"Chumo, National... Brother Li really has clout. He managed to win Ruyan over the moment he arrived."
"Keep it down. How long do you guys think the National Preceptor will be in there?"
"I bet an incense stick's burning time."
"Fang Yu'ai, do you think everyone is like you? I give it at least two sticks of incense."
Yuchi Baolin, who had been drinking in silence, muttered in a deep voice:
"Don't let the National Preceptor's slender, scholarly appearance fool you. Have you forgotten how he beat all of us flat on our backs? I bet at least half an hour."
Hearing Yuchi Baolin's words, the others recalled that utterly one-sided thrashing and couldn't help shivering.
Meanwhile, beside Xuanzang, two women were pulling out all the stops, yet they still failed to shake his Buddhist heart.
Seeing this, Fang Yu'ai laughed and said:
"Master Xuanzang, since you're here, you might as well make yourself at home. This is cultivation too, so why must the Master cling so stubbornly to chanting sutras?"
Hearing this, Xuanzang opened his eyes, looked at Fang Yu'ai who had spoken, and then glanced at the two women beside him.
"The benefactor's words contain philosophy, but this poor monk does not agree. Everyone's path of cultivation is different. To this poor monk, women are like ferocious beasts in the mountains, and romance is like gut-cleansing poison."
"Ahem! Master, isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? If women are all ferocious beasts in the mountains, then I'd gladly be a hunter! Hahaha!"
"Chumo, you brat, just make sure you aren't eaten bones and all by those 'ferocious beasts'."
Hearing their banter, Xuanzang shook his head. Unfazed by the two women's hands roaming all over his body, he recited a Buddhist chant and prepared to close his eyes and resume chanting.
The inner door suddenly opened. The group looked over and saw Li Ling walking out with a smile.
After Li Ling sat down, he said to everyone:
"Miss Ruyan has just learned the tune and is changing her clothes right now, so please wait a moment, gentlemen."
"Brother Li, you didn't..."
Li Ling was momentarily stunned, then understood what Cheng Chumo meant, smiled, and said:
"My heart already belongs to someone. I will not dabble in any mortal women ever again."
Unbidden, Li Ling thought of the woman who had once sacrificed her life to save him. If she hadn't appeared in the nick of time back then, he feared that he...
"Junior brother, you don't need to feel guilty. Everything I did was of my own free will."
"Rest assured, Senior Sister, once I attain Daluo, I will surely marry you in grand style."
"Junior brother, I am no longer my own master. My primordial spirit is pinned to the Investiture of the Gods. We... we'd better forget it!"
"No! Senior Sister, could it be that you look down on me for my low cultivation level?"
"What silly things are you saying? If I looked down on you, why would I have willingly given myself to you in the first place? It's just... I am no longer my own master, and the Heavenly Code does not allow immortals to fall in love. We have no future."
"Rest assured, Senior Sister, I will definitely find a way to free you from the Investiture of the Gods. Even if I cannot free you, I will find a way to alter the Heavenly Code. Trust me, Senior Sister."
With a creak, the inner door opened once more, and Li Ling pulled his thoughts back to the present.
"My lord, this handmaiden is ready."
Cheng Chumo and Zhangsun Chong stared fixedly at Ruyan, completely unaware of the drool trickling down the corners of their mouths. Even Xuanzang couldn't help repeatedly casting glances toward her.
After Li Ling's makeover, Ruyan was now wearing a cheongsam with black silk stockings on her legs, and even her hairstyle had been meticulously designed.
If anyone from later generations were here, they would surely exclaim "Empress!"
"Let's begin!"
Holding her qin, Ruyan walked slowly into the center of the group, gently set the instrument down, and knelt gracefully.
Every single movement tugged at the heartstrings of everyone present.
"Mandarin ducks wing-to-wing, butterflies fly together; the full garden of spring intoxicates the soul."
As the notes rang out accompanied by Ruyan's tender voice, everyone shuddered at the very first line. Fang Yu'ai was in the most pathetic state, his mouth hanging open as if an egg could fit inside it.
Though the others weren't as exaggerated as Fang Yu'ai, they were all completely intoxicated by that tender voice.
"Softly I ask the Holy Monk: is the daughter beautiful? Is the daughter beautiful?"
When she reached these lyrics, Ruyan looked affectionately at Xuanzang beside her. Xuanzang had already tightly closed his eyes, yet the fine beads of sweat on his forehead betrayed his turbulent heart.
Even with his eyes tightly shut, Xuanzang could feel Ruyan's tender, affectionate gaze fixed upon him.
"Talk not of royal power and wealth, fear not the precepts and rules; I only wish for eternity, to follow closely by my true love's side."
When Ruyan sang these lines, Li Ling could clearly feel Xuanzang's whole body shudder. Those eyes were no longer tightly shut, but staring intently at the tender, water-like Ruyan.
Right at that moment, the strings before Ruyan suddenly snapped, and the sharp wire sliced open her index finger, bright red blood dripping down drop by drop.
Seeing this, Xuanzang suddenly felt a pang in his heart, as if it wasn't Ruyan's finger that had been cut, but his own heart.
Catching sight of this, Li Ling's gaze flickered casually toward a corner of the room, where two shadowy figures stood.
*[Hmph! Golden-Headed and Silver-Headed, romance is hardly something you two can stop.]*
In the corner, the Golden-Headed and Silver-Headed Guardians looked at Xuanzang with solemn expressions, both of them able to sense that the Buddhist light surrounding Xuanzang had grown significantly dimmer.
"Golden-Headed, this Li Ling is full of tricks; he actually used feminine wiles to tempt the Golden Cicada."
"Li Ling is indeed cunning, but this Liu Ruyan does have some looks. If you and I didn't have magical power protecting us, I'm afraid..."
"Leaving Li Ling around is also a disaster. How about we..."
"Have you forgotten he is the destined one? Do you want to die?"
"Then should we report this matter to the Bodhisattva?"
"Not yet, let's wait and see!"
At the same time, Li Ling received a prompt from the system.
*Ding! Detected that the host has successfully broken down fifteen percent of Xuanzang's Buddhist heart. Corresponding reward is now being issued; please check and claim it, Host.*
The corners of Li Ling's mouth curled upward. Just one Ruyan was enough to crack your Buddhist heart? Xuanzang, oh Xuanzang, your cultivation is clearly lacking!
With her finger cut, Ruyan could no longer play, so she offered her apologies and went off to rest.
The others still felt unsatisfied, their hearts crawling with ten thousand ants. Looking at the women beside them, their eyes blazed with a greenish light.
Li Ling smiled.
"Let's call it a day. I'm a bit tired and will head back to rest first, so I won't disturb you gentlemen any further."
Li Ling rose and left immediately. Seeing this, Cheng Chumo and Zhangsun Chong didn't try to make him stay; after all, they had been burning with impatience for a while now.
"Take care, Young Master Li!"
Just as Li Ling reached the door, he suddenly spoke up:
"Right, take good care of Master Xuanzang. Don't neglect our guest."
With that, he strode out of the room without looking back.
Having left the room, Li Ling felt a gaze fixed on him. He glanced toward a doorway in the distance, nodded, and without lingering any further, walked straight out of Miaoyu Brothel.
Seeing that Li Ling had left, Cheng Chumo and the others each took a woman to different rooms.
As for Xuanzang, no matter what Fang Yu'ai said, he remained completely unmoved. In exasperation, Fang Yu'ai simply dismissed the two women by Xuanzang's side.
"Since the Master has no interest in this, then I must ask the Master to wait here a moment!"
With that, regardless of whether Xuanzang consented, Fang Yu'ai hurried off, taking a woman with him.
In the entire Heaven No. 1 room, only Xuanzang remained, sitting in solitude with his eyes closed, chanting sutras.
With a creak, the room door was pushed open.
"Since the benefactor has returned, let us be on our way!"
Hearing the door open, Xuanzang assumed Fang Yu'ai had returned.
"Giggle! Monk, why didn't you leave with those two sisters?"
Hearing that voice, Xuanzang's whole body trembled, and his eyes snapped open. The figure before him was none other than that person who had refused to leave his mind.
Ruyan's return was something Li Ling had arranged beforehand—Li Ling had sent Ruyan back to get close to Xuanzang.
And once it succeeded, he would redeem her freedom!