Chapter 36

The young girl was precisely Zhong Ling.

Zhong Ling was about sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing a green shirt, with a round face, a tiny dimple at the corner of her mouth, a face like the morning glow, eyes like autumn water, skin like congealed fat, and a smile like a flower; she was bright and charming.

In Gu Hanyuan's estimation, although Zhong Ling didn't reach a 90-point rating, she was very close.

Especially when she smiled, she was innocent and romantic, as lovely as a fairy from next door.

Just looking at her made one feel happy.

Gu Hanyuan leaped lightly onto the rafters and sat beside Zhong Ling.

He didn't expect Zhong Ling to be so engrossed in watching the sparring below that she didn't notice someone had appeared beside her.

Gu Hanyuan patted her shoulder lightly, finding it somewhat amusing.

Zhong Ling had been watching the sparring below intently; although their martial arts weren't high, the way the two flattered each other was quite interesting.

Suddenly, her shoulder was patted, and she turned her head to see a dark and eerie Asura mask.

She was so frightened that she lost her balance and nearly screamed as she fell from the rafters.

Seeing Zhong Ling's intense reaction, Gu Hanyuan wrapped one arm around her waist to stabilize her, while his other hand extended an index finger to press against her lips, forcefully blocking the scream that was about to escape.

Zhong Ling was so shocked that her eyes widened, and she didn't dare to move at all.

"Be careful, don't fall."

Gu Hanyuan released the finger pressing against Zhong Ling's lips and chuckled softly.

However, he did not withdraw the hand that was holding Zhong Ling's waist.

He only felt her youthful vitality and elasticity.

Zhong Ling was still shaken, but seeing that Gu Hanyuan hadn't harmed her and had even warned her, her emotions calmed down.

At this moment, she was looking at Gu Hanyuan's mask with a curious expression.

At first glance, it felt gloomy and terrifying, but after observing it carefully, she found the mask's patterns to be ancient and simple, possessing a mysterious attraction.

Especially the eyes revealing a shimmering divine light on the mask, which instead held a strange charm.

"Is it good-looking?"

Gu Hanyuan chuckled and asked while looking at Zhong Ling.

"It's quite good-looking. But why do you wear a mask?"

Zhong Ling revealed her infectious smile again.

"My face was ruined, and I was afraid of scaring people, so I put on a mask."

Gu Hanyuan casually bluffed Zhong Ling.

"Eh? How pitiful."

Zhong Ling had been kind-hearted since she was a child; just thinking about having one's face ruined made her feel that it was a very miserable thing.

At this moment, she instead began to sympathize with Gu Hanyuan.

"I'm already used to it."

Gu Hanyuan replied calmly.

Since his face wasn't ruined to begin with, of course he was calm.

"Do you want to eat some melon seeds?"

Zhong Ling handed the bag of melon seeds she was holding to Gu Hanyuan.