Chapter 402: You are that Lu Yang who even dares to hit the judges?

Brother Zhao was an old hand, unlike Miss Ye and Miss Wenren, who were new to the adventuring world. He, however, had been adventuring for two or three years and was very experienced.

During their journey together, his experience made him the leader among the three.

But he never imagined that of the "three brothers" they were, he would be the only male in the end!

How could he ever live that down?

Lu Yang patted Brother Zhao's shoulder, offering comfort.

Brother Zhao, however, didn't feel comforted at all.

His living corpse was much better; it wouldn't deceive him.

Miss Ye's eyes were red as she reluctantly looked at everyone. "My family allowed me to leave home, but they required me not to reveal my female identity. If it were exposed, I would have to return immediately."

Originally, she had thought that even if her identity was exposed, it would be worth it if she could confess to Brother Wenren. If Brother Wenren accepted her confession, she would have him marry into the Ye family and enjoy a life of wealth and luxury.

Now, it seemed she had been too optimistic.

Not only had her identity been exposed, requiring her to go home, but her confession had also failed, rejected on the spot.

Her cheeks were burning red. Even if her family hadn't required her to return, she would have been too embarrassed to stay there any longer.

Miss Wenren also showed a similar expression, reluctantly bidding farewell to everyone, her voice low: "I am from the Wenren family in Liangzhou. My situation is similar to Miss Ye's. The clan elders said my thumb ring is a spiritual treasure of extremely high quality and absolutely impossible to be seen through. It would only be exposed if I actively revealed my identity. Now that I have revealed it, I have no choice but to go home."

Just as Lu Yang said, "Which of you three is disguised as a man?", her expression changed dramatically. She thought Lu Yang had seen through her disguise and was about to remove her thumb ring to undo her disguise and confess to Brother Ye, but unexpectedly, Brother Ye revealed himself first. She was a step too slow.

Although the outcome would have been similar.

The Wenren family of Liangzhou: Lu Yang had heard a little about this family. The Wenren family was a branch that had separated from the barbarian tribes, changed their surname from Man to Wenren, and migrated to Liangzhou.

If one had been near the Western Regions, they would find many people with bronze skin there.

If it came down to it, Miss Wenren might even be distantly related to Man Gu.

"You're from the Wenren family?"

Miss Ye was surprised. As a member of another prominent Liangzhou family, she had naturally heard of the Wenren family.

"Yes, my name is Wenren Hui."

"Want to go home together? We could look out for each other."

"Sounds good."

"Shall I escort you two?" Brother Zhao, as their leader, still maintained the demeanor of an elder brother, even though he had been deceived.

"Oh, no, no," both girls quickly refused. They had deceived him throughout their journey and were too embarrassed to trouble Brother Zhao further.

After seeing the two girls off, only Lu Yang, Brother Zhao, and an unresponsive living corpse remained.

"Oh, right, I haven't had a chance to introduce myself yet. My name is Lu Yang, from the Daoist Sect." Lu Yang emerged from his shock over the two girls being disguised as men, finally remembering that he hadn't introduced himself.

Brother Zhao's eyes widened. He looked at Lu Yang in disbelief. He hadn't expected the other person to be from such a prestigious background, no wonder he could see through the disguise of the two girls, which Brother Zhao had never been able to. "You're from the Daoist Sect?!"

"Wait, Lu Yang? The one who showed off his skills at the Qingzhou Grand Ceremony, defeated all competitors, bravely won first place, and even beat up the judges?!"

Brother Zhao was greatly surprised. In the cultivation world, no young person hadn't heard Lu Yang's name recently. People from the five major immortal sects were already widely watched, and coupled with Lu Yang's feat of fighting Foundation Establishment cultivators as a Core Formation cultivator and beating up judges, it was difficult not to notice him.

Lu Yang had been cultivating recently and hadn't left the Daoist Sect; otherwise, he would have long since realized that the outside world was talking about him and Meng Jingzhou.

"Hold on, what do you mean I even dared to beat up the judges... I guess it's not entirely wrong."

He had merely challenged a prodigy from another immortal sect, so how did the rumors spread to him beating up judges?

Who spread this rumor? What a skilled rumor-monger!

"Senior Brother Lu, you might not have heard of me. I am Zhao Po from the Corpse Herding Sect."

Zhao Po said humbly. He was considered excellent among the younger generation, but compared to Lu Yang, he was slightly inferior.

"I just heard about you, the second-best in the Corpse Herding Sect."

Lu Yang recalled the somewhat useless information he had bought at the merchant guild: The Corpse Herding Sect's grand competition had ended. The winner was Huang Ming, just turned eighteen, a Core Formation cultivator, and had been accepted as the sect leader's direct disciple. The second place was Zhao Po, also just turned eighteen, a Core Formation cultivator.

"It's second place in the sect's grand competition," Zhao Po corrected Lu Yang.

"It's all the same. Come on, my brother Meng Jingzhou is up ahead. You've probably heard of him," Lu Yang said with a smile. He hadn't expected to meet someone from the Corpse Herding Sect here; it would save him a lot of trouble.

Zhao Po's eyes lit up. He also hadn't expected that a random passerby he had picked up on the road would be the sensation Lu Yang, with the equally sensational Meng Jingzhou following.

Although, as soon as Lu Yang appeared, his small team broke up.

"Isn't there a fight between powerful cultivators ahead? Can we get past?"

"What fight? Old Meng is cursed; all women will stay away from him. That's why you couldn't proceed!" Lu Yang, finding humor in his sorrow, burst out laughing.

Zhao Po was visibly startled by the curse. "There's such a curse? From the Valley of Seven Emotions? No, that's not right; how would the Valley of Seven Emotions dare to curse someone from your Daoist Sect?"

"It's a bit complicated to explain. We came to Barren State precisely to solve this problem."

The two arrived at the carriage. The rain had cleared, and Meng Jingzhou had already cleared the path blocked by the mudslide. He was now taking out barbecue equipment and eating with gusto.

"Haha, Old Meng, I'm back! I've been through a lot on this trip. What, you're asking what happened? Well, let me tell you all about it!" Lu Yang, without waiting for Meng Jingzhou to actually ask, launched into a detailed account of his journey.

"Let me tell you, it's such a shame you weren't there! After we set off, first, I encountered two young ladies kidnapped. I played the hero, saved the damsels in distress, and they wanted to pledge themselves to me. Then, I met a heroine escorting a bounty who was ambushed. I rescued her too, and she was so grateful, hinting that I could go to her escort agency and marry her. After that, I came across a martial arts competition for marriage, and honestly, the young woman was quite pretty."

"When I reached a nearby city, I encountered a ruffian harassing women in the street. Could I tolerate that? I decisively intervened, then fought the young one, then the old one, and straightened out their entire family in one go until they were completely submissive. The woman who was harassed said she had no way to repay such great kindness and also wanted to pledge herself to me."

"Don't you think my experiences along the way were just incredibly rich, Old Meng?" Lu Yang shook his head, looking as if he wished there was more to tell.

Meng Jingzhou's eyes turned red with envy.

Zhao Po stood silently to the side, contemplating whether he should observe or step in to help if a fight broke out later.

He had heard these two were both Core Formation cultivators, and he himself was also a Core Formation cultivator. If they really started fighting, he should be able to break it up, right?