Chapter 22 : Discovering the Breakthrough!

Chapter 22: Discovering the Breakthrough!

Seeing the True Person say this, the three of them—including Su Muzhi—stopped speaking.

At the same time, they all turned their gazes once more toward the Listening Insect, waiting expectantly for it to transmit something unexpected again.

Sure enough, the familiar voice of the junior brother rang out once more.

“However, after hearing you say all that, Senior Brother Long, I’ve only just realized how shallow my understanding of Master truly was. I’m not even as perceptive as an outsider like you! Now I finally understand Master’s charm for real! These two contradictory temperaments blend together on her so perfectly—it really isn’t something other Golden Core seniors can compare to.”

“Hah… still shallow. You’re still seeing things too shallowly. If True Person Mingzhu’s charm were only this much, how could she have left me unable to forget her for so many years?”

“Ah? There’s more?”

Now, not only Nan Yuchen and his three senior sisters, but even True Person Mingzhu herself behind the curtain subconsciously leaned forward slightly.

Did she still have some kind of “charm” that even she herself didn’t know about?

“Of course there is!” Long Tao’s tone was resolute.

“Junior Brother Nan, do you remember the last time we ate together, that bamboo shoot soup with white knife fish we ordered?”

“I remember! It’s the signature dish of Yuhua Wine House! This season is exactly when knife fish are at their best.” Wait—something was off! Nan Yuchen suddenly reacted.

Why had the topic suddenly jumped to food?

“Exactly. Plenty of places make that dish, but why is Yuhua Wine House’s version the absolute best?”

Though confused, Nan Yuchen still thought seriously before answering, “Probably… because of that final sprinkle of their secret crushed seaweed? That’s their exclusive recipe.”

“That’s it! Those seasonings added at the very end are the true finishing touch of their dish!”

On the other side, the four eavesdroppers were utterly baffled.

What did knife fish have to do with Master’s charm? The youngest, Zhu Huaisu, even subconsciously swallowed.

After Long Tao brought it up, she suddenly remembered that knife fish season had arrived—and she had actually forgotten to go taste some yesterday!

Meanwhile, Long Tao continued speaking.

“That final point of your master is just like that crushed seaweed. It may seem insignificant, but it’s the key factor that makes her surpass other female cultivators.”

“Oh?!” Nan Yuchen’s curiosity was completely hooked.

“Senior Brother, hurry up and explain in detail!”

“Mm. If we compare True Person Mingzhu to that bamboo shoot soup with white knife fish, then her peerless beauty as a Golden Core True Person is like the seasonal knife fish itself. The unique temperament on her body—interwoven with girlishness and maternal warmth—is like the delicious bamboo shoot broth. And the final, most crucial element, like that secret crushed seaweed, is—resentful melancholy!”

Although comparing one’s master to a dish sounded truly strange, Nan Yuchen cared more about that particular word.

“Res… resentful melancholy? Master… doesn’t really seem resentful in daily life? She looks quite calm.”

“You foolish kid—of course you wouldn’t sense it!” Long Tao’s tone carried a hint of superiority as he continued.

“That resentful melancholy of True Person Mingzhu is very faint. It’s nothing like those women who sigh all day long in grievance. It’s hidden very deeply, only occasionally revealed in her brows and eyes, or in some absent-minded moment, just a trace or two.”

His voice lowered, and he closed his eyes as if recalling something.

“It’s like something has always been weighing on her heart, making her perpetually a little distracted. It’s a faint, lingering worry that never fully disperses—something that makes people feel sorry for her. Yet she deliberately hides this concern extremely well, as if she’s intentionally enduring it, unwilling to let that heaviness stain those around her. It’s precisely this feeling of wanting to speak yet holding back that makes her the most unique and the most captivating!”

After Long Tao finished this speech, both places fell into brief silence.

On Nan Yuchen’s side, his simple mind had been completely stunned by this combined assault of culinary personification and psychological analysis, leaving him unable to process it for a while.

On True Person Mingzhu’s side, the four female cultivators were simply dumbfounded.

They truly hadn’t expected that this outer sect disciple surnamed Long could actually produce such a seemingly irrefutable set of crooked arguments! That faint sense of distance and hidden concerns that occasionally surfaced in True Person Mingzhu—her close disciples had naturally noticed it.

But Master was a Golden Core cultivator several hundred years old.

Wasn’t it perfectly normal for someone like that to accumulate many worries over such long years? Who would ever treat that as… a point of charm? And even the most captivating kind at that?

The three female disciples even saw a trace of sourness in one another’s eyes.

Why had no man ever evaluated them this way? Being praised to the skies purely on temperament and so-called spiritual qualities, without mentioning appearance or cultivation—what woman could hear that and remain unmoved?

Just as the three were about to ask their master for her opinion, Long Tao’s voice rang out again, though this time it seemed he was truly about to end the topic.

“In short, if there really is a standard for a perfect woman in this world, then even if True Person Mingzhu isn’t it, she’s the one who comes closest.”

Swish—

The curtain visibly swayed this time, and the True Person Mingzhu inside seemed unable to fully hide her emotions.

She covered her mouth lightly and said,

“Th… this person’s words are not only somewhat presumptuous… but also far too unrestrained!” Her tone carried a forced sense of reprimand.

“In any case… just treat it as listening to a bizarre tale. Don’t take it seriously.”

“Yes…”

The three answered in unison, though none of them looked like they truly hadn’t taken it seriously.

Fortunately, the topic of the “perfect woman” was finally put to rest.

The female cultivators in the room completely threw the excuse of “acting out of urgency” far beyond the clouds.

At this moment, only pure curiosity remained as they perked up their ears, eagerly anticipating what other unexpected things the two youths might talk about next.

“Oh, right! Senior Brother, you’ve been inside for so long and I still haven’t poured you any tea. Please sit first.”

“No need to stand on ceremony—just serve some coarse tea.”

On the men’s side, Long Tao sat down, but his spirits immediately tensed again.

That long discourse about True Person Mingzhu earlier had indeed been, on one hand, an outpouring of feelings long suppressed in his heart.

More importantly, though, it had been meant to draw closer to Nan Yuchen and lower his guard.

He hadn’t forgotten tonight’s ultimate goal.

But he couldn’t possibly say something like, “Hey, your master is too beautiful—let’s go spy on her bathing,” straight to this foolish kid.

Strategy was required.

Those earlier words had merely been an appetizer, planting the seed of “Master still has unknown charm” in the other’s mind.

However, the real breakthrough had yet to appear.

Without a natural conversational opening, it would be impossible for him to make such a request in front of Nan Yuchen.

That opening would require not only keen observation, but also luck.

“Senior Brother Long, this is our Moon-Washing Peak’s specialty, Moon-Shadow Tea. It was just picked a few days ago—give it a try.”

“Oh, I’ve long heard of this tea’s great reputation. It’s a pity I’ve never tasted it before. I’ll just—”

At the instant his gaze swept over Nan Yuchen’s pot-pouring motion!

Long Tao felt as though he had been struck by an invisible bolt of lightning! That long-awaited opportunity had appeared in such an utterly unexpected way! His brain began operating at high speed, and a complete rhetorical framework took shape in an instant.

“Stop! Junior Brother Nan! Stand there—don’t move!” Long Tao’s voice shot up abruptly, carrying an unquestionable authority.

“Huh? What’s wrong? That was sudden…”

On the other side, inside True Person Mingzhu’s room, the four women were also startled, not knowing what had happened over there.

They only heard Long Tao continue speaking.

“I couldn’t figure it out before! Even if you were framed by that man surnamed Zhou and ended up unpopular among ordinary disciples, Senior Brother Chu Yuanbai shouldn’t be like this! He’s not the kind of person who puts on a sour face out of jealousy, nor is he a fool who’d be led astray by a few rumors! He’s a true gentleman! Yet he also distanced himself from you…” He deliberately paused, creating suspense.

“Now, I’ve finally found the reason!”

“What?!” Nan Yuchen’s voice was filled with urgency and unease.

“Senior Brother Long, hurry up and tell me!”

Not only him—everyone on the curtain side also pricked up their ears.

Especially Senior Sister Su Muzhi.

Chu Yuanbai was someone she valued greatly and was about to take as a personally transmitted disciple.

She absolutely did not want any estrangement to exist between her most promising prospective disciple and her most beloved junior brother.

“Sigh… the reason is very simple—almost childish. Junior Brother Nan… you probably haven’t even realized it yourself.” He paused slightly, as if finding it hard to speak, then finally threw out the conclusion with force.

“You’re too effeminate.”

“Wha… what?!” Nan Yuchen’s expression froze instantly, as though he had heard something utterly absurd.

His entire face then flushed red, his voice shooting up an octave.

“How is that possible! I… I’m very manly, alright! Look at me! I regularly go hunt demon beasts! I’ve never slacked off in martial cultivation! I… how could I possibly be effeminate?! Senior Brother Long… even if it’s you… you can’t slander me like this!”

The kid’s reaction was entirely within Long Tao’s expectations.

He didn’t rush to rebut anything, merely saying calmly,

“First take a look at what your hands look like while you’re holding the teapot and teacup.”

Nan Yuchen’s raging anger and grievance jammed instantly.

He subconsciously lowered his head sharply.

The moment his gaze landed on his own hands, it was like being struck by thunder! His face, previously flushed red with anger, turned deathly pale in a flash!

He couldn’t believe it, but the facts were right before his eyes, leaving him powerless to retort.

The two pinkies on his left and right hands were both lifted.

Even he himself couldn’t bear to look at them, feeling only that he looked far too effeminate.

“How could it be like this…!!”