Chapter 39: A Friend’s Problem

Five months passed, and Gu Yuan had become more familiar with Lin Hao and his three women.

Rather than being completely ignored by them, he had reached the point where they would return his greetings and occasionally exchange a few words with him.

Naturally, he got along Lin Hao even more.

Gu Yuan had initially thought of the man as a model disciple, at least when it came to relationships. He had assumed the reserved attitude he’d shown when Gu Yuan first arrived was simply the result of his personality.

Time had corrected that impression. Lin Hao was a shameless man who seemed to know nothing but women and could turn almost any conversation toward them.

The reason he had seemed so reserved at the beginning was simply because he had been disappointed that the fifth member assigned to the mission was a man rather than a woman.

After spending five months with him, Gu Yuan had seen Lin Hao’s true personality clearly. He flirted openly with his women, made suggestive remarks about dual cultivation without the slightest embarrassment, and carried himself like a smooth-talking, persistent bastard who simply refused to feel shame.

Yet, somehow, he couldn’t be hated.

For all his shamelessness, Lin Hao had a bottom line too. He wasn’t like those three idiots Gu Yuan had encountered during his mission back in the outer sect.

At that moment, Lin Hao leaned back against a tree, one arm wrapped around the waist of the woman beside him.

"Brother Gu," Lin Hao said with a grin, "we’ve been on this mission for five months already. I’ve been watching you all this time... You really don’t have any interest in finding a woman?"

I already found two.

No, rather, two found me?

Gu Yuan kept the thought to himself and answered calmly, "I’m more focused on cultivation."

Lin Hao laughed, not discouraged in the slightest.

"Cultivation is important, of course. But a man also needs some warmth at night, don’t you think?"

He pulled the woman in his arms a little closer.

"Look at me. With my three women accompanying me, even this bitter mission feels much more comfortable."

One of the women beside him rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything.

Lin Hao continued with a smile.

"Brother Gu, you’re not bad-looking, and your strength isn’t weak either. If you want, I can introduce you to a few interesting women later. Living alone like this is too lonely, isn’t it?"

I already have two I don’t know how to deal with, and you want to introduce more?

Gu Yuan barely stopped himself from saying it aloud.

Once again, he felt like the fifth wheel in this overly intimate group.

Trying to steer the conversation away from himself, Gu Yuan asked, "Indulging in pleasure this much, doesn’t it interfere with your cultivation?"

"And if it does, what’s the problem?"

"Huh?"

Lin Hao looked at him as if the answer were obvious.

"My goal was never immortality or reaching the peak of cultivation. I started cultivating because I once saw a female cultivator and wanted to make her my woman."

The woman in his arms suddenly blushed.

Clearly, she was the cultivator he was talking about.

Lin Hao chuckled when he saw her reaction before continuing.

"And it hasn’t changed until now. I cultivate so that I can chase women."

Gu Yuan stared at him.

That was... surprisingly straightforward.

"My goal is to travel across the world, meet countless wonderful women, win their hearts, and eventually build a palace that will be remembered for ages... a place where every woman who chooses to stay with me can live together."

He spread his arms as though he were already envisioning the magnificent sight.

"A place filled with beautiful women who love me. That’s the life I want!"

His excited and proud tone made it sound as if he had just announced some grand ambition that would shake the cultivation world.

Gu Yuan was left speechless for a moment.

What an ambition. Yet, despite how ridiculous the goal sounded, Gu Yuan didn’t underestimate his Senior Brother.

Rather, his admiration increased.

Lin Hao had said all of that right in front of his women, and not one of them had objected. They clearly knew what kind of man he was and were perfectly fine with it.

How amazing.

Maybe...

Gu Yuan suddenly had a thought.

"Senior Brother, I have a question."

"What kind of question?"

After hesitating for a moment, Gu Yuan began carefully.

"Hypothetically speaking... if a man had two women who were... difficult to deal with..."

Lin Hao’s eyes immediately lit up.

Before he could say anything, however, Gu Yuan decided to make one thing clear first.

"It’s not about me."

"Of course."

"It’s about a friend."

He emphasized the last part.

Lin Hao nodded solemnly. "Naturally."

"Anyway, this friend of mine wants to gain the upper hand against those two difficult women. What do you think he should do?"

"The easiest solution would be to have a higher cultivation realm than them," Lin Hao said thoughtfully. "But it seems your friend is the one with the lower cultivation, right?"

"Unfortunately." Gu Yuan nodded. "He’s already made up his mind to surpass them, but that’s proving much harder than he expected."

Unlike the troubled Gu Yuan, Lin Hao wore a carefree smile.

"Actually, the solution is simple."

"Yes?"

"Sex. He simply needs to subjugate them in bed."

"Is it really that easy?"

"Hm? He still hasn’t done it with them?"

Was it that obvious? Gu Yuan blinked, then answered awkwardly.

"Well... probably not yet."

With the two straightforward methods set aside, Lin Hao adopted a more thoughtful expression.

"All right, let’s take a step back. Tell me their story from the beginning."

Gu Yuan thought for a moment before finally starting.

"When my friend was thirteen, two tall women suddenly appeared in front of him and asked to become his Dao companions."

"How tall?"

Lin Hao’s curiosity immediately returned, and Gu Yuan gestured with his hand.

"About this much."

"That’s not particularly tall."

Yes, it wasn’t tall.

So why had they seemed so tall... no, so huge, to him?

Gu Yuan remembered his first meeting with the twins.

That had actually been his first impression of them.

Was it because they were the strongest cultivators he had encountered at the time?

Probably not.

He had met many more powerful cultivators since then, including his master, Luo Yunjin, yet none of them had evoked the same feeling those twins had when he first saw them.

Gu Yuan coughed lightly.

"He was thirteen, so maybe it was because of that?"

"Fair enough." Lin Hao nodded, accepting the explanation without much thought.

Gu Yuan continued with the story.

"My friend wanted to focus on cultivation, so he didn’t want even one Dao companion, let alone two. But in the end, he couldn’t reject them, and their first meeting ended like that."

Lin Hao gave him a strange look. Gu Yuan ignored it and pressed on.

"He spent some time trying to figure out how to get away from them. Eventually, he thought that perhaps they would simply lose interest and forget about him."

"And did they?"

"No... they came back."

"And?"

"They told him he had passed a test."

"What test?"

"A mission they had given him."

Lin Hao became even more intrigued.

"What kind of mission?"

"One that should have been impossible for someone like him."

"And he completed it?"

"Yes."

"Then I suppose that explains it."

Lin Hao had the satisfied expression of someone who had just solved a difficult puzzle.

Seeing that expression, Gu Yuan began to wonder if Lin Hao was really the right person to ask for advice.

"Anyway, things happened, and they eventually became Dao companions, even sharing a Blood Kiss."

"A Blood Kiss?"

"Yes."

"With both of them?"

"Yes."

The corner of Lin Hao’s mouth twitched... that was something even he hadn’t done.

He turned toward his own women with an intense look, clearly wanting to rectify the matter at once. But, after a deep breath he forced himself to calm down.

"So far, I don’t see the problem."

"My friend asked them to take the same test."

"What?"

"He thought it was unfair. He had been the one forced to prove himself, while they hadn’t needed to prove anything."

"And what did they say?"

"They laughed at him."

Lin Hao immediately burst out laughing as well.

Gu Yuan’s face darkened.

Noticing this, Lin Hao coughed and apologized.

"I’m sorry."

Now, was he really sorry? He wasn’t.

In fact, Lin Hao was simply envious of the lucky bastard sitting in front of him.

Gu Yuan sighed but decided to continue regardless. He was already nearly finished with his story, so he might as well tell him everything.

"Actually, the women can be unreasonable sometimes. But in general, they’re good to him. They even give him many precious cultivation resources."

That was true.

Ji Yue and Ji Yan were actually kind to him.

Even when some of their actions seemed inconsiderate at first glance, thinking about them more carefully always revealed a certain consideration behind them.

Like that time when they entered his room without even knocking while he was cultivating and asked him to come with them for the sacred ceremony.

At first glance, that certainly seemed inconsiderate.

Yet they had stood there calmly, restraining their auras enough to make it clear that they weren’t enemies.

They had given him no reason to feel threatened.

If they hadn’t done that, Gu Yuan might have attacked them instinctively.

But he hadn’t.

Because he hadn’t sensed any danger from them.

Yes.

They showed consideration and care toward him, just in their own way... a kind of consideration he hadn’t experienced at all during the last year of his previous life.

So what exactly was he dissatisfied with?

Gu Yuan frowned slightly.

For a moment, he couldn’t even remember what he had originally wanted to ask Lin Hao.

Had he simply wanted to tell his story to someone?

Just as he was thinking about it, Lin Hao spoke.

"Brother Gu, I think you’ve come to the wrong person."

Gu Yuan blinked.

"I’m an expert at counseling heartbroken women, but I don’t have any advice for men!"

The woman in his arms chuckled, covering her mouth.

Gu Yuan found himself smiling as well.

Yes.

If there really was some problem between him and the twins, then he should solve it with them himself.

There was no need to involve a third party.

"Anyway, you really are a lucky bastard."

"Ah, I mean your friend."

"What..."

Gu Yuan was just about to respond when his expression suddenly changed, and he turned his head toward the entrance of the secret realm.

Lin Hao and his three women did the same.

The playful atmosphere disappeared in an instant... and everyone’s expression became serious.