"That, you, bro-sister, um, I," Yu Jinqi stammered, his face turning a brilliant shade of crimson as he stared at Wu Ling's enchanting face. The young artist had come so close that he could see his reflection in her, his, his silvery eyes. His body didn't know how to react, his heart raced and his breathing quickened, just as it should respond to a beautiful woman coming so close to him but his mind railed at him that this was his good friend, Brother Wu!
"What about you, Big Brother Fang," Wu Ling said, turning away from the flustered alchemist to focus on the group's other scholar. "Am I, what was your word? Convincing enough?"
"Gah, Sister Qianhu, stop it!" Su Xiang said, standing up from her seat to grab Wu Ling's hand and pull him away from the two flustered scholars. "You shouldn't pick on them, they don't know how to defend themselves!"
"Sorry, Sister Xiang," Wu Ling said, following along with Su Xiang to take a seat next to her, holding her hand close to his chest and fluttering his eyelashes at her. "You know I'd never truly harm them. After all, you're the one who always said I was dangerous to beautiful young women," he teased. "The only ones with anything to worry about are you and Sister Jin."
"But Sister Jin doesn't need to worry," Wu Ling said, tossing the towering woman a wink. "I know she has eyes for someone else so I won't trouble her at all. It's just Sister Xiang who needs to watch out, lest I sink my wicked claws into her heart," he said, meeting her sapphire gaze from mere centimeters away.
"Brat!" Su Xiang said, pushing Wu Ling off the log she'd taken a seat on and laughing softly when Wu Ling landed on the ground with a huff. "Don't think that your elder sister won't smack your bottom if you keep that up!"
"Oooh," Wu Ling teased from the ground. "Sister Xiang has gotten fierce since last time," he said with a smile, standing and reclaiming his seat next to her. This time, however, he made no moves on his sworn sister. "Sorry, I know you're not comfortable with that but I couldn't resist teasing just a little."
"It's not that," Su Xiang pouted. "It's just that, this time, I couldn't help but think, 'Sister Qianhu's even prettier than before.' It's like, there's an aura to you that wasn't there before, but even without that, you look… prettier," she finished in a near whisper.
When Wu Ling looked away from Su Xiang, he realized that he truly had gathered all eyes from the group. Zhang Buyan and Xiong Dahuo both looked a bit unsettled, as though they were struggling to reconcile their mental image of Wu Ling with the attractive young woman who'd emerged from Wu Ling's hut. Yu Jinqi and Fang Lin, however, seemed to only have the eyes of young men struggling to resist the temptations of a beautiful woman.
It was Jin Wuya's gaze, however, that was the most uncomfortable for Wu Ling. She felt like she'd been smeared with a paintbrush dipped in deep yellow uncertainty and self-doubt, particularly when she glanced at Zhang Buyan and saw his complex gaze lingering on Wu Ling's figure.
"Wait," Wu Ling said, looking around the group. "I know I look a little different with makeup on," he said slowly. "But it's not really that exaggerated, is it?"
"Sister Qianhu," Su Xiang said, her sapphire eyes glowing brightly in the dim light of the campfire. "It's your aura. Since your reawakening, you've had a faintly mystical aura about you but it's felt very restrained. Right now, I feel it spilling from you like water from a well."
"You, you might be right about that," Wu Ling agreed, starting to realize what was happening. Within his inner world, not only did he feel like the door to his Soul Garden had been thrown wide open, he could all but smell the intoxicating fragrance of the Heart Seizing Foxglove drifting on the night air.
Slowly, he pulled the door to his inner world mostly closed, and then dispersed the scent of Foxglove on the air with a quick wave of his sleeve. It wasn't a literal scent, but his aura certainly carried the property of 'Attraction.'
"I'm sorry everyone," Wu Ling said, flushing with embarrassment when the men around the campfire seemed to come completely to their senses. "The cultivation manual my master left for me is based, in part, on 'Attraction', and I didn't realize that when I let loose, I was letting that aura spill out as well."
"Sister Qianhu is a shameless flirt," Su Xiang added, giving Wu Ling a teasing look of her own. "I used to say that women weren't safe around Brother Ling because he was too charming for his own good. He even managed to charm Big Sister Yeyan when we were last in the mountains."
"Now, it seems that no one is safe from the combination of Brother Ling and Sister Qianhu," Su Xiang teased, hoping to lighten the mood. "I can't imagine how many hearts you'll shatter when we return home. Sister Qianhu will have men lined up around the block with flowers, jewelry, and proposals of marriage in no time," she teased, each word piercing deeper into Wu Ling's heart.
"So this is why you were so confident that the men from the Mountain's Bones gang wouldn't recognize you," Yu Jinqi said, putting together the pieces at last. "You took this appearance when you attacked them before, didn't you?"
"It's much easier to get close to a group of men who are drinking and gambling when you look like a helpless flower looking for someone to shelter her," Wu Ling said. "Last time Sister Xiang and I were in the mountains, we wiped out a small gang led by a Soldier named 'Fenglun.'"
"When I attacked the Mountain's Bones Gang," he continued lightly. "I gave them the impression that I was Fenglun's woman, looking for a new thigh to cling to after Fenglun's death. Even with Brothers Zhang and Dahuo, we might not have been able to batter those doors down, but for 'Sister Vixen', they opened the doors wide and invited me in."
"If you're like this in Bufa City though," Zhang Buyan said with a frown, scratching at his beard while he thought. "Won't you attract more toads lusting after swan meat? I imagine that could be more trouble than being your masculine self."
"I'll spend some time before we go, practicing to restrain my aura," Wu Ling promised. "Also, the wearing of masks or veils in Bufa City supposedly isn't uncommon. I'll check in with the chapterhouse of my sect about finding something to conceal my face while I'm there, which should help a bit."
"I'll stick close to you, bro-er-sister Qianhu," Xiong Dahuo said, stumbling a bit over the unfamiliar form of address. "Master would flay my skin from my body and make me sew it back on myself if I let you come to harm in a place like that."
"I appreciate the offer," Wu Ling said. "But I'm most worried about Brother Fang. His formations are powerful but his offensive ability is weak. If he finds himself challenged, there's little he can do beyond outlasting an opponent. It might be best if you stay close to him instead."
"Well, I'll make it easy," Fang Lin said, finally shaking off the spell he felt like Wu Ling had cast on him. "I'll stay close to, um, Sister Qianhu, then Brother Xiong can watch us both," he said.
Truthfully, he wasn't being generous. He actually felt that between Xiong Dahuo and Wu Ling, he had the best chance of staying safe in this dangerous city, even more so if Su Xiang followed along with Wu Ling as she seemed inclined to. He expected Zhang Buyan to follow along with Jin Wuya but as long as he had two late-stage brawlers and the surprisingly powerful artist with him, surely that would keep him safe enough… wouldn't it?