Chapter 67#

The Cross-dressing Wife#

The once backing-powerful and overbearing Housekeeper Zhao had actually been severely dealt with by the Young Master Gu who returned from outside!

This news spread throughout the entire Qingxie Town as if it had wings.

In every street and alley, people could be heard discussing the events of that day. Those who were present spoke with great enthusiasm and eloquence; those who were not present heard rumors and added their own details. In short, everyone praised Young Master Gu for being young, promising, and capable, while the existence of Miss Lin and her “brother” was coincidentally ignored.

For Lin Xiaodong, this was a good thing.

Although he had the help of [One-Click Dress-Up], this skill was not omnipotent after all, and there was also the limitation of cooldown time. Besides, if someone were to look into it, he couldn’t have “Miss Lin” and “Miss Lin’s brother” appear in two places at the same time, could he?

As for the housekeeper, since being exposed in public that day, he naturally had no face left to stay in the mansion.

Gu Xingzhai ordered him to repay all the embezzled silver within ten days, which scared him into packing his family’s wealth overnight and preparing to flee. However, the cloth shop owner, who took the opportunity to kick him while he was down, caught him and his family on a small path. Now he is being held in the dungeon, awaiting his fate.

Recalling the cloth shop owner’s triumphant yet fawning manner when taking credit, Lin Xiaodong shook his head and said to the system: “To be able to be so shameless is also a kind of talent.”

System: “You should be careful.”

“I know,” Lin Xiaodong smiled, “this kind of opportunist is very useful when you are the wind, but when the wind direction changes, he will be the first to turn and become the knife that stabs you. Of course, the same applies to him; no one can always be downwind.”

Three Good Person Cards collected, and one is definitely with Gu Xingzhai. For the remaining one, Lin Xiaodong flipped through the records several times but still didn’t find which key plot character had not appeared.

Could it be the official who finally cut out the succubus’s heart for longevity?

Anyway, Gu Xingzhai certainly won’t report him now. Lin Xiaodong pondered; there probably wouldn’t be such an opportunity.

After today’s free clinic ended, he politely declined the grateful send-off from the patient’s family, went to the market to buy a jar of drunken crabs, and returned to the Gu mansion, planning to find Gu Xingzhai for dinner—of course, mainly to find someone to peel the crab legs for him.

But as soon as he stepped over the threshold, he felt that something was not quite right.

Walking to the door of the study, sure enough, the door was tightly closed in broad daylight, and a child of about ten years old was standing at the door.

The child’s clothes were ragged and patched everywhere, and he was holding a peach wood sword, nodding off.

Hearing the footsteps, he looked up blearily: “Hmm… who is it? My master said, no unauthorized persons allowed, he and Master Gu have important matters to discuss…”

But when he saw Lin Xiaodong’s appearance, his sleepiness instantly vanished.

He jumped up from the ground as if his butt was on fire and stammered with a red face: “Hello, lady benefactor!”

“Who are you?” Lin Xiaodong asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I…” The child seemed to think of something, and his gaze as he looked at Lin Xiaodong suddenly changed, with a mix of infatuation and a bit of vigilance. He held the peach wood sword tightly in his arms, shook his head, and refused to answer the question, only insisting: “My master and Mr. Gu are inside, you can’t go in.”

“Is that so?” Lin Xiaodong curled his lips, “Then, what if I insist on going in?”

“You!”

The child didn’t expect Lin Xiaodong would actually have the courage to force his way in. He gripped the peach wood sword in his hand and said loudly: “Don’t force me to play rough! I-I-I won’t be soft-hearted toward women!”

Lin Xiaodong found it funny to see this little turnip-head, who wasn’t even as high as his chest, looking so fierce yet weak inside. But joking aside, he still held a trace of vigilance toward the peach wood sword in the child’s hand.

“System, what is the origin of this sword?”

“It’s been consecrated,” the system said, “it won’t hurt humans, but it might be a different story for you.”

“Who is making noise outside? Cheng Min, didn’t I tell you to guard outside and not allow anyone to come in and disturb us!”

He was chatting with the system and hadn’t come back to his senses yet when suddenly the door of the study was pushed open from the inside, and a thin, gray-robed Taoist strode out. He had sharp eyes like a hawk and instantly locked onto Lin Xiaodong’s location. The moment Lin Xiaodong saw him, he couldn’t help but be stunned.

Had this person appeared at Master Huang’s ball?

This pair of eyes left too deep an impression on him, so Lin Xiaodong remembered him immediately.

However, the gray-robed Taoist’s attitude toward him was not very friendly. He suddenly pulled his disciple to his side and glared at Lin Xiaodong with an extremely cold and hateful gaze: “Don’t be fooled! This is no woman, but an enchantress who sucks out men’s essence!”

As the gray-robed Taoist spoke, he made a move to draw the peach wood sword at his side, but his wrist was grabbed by Gu Xingzhai, who came out from behind him.

“Senior,” the man’s jaw was tight, and a hint of anger appeared between his brows, “I just told you, you are not allowed to attack him! Xiaodong has never harmed anyone and has even been helping treat the residents of Qingxie Town. What is his crime?”

“You have been bewitched by this enchantress!” the gray-robed Taoist raised his voice in exasperation.

“Where in the world is there an enchantress who doesn’t harm people? Gu Xingzhai, oh Gu Xingzhai, have you forgotten the teachings of your sect? Do you deserve the seniors who sacrificed themselves in the capital!”

“I can guarantee with my own life,” Gu Xingzhai stared at him, his grip on his hand not loosening in the slightest. The man said word for word, “If I have truly betrayed the ancestral teachings of my sect and conspired with an enchantress for money and lives, may the heavens strike me with lightning and leave my corpse incomplete!”

The gray-robed Taoist choked. Seeing this, Gu Xingzhai continued: “Senior, I understand your intention for coming to me today, but I still say the same thing: unless I die, I will not allow anyone to touch a hair on him. I, Gu Xingzhai, have not married for over twenty years and have no plans to marry in the future, but as long as it is someone I have chosen, I don’t care whether he is male or female, human or demon.”

He took a deep breath and said indifferently under the incredulous gaze of the gray-robed Taoist: “Regarding the sect you mentioned, I will personally take Xiaodong to see my master. If he agrees, then so be it; if he objects, I will disable all my skills on the spot and kneel at his door for three days and nights. From then on, my life and death will be up to fate, and I will have nothing to do with the sect!”

“You, you…” The gray-robed Taoist pointed at him, speechless for a moment, his fingers trembling with anger.

The child beside him was already stunned.

In this era, apprenticeship is an extremely sacred thing, and the status of a master is even equivalent to a second father. As one of the top outstanding young generation among demon hunters, Gu Xingzhai was destined to become a master if nothing unexpected happened.

And now he actually said he wanted to disable his own martial arts and leave the sect?

Especially after that three-year upheaval, their profession was in short supply. The gray-robed Taoist originally thought Gu Xingzhai had accidentally fallen into the trap of an enchantress, so he came to warn him out of kindness. Who would have thought he was actually willing!

“Fine,” he flicked his sleeves resentfully, “I’m not your master anyway. Since you’ve made up your mind, I can’t control it. Take care of yourself, and don’t end up losing everything!”

“Cheng Min, let’s go!”

Before the child could react, the gray-robed Taoist had already strode out of the courtyard. He hurriedly ran after him with the peach wood sword in his arms: “Master, wait for me!”

Watching the backs of the master and disciple disappear outside the courtyard wall, Lin Xiaodong withdrew his gaze. Turning around, he saw Gu Xingzhai, who had been fierce and cold just a moment ago, standing with a stiff face, his gaze at him carrying a trace of cautious probing.

“Xiaodong, you… you’re not angry, are you?”

Lin Xiaodong came back to his senses, curled his lips at him, picked up the crabs in his hand, turned, and walked away.

“Xiaodong!”

Gu Xingzhai panicked and immediately followed him, explaining as he walked: “This person is from the Maoshan Sect and has some connection with my sect’s ancestors, but we haven’t been in touch for years. I don’t know why he came to find me. Maybe he misunderstood you after seeing you at the ball last time…”

“I’ve already stated my attitude to him, but you know, people get stubborn as they get older. During our talk, he kept insisting that I was bewitched by you, which is why he wanted to attack you just now. Rest assured, I won’t let him in next time!”

“I’m not angry,” Lin Xiaodong stopped and looked at him helplessly, “I just wanted to take the crabs to the back kitchen and have them handle it. Don’t overthink it.”

“…I see.”

But after Lin Xiaodong left, Gu Xingzhai suddenly remembered something—

What else needed to be handled… with these marinated drunken crabs?

On the other side.

“Master, are we just leaving like this?” the child said with a frustrated face, “Aren’t we staying at the Gu family for a few more days? It’s rare to meet a rich man who respects you, and he even called you senior, and that sister is so beautiful… and a whole day was wasted, and we didn’t even get a full meal. You said you’d buy me new clothes for the New Year.”

“What beautiful! That’s an enchantress!” the gray-robed Taoist’s nose was crooked with anger, and he slapped the back of his head, “Look at you! How did I teach you? One should not be short of ambition just because one is poor! Although we are poor, we have backbone!”

As the words fell, a passerby stopped in front of their stall, dropped a piece of silver, and asked: “Taoist, can you tell fortunes?”

“Yes, yes!” the gray-robed Taoist was overjoyed, his enthusiasm making the child beside him, who was just about to be moved, look on in disbelief.

After the guest left, he asked gloomily: “Master, what happened to having backbone?”

“How is it not having backbone when earning a living by one’s own ability?” the gray-robed Taoist said rightfully, “You kid have too much nonsense today. Let’s go, let’s go. We just made some money, I’ll take you to buy new clothes, okay?”

The child immediately beamed: “Thank you, Master!”

They went to the nearest cloth shop. The cloth shop owner was leaning on the counter. Seeing their appearance, he immediately lost interest: “Don’t touch if you’re not buying. You have to pay if you get things dirty.”

“Tsk, look down on people,” the child cursed in a low voice, “my master is a guest of Master Huang, who do you think you are…”

“Cheng Min.” the gray-robed Taoist looked at him disapprovingly. The child then shut his mouth reluctantly and focused on picking out discounted ready-made clothes in the corner.

Seeing them only hanging around the cheapest discount area, the cloth shop owner sneered, thinking he was right, a poor ghost is a poor ghost, and continued to lean there in a different position. While drowsy, he heard the dialogue between the poor Taoist and his disciple:

“Master, Miss Lin is so beautiful, is she really an enchantress?”

“Yes, you kid aren’t still thinking about her, are you?”

“No, I’m just thinking that Mr. Gu is quite brave, daring to risk universal condemnation for the person he likes.”

“You call that courage? Cut it out, that’s called a green boy! Since ancient times, such people have never had a good end… Sigh, you kid remember not to talk nonsense outside, hear me? At least I’m from his master’s generation, I can’t watch such a good sprout fall.”

“I know, Master, don’t hit my head anymore, I’m going to be hit stupid.”

The voices gradually faded away, presumably the master and disciple were heading further inside.

The cloth shop owner was still leaning on the counter pretending to sleep, but his heart was pounding in his chest.

He thought, that Miss Lin who is so beautiful she doesn’t seem real… is actually an enchantress?