Chapter 131: Beautiful Looks

Chapter 131: Beauty

"Don't worry, it's just speculation."

Zhang Yuanqing spoke to steady the troops, believing Guan Ya's reasoning was off. The Demon Lord had said they needed to resist the temptations of beauty and the urge to kill; the latter had already been tested successfully.

What the Demon Lord said was not false.

Following normal logic, facing a widow, wouldn't the one who needed to resist beauty be the man?

How could it rely on a female Walker to trigger the widow trial?

So Zhang Yuanqing wasn't panicked; Guan Ya's guess was likely wrong.

"Still, this is indeed a good way to verify the trigger condition." Zhang Yuanqing looked at Earth Monster Eat Lotus and said, "Go find the Queen."

This was a chance to test the trigger condition. If Eat Lotus disappeared and the Queen returned, it meant his judgment was correct. Conversely, Guan Ya's guess would be right.

The slightly chubby young man nodded, highly obedient to the team leader's orders, and immediately walked out of the alley.

Three minutes later, neither Eat Lotus nor the Queen had returned.

"Bad." Fire Virtue Army said solemnly: "They're in trouble."

If someone is specifically searching, with a clear goal, they go quickly and return quickly; three minutes is enough.

If they haven't come back by now, either Eat Lotus didn't find the person, or both encountered an accident together.

Li Liyuan Shang Cao frowned: "One is a level 3 Water Ghost, the other a level 2 Earth Monster. Even if they encountered danger, they'd have enough ability to resist; they shouldn't be so quiet."

Everyone looked at Zhang Yuanqing, seeking the leader's opinion.

"This Yin-Yang Town is eerie in every way; they might not have had a chance to resist, just like we turned into cats before we could react." Zhang Yuanqing said: "Waiting around won't help. Let's go out together and look for them."

They rushed out of the alley, sprinting in the direction the Queen and Eat Lotus had gone. In about ten breaths, they reached the river.

The river wound, streets paved with green bricks, empty and silent.

Eat Lotus and the Queen were gone.

Two perfectly fine people had vanished into thin air?

"Damn, we need to find them as soon as possible; every second could be a matter of life and death." Li Chunfeng's face turned ugly.

It reminded him of the instant death by the big cat.

If the Queen and Eat Lotus had encountered a crisis of the same level, they might already have met their end.

Fire Virtue Army looked restless, wandering around like a headless fly, shouting for the Queen and Eat Lotus.

Li Liyuan Shang Cao frowned deeply, glancing around, searching the surroundings.

Guan Ya also frowned, feeling the difficulty.

She had experienced far more instances than Zhang Yuanqing, but none of high difficulty; this was her first A-level, and she lacked his experience in high-level instances.

"Don't panic. The more bizarre it is, the lower the danger; otherwise, the instance difficulty would be unbalanced." Zhang Yuanqing, seasoned by S-level instances, was the calmest, speaking rapidly: "At least we've confirmed one thing: we have to separate to trigger the Widow Xu plot. And I think separation doesn't mean acting alone, but separating by gender.

"Now, we need to get into the plot, otherwise the Queen and Eat Lotus are truly in danger."

His reasoning was clear, quickly stabilizing morale.

Fire Virtue Army's agitation eased slightly.

Guan Ya said: "I'll stay here. You go back until we can't see each other."

Zhang Yuanqing gave her a deep look: "Be careful! Stay put. If I find I still can't trigger the plot, I'll come back for you immediately."

As he spoke, he silently exhaled a wisp of yin energy, leaving Little Joker here.

That way, he could see through Little Joker's vision if needed, like a surveillance camera.

For the Queen and Eat Lotus to disappear without reason—the only professions capable of that, as far as Zhang Yuanqing knew, were Night Wanderer's charm and Illusionist's illusion.

Either way, as a Spirit Servant, Little Joker could play some role.

At the very least, it could serve as a "ward." Now that Little Joker had been upgraded, it had some basic ability to resist and escape; Zhang Yuanqing had some confidence in his Spirit Servant.

Guan Ya smiled: "I know. Don't worry."

Immediately, Zhang Yuanqing led the three teammates sprinting back the way they came.

Soon, the four returned to the original alley entrance. Zhang Yuanqing didn't stop, only slowed his pace, glancing at the houses on both sides of the street, and called out again:

"Xiu'er, Xiu'er, where are you..."

Suddenly, a second-floor window of a house facing the street opened, and a voice, soft and alluring to the bone, replied:

"Gentlemen, are you looking for me?"

The sound drifted into the ears of the four men, tingling and numbing, like a lover whispering by the ear, making half their bones go weak.

"Yes, yes."

Zhang Yuanqing looked at the window and said involuntarily.

"Yes, yes."

The other three echoed.

The voice hummed softly: "I'm right upstairs, gentlemen. Please come up and have a chat."

Zhang Yuanqing, Fire Virtue Army, and Li Chunfeng instinctively moved their feet toward the house.

The open window was deep and dark, exuding an inexplicable gloom.

The melancholy, silent Wood Monster youth suddenly shivered, recalling a detail: when the window had opened, they had noticed it immediately, but at that time, they hadn't seen anyone by the window.

It was as if the window had opened by itself, or something invisible had opened it.

The few remaining lascivious thoughts in Li Liyuan Shang Cao's mind quickly faded, and he hastily grabbed his companions' arms.

Zhang Yuanqing snapped awake and scolded Li Chunfeng and Fire Virtue Army in a low voice: "Haven't you two ever seen a woman? Were you bewitched?"

Fire Virtue Army and Li Chunfeng looked ashamed.

Li Liyuan Shang Cao glanced at the self-righteous team leader and curled his lips.

Zhang Yuanqing coughed and said loudly: "Lady Xiu'er, would you care to show your face so we may behold your beauty?"

Hearing their leader's shameless request, the three felt a sense of relief, as if someone else was handling the embarrassment.

The sun was blazing, but the darkness within the window seemed to swallow the light. The alluring voice came again:

"You gentlemen are so naughty, don't tease me. Come up, don't keep me waiting~"

Her voice was seductive to the bone, stirring the hearts of the men below.

Zhang Yuanqing's face turned serious. He lowered his voice: "Looks like she won't come down. We have to go inside, or the plot won't progress."

The three teammates nodded. Fire Virtue Army hesitated: "I have a bad feeling. This trial might be very difficult, even risky to capsize in the gutter."

"Why?" Li Chunfeng frowned.

Marshal Fire: “Because I am lustful.”

What a coincidence, same here… Zhang Yuanqing muttered to himself.

Marshal Fire lowered his voice: “Guan Ya and the Queen are gorgeous enough, with perfect figures, right? But at most I appreciate their beauty. Yet just now, listening to Widow Xu’s voice, all I could think about was sleeping with her.”

What a coincidence, same here… Zhang Yuanqing thought.

Li Chunfeng’s expression darkened; his feelings were exactly the same as Marshal Fire’s.

Marshal Fire and Yuanshi seemed unreliable; the one least tempted by beauty was Lili Yuan Shangcao, but his combat power was far inferior to theirs. I need to find a way to make Yuanshi and Marshal Fire immune to beauty’s allure… Li Chunfeng’s eyes flickered, and he gave a low cough to attract his companions’ attention.

“Actually, rejecting beauty is simple. The reason men lust is that physiological reactions dominate the brain. It’s like when you’re hungry, you must eat; when the bacteria in your gut crave sweets, you crave sweets. So from a certain perspective, human thoughts are controlled by the body, which is why many men can’t control their lust.” Li Chunfeng spoke eloquently:

“We cannot control physiological reactions, because you can’t stop the body from secreting hormones, but we can influence the brain through alternative methods and curb hormone secretion.”

You know so much… Zhang Yuanqing and Marshal Fire listened, stunned.

Marshal Fire quickly asked: “So how do we curb hormone secretion?”

Li Chunfeng said: “Very simple. Just keep telling yourself in your mind that no matter how beautiful a woman is, she still excretes, she will stink if she doesn’t shower, she might pick her toes, maybe even have smelly feet. It’s best to visualize the corresponding images… Additionally, you can appropriately imagine some even more unacceptable scenes, like a giant corpse view…”

“Stop, don’t say any more. I’m already completely detached.” Zhang Yuanqing shuddered after imagining it.

“Alright, let’s go in. Temptation is nothing more than this.” Marshal Fire strode toward the house.

…

By the river, Guan Ya waited silently, her senses alert for any danger.

Suddenly, a joyful cry came from behind:

“Guan Ya?”

The mixed-race beauty tensed, swiftly turning around while assuming a defensive posture.

From the alley behind, a young woman in a single-layer shirt and capri pants, with smoky eye makeup, rushed out. She was bright and striking—it was the Queen.

Her emotions carried joy, fear, and helplessness, but no hostility… Her running was unsteady, with no signs of gathering strength; her approach wasn’t for a surprise attack… Her aura contained strong “water-element” spiritual power—it was indeed a water ghost, not an illusion, not a disguise…

Guan Ya’s beautiful eyes flickered with a faint white light—the scout’s keen eyes, observing the Queen calmly.

Although she confirmed it was the Queen, Guan Ya felt no joy or relief, because in her sight, the Queen’s round face had become gaunt, her gaze murky and weary, her complexion dull, and her demeanor listless.

In just ten minutes, she had become so haggard, as if something had drained her of vitality.

“Guan Ya, what are you doing here? Where are the others?”

The Queen’s face lit up with surprise, looking around for the others.

“They went elsewhere to find you.” Guan Ya stared at the haggard colleague, asking, “How did you suddenly disappear? What happened?”

Hearing this, the Queen’s face darkened, and she whispered:

“After I fetched the water, I planned to return, but I found myself lost, unable to find you no matter what. I tried calling out, but you didn’t respond. Then, then…”

The Queen glanced warily behind her, her expression terrified.

“I heard the laughter of a child behind me. No matter where I ran, the laughter followed me. But when I turned around, the laughter stopped. When I ran again, it started again. I couldn’t find it anywhere…”

A child’s laughter?! Guan Ya’s eyes glowed with a dense white light, covering her pupils.

Then she saw more: on the Queen’s back, a small, greenish-black hand reached out and rested on her shoulder.

The next moment, a baby with greenish-black skin poked out its head—ugly, wrinkled face, eyes wide open, but not the innocent black buttons of a child, but eerie white pupils.

Guan Ya’s heart sank: “It’s right on your back.”

…

Zhang Yuanqing and the others arrived at the front door of the street-facing building. The door was a double-leaf wooden antique, the door knockers rusted.

Marshal Fire was the first to push open the wooden door. With a creak, the dust-laden door opened.

The room inside was dim, with the musty, damp smell unique to old houses.

Beyond the door was probably a front hall, simply furnished with some tables, chairs, and wooden cabinets—sparse and plain.

Passing through the front hall, there was a small courtyard at the center. In the middle of the courtyard was a small platform bathed in sunlight from the open roof, with some bamboo racks for drying clothes.

Around the platform were the inner hall, rooms, and a narrow staircase leading to the second floor.

The four exchanged glances. Zhang Yuanqing looked at the dim wooden staircase and said, “Stay close to me.”

He stepped onto the staircase leading to the second floor.

The stairway was narrow and dark, the wooden steps aged. With every step, a creaking sound was heard.

Finally, they made it through the not-too-long staircase and reached the second floor.

The second floor was a boudoir, furnished with various women’s items. Facing the staircase was a large, carved wooden bed with red gauze curtains hanging down, the bed covered with new quilts embroidered with gardenia flowers.

A brass incense burner stood on a wooden stand by the window, emitting a faint, lingering fragrance.

Beside the window was a dressing table, before which sat a naked woman, draped only in a gauze as thin as cicada wings. The lines of her back were graceful, half her buttocks, full like the moon, appeared rounder under the pressure of the wooden stool.

In the brightly polished bronze mirror was reflected a captivatingly delicate, charmingly coquettish face.

Her figure, her face—flawless—but most captivating was her aura, indescribable, making one gaze in fascination, leaving only two words in the mind: temptress.

The eyes of the four men clung to the woman’s graceful form like iron filings, unable to look away.

Marshal Fire, Lili Yuan Shangcao, and Li Chunfeng looked mesmerized. Their earlier vigilance and caution had unconsciously vanished.

“Thump, thump, thump…”

Zhang Yuanqing heard his own intense heartbeat. A surge of lust rose in his lower abdomen, rushing toward a certain place, bringing swelling and fullness.…