009: Making a Man Devoted to You in Three Days
Truly, Qi Guyuan.
Nan Yao had long been familiar with this man’s legendary exploits from the cultivation forums.
Qi Guyuan was the Empress’s only biological son. Though he held the title of Crown Prince, he was the youngest among his siblings. Above him were several elder brothers and uncles eyeing his throne covetously, while below him were rebellious traitors dissatisfied with the court, eager to make an example of him.
Ever since he ascended to the position of Crown Prince, it was inevitable that he would attract covert resentment, and hiring assassins to eliminate him became a common occurrence.
The top female assassin in the martial world went to great lengths to infiltrate the House of Azure, a place Qi Guyuan frequented, and became its star courtesan. She planned to strike him down with a single fatal blow when he spent a fortune to spend the night with her.
Qi Guyuan did indeed spend a fortune.
But he didn’t sleep with this peerless female assassin. Instead, he made her stand on stage all night, reciting from the autobiography titled Our Excellent Crown Prince.
At the highlights of the story, the entire audience was required to stand and applaud. However, since there were too many such moments, the assassin had to repeatedly stand up and sit down. In her distraction, the dagger hidden at her waist clattered to the floor.
Thus, the martial world’s top assassin, who killed without a trace, was captured.
Qi Guyuan later added this episode to Our Excellent Crown Prince, dubbing it—“The Handsome Crown Prince Outwits the Female Assassin in the House of Azure.”
So, for someone like him, proposing such an idea was entirely understandable.
But Nan Yao felt it was improper.
Three people sharing one room.
In modern times, such an arrangement would land them in a detention center for questioning. Although the cultivation world didn’t regulate such matters, it was still highly improper.
So, she proposed a more dignified solution: “How about this—we take turns. We switch every two hours. What do you think?”
Qi Guyuan thought this method, while disruptive to sleep, was fair: “I think it works. In that case, let’s decide which hours belong to you and which belong to me.”
Then, the two of them huddled together, pulled out a sheet of paper, and began meticulously dividing the time slots for sleeping with Xie Diao. They even got into a heated argument over who would get the extra half-hour.
Xie Diao didn’t even lift his eyes. He picked out a piece of chicken from the pile of chili peppers, finished his meal leisurely, stood up, and pulled open the window—
Hanging outside the window was the general who had earlier held Nan Yao hostage.
Ever since Nan Yao had strung him up under the eaves, the man had been cursing incessantly. Even through the closed window, his muffled swears could be faintly heard. Now, with the window open, his shouts grew louder: “Beast! Vicious woman! If you have the guts, kill me! Otherwise, I swear I’ll make you…”
Before he could finish, Xie Diao clamped his jaw shut, forcing his mouth open. The man whimpered, unable to utter another syllable.
Without so much as a frown, Xie Diao raised his fingers slightly and cleanly severed the man’s tongue.
Blood sprayed out, splattering across the window.
Xie Diao clicked his tongue in annoyance, released his grip, and returned to his seat.
“…”
The group fell into a terrified silence. Qi Guyuan stared at Xie Diao for a long moment, then glanced at the general hanging outside the window, who choked on his blood, struggled briefly, and went still. He sat back down silently and said, “I think I can sleep on my own now.”
“Really?”
Nan Yao, who was still earnestly taking notes and arranging her schedule, hadn’t noticed what Xie Diao had just done at all. Suddenly receiving an unexpected delight, she couldn’t help but cheer, then turned to Xie Diao and politely asked for his opinion, “May I share a room with you?”
“Sure.” Xie Diao’s expression showed no fluctuation. He took a sip of tea, leisurely raised an index finger, then tilted his head to look at Nan Yao. “Understand what this means?”
Nan Yao: “I get it. I can stay in your room all night tonight, right?”
“Pretty much.” Xie Diao’s tone was as casual as chatting about daily life. “This gesture means you’ve only paid for ten days of following me.”
Nan Yao: Alert.
“So after ten days, I’ll kill you.” He lifted his index finger, pointing directly at her forehead. “Don’t worry, I run a small business and keep my promises.”
Danger.
The lawless Nan Yao, with remarkable backbone, moved her chair further away from Xie Diao, then turned to the inn attendant and said, “Actually, I think I can sleep in a separate room now.”
Third watch of the night.
Nan Yao still hadn’t emerged from the shadow of having only ten days left to live.
Huddled on the bed clutching a steaming teacup, she stared blankly at the ceiling in a daze, considering whether she should draft a will in advance to disclose where she had hidden the thirty thousand taels of gold she had swindled from the nine-headed snake.
But she thought it wouldn’t work—if Xie Diao found the will after she was killed, he might very well confiscate it by force.
After pondering for a full hour, she decided she must make one last struggle for her own future, and even for the future of the entire world.
Thus, Nan Yao resolved—
To please Xie Diao!
First, make him lower his guard against her, then catch him off guard, set a complete trap, and assassinate him.
But Nan Yao truly had no idea how to please a man.
After much thought, she suddenly remembered she still possessed one treasure.
So, she once again took out from her spiritual pouch that so-called world-shaking treasure—”The Premium Man Conquest Manual.”
She scanned the table of contents and quickly found what she needed: [How to Make a Man Devoted to You in Three Days]
This was it!
Nan Yao folded a corner of that page and read through it very seriously.
“First, make the man interested in you. Show your vulnerable side in front of him to evoke his pity.”
“Second, make the man accustomed to your presence. Start with small things. For example, give him small gifts, offer special care in certain matters, so that he’ll think of you whenever he sees those things.”
“The ultimate move: Make him jealous!”
Nan Yao had an epiphany.
She learned it all.
Show vulnerability; give him gifts; make him jealous.
She only had ten days—no time to waste.
So Nan Yao immediately jumped off the bed, threw on an outer garment, and ran to Xie Diao’s room next door.
Xie Diao’s room had no lights on.
He leaned against the bedside, his head resting lazily against the wall. He jiggled a few copper coins in his hand, rubbed his thumb and index finger together, then flicked his wrist to toss them. With a click, the coins embedded into the wall.
A bird had landed by the window, chirping incessantly.
Perhaps finding the noise irritating, Xie Diao slightly furrowed his brows. A coin mid-flight veered off course, pierced through the window paper, and cleanly severed the bird’s throat.
Silence restored.
Xie Diao pushed himself up, stretched his right shoulder, casually picked up the saber leaning against the bedside, and walked to the window.
There were still people hanging on both sides of the window.
Nan Yao’s handiwork.
Thanks to her, not a single eave along the entire street had been spared.
Seeing Xie Diao approach, the two widened their eyes and struggled desperately. The rope restraining them swayed from the violent movements. Like clappers striking a bell, they swung back and forth, colliding heavily before bouncing apart.
Xie Diao found it amusing. He leisurely polished his blade before them, frightening the pair into crashing into each other even more frantically. Just as they grew exhausted and prepared to give up struggling, he’d slightly raise his scabbard, startling them like birds frightened by the mere twang of a bow—sending them slamming into one another again.
Watching their wretched state lifted Xie Diao’s mood considerably. Only when they began pleading for mercy did he lose interest and stop.
He considered simply killing them, but didn’t want to endure the sound of blood dripping all the way down to the ground. Too noisy. Too irritating.
So he lay back on the bed, resting his head on his arms.
The room’s window was small. Peering through it at the night sky revealed only darkness—just like when he was still an Evil Seed, trapped in the crevices of the underworld where no scenery was visible, only endless black.
Boring.
Xie Diao closed his eyes, an inexplicable irritation rising within him. He slammed his arm over his eyes, brows furrowing impatiently.
Right then, a knock came at the door.
Nan Yao stood at the doorway, her voice clear and bright. “Hello, Brother Xie Diao. I’ve been thinking, and there’s something I must inform you about.”
Annoying.
But for some reason, the anger that should have flared up circled in his chest a few times before dissipating.
He pulled the door open and looked at Nan Yao. She looked back at him. The two stared at each other in silence until Xie Diao finally spoke: “Well?”
“Not sure if you’ve noticed,” Nan Yao said, “but I’m not very tall.”
Silence.
The night wind was chilly, sending a cold shiver down one’s spine.
For a long moment, they stood on either side of the doorway, staring at each other without a word.
Xie Diao: ?
Nan Yao explained: “What I mean is, this is my weakness.”
Xie Diao: “And?”
Nan Yao: “Logically speaking, you should feel a bit of pity for me now, right?”
“Get away from my door,” Xie Diao said. “You now have only five days to live.”
With that, he shut the door without mercy.
But clearly, Nan Yao was a person of remarkable determination in certain aspects. Since showing weakness didn’t work, it was time to actively move on to the next plan—
Giving gifts.
And so, in the following days:
Nan Yao brought a box of pastries, but since Xie Diao took too long to answer the door, she ended up eating half of them herself.
Nan Yao brought a hand-embroidered pouch, though it was clearly rushed—the characters for “Xie Diao” were stitched as “Xie Drop.”
Nan Yao brought a quilt, claiming she’d used it since childhood and that seeing it was like seeing her. Xie Diao promptly chased her out.
Nan Yao brought Xiao Huang, introducing him as her most precious spirit pet. But before she could gift him, a fiercely struggling Xiao Huang managed to escape.
Finally, after Nan Yao’s relentless efforts, Xie Diao leaned against the door and reminded her: “Think carefully. You now have only three days to live.”
“Wah…”
Nan Yao sobbed.
It seemed only the ultimate move remained: making him jealous!
But this was a tricky problem.
To make a man jealous, you need another man.
Currently, there were only two men in the inn: Qi Guyuan and the waiter.
Just as Nan Yao was hesitating over which lucky candidate to choose, she heard Xie Diao in front of her speak leisurely: “By the way, when you brought that quilt over earlier, you left something here.”
“What thing?”
“The Handbook for Winning Over High-Quality Men.”
As soon as the words fell, Nan Yao felt as if struck by lightning.
She slowly raised her head and cautiously glanced at Xie Diao.
Xie Diao was holding the book in his hand. With a flick of his index finger, he effortlessly flipped to the page where Nan Yao had deliberately folded a corner, then read out nonchalantly: “How to Make a Man Devoted to You Within Three Days.”
Then, he nodded and commented: “Brilliant.”
Nan Yao decided to struggle a bit, forcing herself to explain despite her embarrassment: “It’s like this, don’t misunderstand. I figure that soon after entering Demon-Guarding Mountain, I’ll be meeting my potential marriage partners, so I’m just brushing up on communication skills in advance.”
“Potential marriage partners?” Xie Diao repeated the term.
Nan Yao nodded repeatedly, frantically flipping through the book before randomly pointing to a name and showing it to Xie Diao: “Look, look, it says right here—Duan Cuo, an outstanding young man frequently seen in the Demon-Guarding Mountain area.”
The book described him as:
“Duan Cuo: Kind and refined, cultured and courteous, peerless in medical skills. Often enters Demon-Guarding Mountain to gather herbs. The homemaker type.”
At this, Nan Yao didn’t forget to give Xie Diao double assurance: “Don’t worry, your name has already been excluded from this book by my mother. I won’t have any improper thoughts about you, because I’m a good child who listens to my elders.”
Author’s Note:
Xie Diao: Go let your potential marriage partner be the male lead then.
Nan Yao: That could work, but I still need a tool to make my potential partner jealous.
Xie Diao: ?