Rumor had it that the masters of the Snow City were as beautiful as fairies. Hence Mu Chen reckoned that even though the current one happened to be a man, he would at least be fairly charming. However, to his great surprise, the man turned out to be such a stumpy guy, holding a stool and wailing in front of him.
Moreover, this lecherous fat-a.s.s was seen through immediately like a stupid goat by Gu Yunjue.
If a man was handsome while fond of chasing the skirt, people might find him amorous; if he was plain-looking while respecting beauties instead of controlling them, like this Master of Snow City, he could possibly kept a good reputation; however, if he was born with a loathsome appearance, people might feel it was filthy and obscene for him to indulge in love affairs. Such was people"s appreciation of beauty.
Mu Chen had a mixed feeling towards the fatty City Master, but couldn"t tell whether it was sympathy or something else.
But Gu Yunjue was very interested in the fact that the stumpy had lost his throne to a demon. "Such an enormous palace is actually occupied by a demon cultivator? Wow, how powerful could such a demon be?"
Hearing that Gu Yunjue laughed at his misfortune in a mocking tone that demanded for more details, the pitiful city master was enraged yet dared not to vent his anger. Instead, he threw Gu a glance and turned to explain to Mu Chen, "Oh, my G.o.ddess, my name is Bai Xiaoyue. I succeeded to the throne when I was 14. Although I haven"t made any great achievement, people here have never worried about basic needs under my governance…"
Hearing his words, Mu Chen twitched his mouth and said, "I don"t care about your name. Get to the point!"
"Ok!" Bai Xiaoyue wiped his tears and continued.
It turned out that he had always done a good job as Snow City"s master. As the city was extremely remote, few people came to trouble him. Therefore, he had led quite a comfortable life eating and sleeping day after day. However, things changed a month ago. After having food and beverages and enjoying the beauty of his fellowmen, he was about to take a nap as usual, when suddenly someone unexpected appeared, who, in a red fancy robe, was a tall, handsome and charming cultivator. Without a word, the cultivator beat his guard, robbed him of his palace, and kicked him out.
Mu Chen listened to the city master telling his story and asked with doubt, "Haven"t you thought about revenge on him?"
Bai Xiaoyue shed tears again, "Surely I did. And I planned to save my guard, but…I was not his match. If I could beat him, why did I bother running away? What was worse, when I pointed out that I am the Master of Snow City and the man in the palace is an outsider, no one believed me, not even the servants in my palace. Oh my G.o.ddess…"
Mu Chen was speechless and rolled his eyes.
Gu Yunjue, however, was amused, "According to your words, the cultivator is charming and handsome, whereas you are such a fatty. And because you don"t show up in public, n.o.body but your guard knows who you are. In terms of your appearance, everyone but the blind would reckon you are not the Snow City Owner."
"Oh, my G.o.ddess!" Hurt by Gu"s words, Bai Xiaoyue helplessly wailed in front of Mu Chen.
But Gu Yunjue was not going to let him go easily and said, "You can get into the city, can"t you? Isn"t it stipulated that ugly people are not welcomed in Snow City?"
"Oh G.o.ddess!" The fatty was hurt all over and looked at Mu Chen with grievance.
Mu Chen rubbed his forehead and almost lost patience. "Why are you always calling me G.o.ddess? What is the problem with the statue?"
Bai Xiaoyue hurriedly explained, "The statue has been worshipped here for generations. It looks exactly the same as you. My G.o.ddess, please rest a.s.sured that as long as I am here, the Snow City will always follow you and serve you!" Bai expressed his loyalty in a serious tone.
Gu Yunjue rubbed his jaw and ridiculed, "You can"t even keep your home. What is the point of taking you in?"
The fatty city master opened his mouth, thought about it for a while but couldn"t utter one merit of himself. Hopelessly, he turned to Mu Chen.
Mu Chen was already impatient. He stood up, waved at Gu Yunjue and went to the inner room for a rest.
Gu Yunjue understood his gesture and smiled. He tossed a spirit stone to the fatty and said, "Go to book a room for yourself. Stay here. We will take back Snow City for you."
"Why are you helping me?" The fatty was very careful though.
"I heard that you have Ice Soul Pearl in Snow City. That is why we are helping you."
"Ice Soul Pearl? What is that?" asked Bai Xiaoyue as if he really did not know.
Gu Yunjue flicked a finger toward Bai Xiaoyue and imposed a secret ban on him. Gu smiled and reminded Bai, "Think about it and then tell us whether the Snow City has Ice Soul Pearl or not."
Bai Xiaoyue lowered his head, concealed his emotion and went away with the spirit stone.
After sending Bai Xiaoyue away, Gu Yunjue went to the inner room and saw Mu Chen lie in the bed while musing with his eyes closed.
"Master," Gu Yunjue smiled; he lied down by Mu Chen and looked at him. "What do you think of the man?"
Mu Chen kept his eyes closed and said faintly, "His words intermingle truths and lies. They are not completely reliable. We"d better check things out by ourselves. As for the holy statue, I have some strange feeling."
Gu Yunjue grabbed a strand of Mu Chen"s hair and gently wrapped it around his fingertips. Then he took it to his nose, softly smelled it and kissed it. "What kind of feeling?" asked Gu.
Gu"s intimate gestures aroused Mu Chen from musing. He stared at Gu with discontent, "I don"t know. It makes me feel uneasy."
"Don"t be afraid. No matter what will happen, I am always with you." Gu Yunjue looked down and approached Mu Chen"s forehead to kiss him; but he was poked in the head with a finger, which was followed with a flick as a threat.
Gu Yunjue smiled, but he quickly approached Mu Chen and gave his master a kiss before he flashed aside. Afterwards, Gu looked at Mu Chen and smiled without a word, which made Mu felt himself punching in cotton. "This wicked disciple always turns into a r.e.t.a.r.d in front of me. He is becoming increasingly stupid."
Wrapping his arms around the neck of his stupid disciple, Mu Chen closed his eyes and drew Gu Yunjue to his chest, saying in a cold voice, "Lie down and take a rest. You must be tired too."
"Master"s chest is warm and wide, and it makes feel safe," acclaimed Gu Yunjue sensibly.
Mu Chen did not speak, but twitched his mouth, holding the person in his arms tighter. "The b.a.s.t.a.r.d disciple is quite smart. Or else I would have thrown him out."
*
The city master"s palace was brightly lit and the crystal-clear mansion looked illusionary with the candles" light.
A handsome young cultivator in a fine red robe, sat in the loft, sipping wine and watching beautiful women dancing. He was quite pleased and enchanted.
A servant brought in another pot of spirit wine and respectfully said, "City Master, here is the wine you"ve asked."
The young cultivator muttered a hum with a languorous tone. In a chin-rest posture, he waved his sleeve and ordered, "You"re all dismissed, and I have some guests coming. They might prefer quietness."
"Aye, my Lord!" The servant put down the wine with reverence and retreated with the dancers.
The young cultivator smiled, looked up into the air, and said frivolously, "Hey, Beauty. The enjoyable night is short. Why not coming down for a drink?"
To his great surprise, his greeting was responded by a blast of scorching wind which was launched by Mu Chen.
After having enough rest, the master and disciple came to the city master"s mansion to check things out, while they didn"t expect to meet an acquaintance. The demon cultivator turned out to be the man Mu Chen had met in the secret boundary as well as the one who took a l.u.s.trous Jasper Pill from him. It explained why Bai Xiaoyue said that his throne was occupied by a demon.
As soon as the two arrived at the palace, the demon cultivator knew it was Mu Chen coming and called him "beauty" now and again. Mu became livid at the greetings and attacked the man directly without a word.
Gu Yunjue stood neither far from nor near Mu. Sensing and weighing the demon power fluctuation of the fake city master, instantly he was aware that they were at the same level. When the demon cultivator blocked Mu Chen"s attack and looked over at him, Gu Yunjue narrowed his eyes and threw him a murderous look.
Gu had seen the demon cultivator in the secret boundary, and had always intended to give him some lessons. Unfortunately, he left early.
After finishing the affairs with Mu Chen, Gu found that the demon had already gone and didn"t expect to meet him here.
As the old saying goes, "Enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road".
Gu Yunjue clicked his tongue and said in a provocative tone, "I"m wondering who this is? It turned out a rooster, who discarded his own roost, came from far away to this ice cave and robbed other"s home."
Mu Chen raised his eyebrows and wondered, "A ROOSTER? Is the demon really a chick?"
Gu Yunjue flew to Mu Chen and stood by him, gently explaining, "He is a wild phoenix, named Feng Jiuli."
"Bravo! What a good sight. No wonder the beauty was not willing to be my partner of couple cultivation even when he was poisoned." Feng Jiuli looked at Mu Chen with regret and exclaimed in a chin-rest posture, "You said you needed only four hours to get detoxified that day. Now I know what four hours means. What a pity! He can only last for four hours! Hey Beauty! How about dumping him and following me?"
Hearing his remarks, Mu Chen threw him a murderous look. "FOUR HOURS? ONLY?"
Noticing Mu Chen"s anger, Gu Yunjue felt the heart trembling, and hurriedly patted Mu to comfort him. When Mu turned his head and saw the young disciple"s obedience, he glared at Feng Jiuli, clenched his fist and finally had himself under control, without fighting back.
Seeing Mu Chen"s face softened, Gu Yunjue was relieved. Next moment, Gu looked at Feng Jiuli, and exposed his killing intent. Gu Yunjue, a devil, and Feng Jiuli, a demon, were well-matched in terms of not only their power but also the irregularity of their cultivation. At the moment, their fighting intent was so strong that even the air got twisted, and it imposed great pressure on the servants of the palace, who couldn"t resist it and crawled on the ground, shaking.
Both Gu and Feng were quick-minded, and with the brief confrontation, they both knew that neither of them would avoid being wounded. They, therefore, withdrew their cultivation and stared at each other with hostility and calculation.
Seeing little disciple gazing at the demon cultivator, Mu Chen was unhappy, and pinched him in his waist. "b.a.s.t.a.r.d! How dare he look at the rooster?"
Gu Yunjue hurried to comfort Mu, grabbed him by the arm and called him "Master" submissively.
Feng Jiuli raised his eyebrows, and looked with amus.e.m.e.nt at the master and disciple, "You"re master-disciple couple. That"s even more interesting." Feng stood up and proposed, "I reckon you two come here for some important business. Why not get down to talk about it."
Mu Chen went down and asked in an unfriendly tone, "You have your own force in the Demon Realm. Why do you come to the Immortal Realm and robbed other"s mansion?"
Feng Jiuli clicked his tongue, poured a gla.s.s of wine for himself, and pushed the jug to Mu Chen. Regardless of whether Mu would drink the wine or not, Feng emptied his gla.s.s in one gulp and sighed, "I am waiting for someone. He is my predestined partner."
Mu Chen looked at Feng as if he was looking at a lunatic.
"Hey, hey, hey! As it is said, a truth is often taken as a lie." Feng Jiuli couldn"t help but smile when he saw Mu"s reaction, and continued, "To be honest with you, I got an oracle a year ago which required me to go to Green Red Valley to look for my predestined partner. However, I didn"t find him or her until the secret boundary was destroyed. I got another oracle three months ago, which demanded me to come to this ice city and wait. Shouldn"t you have had a partner, I would have taken you as my predestined one." With the words, Feng Jiuli looked into Mu Chen"s eyes deeper, as if he was trying to find a clue that could link himself to Mu"s soul.
Feng Jiuli was on a manhunt and came across Mu Chen twice, which couldn"t be interpreted as coincidences. As a matter of fact, everything was about causes and consequences in cultivators" world. When he run into Mu Chen last time, Mu"s breath was clean and pure, and kept virgin. But now Mu had been bonded with someone, which led to Feng Jiuli"s suspicion.
If there hadn"t been such a bond, Mu Chen could have been the one he was looking for.
While Feng was deep in thinking, he felt a freezing killing intent. Feng looked up and caught Gu Yunjue"s black eyes that was staring at him emotionlessly.
To Feng Jiuli, it was not wise to fight Gu Yunjue at the moment, so he shrugged his shoulders and stopped looking at Mu Chen.
Mu Chen did not care about what the two were calculating, but instead asked Feng, "Do you know where Ice Soul Pearl is?"
"Ice Soul Pearl? I seem to have seen it somewhere..." Feng Jiuli rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment; suddenly it came to him, "Got it. It was on the fatty!"