"You really don't know talent when you see it. You'll regret this. I'll join the white team!" Xiaoyao left this comment and decided to go to the white team, planning to make the red team regret it later.

"Go away, go play somewhere else. We're already full. Even if we were recruiting substitutes, we wouldn't take someone like you," the white team leader waved at Xiaoyao, telling him to go watch the match from the sidelines. Participation wasn't for him.

"You're all blind. I curse you all to lose!" Xiaoyao angrily cursed them.

"Haha, Le Xiaoyao, you're really funny! I was also rejected, so don't be angry. Besides, they can't all lose—someone has to win," Luo Baochai laughed, finding Xiaoyao really amusing, while her companions were also secretly laughing.

"If they tie, don't they both lose!" Xiaoyao didn't mind their laughter, just stared at the red and white teams while cursing: You definitely won't have good results.

"You might be right about that..." Luo Baochai smiled, but she didn't think Xiaoyao's words would come true. The probability of a tie was really too small.

But the result left Luo Baochai and the others flabbergasted. The red and white teams actually tied, and then started arguing. When they couldn't agree, they even started fighting, resulting in a group brawl.

"See? Didn't they both lose? This is what happens when you don't let me participate!" Xiaoyao said gloatingly.

...

...

"..." Luo Baochai and the others were speechless. This outcome really did mean both sides lost. Originally, a tie wouldn't have mattered, but with the fighting, both sides naturally lost.

Could it be that his curse succeeded?

Soon, the brawl was stopped. Fifth Master Luo and other organizers rushed over and quickly stopped both sides.

"Hey, if you're injured, don't worry! I have the best wound medicine and Great Strength Pills—one tael of silver each. If you want them, hurry up. Limited quantities!"

A certain someone seemed to think things weren't exciting enough and ran off to hawk pills...

"..." Luo Baochai and the others were even more speechless. The others were the same, all secretly wondering who this kid was—wasn't this just adding insult to injury? Kicking them while they were down!

"Get lost!!"

"You really don't know quality goods. Be careful you don't have aftereffects!" The certain someone cursed again, nearly causing the red and white teams to riot.

"Le Xiaoyao, you really dare to say anything! You've offended quite a few people. This will be troublesome," Luo Baochai said somewhat helplessly.

"They offended me first by not letting me participate in cuju!" Xiaoyao's resentment seemed quite strong. He had originally gone to participate happily but was rejected, so his mood was understandable.

"Offending them over this—you're being too childish," Luo Baochai sighed. She still understood these social dynamics well.

"What's to fear? They're just people still under their parents' and families' protection. When they grow up, then we can talk. Right now they're simply not worth mentioning," Xiaoyao said very nonchalantly. He really didn't take that group seriously. Or rather, among all these young masters and ladies here, not one could make him feel they couldn't be offended—they didn't even qualify to be taken seriously by him.

"Fine, you're amazing. You're incredible!" Luo Baochai gave Xiaoyao a look, feeling he was being a bit arrogant. But she didn't think his offense would cause any problems. After all, with the Luo family's protection, others wouldn't make trouble over such small matters. At least nothing major would happen.

At this moment, Xiaoyao seemed to gain another label: arrogant and lacking social skills.

If a perfect score was one hundred points, Xiaoyao was now at negative fifty points. He couldn't even be considered failing—before him, even zero points would be considered decent.

This was the opinion of Luo Baochai's companions, and this opinion almost determined that Xiaoyao's blind date would have absolutely no results this time, and might even have negative effects.

These companions would spread this matter sooner or later. Rumors traveled fast—within an hour, almost half the women who came here already knew of Xiaoyao's existence. He had become a negative example.

Because of Xiaoyao's stark contrast, some people who originally wouldn't have been compatible actually got together. They should give Xiaoyao a big matchmaker's red envelope!

"Why do these women look at me like they're seeing a lover?" While climbing Yanhua Mountain, Xiaoyao suddenly said this because he saw many women looking at him with strange expressions.

"Pfft..."

Xiaoyao's comment immediately made several nearby women spit.

"Cough cough... Le Xiaoyao, they're looking down on you. Your self-perception is way too good," Luo Baochai had been walking with Xiaoyao all along because she found him quite interesting and fun to talk with.

"Why would they look down on me? Just because I dress more normally than you all?" Xiaoyao said.

"...This..." Luo Baochai didn't know how to continue. Should she say that her companions had spread word about him, and everyone now knew he was a negative comparison with negative points?

"Stop joking around. Let's climb the mountain first. The scenery from Yanhua Mountain's peak is very beautiful," another companion said, changing the topic. Saying it to his face would make them feel a bit embarrassed.

"Right, mountain climbing, and we can see the sunset too," Xiaoyao said. "Are there houses on the peak? We seem to be staying overnight up there."

"There's a Yanhua Temple up there, and not far away there's also a Daoist temple, plus a nunnery! But Yanhua Temple is enough for us to stay in. The abbot there has frequent dealings with us," Luo Baochai said.

"...Monks, Daoists, nuns..." Xiaoyao only noticed these three things.

"Le Xiaoyao, aren't you tired carrying such a big backpack? Why don't you have servants carry it?" At this point, apart from servants, only Xiaoyao was carrying things, naturally arousing Luo Baochai's curiosity.

"Not tired. For martial artists, what's this little bit? These are emergency supplies that naturally need to be carried personally. You people should at least carry some dry food yourselves. In the wilderness like this, if something happens, it would be a headache," Xiaoyao said.

"Nothing will happen. There are so many people here, and this isn't our first time coming to this place," Luo Baochai and the others smiled charmingly at Xiaoyao's words, very unconcerned.

"Better safe than sorry. You never know what might happen," Xiaoyao said seriously.

"Then you just keep carrying it. If anything happens, you have to take care of us," Luo Baochai and the others said with smiles.

"No, you're laughing at me, so no taking care!"

"..."

They arrived at the peak amid laughter all the way. The whole world suddenly opened up, giving a feeling of "standing at the absolute peak to view all the small mountains below"—though only a little bit, since this wasn't a very high mountain after all.

However, on the peak there was a pavilion built on very ingenious terrain, making people in the pavilion feel as if they were suspended in mid-air. From this pavilion, looking down, one could overlook the earth below—the land dyed yellow by rapeseed flowers, plus those streams, making the scene very beautiful.

This pavilion was one of Yanhua Mountain's major scenic spots, called Lingjue Pavilion. Timid people seemed afraid to go up because being on it felt like you could fall off the mountain at any moment.

"Oh, you can see Flowing Moon City from here! Even the Luo family compound is visible," Xiaoyao observed from above, discovering that distant Flowing Moon City seemed right before his eyes, just looking a bit smaller.

"Of course!" Luo Baochai said. At this moment, there seemed to be only the two of them in Lingjue Pavilion. The others had no interest in this pavilion and had all gone into Yanhua Temple to rest.

This was natural, because they weren't first-time visitors. Although they might not have come together before, each person had been here several times. The pavilion was somewhat fresh the first time, but now they had no interest. Most importantly, they were tired and needed rest.

"With a telescope, I could even see my current courtyard. If someone wanted to spy on Flowing Moon City, this would be a good place!" At this moment, Xiaoyao took out a telescope—a product of mechanical arts. Some well-made ones were even better than modern telescopes.

"You have a telescope? Let me see, let me see!" Luo Baochai called out excitedly, reaching out to grab the telescope from Xiaoyao's hands.

"Here!" Xiaoyao said irritably. Did she need to grab it? If she asked, he would lend it to her.

"Wow, so clear! I can see my courtyard and even the people inside—that should be Mother..."

"The people inside look like ants. How could you recognize them!" Xiaoyao said irritably. Although the telescope's effect was good, it wasn't that good.

"This is a woman's intuition—you wouldn't understand!"

"..."

"By the way, Le Xiaoyao, where did you get this telescope? It looks quite advanced—even better than my father's," Luo Baochai asked somewhat puzzledly.

"I made it myself!" Xiaoyao replied.

"Bragging again..." Luo Baochai said irritably.

"Believe it or not. I'm going into the temple to look around. When you're done playing, give it back to me," Xiaoyao said nonchalantly, as if the telescope were just an ordinary object. But Luo Baochai knew it wasn't ordinary—mechanical arts weren't that easy, especially making such high-level ones, which was even more difficult.

"Oh, I know," Luo Baochai didn't seem to pay much attention either, perhaps because Xiaoyao considered her family and didn't mind leaving it in her hands.

"Baochai, let me see. I also want to look at my home."

After Xiaoyao left, Luo Baochai's companions became active, asking for the telescope. Previously, they had seemed somewhat disdainful, as if they didn't want to take Xiaoyao's things.

(End of Chapter)