the previous version of him at the early stage of the Qi Sensing Realm, simply counting the Spirit Stones would have taken half the day. Now that he was at the early stage of the Domain Transformation Realm, his Divine Sense merely swept over the mountain of Spirit Stones to confirm the amount.
Inside the storage bag, there were exactly 11,000,000 Spirit Stones.
Chu Yuan raised an eyebrow and clasped his hands. “Thank you for delivering this personally, City Lord. Actually, you could have sent a servant for something like this. Since you came yourself, is there perhaps something else?”
Fang Henian replied with a smile, “Uh… Yes! I do indeed have a favor to ask.”
Seeing him hesitate, Chu Yuan became curious. “What is it? You can speak freely, City Lord!”
Fang Henian got straight to the point. “Recently, a group of cultivators from the Demonic Path has been running rampant outside the city, specifically robbing passing cultivators. Several people have already met with disaster. Although there are many enshrined experts in the city, not one is willing to provoke that Demon Path Alliance. I have heard that your methods are extraordinary, so I wondered if…”
Hearing this, Chu Yuan raised an eyebrow.
‘Heh! I was just lacking an opportunity to show off. Isn’t this opportunity delivering itself right to me?’
However, before Chu Yuan could speak, Gu Qingwan spoke up.
“Absolutely not!”
The two men instinctively looked at the black-haired beauty.
Her face was slightly pale, and her eyes held obvious worry.
Faced with their gazes, Gu Qingwan instinctively defended him. “City Lord, the Demon Path Alliance is notorious. Why send Ayuan to perform such a dangerous task? There are so many experts in the city; are they all just for show?”
Fang Henian was stunned by her question, then gave a bitter smile. “Fairy Gu might not know, but those experts are already stationed in their respective positions. Even so, those people from the Demon Path Alliance remain rampant. I am also at my wit’s end…”
Gu Qingwan persisted. “At your wit’s end? So you would send Ayuan to his death? City Lord, do you even know his cultivation level…”
Regarding Ayuan’s safety, her attitude became uncharacteristically forceful.
Chu Yunlan, who had learned of the situation through the token, felt that this was actually a good thing. ‘Fairy Gu, this is also an opportunity! Isn’t he going to exterminate those Demonic Path cultivators? That task is dangerous, so you can precisely…’
Before he could finish, Gu Qingwan resolutely interrupted him. ‘Enough! I will not use Ayuan’s safety as a bargaining chip.’
‘Moreover, Ayuan’s cultivation is only at the early stage of the Qi Sensing Realm. How could he possibly have the strength to repel cultivators from the Demon Path Alliance?’