Gu Shenzhi was awakened by a gentle touch in his palm.
After returning from Bianliang City last night, he and Su Linghuang had each gone back to their own rooms to sleep, without exchanging a single word.
Squinting his drowsy eyes open just a sliver, the first thing he saw was a young woman dressed in the inner disciple robes of the Yueying Sect. Her fairy-like features framed by delicate brows, her skin as flawless as carved jade—she was indeed a breathtaking beauty in her prime.
Though his appearance and age were that of a youth, Gu Shenzhi’s scheming mind was as deep as those old monsters who had lived for hundreds of years. Who knew who had taught him to be this way?
Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed the delicate, slender hand of the young girl, his thumb gently tracing the lines on her palm as he asked softly, “Xiao Yao, is that you?”
“Young Master, your maid is right here.” Taoyao lifted the youth’s right hand and silently pressed it between her already shapely jade peaks, hoping to warm him through this intimate gesture.
A strange sensation shot through Gu Shenzhi like lightning, making his body involuntarily stiffen. Though he’d already toyed with his Master and Rong’er before, facing Taoyao still left him feeling somewhat guilty.
Since Gu Shenzhi was exiled to Si Guo Ya, in his third year there, Taoyao had served him as a maid, tending to his every need with meticulous care. In terms of preferences and temperament, she was undoubtedly one of the people who understood the Young Master of the Lingjian Sect best.
But how had he treated her?
The Hei Yi Shaonian fell into contemplation. Ever since he first met Taoyao, he had been on high alert, always wary. Though the passage of time had softened this vigilance somewhat, it had never fully disappeared.
The secret of the Eye of Dual Pupils, his cultivation at the Juling Stage, his ever-advancing Sword Dao—even if Taoyao couldn’t claim to know all, she could at least be said to know nothing at all.
At this point, Gu Shenzhi suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart. He realized that what he had done truly let Xiao Yao down. He lacked the courage—and even less the right—to accept the purest love of this innocent girl.
“Um… Is my hand in the wrong place?”
Gu Shenzhi gently reminded her. Since he didn’t want to bring harm to his stunning maid, keeping an appropriate distance became all the more important.
Toying with her body while enjoying the pleasure, yet wearing a look of reluctance and refusing to acknowledge anything—that wasn’t something Gu Shenzhi could do. He might be a scoundrel, but at least he had his limits.
“No, Young Master, you’re just caressing your maid’s cheek. If you don’t believe me, you can pinch it to check for yourself.”
Having just returned from half a month of training at Qingying Peak, she spoke these words without blushing or skipping a beat, her voice seductive and enchanting—a perfect image of a temptress.
“Xiao Yao, once a cultivator breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage, they can project their divine sense. Even without their eyes, they can sense everything in the world. In Mu Yunzhou, this is common knowledge—even a three-year-old mortal child knows it.”
Gu Shenzhi spoke calmly. He immediately withdrew his right hand, grabbed the Mojiao Xuanpao by the bed, and in a flash, his figure twisted like a ghost, appearing in front of the half-open wooden window in the blink of an eye.
Putting on his robe, tying his belt, setting his crown, fastening his eye cover—it was done in one fluid motion.
Gu Shenzhi stood where he was, letting a few strands of morning light fall on his jade-like face, his aura transcendent, as if he were a mortal Zhixian, carved from the same mold as Bai Qi Fairy.
“Young Master, are you… all right?” Taoyao asked cautiously. Every time something like this happened, she could always tell that he was definitely angry, or at least displeased about something.
Could it be that her actions had made the Young Master dislike her?
But the Senior Sisters on Qingying Peak clearly said that a full chest, fair and slender legs, and a perky rear were the three things men found most irresistible. The Young Master should be happy, shouldn’t he?
Lacking experience, Taoyao was now thoroughly flustered. She could only come up with a dubious explanation: perhaps the Young Master, once a prodigy, had long since transcended such base pleasures, and had no interest in carnal desires. Her own bold actions must have made him feel insulted.
Just as Taoyao was about to explain, the long-silent Gu Shenzhi suddenly turned around and asked softly, “Xiao Yao, do you have someone you like?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the girl who had pined after this scoundrel for years could hardly contain her excitement, nearly shedding tears of longing. For a moment, Taoyao was wrapped tightly in a honey-sweet happiness.
Taoyao nodded first, then shook her head. Her cherry lips parted as she said, “This maid doesn’t have someone she likes—only someone she loves deeply.”
“Who?” The Hei Yi Shaonian asked lazily, feigning indifference.
“The former Young Master of the Lingjian Sect, the greatest prodigy of Mu Yunzhou’s righteous path, the number one sword cultivator among Mu Yunzhou’s younger generation—Gu Shenzhi.”
Taoyao spoke with a smile through her tears.
“Even so, I still have to warn you—falling in love with him will be very hard. Besides, that damned scoundrel isn’t worth your love.”
“What do you mean?”
Taoyao asked shakily, her emotions like a rollercoaster plunging from the peak straight down into a bottomless abyss.
“I mean, liking Gu Shenzhi isn’t necessarily a good thing. First, he’s already married. Second, he’s wild and unrestrained—basically, he falls for every beautiful girl he sees. Is he really worth your love?”
“This maid, in this life and every life to come, will only ever love Gu Shenzhi. Other than him, I will never fall for anyone else.” Taoyao declared resolutely, her gentle eyes now shimmering with tears.
Hearing this, Gu Shenzhi let out a long sigh, his heart wracked with pain. He truly couldn’t bear to see Taoyao hurt and in tears—especially not because of him.
In this situation, the best solution would be to step forward, pull the beauty into his arms, seal her lips with a domineering kiss, scoop her up and lay her on the soft bed, and lose himself in indescribable passion.
Of course, Gu Shenzhi would never do such a thing. Just yesterday, he’d fallen out with the Holy Maiden of the Red Lotus over a woman; if today he immediately moved on to another girl as beautiful as peach blossoms, wouldn’t that be just a bit too much?
To say he felt nothing for Taoyao—even he wouldn’t believe it. But to accept her without a shred of guilt—Gu Shenzhi’s conscience hadn’t yet been completely lost.
Xiao Yao’s tears were tears—did that mean Rong’er’s tears weren’t? At this moment, Gu Shenzhi was truly caught between a rock and a hard place.
As the atmosphere grew more and more awkward, a sudden urgent cry sounded from outside the door.
“Gu Shenzhi, hurry up and hide! The Holy Son of the Blood Blade Sect, Mo Renxie, has come to the Yueying Sect to seek revenge on you! He says he wants to kill you to vent his hatred, and use your head to confess his love to Linghuang!”
Yuexi, dressed in a black gauze oriole cheongsam, burst into the room, grabbing Gu Shenzhi’s hand to drag him away, completely oblivious to Taoyao and the strange atmosphere in the room.
But Gu Shenzhi was in no rush to leave. Instead, he asked Yuexi, “Senior Sister, since it’s a death match, even if I kill Mo Renxie, the Blood Blade Sect has no reason to seek revenge on me, right?”
“That’s right. So, are you saying you can defeat Mo Renxie, who’s at the Juling Stage?”
In the next instant, [Luomei] was drawn, its sword cry soaring to the heavens.
“It’s not about defeating him—it’s about crushing him.” Gu Shenzhi said coldly.