Shen Zhaozhao looked at Gu Xuanchen's desperate struggle with pity, as if he were an absolute idiot. Her tone was light and gloomy, with a hint of cat-and-mouse malice: "I am but a nobody, so my words have no weight."
"But... what if our Junior Uncle Yan, who is renowned throughout Lingzhou and feared by everyone and even ghosts, were to say this?"
Her smile instantly brightened, radiating the excited glow of someone who had successfully stirred up trouble: "As for why Junior Uncle knows your underpants, it's easy, just say he's seen them countless times when you two are being intimate~"
"Guess what? During the pre-auction event, I'll have someone send up a mysterious package and say, in a cryptic tone, that whoever wins the bid will get to open it in front of everyone and see its 'unparalleled beauty'..."
"Then, just as everyone was watching with bated breath and craning their necks to wait for the big prize to be won, our beloved Junior Uncle Yan suddenly descended from the sky, pointing at that thing with a sorrowful but absolutely certain expression, and announced to everyone who owned it."
"Let's spill some more bombshells about you two..."
Boom—!!!
Gu Xuanchen felt as if ten thousand bells were being struck simultaneously in his mind, shaking him to the core.
Suddenly everything went black, the world spun around him, and a metallic sweetness surged up his throat with a "plop," only to be swallowed back down. He swayed precariously, barely managing to stay upright thanks to his last bit of willpower.
"You...you...Junior Uncle!!!"
His eyes were bloodshot, filled with shame and indignation, the whites of his eyes were covered with terrifying blood vessels, and his voice trembled uncontrollably. With a last shred of desperate accusation, he stared at Yan Qiubai, "Where is your face?! Where is your dignity as a Nascent Soul cultivator?!"
Yan Qiubai froze, his eyes darting around, when he was yelled at.
He no longer just wants to die; he wants to drag Shen Zhaozhao and Gu Xuanchen down with him. He wants them all to perish, to be destroyed, quickly.
"face?"
Shen Zhaozhao scoffed disdainfully, then, in a clearer voice even louder than Gu Xuanchen's, she roared back righteously: "We've already come here to pull down your underwear, do you think we still care about saving face?!"
What face? It's all just a filter!
Everyone thinks the battles between big players are some high-level business warfare, with each person acting all high and mighty, making strategic moves and calculating flawlessly. But in reality, they're fighting to the death, so who cares about saving face?!
How much is face worth?!
Yan Qiubai: "..."
No.
Only you.
You're the only one who doesn't care about saving face!
Gu Xuanchen glared at the two lunatics in front of him, especially Yan Qiubai's "so what if I die?" attitude, which crushed his last bit of hope.
The interior was eerily silent. After a long while, so long that Gu Xuanchen felt the chilling emptiness almost eroding his reason, he finally heard his own dry, hoarse, and trembling voice: "What... exactly do you want?"
Shen Zhaozhao's smile instantly became incredibly bright: "Senior Brother Gu, don't be so nervous, it's nothing."
"Look, someone has to take a picture of this package, right?"
"As long as you, Senior Brother Gu, spend a fortune at the auction later and bid it up quickly, wouldn't this matter be settled quietly?"
Gu Xuanchen's taut jaw relaxed almost imperceptibly for a moment.
He almost immediately sneered inwardly.
Oh.
He must have thought it was some incredible strategy.
With the Tianyan Sect's prestige still intact and the Xuanqiong Crystal Vein's financial backing in hand, in the entire Liuyunchuan, as long as Gu Xuanchen has his eye on something, who dares, and who has the confidence, to truly tear off the mask and snatch it from him?
Those brutes from the Crimson Cloud Sect?
Fen Yan, that old bastard, might raise the price to annoy him, but the others in the Crimson Cloud Sect aren't fools. Who would really waste precious spirit stones on a "mysterious package" whose contents are unknown just because of some petty squabble between sects?
The official Yuntai Immortal Market auction will follow immediately afterward, where truly rare treasures and top-tier materials await bidding.
Moreover, to prevent malicious price gouging, the Yuntai Alliance had long ago set a rule that no one could bid on the auction items they provided, so Shen Zhaozhao's package would never end up in her hands.
That's all the disgusting little tricks she has.
Unfortunately, he doesn't have much of a brain.
Thinking of this, Gu Xuanchen suppressed the surging blood in his throat, and put on his usual cold mask with a hint of disdain, even letting out two extremely contemptuous snorts.
"Okay." He gritted his teeth and squeezed out the word.
As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Xuanchen felt the oppressive aura that had been binding him being withdrawn by Yan Qiubai. He staggered to his feet, filled with lingering shame and indignation, and a chilling emptiness, and rushed out of the elegant pavilion without looking back.
The door of the Accord slammed shut, shutting out the noise from outside.
Almost the instant the door slammed down, Yan Qiubai slid to the ground with a "plop," like a noodle with its bones completely removed. He then curled up into a ball, burying his face in his arms, exuding a sorrowful despair that made him feel utterly hopeless.
"It's over...it's all over..."
He let out an unintelligible sob: "I'll never be able to face anyone again... Waaah... If Qingyi knew... knew that I went and pulled down someone's underwear... she'd definitely... definitely think I'm a pervert..."
Shen Zhaozhao walked over, patted his shoulder, and sincerely comforted him, "Junior Uncle, it's no big deal. Besides, what are you afraid of?"
“If Gu Xuanchen dares to expose the fact that you pulled down his underwear, you should turn around and say that he was shameless and took the initiative to come to you and wanted to sell his genitals.”
"Our motto is: if I'm not doing well, nobody else will either."
"???"
Yan Qiubai suddenly raised his head, tears still glistening on his face: "No? Shen Zhaozhao and Lingzhou are no longer people you care about?!"
"And have you made arrangements with Fenyan of the Crimson Cloud Sect?"
"Although you and Pei Lang are close friends, Fen Yan is also an old fox. You should make sure he doesn't stand you up halfway through the discussion with him."
Shen Zhaozhao was a little stunned by his barrage of questions, blinking blankly: "Ask Fen Yan for help? Why ask him?"
Yan Qiubai was so taken aback by her matter-of-fact question that he almost choked on his breath: "...If you don't ask him to help raise the price, how can you guarantee that Gu Xuanchen will bleed a lot of money?!"
"Didn't you see the way he acted just now? He was absolutely certain no one would try to take it from him!"
Shen Zhaozhao's eyes instantly filled with sympathy as she looked at him, as if she were looking at an innocent child who had been too well protected and knew nothing of the dangers of the world: "Junior Uncle".
"Do you really think... elders from major sects like Fenyan are kind-hearted people?"
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