Chapter 409: Three People Walking, Each Must Have Ghostly Schemes

Perhaps it was because his luck with the ladies had finally run dry, but along this stretch of the journey, he encountered no wealthy young mistresses set upon by highwaymen, no valiant heroines robbed while escorting cargo, and certainly no martial arts tournaments to win a bride.

A tournament for a bride was always the greatest nuisance; one could only steer clear upon encountering it, for if Lu Yang were to participate, the Invincible Pill would never allow him to lose, yet a victory would leave him with a total stranger for a wife out of nowhere.

No matter how he calculated it, the venture simply did not pay.

"Oh, has it cleared up?"

As Lu Yang was about to return to the carriage, he noticed the skies above the mountainous region were vast and clear, the rain having finally ceased.

"Old Meng must have given up all hope of reaching the city."

Not far off, Lu Yang spotted four silhouettes standing directly along his mandatory path back.

Stepping closer, he discerned that these four figures were not four people at all, but rather three cultivators and a single living corpse.

The sounds of an argument drifted toward Lu Yang's ears, carried by the wind.

"I already told you, the three of us tried to pass through here several times, only to be blocked by all sorts of mishaps. This is a warning! There is a great terror ahead, we cannot approach!" an elegant-looking cultivator said agitatedly, trying to stop his companions from proceeding.

"Brother Ye, this is nothing more than a minor coincidence. The world is vast; such coincidences are bound to happen. Besides, I have never even heard of a warning manifested in this manner," another man with bronzed skin and short hair said in a carefree manner, turning to ask their third companion. URL.

"Brother Zhao, you have traveled far and wide and seen much of the world. Have you ever encountered such a situation?"

The man addressed as Brother Zhao possessed a well-proportioned build, though his complexion was paler than average, bearing a sickly hue.

Brother Zhao knit his brows tightly, as if he had heard of such matters before, yet the knowledge hovered on the tip of his tongue, completely eluding his memory as Lu Yang silently bypassed the trio and walked onward.

"Hey, hey, hey, brother! You can't pass through up ahead!" the short-haired youth called out, halting Lu Yang.

"Can't pass through?"

"It is as if some ghostly, wicked thing is causing mischief up ahead. The three of us have repeatedly suffered mishaps just now, preventing our advance."

The elegant youth chimed in: "Brother Wenren speaks the truth. For instance, just as I was about to walk forward, a flaw arose in the circulation of my cultivation technique, forcing me to meditate on the spot for nearly an hour before I could right it."

"Once my cultivation was stable, we ran into an old man who had lost his way, so we escorted him back home."

"Upon returning here, we realized we had left something behind at the elder's house, so we ran all the way back to retrieve it."

"When we returned once more, several massive boulders rolled down from afar, blocking our path. It was only after the three of us cleared the boulders away that we sensed something was amiss, as though an invisible force were barring the way ahead."

Brother Zhao suddenly seemed to recall something, a flash of realization dawning upon him: "I remember now."

"Remember what?" his two companions asked in a hurry.

"I heard my elders speak of such a situation. When great masters debate the Dao or engage in magical combat in a certain area, they set up arrays beforehand to dispel bystanders. Thus, others cannot proceed and can only take a detour. However, such instances are rare. After all, fighting in the mountains means having to restore the landscape afterward, which is quite troublesome; fighting on the plains or in the sky is far more common."

"There must be experts fighting ahead. Didn't we see it just now? The dark clouds gathered before us and the lightning flashes were surely the experts borrowing the power of heaven and earth to battle!" The more Brother Zhao spoke, the more solemn he became, thoroughly convinced of his own logical analysis.

Knowing that Brother Zhao hailed from no ordinary background, the elegant youth and the short-haired youth nodded in agreement with his assertion.

"When great masters duel, it is best to avoid them if possible. Since we cannot pass through the mountains, we can only take a detour."

Lu Yang stared at the three of them for a long while before suddenly asking, "Which of you three is a woman disguised as a man?"

The moment these words were uttered, the expression of the elegant youth known as Brother Ye shifted dramatically, turning turbulent. Meeting Lu Yang's certain gaze, he crumbled in defeat: "How did you see through it?"

"Brother Ye, you..." The other two stared at the elegant youth in astonishment.

With a bitter smile, Brother Ye removed a jade pendant from around his neck. His Adam's apple smoothed away, and his originally elegant features transformed into something enchanting.

A pair of watery eyes appeared as his hair grew long, cascading down to his waist, and his chest became prominently full.

Seeing Brother Ye transform from a man into a woman, his two companions grew even more astonished.

The three of them had not known each other for very long, having met while roaming the martial world. Feeling that traveling together offered mutual protection and finding their personalities compatible, they had journeyed as companions.

To think that after experiencing so many trials together, Brother Ye was actually a woman?!

"No wonder you never bathed with us, Brother Ye, and always insisted that the three of us stay in separate rooms whenever we lodged. And you even blushed when we told dirty jokes, demanding that we stop!"

"Wait, don't tell me that the woman I saw bathing in the lake that night was also you!"

Brother Wenren suddenly connected the dots. While camping out in the wilderness in the dead of night, he had gone to the lakeside to relieve himself, only to see a slender, graceful woman bathing beneath the moonlight, looking every bit like a lake goddess. Unfortunately, limited by the darkness, he had been unable to see the goddess's face clearly.

When he mentioned it to his companions the following day, Brother Ye had merely laughed it off, saying he must have been half-asleep.

"I lied. In truth, I belong to the Ye family of Liangzhou," Brother Ye—or perhaps she should now be called Miss Ye—said shamefacedly. Disguised as a man, she had traveled from Liangzhou all the way to Huangzhou, befriending these two companions along the way.

The Ye family of Liangzhou was a highly renowned clan in the region, whose ancestors included high-ranking officials of the realm as well as great cultivators.

"This is a jade pendant I begged from my mother. She said that when she was young, she traveled the martial world disguised as a man and met my father using this very pendant, and no one ever saw through it. I have no idea how this senior brother managed to see through it today."

Lu Yang smiled without answering, too embarrassed to betray Meng Jingzhou.

To Miss Ye, however, his smile appeared deeply enigmatic.

Miss Ye sighed inwardly; indeed, the figures of the martial world were profound and unfathomable, for even a random passerby encountered on the road could see through her disguise.

Since her identity had already been exposed, Miss Ye dwelt on it no longer. She turned to face Brother Wenren, her eyes filled with tender affection.

"Brother Wenren, I like you. Do you remember when we happened upon those rogue cultivators, and you took a blade strike for me, saving me from their hands? I have liked you ever since that moment!"

Brother Wenren had never expected his good brother, Brother Ye, to suddenly spring such a confession upon him, and he was left somewhat at a loss.

Fortunately, he composed himself quickly. With a gentle sigh, he removed his thumb ring.

His body underwent a transformation: his arms grew slender, his short hair lengthened into shoulder-bearing tresses, and the fabric at his chest was pushed outward into full, rounded curves.

Only his complexion remained unchanged, still a bronzed, healthy hue.

"I am sorry. In truth, I am also a woman disguised as a man."

"Do you remember why, after I took that blade strike for you, I refused your help with applying medicine and insisted on treating the wound alone? This was the reason."

Miss Ye: "..."

Heartbreak had arrived far too swiftly.

Lu Yang, Miss Ye, and Miss Wenren all turned their heads in unison to stare at the sickly-looking Brother Zhao. Their meaning was entirely clear: your turn.

Brother Zhao flew into a raging fury: "I am a man!"

As it turned out, of the three companions who had journeyed together, he was the only honest soul among them!