Su Mu unceremoniously gave Tang Yin a sharp rap on the head.
‘How embarrassing!’
The Tang sisters really were each more eccentric than the last.
The one outside, Tang Mo, seemed relatively normal, but this Tang Yin was certainly a character.
Thankfully, she could now hit her whenever she pleased.
Tang Yin clutched her head in grievance, apparently not expecting such an outcome.
‘I wasn’t wrong to begin with. Sister must have already thought it through. If you just follow her plan, there won’t be any mistakes. Why did you hit me…’
“Forget it. I’ll think for myself.”
Su Mu rubbed her temples and walked out of the hall.
She didn’t see Tang Mo until she had taken a few more steps outside, finally spotting her lounging on the eaves.
Watching Tang Mo recline lazily in the curve of the roof corner, Su Mu twitched the corner of her mouth.
‘She really does like hanging out on rooftops. Does she think it makes her look cool?’
Shaking her head, Su Mu decided to go check on Wu Zigi.
The fun wasn’t over yet.
She still had plenty of time to think things over.
She might as well see how that guy was doing.
As soon as she reached the usual spot, Su Mu saw Wu Zigi slumped ashen-faced against a pillar, shoulders drooping, disheveled hair scattered, looking completely spent.
Su Mu couldn’t help but let out a snicker.
Her light, crisp laughter immediately startled Wu Zigi, who was wallowing in his sorrow.
He jerked his head up, eyes flickering with uncertainty, drawing several deep breaths into his throat before finally swallowing them down dejectedly.
“Senior, are you mocking me?” He muttered in a daze.
He had already been kicked out by the Ninth Prince, and he had no reason to throw away the last shred of hope he had left.
‘A test… that’s right, it must be a test…’
The two guards hadn’t taken his words seriously, but they had still jokingly reported him.
Just a moment ago, Wu Zigi had hastily explained the whole situation.
Although the two hadn’t believed him, they still announced his arrival as a joke.
This had sparked a tiny sliver of hope in Wu Zigi.
To his surprise, the Ninth Prince had actually broken protocol and invited him inside.
His Highness, the Ninth Prince, was truly a discernment, a talent spotter…
As the sight of the elegant blue-black python robe entered his vision, Wu Zigi’s thoughts suddenly halted.
The prince stared blankly at the gentle, refined man, unable to speak for a moment, anxiously awaiting his question.
But what emerged from the prince’s lips was nothing more than a light, airy sentence.
“Mr. Wu, you have disappointed me greatly.”
The moment he heard those words, Wu Zigi felt as if two heavy mountains had been placed on his shoulders, buckling his knees and trembling his frame, nearly collapsing to the ground.
“Though I do not stint on wine, meat, or treasure, I have no intention of using them to feed storytellers… Mr. Wu, your tale is thrilling, but I would prefer to hear it at a victory banquet. As for now…”
The man’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he let out a casual nasal sound.
“Mr. Wu, you’d best return to your tavern. Show him out.”
Wu Zigi trembled in despair, his mind still blank from the shock of the man’s authority.
The guards stepped forward, grabbed him, and dragged him outward with a slow, unyielding force.
Wu Zigi did not resist.
Like a pile of mud, he was pulled straight to outside the hall, then casually tossed aside by the pillar.
For a long time, he couldn’t come to his senses.
It was over.
From now on, whether in the martial world or at the Imperial Court, there was no place in the world left for him to call his own.
All he could do was cower and disguise himself as a commoner, living among the market stalls like a maggot that couldn’t bear the light…
“As for Little Crescent Moon, I did come here just to mess with you. You did a great job, huh.”
“Heh, you’re not wrong about that.” Su Mu’s almond eyes curved into a crescent shape.
Wu Zigi quickly regained his composure.
“What difference does it make… no, the eunuchs of the Western Depot aren’t pushovers either… Little Fifth.”
The address “Little Fifth” made Wu Zigi’s face twitch, but he quickly returned to normal, “Yeah, what difference is there now between me and that waiter in the tavern, or those eunuchs in the palace…”
“Senior, a nobody like me isn’t worth teasing, is he?”
Recalling his own foolish appearance just moments ago, Wu Zigi wished he could bury himself in the dirt.
But now, he didn’t feel the need to feel ashamed—it would only make him a laughingstock to the person before him.
Su Mu’s interest was actually much less than one might imagine, but upon hearing Wu Zigi’s words about “a nobody,” she couldn’t help but stir with some ideas.
‘A nobody, huh? Hmph, that’s a bit interesting.’
Hearing Su Mu’s words, Wu Zigi’s eyes lit up.
“Then let me ask you, do you want to be a big shot?”
“Yes, of course I do!”
‘So it was a test after all? My guess was right from the start. He’s a reclusive master who sees potential in my bones!’
“Of course, Senior! I, Little Fifth, will never forget your kindness in recognizing my worth…”
Su Mu let out a soft laugh and waved her hand.
“Alright, stop calling me ‘senior.’ A grown man your age calling me senior—aren’t you embarrassed?”
As she spoke, Su Mu dropped her disguise and made a funny face at Wu Zigi, causing his jaw to drop in shock, his words caught in his throat.
Su Mu put her hands on her hips, a mischievous grin on her pretty face, as if she were plotting something very amusing.
“But you got one thing right, Little Fifth. I really am the kind of master you imagined. Ahem, remember this well: I am Su Mu, Chief of the Flower Full Tower. Since you are so devout, I intend to grant you a fortuitous opportunity…”
The rest of her words were just wind in his ears.
But when Wu Zigi heard “Flower Full Tower,” he froze in place.
‘The Chief of Flower Full Tower? That’s the woman said to be “the strongest in martial arts and the most stunning beauty among the flower queens”? Flower Full Tower is all women. What would she want with me? What use does a brothel have for a man… No!’
“But our Flower Full Tower never accepts men, and we especially detest crude fellows. If you want to receive my opportunity, you may have to make some sacrifices…”
Su Mu smiled like a little demon, barely able to suppress the silver bell-like laugh threatening to escape.
Threads in her hand twisted together, forming an “X” shape, with a square center that could contract at will—apparently perfect for cutting something off…
Wu Zigi’s face turned pale as paper.
His legs were completely too weak to stand, and he slid down next to the pillar with a grimacing smile.
‘Why did I have to suffer through this…’
But recalling the reputation of Flower Full Tower, Wu Zigi couldn’t help but waver.
This was a fortuitous opportunity personally granted by the Flower Full Tower’s chief.
If he pleased her, she might even take him on as a personal disciple.
In the future, he could cultivate all kinds of ultimate techniques within the tower, possibly even following the path of that Sword God…
According to street rumors, the Sword God Ye Qing had originally been an unknown handyman at Heavenly Origin Mansion.
By chance, she passed by a Flower Full Tower branch and caught the eye of a certain flower queen.
From then on, she embarked on her journey through the martial world.
“Senior, can’t you… hold back a little?” Wu Zigi said with a bitter smile, making one last plea, but Su Mu agreed surprisingly readily.
“Of course, but you must understand that all the techniques of Flower Full Tower are cultivated by women. During the process, they will accordingly reshape the practitioner’s meridians and bones. By then, whether you can keep it or not will no longer be up to me.”
Su Mu’s tone shifted, and she smiled sweetly at Wu Zigi.
“If your talent is insufficient and your bones are incompatible, you’ll have to be demoted to an ordinary branch, where they’ll use Flower Full Tower’s reputation to reshape your bones. And since you’re a man, the pain will be excruciating…”
“I understand. I’ll do as you say, Senior!”