Chapter Seventy-Nine: Irresistible Charm with Nowhere to Go

A cacophony of voices filled the air, swelling from murmured whispers to loud, animated discussions. An urgent anticipation rose in everyone’s hearts, for none could refute the possibility that beyond the stone gate lay the legacy of Bai Li Mo.

“Dao Yi, look! The door is open,” Song Cheng exclaimed, his excitement barely contained.

“I’m not blind, thanks,” Yu Dao Yi replied, nodding with merciless indifference.

“…Dao Yi, you’ve been really irritable lately,” Song Cheng muttered, wounded by the unprovoked jab.

“It’s because I’m stuck with you instead of your sister,” Yu Dao Yi answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“…Have you forgotten what it felt like to rest your head in my lap, you wretched man!” Song Cheng bellowed, displaying a flair reminiscent of his sister.

“Kid, I don’t have time for you right now, but you’d better remember—once we’re out of here, you’d better not start calling for your mother,” Yu Dao Yi silently recorded a second grievance in his mental ledger.

As they spoke, many, unable to resist the temptation of soaring to the heavens, were the first to step through the stone gate. Yet, though people entered, not a single one returned, nor did even the faintest sound escape from within.

Suddenly, Yu Dao Yi sensed a gaze settling upon him. He turned, scanning the crowd, and discovered the veiled woman in white seemed to be looking his way. But with her wide-brimmed hat, not only was her face obscured—he could not even see the color of her eyes.

Ah, it’s this damned, irresistible charm of mine—truly impossible to conceal.

“Dao Yi?” Song Cheng called softly.

“What is it? Don’t bother me. Can’t you see I’m looking at a beauty?” Whether or not he’d actually met the woman’s eyes, Yu Dao Yi now stared at her unblinking, nearly drooling with fascination.

“It’s not that… I just think maybe we should pay a little more attention to our surroundings,” Song Cheng tried to sound a note of caution, his voice growing even fainter, almost pleading.

“Song Cheng, let your Dao Yi show you—wooing women is an art, and no matter the conditions, if you’re as devastatingly handsome as I am, you can charm anyone! Look—ten o’clock—oh, you don’t get that. Never mind! Up and to the left, do you see her? The woman in white looking right at me—she’s already fallen for my looks! Out of all these people, she’s only got eyes for your Dao Yi. It’s obvious! She’s after my body—that’s the power of my charm!”

Still, Yu Dao Yi kept his eyes fixed on the distant woman in white, his excitement almost comical, as if he might dash over to strike up a conversation at any moment.

“Um, maybe we should try to keep a lower profile,” Song Cheng tugged at him, his tone now edged with supplication.

“Low profile? At a time like this? When my handsomeness is being acknowledged? This is no time for modesty!” Yu Dao Yi shook off Song Cheng’s hand, both thrilled and self-important.

“I’m just worried someone will beat you up…” Song Cheng admitted, unable to hide his concern.

“Beat me? Who? Do you think everyone’s as violent as your sister? Wait—that sounds familiar…” Yu Dao Yi frowned, something about those words nagging at him.

“Familiar? I thought so too,” came a cold, clear voice—one that sounded like a death sentence for Yu Dao Yi.

At her words, a jolt shot from Yu Dao Yi’s feet to the top of his head. Trembling, he turned aside, only to find a beautiful face—natural, radiant—gazing at him.

There once was a lovely little girl,
Her name was Little Qiu,
She had gentle, tender eyes,
And quietly stole my heart…

“Song Cheng, in the future, just warn me outright about things like this. Your Dao Yi has a weak heart. Don’t beat around the bush, or one day you and your sister will be the death of me,” Yu Dao Yi said, surveying the scene before him as if his entire life had been cast into shadow. He swallowed hard, his expression blank, glancing from Song Qiuling to his own indifferent younger brother behind her. Exhaustion overwhelmed him.

“Dao Yi, if you keep this up, you may not survive many more ‘next times’,” Song Cheng sighed, feeling he still had much to learn from his Dao Yi.

“Heh.” Yu Dao Yi’s mouth twitched.

And so, in full view of the crowd, Song Qiuling’s spectacular display of discipline unfolded. She showed no mercy, and it was only luck that Yu Dao Yi left with his life.

All eyes turned to the “scene of the crime” near the entrance. It was a pitiful sight: Yu Dao Yi sprawled face down in the wet earth, as if he’d been slammed into a man-shaped crater, his face caked in mud—utterly wretched.

“Dao Yi, do you want me to help you out of the hole?” Song Cheng crouched down, poking Yu Dao Yi’s muddy cheek. “With all these people watching, it’s a bit shameful to air our family’s dirty laundry.”

“Song Cheng, I think I’ve suffered social death,” Yu Dao Yi said, his spirit crushed.

“Dao Yi, your words are too deep for me,” Song Cheng frowned, as if on the verge of understanding, yet missing the point entirely.

“She did this to me, in front of everyone! Do I not deserve any dignity?” Yu Dao Yi wailed from the mud.

“There, there. Be good—men have to endure. It’ll pass. And besides, it’s not the first time. My sister will take responsibility,” Song Cheng soothed him, reaching out to pat his head, but recoiling at the sight of all that mud. He eyed Yu Dao Yi with a hint of distaste.

“…Song Cheng, maybe you should talk less, or you’ll end up locked in a dark room one day.”

?????

After a while, Yu Dao Yi, now cleaned up, lay once more with his head in Song Cheng’s lap, idly chewing on a stalk of grass, thinking the wild grass on this mountainside wasn’t half bad.

??? Is he becoming more beast than man?

“What’s your plan?” Song Qiuling asked from nearby.

“We wait. Look at all these people hanging around for news from the first ones to go in. There’s no harm in us waiting too,” Yu Dao Yi replied, his gaze lingering on Song Qiuling’s pale, elegant legs, as if he were unwilling to give something up.

“There’s something odd up ahead,” Yu Yunfan—who had been silent—spoke up.

“If it weren’t odd, I’d be worried. This whole show of Bai Li Mo’s—I have no idea what he’s planning,” Yu Dao Yi replied, legs crossed in comfort as he reclined in Song Cheng’s lap.

“Dao Yi, those Duan siblings have gone in too,” Song Cheng said quietly, gesturing in their direction.

“So let them,” Yu Dao Yi said, unconcerned.

Rule number one of wooing women: never show interest in another girl in front of one you’re courting, or it’ll all end in disaster!

“Aren’t you worried about your little fairy getting hurt?” Song Qiuling remarked, her face expressionless.

“No one but you, Qiuling, could ever tempt me,” Yu Dao Yi declared solemnly, gazing at her.

“Dao Yi, that woman in white is looking at you again,” Song Cheng said, glancing at the human ornament sprawled across his lap.

(・｀ω´・)

“Where?” At that, Yu Dao Yi whipped his head around, only to feel a cold, familiar gaze upon him. He glanced at the muddy ground, shivering involuntarily.

(`へ´*)ノ

“Bah! A woman of the night—she can’t compare to my pure, flawless Qiuling!” In an instant, Yu Dao Yi turned over, lying with his back to the woman, out of sight, out of mind.

“Dao Yi, Lin He and that man you said works for Lin Yang have set off as well.”

Thud.

“Damn it, Dao Yi, can’t you warn me before sitting up?” Song Cheng yelped, clutching his nose.

“Damn it, Song Cheng, is your nose made of iron?” Yu Dao Yi shouted, rubbing his forehead.

“They’re just two men—why are you more excited than when you saw that woman in white?” Song Cheng grumbled.

“None of your business! Get up, we’re leaving!” Yu Dao Yi watched Lin He’s retreating figure and beckoned the others.

As Lin He threaded through the crowd, he glanced back, his pallid face drained of color. He seemed to glance behind him and offered a faint smile in a certain direction.

A sealed space. A mysterious, foreboding door. A gathering of cultivators driven by desire. A game played out of necessity. And one man who seemed careless about it all.

Beyond the stone gate lay both fortune and the abyss.