Mu Lin realized he had gone too far and tried to tell the truth, but it was too late. Just a moment ago he was the monk Tang, now he had become a demon. He coughed loudly, “Snap out of it!”
The girls screamed in unison, “You scared us to death!” Mu Lin collapsed.
After a long pause, it was Hong Jia Ni who cried out, “Mu Lin, you’re not really a demon, are you?”
The other girls nodded in agreement. Mu Lin asked, “Do I look like a demon to you?”
“Yes!” they all shouted in unison. Mu Lin hadn’t expected them to be so united.
“Daniel, I think you really are a demon. You’re so good at studying, cooking, treating illnesses, Chinese martial arts, making money, and even magic tricks. And you’re so young! If you’re not a demon, then who is?” Bi Si said urgently. It was impressive for someone who had only been learning Chinese for a year to rattle off so many “can do” phrases. Mu Lin was worried she might choke on them. Seeing the girls nodding together and saying “Yeah, yeah” in agreement, Mu Lin finally realized, “Damn! I’ve been tricked!”
Seeing Mu Lin’s stunned expression, the girls burst into laughter again.
After these incidents, the atmosphere gradually became more relaxed. Mu Lin briefly told them about his background and experiences, but he still didn’t mention the ring or how he had used gambling to raise funds. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, but he felt they weren’t ready to understand yet. Only after they became cultivators themselves would they gradually realize that many things in this world couldn’t be explained by so-called modern science.
“Mu Lin, can cultivators really fly through the sky and take someone’s head from a thousand miles away as easily as reaching into a bag?” Being the daughter of a wealthy Hong Kong family, influenced by the novels of the famous fantasy writer Zhu Yuan, her words were quite refined.
“More or less,” Mu Lin replied with a tone of mock seniority. He secretly thought, ‘You should be begging me to teach you cultivation techniques, then I wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble. Hehe!’
“Then good, go kill that Gou family’s young master for me right now! If it weren’t for him constantly nagging his father to humiliate my father, my father wouldn’t have disowned me. You must help me take revenge!” The furious Hong family’s eldest daughter shouted at Mu Lin desperately, her face distorted with rage. In her eyes, killing someone was as easy for Mu Lin as killing a chicken. Looking at her expression, if Mu Lin refused, he wasn’t sure whether she would attack him herself.
“What? Why don’t you learn cultivation yourself and kill him for revenge later? Wouldn’t that be more exciting?” Mu Lin said kindly, trying to guide her.
“Pfft! Now that I have you, why should I bother learning that stuff? It’s so tiring, getting all muddy and sweaty, enduring sun and wind, and eventually turning into an old hag. Then I’d have to wear a Taoist robe, have messy hair, and pretend to be a spirit to con you out of money. What if you suddenly dumped me then? Where could I go for justice?” The Hong family’s eldest daughter argued confidently. Just like that, Mu Lin became her personal henchman. The other girls nodded in agreement again, all united in voice and will.
“Hmm…” Mu Lin pondered and finally said, “Don’t you think my skin looks great?”
“Pfft! A big man like you, acting like having good skin means anything! It won’t help you earn a living!” The girls nodded again, determined not to fall for his tricks. Mu Lin was left speechless, again by Hong’s eldest daughter. Mu Lin thought to himself, ‘I must get back at her again sometime, or else she’ll keep opposing me like this.’
“You don’t know, learning Taoist techniques can help you maintain good skin, eternal youth, and everlasting life. You’ll stay as youthful and beautiful as you are now even when you grow old!” Mu Lin continued patiently and meticulously, teaching them earnestly.
“Pfft! Really? If we stay like we are now even when we’re old, won’t we become old demons?” Hong’s eldest daughter continued to oppose him, fully embodying the attitude of ‘whatever the enemy supports, we oppose.’
“No, I want to learn Taoist techniques from my brother so I can accompany him!” This time, finally, there was a different voice. Mu Lin felt relieved, thinking, ‘At least Mei Zi understands.’
“Wow! Didn’t expect you to be a Lolita complex guy, Mu Lin!” Hong’s eldest daughter continued her dissent, seizing the opportunity to press her advantage. She dared to say anything.
“Enough! Miss Hong, you’ve gone too far!” Ke Li said this, seeing Mu Lin’s face reddening with anger and stepping in before he could erupt.
“I’m sorry, Mei Zi, Mu Lin!” The eldest Hong daughter quickly apologized, showing her ability to shift from defiance to compliance. This left Mu Lin holding back his anger, unable to vent it.
“Oh, Mu Lin, is cultivation really as good as you say? Do you think I can learn it?” Someone finally gave in to temptation. It was Si Li Ya.
“Of course you can learn! But you must study Chinese well first, so you can fully understand the meanings in the techniques.” Mu Lin continued with his educational mission.
“Of course! I have my whole life to stay by your side. Do you think I can’t learn Chinese well?” Finny was bold again, trying to flirt with Mu Lin. “Uh!” Mu Lin was at a loss for words.
“Alright, Finny, let’s not talk about that for now. From now on, all of you will learn Taoist techniques from Mu Lin. No one is allowed to speak of today’s events to anyone else. Otherwise, I’ll have Mu Lin turn those people into idiots. Mu Lin, you can do that, right? Now, Mu Lin, tell us what happened this afternoon. You haven’t explained it clearly yet.” Ke Li fully displayed her big sister authority.
“Okay…” Mu Lin nodded thoughtfully, thinking to himself, ‘As long as you’re willing to learn cultivation, everything will be fine. Ke Li handles matters far more skillfully than I do. There were many things I felt too embarrassed to say, but she spoke them for me. This makes dealing with issues much easier.’ Finally, Mu Lin told the girls every detail of what had happened that day. During this time, he also played the role of a kindergarten启蒙 teacher (inspirational kindergarten teacher), speaking until his mouth was dry and his throat sore. When he had finally finished, he took a sip of water, ready to rest and savor a bit longer the role of being a teacher.
“Wow! Mu Lin, I just realized now that the cultivation technique you learned must be some rascal’s method. No wonder you’re so vulgar. The first time we met, you took off my clothes!” Hong’s eldest daughter finally had her epiphany.
“Spit!” Mu Lin’s mouthful of water sprayed all over Si Li Ya, and he choked. Mu Lin was furious inside, thinking, ‘Did I have a choice? Besides, I was treating you at that time.’ While wiping the water off her clothes, Si Li Ya said, ‘You were supposed to take off clothes over there, why did you spray water on me?’ She patted Mu Lin’s back while he was coughing. His face turned bright red. The girls looked at Mu Lin and Si Li Ya, as well as the stunned Hong Jia Ni, and burst into laughter. Finally, they each returned to their rooms to rest, planning to discuss Mu Lin’s matters the next day.
The next day, Mu Lin, as usual, got up early and began his exercises while guiding the girls. Since Finny and the others had moved into this villa, seeing the four young girls follow Mu Lin in working out made them envious, so they also joined in. Fortunately, the villa was spacious enough. Eventually, Hong Jia Ni, unwilling to be left out, also joined them in exercising. Even Ke Li couldn’t escape being dragged into it.
After breakfast, Mu Lin and the others gathered again in the living room for a meeting. Originally, Mu Lin didn’t want Mei Zi and Bi Si to attend, but they refused to go. Mei Zi and the others insisted they wouldn’t go to school anymore and demanded to attend the meeting, asserting they were also members of this family.
Since Mu Lin had absorbed the Patriarch’s true Yuan energy, his Yin and Yang were temporarily balanced. Therefore, this time, he only needed some external Yin energy when breaking through to the Yuan Dan stage. For now, he didn’t want to lose his virginity or take the girls’ virginity, because doing so would slow down their cultivation progress afterward.
After preparing for the specific matters of the retreat, Mu Lin gathered everyone in the basement. He had them sit cross-legged one by one, each placing their hands on the Mingmen point of the person in front. The last person was Hong Jia Ni, as she possessed the strongest Yin energy. She and Mu Lin faced each other, their palms pressed together. Mu Lin began his breakthrough. The Yuan energy flowed in a cycle between them, nourishing Mu Lin’s Yuan Dan. Finally, the Yuan Dan shattered and reformed into a golden pill the size of a grain of rice.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage