Heartthrob

*Heh, with this Peach Talisman, maybe Guan Ya will come knocking on my door tonight...* Zhang Yuanqing turned the doorknob, his heart burning with the urge to head out, when his body suddenly froze. *No, I can't go out. If the talisman's effect is attracting romance, Queen and Little Green Tea will definitely throw themselves at me, and Guan Ya will tear me limb from limb...* At this thought, Zhang Yuanqing snapped his fingers with a crisp *crack*, dissolving into a stream of dreamlike starlight as he left the villa. A second later, he materialized a dozen meters away in the courtyard of the grand villa and walked straight inside. *There are plenty of bunny girls here—the perfect place to test the Peach Talisman's effects...* Zhang Yuanqing crossed the grounds and entered the mansion. It happened to be dinner time; in the brightly lit dining room, Ling Jun was eating all by himself, attended by a slender, enchanting young bunny girl. *Huh, seeing me come in, this sister didn't go weak at the knees or cast flirtatious glances...* Zhang Yuanqing withdrew his gaze, looked around, and asked, "Where's the boss?" "He went out after the Council of Ten Elders meeting this morning," Ling Jun grumbled, stabbing a hot dog with his fork. "I've tried countless times to fix his palate and get him to appreciate local cuisine, but he stubbornly refuses every time. He wasn't like this when he was younger." Zhang Yuanqing hadn't eaten either, so he took a seat at once, motioned for the bunny girl to prepare dinner for him, and asked offhandedly, "What do you mean?" He stole another glance at the bunny girl, noticing she seemed no different from usual, showing no signs of particular favoritism. This left Zhang Yuanqing somewhat disappointed. Ling Jun speared an asparagus stalk, chewed it, and said, "Back in middle school, he returned to the country once and said he wanted to taste our homeland's delicacies and take in the country's magnificent sights. So, I took him to the Bashu region for old-oil hotpot." "And then?" "And then he became an explosive-diarrhea warrior and never brought up tasting the motherland's cuisine again." Ling Jun sighed. *How wicked...* Zhang Yuanqing burst out laughing as well. "He actually has an embarrassing story like that?" "By the way, isn't your first Saint-stage instance coming up?" Ling Jun swallowed the asparagus and shifted the topic. "I'm about to enter an instance too. Who knows, maybe we'll run into each other." "We're two levels apart. It's way too early for us to meet in an instance," Zhang Yuanqing said. "It happens." "Huh? I remember the Spirit Realm has a matchmaking mechanism. How could a Level 4 Saint be teamed with a Level 6 Saint?" Ling Jun set down his knife and fork, correcting him: "The core of the matchmaking mechanism is difficulty, with level being secondary. There are so many walkers in the Transcendent stage that everyone gets matched with people of the same level. But at the Saint stage, the number of Spirit Realm walkers drops off a cliff, and everyone enters instances at different times, so mismatched levels occasionally occur. "When I was Level 5, I ran into that exact situation: three Level 6s and three Level 5s on the team. If it's a faction-versus-faction instance, the opposing lineup is balanced the same way. "And if it's a cooperative team instance, the quests for Level 5s and Level 6s are different." Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help recalling an example Guan Ya had given when she introduced Spirit Realm instances back when he first joined Team Two. At Level 2, she had entered an instance that Level 3 walkers tackled; the Level 3 quest was to hunt down eight enemies infiltrating the dense forest. Her quest, however, had been to serve as one of those eight fugitives, evading the terrifying hunter's pursuit. "Still, situations like that are rare. I was just speaking off the cuff," Ling Jun concluded, then flashed a knowing smile that every man understood. "You were staring at the cook quite a few times just now. What, interested in her? Guan Ya still hasn't let you into her bed, so you're feeling restless and want to sneak a taste outside?" "I don't need to sneak around. Before long, they'll be throwing themselves at me," Zhang Yuanqing said, lifting his chin proudly. "Tsk, tsk, showing off in front of a master! You haven't even finished your apprenticeship, and you're already strutting before the grandmaster." Ling Jun looked disdainful. *Maybe in a little while, you'll be calling me grandmaster...* Zhang Yuanqing muttered inwardly. Just then, the cook returned carrying a tray and coffee, walking toward the table. As she approached Zhang Yuanqing, her foot suddenly slipped, and the coffee and food from the tray splattered all over the tabletop and Zhang Yuanqing. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Yuanshi, I didn't mean to..." The bunny girl hastily unfolded a napkin, wiping the stains off him in a fluster of panic. Zhang Yuanqing was about to say "It's fine" when a thought struck him. The bunny girls in Fu Qingyang's villa were all professionally trained; over the past few months, he had never once seen any of them make a mistake. *Could this be the Peach Talisman at work? Under normal circumstances, I'd eat and leave, never having any interaction with this beautiful cook. But now an accident happened—and an accident means an interaction...* Once he figured this out, Zhang Yuanqing took the bunny girl by the wrist and murmured in a low voice, "Do you know how much trouble your mistake has caused me?" The bunny girl panicked, about to apologize, when she heard Mr. Yuanshi's deep, alluring voice: "However, since it's you, none of that matters. My tolerance for you is boundless." At that instant, the cook felt the softest spot in her heart touched. At the same time, she realized that Mr. Yuanshi's facial features were remarkably handsome, brimming with charm. A subtle, intoxicating fragrance seemed to drift from him, scratching at her heartstrings and captivating her senses. "Mr. Yuanshi..." The bunny girl lowered her head, her face flushing crimson, completely at a loss. Zhang Yuanqing pressed on, "I need a room to clean up and change clothes. I think your room would be quite nice, Miss!" At those words, the bunny girl's face flushed red as an apple. "I... I can take you there, Mr. Yuanshi..." she whispered shyly. Beside them, Ling Jun stared with his jaw dropped, frozen like a statue. "However, right now I need food more," Zhang Yuanqing abruptly pivoted. "I-I'll go prepare it for you right away." The bunny girl left with a touch of disappointment. Once she entered the kitchen, Ling Jun mumbled, "How did you do that?" He knew the bunny girls in Fu Qingyang's villa all too well—proud and aloof, admiring only the noble Money Prince, and never giving ordinary men the time of day. Furthermore, they were strictly trained. Even if they felt an inkling of affection for a man, they would suppress their budding romantic feelings and never let love cloud their heads. Because bunny girls were only allowed to date after resigning. At Fu Qingyang's level, the power struggles and factional conflicts involved were beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Attendants by his side couldn't just come and go as they pleased. So seeing Yuanshi stir a bunny girl's romantic impulses and make her disregard the rules in just two or three sentences left Ling Jun utterly shocked. "That's charm for you!" Zhang Yuanqing said. "Did you use some kind of sorcery?" Ling Jun didn't buy it. "If I'd used charm abilities, wouldn't you be able to tell?" Zhang Yuanqing countered. "I don't believe it!" Ling Jun regained his senses. "Unless you do it again to show me. Hmm, with someone else." That was precisely what Zhang Yuanqing wanted to do. He immediately walked out of the dining room and happened to see the bunny girl who often went out to greet him, bent over trimming potted plants in the living room. *Earlier, the bunny girl made the first move. This time I'll take the initiative and see what kind of boost the Peach Talisman gives...* Zhang Yuanqing walked over right away and sighed poetically: "Dancing with a maiden, no one is lovelier than she!" The bunny girl straightened up in surprise and looked at Yuanshi Tianzun, baffled by whatever madness had suddenly possessed this young genius. "Every time I see you, I can't help wanting to draw closer. This must be the most sincere feeling in the world." Zhang Yuanqing gazed into her face, delivering the line in a lyrical cadence. The bunny girl froze, a spark of pleasant surprise flickering in her eyes, before she said regretfully, "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Yuanshi, but I cannot reciprocate your feelings. I am the young master's maid. My contract doesn't expire for another three years. If your sincere feelings haven't changed three years from now, I will consider it." Zhang Yuanqing blanked for a moment, thinking, *Wait, why didn't she throw herself at me?* "All... alright..." He offered an apologetic smile and turned back toward the dining room. Ling Jun, standing at the dining room entrance, was slack-jawed, his tone as if he had seen a ghost: "You even managed to charm Rui Rui? She's the most sensible and least romance-brained of all the girls here! Plus, she's a diehard fan of Fu Qingyang!" As a seasoned ladies' man, he could tell that Rui Rui was genuinely attracted to Yuanshi Tianzun. "Oh, so her name is Rui Rui..." "You didn't even know her name?!" Ling Jun felt as though a dagger had been plunged into his chest, his pride as a Casanova thoroughly shattered. *The Peach Talisman creates interactions between me and the opposite sex within a certain range. If that person happens to have a favorable impression of me, things flow naturally and become extraordinarily smooth. The degree of that impression determines the pace of intimacy—just as Rui Rui's favor toward me is far lower than the pretty cook's...* Zhang Yuanqing now had a clearer grasp of the Peach Talisman's effects. *It could be very useful at times. For instance, when Guan Ya came over for dinner last time, having a Peach Talisman would've helped keep the situation under control.* *** Small villa, first-floor screening room. In the dim room, the bright glow of the large screen illuminated the entire space. Four massage recliners were set out, and the four female members of the patrol squad were lounging lazily upon them. They were all clad in breezy cotton hot pants, their long legs either crossed, curled up, or pressed together side-by-side. The one with red nail polish was Guan Ya; the one with pink nail polish was Xie Lingxi; the one with black nail polish was Queen. The one with bare nails and her legs kicked up on the coffee table was Jiang Jingwei. With a pair of high-tech headphones draped around her neck, Xie Lingxi turned to look at Jiang Jingwei, who was slumped sideways snoring heavily away, and said in annoyance, "She's so loud. Can someone carry her back to her room?" Jiang Jingwei didn't live here, but she occasionally came over to hang out. Sometimes she would sleep in a second-floor guest room, and other times her butler would pick her up. Neither Guan Ya nor Queen paid any mind to her complaints; one was focused on the movie, while the other scrolled through her phone. "Hmph, I'm going to find Brother Yuanshi!" Xie Lingxi huffed coquettishly, rose, and swayed her hips as she left the screening room. *** "Brother Yuanshi, can we borrow Elder Fu's combat training room tonight? I want to practice martial arts with you~" Having finished dinner, politely declined the cook's invitation, and returned to his bedroom to change, Zhang Yuanqing had just stripped down to a single pair of boxer briefs when Xie Lingxi's voice sounded outside the door. Immediately following that, the bedroom door swung open.