Mo Lixi approached step by step. Fu Yunmo immediately plastered on her signature smile, but the Sect Leader’s brow furrowed slightly. This is the second time, Fu Yunmo thought. Why does she dislike it when I smile?
“Can we… talk?”
Fu Yunmo nodded, and they returned to the quiet courtyard.
“Sect Leader Mo, thank you for today!”
Mo Lixi startled for a moment but quickly regained her composure. “That man’s attitude was atrocious. I couldn’t help but teach him a lesson.”
Mo Lixi wasn’t usually one to meddle, but seeing Fu Yunmo being bullied had spurred her to act. When Zhang the Pockmarked had been howling in pain, Zhuge Tian’er had almost cheered out loud; Mo Lixi had to silence her with a look.
“Thank you anyway. But as they say in the Jianghu, one is often at the mercy of circumstances. You can help me once, but you can’t help me every time.” Fu Yunmo smiled. Unless she left or became the manager herself, Zhang wouldn’t stop.
Mo Lixi looked at her with a flicker of pity. “I have spoken with you so many times, yet I do not know your name. May I know it?”
“Fu Yunmo.”
“Yunmo… it’s a lovely name,” Mo Lixi said with a gentle smile. “It sounds scholarly, like the scent of ink and clouds.”
Fu Yunmo gave a dry laugh. I’m just glad you didn’t say it smells like the night-soil buckets I have to carry… “My grandfather named me. He was a scholar… my parents were too.”
Fu Yunmo caught herself before she could say “Dad” in modern terms. She looked at Mo Lixi, who seemed curious.
“Then how did you end up as a waiter?” Mo Lixi’s eyes clearly showed she felt Fu Yunmo was out of place.
“The family fortune declined,” Fu Yunmo summarized. She was an actress, not a screenwriter; she couldn’t improvise a whole tragic backstory on the spot. She put on her best “I’m too sad to talk about it” face, and Mo Lixi, being perceptive, dropped the subject.
“Let’s not talk about that. Actually… I have a small request.” Fu Yunmo’s eyes twinkled as she flashed a smile she had practiced in front of mirrors for years—the one the media called the “Melting Smile.”
Mo Lixi froze. Under the moonlight, her eyes sparkled like a lake disturbed by a gentle ripple.
“Mm?”
“Could you… let me see your face?”
Fu Yunmo knew the novel described Mo Lixi as a peerless beauty, and she wanted to see the “Number One Beauty of the Righteous Path” for herself.
You rogue, Mo Lixi almost said, but she didn’t realize a doting smile was playing on her own lips. She reached up, untied the silken cord of her veil, and slowly lowered it.
Oh my god… Fu Yunmo nearly clutched her chest. Is it even legal to be this beautiful?
Beneath those watery eyes were a high-bridged nose and pale pink lips. Her skin was so fair it seemed untouched by the dust of the world. Under the moon, she looked like an immortal who had descended from the stars. It was enough to make anyone drunk without a drop of wine.
Before Fu Yunmo could recover, Mo Lixi tied the veil back. That brat Nan Kunlun is going to be one lucky man!
“Are you… alright?” Mo Lixi asked.
“Fine, fine! It’s just… you’re so beautiful I think my soul left my body for a second.”
Fu Yunmo spoke without a filter—they were both women, after all. But Mo Lixi’s cheeks flushed a soft red, hidden by the dim moonlight.
“Sect Leader, why did you call me out tonight?”
“I wanted to ask… would you like to join the Tianyuan Sect?”
Fu Yunmo blinked. What? Me? Join one of the Three Great Sects? I don’t know a lick of martial arts! “But I have no skills…”
“That does not matter. I simply feel… you do not belong here.”
Oh, so she pities me, Fu Yunmo realized. “Sect Leader Mo, could I have some time to think about it?”
“Of course.”
Fu Yunmo thanked her. In this strange world, such a grand offer was something to be cherished.
“It is late. Rest well,” Mo Lixi said before gliding away.
Fu Yunmo sat in the courtyard, torn. Should I stick with the male lead or the female lead? Which ‘thigh’ is safer to cling to?
The Arrival of the Demoness
Fu Yunmo went back to the front hall to fill her bamboo flask with wine. She took a satisfying gulp when a sudden sound made her stiffen.
A woman in purple, wearing a white jade mask, stood at the entrance. She held a sword in her hand.
Fu Yunmo froze. The purple dress… the mask… the sword… it’s the person from the tea stall! The one from the Demon Cult!
“Waiter.”
The voice was cold—colder than the moonlight.
“C-Coming!” Fu Yunmo hurried over, bowing low. When she looked up, she met a pair of deep brown eyes flecked with silver. They were sharp as a blade, terrifying yet hauntingly beautiful. The woman smelled of cold gardenias.
The woman seemed surprised—perhaps by Fu Yunmo’s gender or her golden hair—but her expression remained a mask of indifference. A total ice queen, Fu Yunmo noted.
“Are there rooms?”
“I’ll check!” Fu Yunmo dashed to the counter, her hands shaking as she flipped the ledger. “Yes! We have two Earth-rank rooms left. May I have your name for the register?”
The woman glanced at her. “Surname: Ye.”
“Alright, Miss Ye. This way, please.”
Fu Yunmo led her upstairs, praying for the encounter to end. But as they reached the room, the woman spoke again. “Bring me a basin of water.”
“Will you be bathing, Guest?” Fu Yunmo asked with a practiced smile.
“To wash my sword. It is stained with blood.”
The five words made Fu Yunmo’s skin crawl. Wash her sword? She nodded frantically and hurried away to get the water. Manager Li! Where are you?!
Wait… she said her surname was Ye?
Fu Yunmo’s heart hammered. In the Night Moon Divine Cult, only one person carried that surname: Ye Xihan, the Cult Leader, one of the Five Great Experts and the Four Great Villains.
No way… I hit the jackpot. In the novel, the “Demoness” wasn’t supposed to appear properly until the Assembly. Why was she here now?
Fu Yunmo returned with the basin. The woman had changed her clothes and stood with her back turned. Her white jade mask sat on the table. Fu Yunmo’s curiosity peaked. She’s the ‘Greatest Beauty of the Demon Cult’…
“Set it down. Leave.”
“Sleep well, Guest.” Fu Yunmo prepared to bolt.
“Wait.”
Fu Yunmo froze. A bead of cold sweat rolled down her cheek.
“Give me some gold-sore ointment.”
She’s injured? Fu Yunmo glanced back and saw the woman’s profile—a face that looked as if it had been carved by the gods themselves.
“Stare any longer… and I will gouge your eyes out,” the woman warned coldly.
Fu Yunmo jumped and scrambled out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Inside, a faint, ghost of a smile touched Ye Xihan’s lips. A female waiter… with golden hair. Interesting.