All of Chen Wentian's disciples were on their second challenge except for one. Su Yue was still struggling on her first one although today was expected to be the last day. It had been a long and difficult time and she wasn't sure if she would be able to succeed. Although Lin Qingcheng was with her, she could not help much not that she didn't want to.
Su Yue's challenge in the river district involved helping a famous but struggling fancy restaurant that catered to the rich and powerful of the metropolis. It was called The King's Laundry. Its reputation within the city was as immovable as a Spirit King for over a hundred years. But in recent years, it had fallen into steady decline for various reasons that were unclear.
The task for the rankers was to help the restaurant recover a bit of its reputation as well as business. This sounded simple enough but the problem was that the scoring was completely subjective and up to the whims of the immortal chef-owner of the restaurant. It was the final day for Su Yue but she had no idea if she had done enough.
"Welcome, illustrious immortal!" Su Yue bowed to a guest that had just been seated in a private room, "Welcome to The King's Laundry! Here is this season's menu."
She carefully laid down a jade plaque in front of the immortal whose name she did not know. If it was the regular waitstaff, they would have but she had only been working here for six days. She was responsible for waiting on guests today although she dearly wished she could have had kitchen duty instead. She enjoyed cooking much more than putting on a fake smile for others.
She stepped back, trying to not look awkward, and fiddled with the strange and intricate uniform that was required of her and other female staff. It made her look like a peacock and her chest was uncomfortable from the outfit pushing her breasts together for maximum cleavage.
The nondescript male Spirit Lord glanced at the menu only once before staring at Su Yue and her assets that were on display.
"Beauty, I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new?" He asked with a warm smile but a cold and penetrating gaze.
Su Yue immediately knew what was up. She had experienced many bad customers like this in the past few days. She avoided his uncomfortable gaze and began to recite the menu.
"Sir Immortal, for this season's menu, we have Hong River Salmon with Flame Beets, Pearl Rice, and Royal Horseradish in a Cream Sauce… Sweet Butter-Poached West Sea Lobster with Globe Artichoke, Mokum Carrots, Ice Pearl Onions, Maiden Parsley, and a Red Reaper Reduction… Herb-Roasted Elysian Lamb Rib-Eye with Infusion of Spiritual Wine, Jade Bean Purée, Jingle Bell Peppers, Arugula and Lamb Sauce…"
The immortal burst out laughing, "You're cute. Don't be shy. You may not know me but I am Immortal Flare Osprey Chu Fengwei. Perhaps you have heard of me?"
Su Yue's feet didn't move but she found herself being pulled closer to the table by the man's spiritual force. His eyes continue to rove over her body, making goosebumps rise on her skin.
"Don't be scared." The man said, "I don't bite, not unless you ask me to."
He winked at her and she shuddered. She didn't know what to say or what to do. This was a customer as well as an immortal. She shut her eyes and wished her master could come and save her.
"Come now…" He frowned and read her name tag, "Su Yue… What a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. Come here, come closer."
He reached out and grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb and enjoying the feeling, "Beauty, I like you. If you serve me well, I will reward you with everything you desire and more."
Su Yue was now completely creeped out. Previous bad customers that had tried this were all at the Spirit Initiate realm and she managed to block their advances. Why did her luck have to be so bad to get a pervert immortal on her last day?
She didn't know what to do. She tried to pull her hand back but it was locked firmly in the man's grasp. She wanted to scream and call for help but that would cause even more problems. His eyes were becoming more and more obscene. Her senses were screaming at her, this was an incredibly dangerous situation.
Interpreting her inaction as something completely different, Chu Fengwei tugged her hand, bringing her even closer. She was now right next to his seat and he could smell her sweet fragrance.
"Beauty, don't be shy." He repeated, "I'm a gentleman…"
She turned her head, refusing to look at him. She hoped that he would suddenly lose interest in her but that was impossible. An immortal like him was not used to women saying no to him. He wouldn't be denied once he set his sights upon someone. He was the lord and people beneath him were simple mortals.
He finally had enough of acting nice and moved in. His hand left hers and aimed to wrap around her narrow hips. A discrete push of spiritual force on the back of her knees made her unbalanced and fall forward towards him.
Chu Fengwei smiled wide in perverted satisfaction, eagerly awaiting the beautiful woman who was about to fall into his arms.
Ssssiinng!
A power surge of icy spiritual energy shot out from nowhere.
It came directly in between the Spirit Lord and the helpless Su Yue. The man's dirty hands were knocked away and she was pushed back onto her feet and backward several meters until she was by the doorway.
Su Yue gave one hateful look towards him before rushing out and disappearing down the hallway.
Chu Fengwei was left empty-handed and spooked. He opened and closed his left hand in confusion. The foreign spiritual energy had come and gone so quickly he couldn't quite believe it. There was no immortal nearby, he was sure of it, so he could not figure out how Su Yue had managed to escape. There was no chance of getting her back now so he could only call for another waiter.
Su Yue rushed through the restaurant and up the stairs to where the dormitory was. She burst through the door without looking.
"Chengcheng, help..."
Lin Qingcheng had her back turned to her, sitting on a stool. Her skirt was hiked up to her waist and she was flushed and sweaty.
"Sister Yue'er!" Lin Qingcheng screamed in panic.
She jumped up, pulling down her skirt and hiding whatever she had been doing from view. It should have been a titillating situation and she was incredibly embarrassed. She tried for a few moments to come up with an excuse before she noticed that Su Yue was completely distracted with tears in her eyes.
"Sister Yue'er, what's wrong." Lin Qingcheng cried out and rushed forward. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Chengcheng, wuuuuw…" Su Yue buried her head into her sister's chest as the previous crisis overwhelmed her.
Lin Qingcheng was completely baffled but being a good senior sister, she pulled Su Yue to the bed and let her cry until she calmed down. Eventually, Su Yue gathered enough wits about her to describe what had just happened.
"That asshole!" Lin Qingcheng shouted, leaping up in fury, "I will call master right now to teach him a lesson!"
"No!" Su Yue cried and pulled her down, "Wait… can we talk about it? Do you think I should have known what was happening and tried to resist earlier? I'm incompetent… I'm a bad disciple!"
"What? No!" Lin Qingcheng said and hugged her, "It's that immortal's fault!"
"But… I'm scared… What if master blames me for being useless?"
"Absolutely not!" A voice said emphatically, but it did not belong to either woman.
"Eh!"
"Master!"
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