Six Eyes

Xu Mu looked at Li Hongdou, a hint of surprise on his face. He had originally assumed that the Environmental Sanitation Department might send someone over.

At the very least, whoever they sent would be an Advanced Cleaner.

He had not expected Li Hongdou to ask about it herself.

“Senior Hongdou, to be honest, that location is under the protection of the Black Moon Clan. Do you remember what I told Senior Wei Jingzhi last time? The Immortal Thousand-Skin Woman was in one of the places controlled by the Black Moon Clan.”

Xu Mu paused, then turned her down as tactfully as possible. “If nothing unexpected happens, the expert guarding that place is most likely at the ninth tier.”

Hu Qingyun nodded inwardly when he heard this. “That’s true. Since the location is in the hands of one of the four great races, and it involves the Battlefield of the Gods, there will definitely be a top-tier expert guarding it.”

“I understand. Put simply, you think I’m not strong enough.”

Li Hongdou nodded to herself. She could naturally hear the meaning behind Xu Mu’s words.

Xu Mu did not say anything more. That was exactly what he meant.

Even Xu Mu himself might die on this mission, so how could he bring along a second-tier burden?

Li Hongdou’s talent was indeed impressive, and she was capable of fighting above her level.

But she could only surpass her opponents by a limited amount. When she had previously fought Susanoo, who was at the fourth tier, she had struggled considerably. In the end, she had only managed to win because Xu Mu provided her with a Heavenly-tier cultivation technique.

If she possessed a Heavenly-tier technique and had thoroughly mastered it, her combat power might rise by several levels.

The problem was that she didn’t have one.

She and Xu Mu were merely ordinary friends. Whenever Xu Mu obtained a Heavenly-tier cultivation technique, he would naturally prioritize his own people rather than helping her improve.

Chen Xuan, however, was different. He was the protagonist. No matter how weak he was, he had the protection of destiny.

“You mean that if I had the ability to protect myself, you would take me there?”

Li Hongdou suddenly looked at Xu Mu.

“Of course. What kind of relationship do Senior Hongdou and I have? I’m sure you know that I’m not stingy. It’s definitely not because I’m afraid you’ll get the treasure that I don’t want to bring you along.”

“I know that, of course.”

Xu Mu had given away such precious heavenly treasures without hesitation before. He truly wasn’t the stingy type.

“Don’t worry. I have a way to protect myself. I absolutely won’t make you come to my aid.”

Li Hongdou smiled, then looked at Hu Qingyun. “Senior Hu can vouch for me. Even if I were to face a ninth-tier expert, I’d most likely still have a chance to escape.”

“You’re not planning to…”

“That’s right.”

Li Hongdou interrupted Hu Qingyun. “This is an opportunity for me.”

“Very well, then. Be careful.”

Hu Qingyun was slightly stunned, then smiled. “You’ve always been rather easygoing. What happened? Did Xu Mu get you fired up?”

“No.”

Li Hongdou secretly glanced at Xu Mu.

“Looks like Senior has a story of her own.”

Xu Mu gazed at Li Hongdou.

“Since things have come this far, there’s no need for me to hide it anymore. I’m sure you noticed long ago that there’s a formation around my body. The real me is much younger than I appear.”

Li Hongdou explained softly.

“I don’t understand. Aren’t normal women very concerned about their appearance? Why would Senior deliberately make herself look old? Could it be…”

Chen Xuan spoke up curiously. “Please allow me to be tactless for a moment. Could it be that Senior is ugly?”

“You really are being tactless. Just look at Senior’s bone structure. Even if she wasn’t a peerless beauty when she was young, she must have been quite attractive.”

Xu Mu had no idea what Li Hongdou truly looked like, but since she had been able to become Hat Bro’s harem member, her appearance had to be far beyond that of ordinary people.

“Actually… you could say I’m ugly. But aside from my appearance, there are other reasons as well.”

Li Hongdou sat on a rock nearby and gazed at the sun slowly rising over the horizon. “Come to think of it, even Ruoshi has never seen my true appearance, has she?”

“No. I’ve only heard Master say that Senior Hongdou was a great beauty.”

Lin Ruoshi spoke softly from nearby.

“Hahaha! Then today, I’ll let you juniors see what I really look like. I hope you won’t be frightened.”

Li Hongdou raised a hand to her face. The formations covering it began to peel away bit by bit.

Dark-red flames seemed to ignite across her body, burning away the formations on its surface.

Her originally dry, sallow skin gradually became fair and supple.

Her hands in particular were delicate and beautiful, with slender jade-like fingers and clearly defined joints.

Xu Mu remembered it very clearly. It was after seeing her hands that he had determined she was disguising her appearance.

As the formations vanished completely, her body gradually filled out and expanded.

Her slightly stooped figure became straight and graceful. The maroon coat reserved for elderly women was pushed outward in front by something enormous.

Her gray-white hair transformed into a cascade of black hair, and her face became small and oval-shaped.

At that moment, Li Hongdou had completely transformed into a standard beauty—until she opened her eyes.

Xu Mu, Chen Xuan, and Lin Ruoshi were all utterly stunned by the sight before them.

Li Hongdou’s eyes were dark red. That alone would not have been strange; if anything, they added even more allure to her beauty.

But she had six eyes.

Apart from her normal pair, four more eyes were arranged in the shape of a four-leaf clover at the center of her brow.

Those four eyes were about the same size as her ordinary eyes, and their irises were also dark red.

Hu Qingyun, standing nearby, shook his head slightly. Clearly, he had seen this before.

The other three young people, however, had not.

“Whoa! She looks incredibly imposing.”

Xu Mu swallowed. Her appearance made him feel distinctly uncomfortable. “What race are you?”

“Suanyu.”

Li Hongdou answered calmly.

“So you’re a Suanyu. I remember the Classic of Mountains and Seas mentioning a creature with six eyes and four wings.”

Chen Xuan furrowed his brow slightly.

“That’s right. You know quite a lot.”

Li Hongdou nodded lightly.

“Senior, did you hide your appearance all this time because of how you look?”

Xu Mu asked curiously.

“Not entirely. If it were only because of my appearance, I could have simply disguised myself as a young woman. Just as you said, women care greatly about their looks.”

Li Hongdou explained, “All of this is because of my parents—my family.”

Now that things had reached this point, she no longer concealed much and gave them a general account of her origins.

She had been picked up by a family surnamed Li in the Central Plains. At the time, she had still been an infant.

She had no idea why she had been there. In any case, they had taken her in.

Her adoptive parents were merely ordinary farmers, and they already had a ten-year-old son.

At the time, they assumed that Li Hongdou had been abandoned by her biological parents because she was deformed and had several extra eyes.

So, out of kindness, they brought her home and raised her.

But people in the village were extremely superstitious in those days. When they learned that the couple had brought home a monster, they demanded that they throw Li Hongdou away.

In that era, who would have thought of calling the police or taking her to a hospital?

Her adoptive parents refused to abandon her, and in the end, they were driven out of the village.

…