As the sky grew dark, just before attending the banquet, Yu Qing personally arranged Mu Aotie’s attire. First, he made Mu Aotie take a good bath, even wishing he could scrub his face paler, and personally combed his hair. He dressed him up cleanly and neatly, pulling his clothes tighter and cinching the belt a bit more to highlight Mu Aotie’s pectoral muscles and robust physique, emphasising his masculine features. This made Mu Aotie feel very uncomfortable, but Yu Qing insisted on doing it, saying his physique was his greatest advantage. Mu Aotie acknowledged this claim, so he silently accepted reality.
As for Yu Qing, he would not do such disgusting things as bathing and dressing up. Facing Mu Aotie’s proactive offer to help, he directly refused, “No need. With my ‘looks’, I do not need to dress up like this.” Saying that the two of them would use a honey trap together was purely to trick Mu Aotie, in order to incite him to bravely sacrifice himself. In fact, he knew very well that although he looked decent, he did not reach the level of being able to use a honey trap. He had no such advantages, and washing up cleanly would not achieve any effect. As for Old Nine, his looks were not even as good as his, but Old Nine had a good figure and obvious masculine features. That build, that body of muscle, had selling points. He could completely be pushed forward to give it a try. If it really did not work, they could find another opportunity to apply honey.
He was narcissistic in his words and even more so in his actions. He leaned close to the mirror, wet his fingers with water, and smoothed his two small moustaches. There was a light in his eyes, looking as if he were facing a little cutie with affection, trying his best to keep the moustache in a shape that matched his own aesthetic.
Mu Aotie rolled his eyes, really unable to compliment this guy’s aesthetic ability, and mocked, “You really do not need to dress up. If you do not shave those two tufts of hair on your mouth clean, dressing up will be useless.” He also knew how this guy’s morbid aesthetic came about. It had a lot to do with their senior brothers. When competing for the position of sect leader, they constantly criticised this guy for being too young and the like. Fine, so this guy started growing a moustache. He originally thought this fellow just considered those two moustaches a symbol of maturity, but he did not expect it to have now developed to the point of self perceived charm. Yu Qing snorted, “What does a big blockhead like you know about what looks good?”
Mu Aotie was not good at arguing. He snorted, could not be bothered to speak, turned his head to look out the window, and felt a bit melancholy, guessing that this honey trap might really have to rely on him alone. He had not counted on Yu Qing from the beginning. In his own view, among the brothers, only he had a bit of masculine charm, so he did not overly urge Yu Qing to dress up, thinking it would be a futile effort.
Not long after the two brothers finished getting ready, a knock sounded on the door. The waiter who came to lead them to the banquet arrived. The banquet location was on a higher terrace of Shixin Residence, an outward facing terrace originally intended for guests to hold banquets. The terrace faced east, as if on a towering cliff. The setting sun was in the west, and the darkening sky in the east was half dyed with the afterglow of the setting sun.
When Yu Qing and Mu Aotie arrived, the host and other guests had not yet arrived. Only the two of them were there, making them feel slighted, but they could only wait here for now, treating it as a chance to observe the environment first. Although the sky was not completely dark yet, the lights on the terrace were already on. There were no lanterns, only glowing crystal pillars of various sizes everywhere. The two looked closely and finally understood what was going on. The crystal pillars were stuffed with luminous stones and had paper tubes inside. Whatever colour of light they wanted, they used a paper tube of that colour. As the sky grew darker, the light from the crystal pillars was soft and bright. Above, luminous stones wrapped in various coloured papers were also hung with ropes, resembling a colourful starry sky. The environment on the terrace was set up very elegantly, with a pleasing aesthetic, looking very high class at first glance.
On the scattered tables were various fruit platters, pastries, and drinks. The waiter serving nearby indicated they could enjoy them freely. The two brothers did not stand on ceremony, knowing that things here would not be cheap, and it would be a loss not to eat, so they quickly took whatever they wanted to taste.
Not long after, a man in white walked out from inside, fanning himself with a folding fan. This demeanour looked familiar, and Yu Qing almost thought Long Xingyun had arrived. Later, he realised it was someone Long Xingyun could not compare to, because he looked even better than that pretty boy Long Xingyun. His skin was so fair and tender, truly a fair faced gentleman with red lips and white teeth. Especially those phoenix eyes, the gaze between them was very tantalising. It was estimated that any woman caught in that glance would have her heartstrings tremble.
The two brothers subconsciously looked at each other. Seeing this person, they both thought of one person at the same time, Junior Uncle! It was just that this person did not have the elegance and dashing sense of Junior Uncle. Of course, there was also embarrassment hidden in their eyes, feeling that their own honey trap was a bit low class. Seeing the person walking over, the two, with food still in their mouths and chopsticks in their hands, hurriedly squeezed out smiles and nodded in greeting.
Who knew the man in white was quite aloof. He just gave the two a faint, indifferent glance, completely ignored them, and walked past, standing alone in front of the terrace railing with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance. That demeanour was much more advanced than the two of them. Yu Qing’s two small moustaches twitched. He chewed and swallowed the food in his mouth, giving a soft “pfft” to show disdain, quietly, not daring to be loud. Mu Aotie then asked in a low voice, “Do all good looking men like to wear white clothes?”
“Pretty boys are generally good to look at but useless. What kind of people have we not seen? What is this thing.” Yu Qing muttered in his mouth, turned around, and continued to use his chopsticks to find food. After waiting a while and seeing the person kept his back to them, he walked aside and found a waiter, asking, “Who is that person?”
The waiter replied, “Liang Gu, Young Master Liang, a distinguished guest of the proprietress.” Yu Qing asked in detail, “What kind of person?”
The waiter looked at him a bit more and gave a hint, “A member of the Liang family from Haishi.”
Yu Qing’s expression instantly stiffened. Those who could be called the Liang family from Haishi could probably only be that one Liang family, the trusted steward of the Great Sage of Ganliu Mountain. On the surface, his status was second only to the cave masters of Ganliu Mountain, but in reality, even the cave masters would probably not want to easily offend the Liang family. Such a family was truly a top tier wealthy family in the world. No wonder he could become a distinguished guest of Nie Rifu’s woman. The great sect leader Yu, who claimed to have seen all kinds of people, suddenly realised that the handsome man was truly someone he absolutely could not afford to offend. The sour words he was still savouring in his mouth were honestly swallowed back, swallowed completely clean.
He returned to Mu Aotie’s side and informed him of the distinguished guest’s identity. Hearing such a background with shock, Mu Aotie could not help but look a few more times at the person’s back. He understood. No wonder the person was unwilling to look at them properly just now. There were indeed not many people in this world worth looking at.
Afterwards, Yu Qing muttered in a low voice again, “Good looking, and with a good background. People really cannot be compared.”
Just as the two brothers were honestly shrinking into a corner, feeling inferior, more people arrived one after another. First was an ordinary looking, seemingly mediocre strong man, Shen Wukong, the leader of the Tianhong Gang. Then came a slightly plump, dark skinned man, Chen Jinchan, the leader of the Jinchuan Gang. Next was an old woman with frost white temples, Gu Yang, the leader of the Xingyue Gang. There was also a thick browed man with narrow eyes, Gu Renshan, the leader of the Shanhai Gang. The last to appear was a big round faced, bearded man with a cheerful face, Wei Yue, the leader of the Zhenshan Gang. The names and identities of these individuals were all asked one by one by the two brothers, Yu Qing and Mu Aotie, while standing next to the waiter on site.
The first to appear was someone with the status of the Haishi Liang family. The two thought the guests appearing later would definitely be of unspeakable nobility, but who knew that what emerged were just this gang leader and that gang leader from Tianji Mountain.
Just as the two were quite surprised, the figure of a woman with a graceful posture appeared. Not to mention her beauty, just looking at her walking posture, it was full of charm, and the charm in her every expression and smile was truly tantalising. This time, no waiter introduction was needed. The two brothers had seen her at the entrance of Shixin Residence before, and knew at a glance that it was the proprietress, Lian Yu.
Mu Aotie’s gaze subconsciously shifted away from her, and he quickly turned his head to glance at the back of the man in white, Liang. He suddenly lost confidence in his own charm, secretly cursing Old Fifteen for always coming up with terrible ideas. The tight fitting clothes he was wearing made him feel a bit uncomfortable, and he wanted to raise his hand to loosen them. Those present were either distinguished young masters of top tier wealthy families or leaders of various gangs. Even Old Fifteen was a gang leader, albeit a small one. Only he was nothing at all.
Thus, he, who had originally planned to use the honey trap, returned to his usual aloof appearance, keeping strangers at a distance, slightly raising his chin and looking elsewhere, just not looking at people. He did not even look properly at Lian Yu, who had just formally appeared.
“I have kept you all waiting.”
Lian Yu, who had just appeared, bowed politely. Her smiling tone carried a slight languid意味, and her voice was pleasant, like a cat’s paw lazily scratching at one’s heart, as if teasing, making one’s heart itch.
Liang at the railing turned his head. Seeing her arrive, he immediately walked over with a smile to greet her, “Lian Yu.”
Lian Yu smiled and nodded at him, and that one smile was full of charm. “Proprietress.”
A group of gang leaders also hurriedly gathered over to greet her. Yu Qing also went with the flow, being polite first regardless of whether he knew them or not. Only Mu Aotie, who was following behind him, remained silent, still maintaining that appearance of being arrogant to superiors but not insulting to inferiors.
Yu Qing subconsciously looked at him, paused for a moment, and wondered how the effort Old Nine had finally made to slowly change had suddenly reappeared. Was he sick? The person was hosting a banquet to treat you, why did you not even have a polite word? Did they owe you something?
Sometimes, he really felt that Old Nine’s stubborn attitude was asking for a beating.
Fortunately, Lian Yu, amidst the chorus of flattery, did not seem to care about this. Her gaze lingered a bit longer on Yu Qing’s face, and when their eyes met, she gave a bright, toothy smile and nodded. As for Mu Aotie, her gaze paused slightly before sweeping past.
Afterwards, Lian Yu personally led the way, guiding everyone up the stone stairs to the second floor.
Everyone else followed behind, except Liang, who seemed to have an unusual relationship with Lian Yu, walking side by side with her.
A group of gang leaders who somewhat prided themselves on their status had previously seen that Liang did not want to pay attention to them, so they did not try to ingratiate themselves. At this moment, they occasionally looked at each other, seemingly not knowing who Liang was.