29: Chapter 29 First Contact, Special Physique

Willow Leaf Lane was located at the westernmost edge of Luoyun Town, remote and desolate.

The residents of the lane were mostly the poorest of the town's bottom tier; the houses were low, the streets narrow, and the air was filled with an inescapable, damp, and musty odor.

The Gu Family carriage stopped at the entrance of the lane.

Gu Yan did not let anyone follow him, walking alone along the uneven bluestone path toward the depths of the lane.

The further he walked inside, the sparser the population became.

The neighbors on both sides of the road showed some curiosity when they saw Gu Yan, a stranger with decent attire and an extraordinary demeanor.

But when they guessed where he was headed, their curiosity was quickly replaced by a complex expression mixed with fear and disdain, and they hurriedly shut their courtyard doors as if avoiding some plague god.

At the end of the lane stood an isolated small courtyard.

The courtyard wall was built of rough rammed earth, covered in moss, and appeared somewhat dilapidated.

The courtyard gate was just two ordinary wooden doors, one of which seemed to have a problem with its hinge, hanging crookedly and half-closed.

This was the residence of the legendary "Jinx Widow," Liu Ruyan.

Gu Yan stood in front of the door, not knocking immediately, but instead releasing his faint yet far-surpassing-Mortal Divine Sense to probe into the courtyard.

The courtyard was not large, but it was kept quite clean.

Under the eaves, a few plain-colored clothes, washed until they had faded, were hanging out to dry.

In the corner, a small vegetable patch had been cleared, growing a few stalks of green vegetables.

A woman dressed in coarse hemp clothing was sitting with her back to the courtyard gate on a small stool under the eaves, head buried in needlework.

Her figure was curvaceous; even through the loose hemp clothing, one could see breathtaking curves.

A head of jet-black hair was pinned up at the back of her head with a simple wooden hairpin, revealing a section of snow-white, slender neck.

Just a view of her back was enough to stir infinite reverie in any man.

Gu Yan withdrew his Divine Sense, raised his hand, and tapped three times lightly on the slightly mottled wooden door.

Knock, knock, knock.

The figure under the eaves paused in her movements.

She did not rise immediately, but waited for a moment before slowly standing up and turning around.

Creak—

The crooked wooden door was pulled open from the inside, leaving a gap.

A breathtakingly beautiful face appeared behind the door.

Willow-leaf eyebrows, peach-blossom eyes, a delicate nose, cherry lips, and skin like snow.

This was a face capable of driving any man mad.

However, what was truly startling were her eyes.

In those peach-blossom eyes that should have been captivating and soul-stirring, there was not a hint of charm, only an indifference that kept people at a distance, and... a deep, bone-carved disgust.

"Get lost."

She only said one word, her voice crisp, yet carrying a bone-chilling coldness.

After saying this, she was about to close the door.

"Miss Liu, I am Gu Yan. I apologize for the abrupt visit, but I mean no harm." Gu Yan's voice sounded calmly.

Liu Ruyan's action of closing the door stopped.

In her indifferent eyes, there was finally a trace of fluctuation.

She pulled the door open a little more, peering through the gap to re-examine the man outside.

"The head of the Gu Family? That... rejuvenated... Old Immortal Gu?" Her tone carried thirty percent surprise and seventy percent sarcasm.

Evidently, Gu Yan's reputation in Luoyun Town was already known to everyone.

"I dare not claim the title of immortal, but I am indeed Gu Yan." Gu Yan smiled faintly.

Liu Ruyan's gaze lingered on his face for a moment, as if judging the purpose of his visit.

She had long since seen enough of the way men in town looked at her.

It was nothing more than two types.

One type was naked desire, wishing they could devour her alive.

The other type was evasion mixed with fear and disgust.

But this man before her...

His gaze was very strange.

Very calm, very clear, like a deep pool, showing no ripples at all.

No desire, and no disgust.

What he had was only a... pure... inquiry, as if a craftsman inspecting a piece of unpolished jade.

This kind of gaze made her feel strange, and also... a little uncomfortable.

"Old Immortal Gu has graced me with his presence; I fear my little dilapidated courtyard cannot accommodate such a great Buddha." Liu Ruyan's tone remained caustic. "If you have something to say, say it at the door. Once you're done, hurry along, lest you be cursed to death by this 'Jinx'."

She deliberately emphasized the two words "Jinx," as if mocking herself, or perhaps giving a warning.

Gu Yan did not mind the thorns in her words.

He just looked at her quietly. As a Cultivator at the Qi Refinement Stage, his keen spiritual perception, under such close contact with her, finally clearly sensed the... unusual aura lingering around her body!

A... extremely gloomy, extremely deep cold Qi!

This cold Qi was not a coldness in temperature, but a more essential, Yin coldness originating from the Origin of life!

It was like an invisible vortex, slowly circulating within Liu Ruyan's body, and constantly radiating outward at all times.

Ordinary Mortals have weak Yang Qi. If they have prolonged close contact with her, or even intimate relations, their own Yang Qi would be continuously eroded and devoured by this Yin cold Qi.

At best, they would fall severely ill; at worst... their Yang Qi would be exhausted, and they would die suddenly!

So that was it!

This was the truth behind her being a "husband-killer"!

A stormy sea surged in Gu Yan's heart!

This kind of innate special Physique, he had only seen sporadic records of it in some ancient Daoist classics!

This was absolutely not some ominous curse, but a rare, highly coveted treasure for Cultivators...

[Alert! Alert! Alert!]

Just at the moment Gu Yan's heart was shaken, the System, which had been playing dead for a long time, suddenly screamed frantically in his mind like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, using an unprecedented, sharp, almost screeching alarm sound!

[High energy reaction! Extremely high-value target detected!]

[Initiating deep scan... Beep beep beep... Analyzing data... Matching database...]

[Holy shit!!!]

An exclamation filled with modern vernacular exploded directly in Gu Yan's consciousness.

[Host! You... you motherf*cker... you hit the jackpot!!!]

The System's voice trembled violently from extreme excitement, and even the signature electric microphone static became chaotic.

[This... this is not an ordinary Yin-cold Physique! This is... this is the one-in-a-million...]

[Profound Yin Body!!!]

[Oh my god! Oh my mother! My KPI for this quarter... no! My KPI for this whole year... is going to explode! Aaaaaah!!!]