Don't leer at me with that lustful smile.

Qin Hao bowed to Gu Qingxue, "Master, whether it is true or not, you will naturally know if you go and ask for instructions. I wouldn't dare make a joke about a mighty Immortal King."

Just as Gu Qingxue, her face full of doubt, was about to go and ask the elders for instructions, a voice echoing like the Great Dao entered her mind:

"Let him in."

Hearing this voice, Gu Qingxue trembled all over. It was the voice of the Abbess.

Gu Qingxue looked Qin Hao up and down with a face full of curiosity. She had joined the Wangchen Nunnery for over two hundred years, and in all that time, no male had ever entered the nunnery. Even those who came close would be chased away. What was so special about this person that he could actually receive an invitation from the Abbess?

"Master?" Seeing Gu Qingxue frozen in place, Qin Hao could not help but softly remind her.

Qin Hao's voice pulled Gu Qingxue back to reality. She took a deep breath, "Fellow Daoist, please follow me."

Qin Hao followed behind Gu Qingxue, stepping over the threshold that no man had ever set foot across.

The unprecedented arrival of a man in the Wangchen Nunnery immediately attracted the attention of the nuns inside. Those who heard the news ran over to watch, wanting to see exactly what kind of man was so special.

"All of you, go back! Go chant your sutras or enter your meditation!" Gu Qingxue scolded. What kind of behavior was this from her junior sisters? It was just a man, was there a need for this?

As she spoke, Gu Qingxue could not help but glance at Qin Hao, and a blush crept up her cheeks.

Under Gu Qingxue's lead, the two walked through a corridor and then passed through a bamboo forest. On the other side of the bamboo forest was a bluestone path leading to an unknown destination.

Gu Qingxue stopped at the entrance of the path. She turned around and bowed to Qin Hao:

"Fellow Daoist, ahead is the place where the Abbess is in secluded cultivation. Without her permission, no one is allowed to enter, so I can only escort you up to here."

"Thank you for your trouble, Master." Qin Hao cupped his hands in return and then stepped onto the bluestone path.

Winding his way up the path, Qin Hao faintly heard the sound of flowing water.

Continuing forward, the bamboo forest gradually thinned out.

The view suddenly opened up to reveal a mountain col, surrounded by bamboo on all sides, with a pool of water in the middle.

The moonlight poured down unobstructed, falling onto the surface of the water and shattering into thousands of silver scales.

Qin Hao's footsteps paused. It wasn't because of the pool, but because there was someone in it—a woman who appeared to be bathing.

Qin Hao stood at the edge of the bamboo forest, about ten zhang away from the pool. For Qin Hao, who possessed Dual Pupils, this distance was enough for him to see many things clearly. For instance, the astonishing curves beneath the surface of the water.

The woman didn't seem to care that someone was approaching. She remained standing in the center of the pool with her back to Qin Hao. The moonlight fell on her shoulders, slid down her smooth curves, and finally disappeared beneath the water.

She had a great figure—not the slender and frail type, but full and mature. Just standing there casually, she exuded a naturally alluring and elegant charm.

"You're here?" Shen Suning spoke. Her voice was neither high nor low, neither cold nor warm, making it impossible to discern her emotions.

Qin Hao cupped his hands in greeting, "Qin Hao, arriving as requested by the Abbess."

The person in the pool did not reply. She simply scooped up a handful of water and poured it over her neck, letting it flow down.

After a long silence, Shen Suning spoke again, her tone carrying a hint of impatience:

"What are you still standing there for?"

"Come here!"

Qin Hao was completely stunned. Wait, getting straight to the point like this? This made him feel a bit unprepared!

Qin Hao chuckled awkwardly, "Abbess, I don't think this is very appropriate."

Hearing Qin Hao's tactful refusal, Shen Suning turned around. The moonlight fell on her, and Qin Hao finally saw her face clearly.

It wasn't the fresh elegance of a young girl, but a lazy, mature beauty that seemed to only emerge in the dead of night.

"I told you to come here! Have you forgotten what you came here to do?"

At these words, Qin Hao's expression became strange. What did he come here to do? Do you?

Since the other party had invited him so sincerely, it would be tactless for Qin Hao to refuse any further.

A woman who had lived alone for tens of thousands of years and hated men to the bone suddenly placed an order to rent a Dao Companion. What was she trying to do?

Qin Hao's expression was resolute, as if what lay beneath his feet was not a path, but an abyss leading to hell.

The water was cold. Qin Hao walked up to Shen Suning and stopped, leaving less than a foot of distance between them.

Casting his eyes down, Qin Hao could see the faintly discernible curves swaying amidst the ripples.

Qin Hao looked at Shen Suning. The woman before him gave him a completely different feeling from Qingyue and Xinyao. Qingyue and Xinyao were like unripe flower buds, but the Shen Suning in front of him was a flower in full bloom, a fully ripened fruit.

Qin Hao shuddered, sighing in his heart. It was a good thing he had been intensely trained by his wife Ruyan for a few months. Otherwise, with the seductive charm this woman possessed, he would have surrendered on the spot.

At the same time, Shen Suning was also sizing Qin Hao up. That gaze didn't look like she was looking at a person at all; rather, it was like a fierce beast evaluating its impending prey to see if it was qualified.

Feeling incredibly uncomfortable being stared at like this by Shen Suning, Qin Hao could only change the subject:

"Abbess, you said you wanted me to come help you cultivate. I wonder, how exactly am I supposed to help? I am merely a lowly Void Refinement Realm cultivator. In front of a mighty Immortal King like you, I'm afraid I won't be of much use."

Shen Suning didn't speak; she just quietly looked at Qin Hao.

The atmosphere suddenly became very weird. Qin Hao felt uncomfortable all over. He felt as if he was a piece of meat at the market being picked over. No, setting everything else aside, with a handsome face like mine, is there even a need to be picky?

Shen Suning stared at Qin Hao for a full half-cup of tea's time. Qin Hao really couldn't stand her staring anymore, so he forced out a smile at her.

"Slap!"

It would have been better if Qin Hao hadn't smiled. The moment he did, Shen Suning slapped him across the face.

Cupping his face, Qin Hao's pupils shrank abruptly. He looked at Shen Suning in disbelief, his voice a bit hoarse:

"Why did you hit me?"

Qin Hao tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart. As the saying goes, you don't slap a smiling face! But you, you specifically slap smiling faces?

Even though you are my client, and an Immortal King at that, this face of mine isn't something you can just hit, okay!

Qin Hao thought to himself that this woman had better give him a reasonable explanation. Otherwise, he would drop this mission, go straight to the Qin Family for reinforcements, and wipe out this Wangchen Nunnery.

Facing Qin Hao's questioning, Shen Suning replied as if it were a matter of course, "You were smiling lewdly at me, shouldn't you be hit?"

"What???"

Qin Hao was so speechless that he laughed out of anger. He had indeed smiled just now, but that was because Shen Suning had stared at him for a whole half-cup of tea's time, making him feel so uncomfortable that he tried to use a smile to ease the awkwardness!

That was a lewd smile? At most, it was a polite, slightly awkward, please-stop-staring-at-me kind of smile. How did it become a lewd smile in her mouth?