Chapter 22 Must I wear women's clothing? Not only do I have to dress as a woman, but I also have to pretend...
Fu Ming had half his body nestled in the bathtub, his long, cleansed legs floating in the water, the fleshy color of his hair revealing glimpses of his skin.
Because of the excessive dirt left on his face and body during the fight, he quickly took a shower.
"You really don't have any other clothes? I don't believe that the dignified sect leader of Tianyan Sect only has one set of ordinary clothes left."
No, there really isn't.
Fu Ming turned Xiao Huaiyuan's mustard seed bag upside down. Apart from two sets of Tianyan Sect uniforms, there were indeed no other personal belongings. He was even more ascetic than a monk.
While he was taking a bath, Xiao Huaiyuan kept his back to him and focused on his cultivation, not responding to any questions. It was unclear what he was shy about.
They've already slept together, so what's wrong with two grown men taking a shower together?
Completely unaware that he had been imagined as an innocent and pure young woman, Xiao Huaiyuan tried to meditate but could not.
The frivolous, chattering words, as incessant as sparrows, kept lingering in his ears, stirring up waves of evil fire that disturbed his Daoist heart.
"Master, can I borrow your coat?"
"Master, did you notice where the shopkeeper lived when you came?"
"You don't want to talk to me? I haven't offended you, have I, Master?"
...
Even with his eyes closed, Xiao Huaiyuan could still vaguely see through his divine sense. He saw Fu Mingguang stand up from the bathtub, his upper body bare, his pale skin tinged with crimson, like a water ghost tempting people to die in his place, yet carrying a stern expression devoid of desire.
He finally opened his eyes, personally draped the outer robe over Fu Ming's shoulders, and then couldn't help but sigh.
Why are you always like this?
"Always what?"
The oversized white robe was loosely tied around Fu Ming's body, revealing everything from above. This man was so dissolute and oblivious to his own behavior that he even glanced at Xiao Huaiyuan with considerable surprise.
I don't understand what he's saying. What did I do to offend him?
Fu Ming's sixth sense told him that he shouldn't think about this too much. He turned and walked away barefoot on the wooden floor, selectively ignoring the burning gaze that was clinging to him.
Xiao Huaiyuan probably suspects his identity.
As he passed by the bronze mirror, he noticed that his appearance was becoming more and more like the original body. Lately, he hadn't been paying much attention to concealing his words and actions, which was not a good thing.
Once he completes his mission and accumulates enough merit points for his tribulation, he should find an opportunity to fake his death and escape.
As he pondered, his fingers instinctively reached behind his waist, but this time he unexpectedly found nothing. Why was there an exquisite sachet tied to Xiao Huaiyuan's outer robe? Fu Ming took the sachet off and examined it closely.
The gold thread mandarin duck pattern—is Xiao Huaiyuan experiencing the first stirrings of love?
The Taoist sects in this world are different from the Quanzhen Sect in the previous world. After entering the Tao, cultivators can still get married and find a compatible partner to be their Taoist companion. There is also the saying of wealth, companionship, Dharma, and land.
His junior brother was, after all, the closest person to him in this world. Now that he knew his junior brother was going to have a Daoist partner, a strange emotion welled up in Fu Ming's heart. This was probably the bittersweet feeling of having a son who grows up to be useless and has his cabbage eaten by a pig.
Am I not a protagonist destined for greatness? Where did my harem go?
I'll look for it again when I return to the Demon Realm after I finish my mission.
System: Dear host, harems are no longer popular at 0 o'clock!
Fu Ming: A single female lead is fine too. A gentle beauty, a cold saintess, a demonic witch, a lively childhood sweetheart... there has to be one of them!
system:……
It didn't dare to say much, but actually, the current trend is gluten-free wheat bran.
Speaking of the mission, after taking a few Heaven-Rank pills, the siblings' condition stabilized slightly, and the magic runes stopped spreading and glowing, giving them at least a day of buffer time.
They lay back to back on the bed, fast asleep, their faces no longer contorted with pain. After Fu Ming finished examining their meridians, a heavy shadow fell over his head.
The sky was just beginning to brighten outside the window when Xiao Huaiyuan quietly appeared behind him. Although he was only wearing his undergarments, he was still much more imposing than Fu Ming.
He dropped a bombshell in a concise and to-the-point manner.
"The pursuers are about to arrive; they will be here in less than half an hour."
"I understand. Where is the innkeeper's room?"
"At the end of the second-floor corridor."
Fu Ming decisively burned a teleportation talisman. He knew how to draw teleportation arrays by hand, but there was no need to expose it to Xiao Huaiyuan.
As the radiance of the formation gradually spread around them, Fu Ming placed the embroidered mandarin duck sachet back into his junior brother's hand, and smiled with a strong sense of teasing.
"Your sachet is quite pretty."
His pale, glassy eyes reflected the golden-blue dawn, touching Xiao Huaiyuan's heart, which had remained unchanged for years.
But before he could respond, the scene before him changed.
The manager's room at Yingfu Inn.
Compared to the guest rooms, this room was extremely poorly lit, with no sunlight from the sunrise outside able to penetrate. Only a few candlelight illuminated half of the owner's face, as if covering her with a mask.
She didn't seem surprised by Fu Ming and the others' arrival.
"You've finally arrived."
"You have a way to stop them from going astray, right?"
"That depends on what you want to get and what price you are willing to pay."
...I really hate people who don't explain things clearly.
Fu Ming nodded knowingly, "I would like to hear the details."
“If you only want to delay their descent into demonic possession, I have a few doses of herbal medicine that can keep them alive for the rest of the week. But if you are interested in what lies behind them, you will have to go to the Ghost Market to find the answers.”
"Ghost Market?"
“Indeed, in the Ghost Market, anything with a price can be bought and sold.” The innkeeper, dressed in red, crossed his arms and stared coldly at them. “You’ve caused such a commotion in Yongcheng; it just so happens that the lord wants to see you.”
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, her movement revealed a dark red mark on her elbow. To an ordinary person, it might look like a scar, but to Fu Ming, who had been in the demon realm for decades, it was a suppressed demonic mark.
"However, it is extremely difficult for ordinary people to enter the Ghost Market. Even if I tell you the method, you may not be qualified to enter."
"What if we add this?"
Xiao Huaiyuan opened his mustard seed pouch and took out the Ghost Market invitation card he had found in Elder Chen's residence on the Refining Peak. This invitation card was completely different from the paper used by ordinary people; its texture was similar to human skin. The shopkeeper's expression changed upon seeing it.
Who are you...?
“Tell us how to get into the ghost market.”
"Oh, so you're not the owners of the invitations." The shopkeeper's eyelids drooped again, his expression a mixture of joy and worry. "The owner of the invitations can see the entrance to this Ghost Market by imbuing the paper with their divine sense. Even if someone else steals the invitation, they won't be able to see its secrets."
No wonder Elder Chen left it so openly in the cave, without fear of thieves stealing it.
"Excuse me, but those who forge invitations may cause harm to the Ghost Market. I cannot tell you the location of the Ghost Market. I will take care of Xiaohui and Koizumi. As for you two, please leave."
If force doesn't work, try a softer approach. Fu Ming is good at coercion and enticement, so he pointed to the magic mark on her elbow and asked with a smile.
"Shopkeeper, people like you who are on the verge of becoming demons but haven't yet, gathering in Yongcheng, I'm afraid it's not just for food and clothing, is it?"
"Originally, both the righteous and the demonic paths could enter the Ghost Market, but recently the Demon Lord was replaced, and now the City Lord's Mansion is arresting demonic cultivators in the city on a large scale. Can the person behind you just sit still?"
"This..." The shopkeeper, whose thoughts had been exposed, pondered.
"This is my close friend Yuan Xiao, who is at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. He is not afraid of even elders from mid-level sects."
"I am but a humble cultivator, but I am familiar with the customs and scenery of this border region and have friends in both the righteous and demonic paths. You may call me Chen Ming."
...
The shopkeeper fell silent, stunned by Wang Po's self-praising sales pitch.
"If you turn us away, your parents might regret it terribly. So, have you thought it through?"
The shopkeeper glanced at Xiao Huaiyuan, who stood ramrod straight on his left, wearing only a thin garment in late autumn. Then he looked at Fu Ming, who stood on his right, eloquent and quick-witted. This man was even stranger, wearing only an ill-fitting, wide-sleeved robe. The two men's clothes were of the same color, clearly from the same set.
What close friend? He's probably just a lover.
The deadbeat homosexual who was hindering her business.
"The City Lord's guards will find this place in about an incense stick's time." Seeing that the shopkeeper was still hesitating, Xiao Huaiyuan added another knife.
"...Okay, I'll take you there."
The shopkeeper was the type who disliked meddling in other people's business, but after Fu Ming and the other person took turns pleading with her, she finally relented.
She picked up the brother and sister, fed them some herbs, and moved them to a dark room behind the wall. Then she turned to Fu Ming and said...
“But you can’t go like that. Your wanted posters are plastered all over the streets, and there are members of the Gu family from the City Lord’s Mansion in the Ghost Market. They’ll recognize you at a glance.”
"Oh? Then, in your opinion, how should I go?"
"Dress up as a woman."
Fu Ming's face went blank for a moment.
"What?"
After dressing up, she changed into a hairpin dress and dressed as Young Master Yuan's female companion.
A moment later, a sorrowful and delicate face of a beautiful woman was clearly reflected in the bronze mirror.
What was originally a strikingly beautiful face, like a peony, became pitiful after the shopkeeper added a few strokes to it.
His two arched eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and a light blush was applied to the corners of his eyes, as if he often wiped away tears with a handkerchief. With the addition of cosmetics and lipstick, and a floral decoration on his brow, he appeared somewhat down-and-out and worldly.
Achoo!
The strong scent of cosmetics made Fu Ming sneeze three times in a row.
His hair was styled in a crooked, topknot, adorned with several bronze hairpins shaped like swallows, and a string of pearl-beaded hair ornaments swayed incessantly with his movements. He wore a thin red gauze robe embroidered with large peony blossoms, and a jade pendant with tassels of poor quality was tied around his waist, jingling as he walked, which was indeed quite handsome.
Fu Ming frowned and looked at himself in the bronze mirror again and again. According to his extremely common and straightforward male aesthetic, if a woman similar to him stood in front of him, he might very well be moved.
It looks nice, but how should I put it... it doesn't quite look like a proper person's dress.
"This is a skill I honed at Tianxiang Restaurant. I guarantee no one will recognize you." After finishing the makeup, the manager said this with great pride.
Oh, so it's the attire of a brothel.
At this moment, half of Xiao Huaiyuan's face also appeared in the bronze mirror, seemingly touching Fu Ming's cheek in the distorted perspective.
Xiao Huaiyuan said solemnly, "Teleportation beyond one hundred feet takes time. The searching officers will arrive soon, and we need to return to our rooms."
"Pretending to be lovers."
A note from the author:
----------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com