Chapter 4 The Woman From the Medicine Hall

Tang Hui eventually discovered something deeply concerning.

Gu Beichen was completely hopeless.

Not slightly awkward.

Not inexperienced.

Hopeless.

“No smiling,” Tang Hui said firmly while rubbing her forehead. “Absolutely no smiling.”

Gu Beichen frowned slightly. “You just said I should appear gentler.”

“Yes, but your version of gentle looks like the final scene before a massacre.”

Several nearby disciples immediately nodded in agreement.

One of them muttered, “I nearly drew my sword just now.”

Gu Beichen fell silent.

For some reason, he looked genuinely troubled by this information.

Tang Hui suddenly felt a little sympathetic.

Just a little.

The man clearly possessed talent, status, appearance, and terrifying cultivation.

Unfortunately, heaven had apparently compensated by removing all social ability.

“Senior Brother,” Tang Hui said patiently, “romantic interactions are not sword duels.”

Gu Beichen considered this seriously. “There are similarities.”

“There absolutely are not.”

“Both require timing.”

Tang Hui opened her mouth.

Then paused.

“…That is unfortunately reasonable.”

Old Chen, who had been secretly listening while pretending to organize artifacts, looked horrified. “Why are you encouraging him?”

Tang Hui ignored him.

Professional consultants did not abandon clients halfway through emotional crises.

Especially wealthy clients.

“Alright,” she said, dragging a chair closer. “We’re starting from the beginning.”

The surrounding disciples instantly grew excited.

Someone had even started eating spirit melon while watching.

Tang Hui pointed at Gu Beichen. “Imagine I’m the girl you like.”

The entire marketplace became silent.

Then dozens of disciples nearly exploded at once.

“WHAT?”

Old Chen dropped an artifact.

A nearby talisman disciple inhaled tea directly into his lungs.

Tang Hui immediately looked annoyed. “I said imagine.”

The crowd quieted slightly, though several disciples still looked emotionally unstable.

Gu Beichen himself remained calm. “Understood.”

Tang Hui nodded professionally. “Good. Now approach naturally.”

Gu Beichen stepped forward.

Tang Hui instantly raised a hand. “Too intense.”

“…I only took one step.”

“Yes, but it felt spiritually threatening.”

The surrounding disciples nodded vigorously.

Gu Beichen adjusted slightly before walking forward again.

This time, he slowed his pace.

Better.

Still intimidating.

But no longer looked like he was about to eliminate witnesses.

Tang Hui folded her arms approvingly. “Now say something.”

Gu Beichen looked at her silently for several moments before speaking.

“…Your courtyard spirit herbs appear healthy.”

Tang Hui stared at him.

The surrounding crowd also stared at him.

A painful silence spread across the market.

Finally, Tang Hui rubbed her forehead again. “Senior Brother… have you ever actually spoken to women before?”

“Yes.”

“What did you talk about?”

“…Swordsmanship.”

“That explains everything.”

Several female disciples nearby sighed heavily in disappointment.

Gu Beichen frowned slightly. “Swordsmanship is important.”

“Not during romantic conversations.”

“I see.”

Tang Hui suddenly understood why the poor girl from the medicine hall kept fleeing.

Wait.

Her expression froze slightly.

Medicine hall?

Tang Hui narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“Senior Brother.”

“Yes?”

“The girl you like… she’s from the medicine hall?”

Gu Beichen paused briefly before nodding once.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Tang Hui’s curiosity immediately intensified.

The medicine hall disciples rarely interacted with sword cultivators unless someone was injured.

Which, considering sword cultivators, probably happened constantly.

Tang Hui leaned forward slightly. “How did you meet her?”

For the first time since arriving, Gu Beichen looked faintly uncomfortable.

The reaction was subtle.

Most people probably would not notice it.

Tang Hui noticed instantly.

Oh?

This was becoming good.

“She treated my injuries once,” Gu Beichen answered calmly.

Tang Hui stared at him.

Then at the sword hanging from his waist.

Then back at him again.

“You fell in love because someone applied medicine to you?”

The surrounding disciples looked equally shocked.

Gu Beichen frowned slightly. “That is an oversimplification.”

Tang Hui looked deeply unconvinced.

“What exactly happened?”

There was another brief silence before Gu Beichen answered.

“Three months ago, I returned from a sect mission severely injured.”

Several nearby disciples immediately straightened in surprise.

Tang Hui also blinked.

Inner sect missions were dangerous.

For someone like Gu Beichen to be severely injured…

that mission had clearly not been simple.

Gu Beichen continued calmly, “Most people avoided me because my sword intent was unstable at the time.”

Tang Hui understood immediately.

Injured sword cultivators were notoriously dangerous.

If their sword intent became unstable, even standing nearby could result in accidental injury.

“But she didn’t avoid you?” Tang Hui asked.

Gu Beichen shook his head once.

“She treated my injuries normally.”

His voice remained calm.

But something softer entered his expression briefly.

“She was not afraid.”

The noisy marketplace gradually became quieter.

Even the disciples who had originally gathered for gossip were listening seriously now.

Tang Hui rested her chin against her hand thoughtfully.

Ah.

Now she understood.

It wasn’t simply because the girl was beautiful.

Or kind.

Or gentle.

For someone like Gu Beichen, who spent most of his life being feared or admired from a distance…

someone treating him normally probably felt very different.

Tang Hui sighed softly.

Cultivators really were emotionally dramatic creatures.

“So what happened afterward?” she asked.

Gu Beichen lowered his gaze slightly. “Nothing.”

“…Nothing?”

“She continued avoiding me.”

Tang Hui stared at him in disbelief.

“After treating your injuries?”

“Yes.”

“That makes no sense.”

The surrounding disciples immediately nodded.

One girl from the crowd muttered, “If I treated Senior Brother Gu personally, I would remember it for the next hundred years.”

Another female disciple agreed instantly.

Gu Beichen remained completely calm despite the increasingly emotional atmosphere around him.

Tang Hui narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

No.

Something was strange here.

Women did not randomly avoid handsome men who looked at them like tragic immortal paintings.

Unless—

A horrifying possibility suddenly entered her mind.

Tang Hui looked at Gu Beichen carefully.

“…Senior Brother.”

“Yes?”

“When you visited the medicine hall after recovering…”

Gu Beichen waited calmly.

“…Did you thank her properly?”

Gu Beichen was silent.

Tang Hui felt immediate danger.

“Senior Brother,” she said slowly, “what exactly did you say?”

Another pause.

Then—

“I told her her bandaging technique required improvement.”

The entire marketplace froze.

Complete silence.

Even the wind seemed to stop.

Tang Hui closed her eyes briefly.

Nearby disciples looked spiritually devastated.

Old Chen covered his face with both hands.

Finally, Tang Hui spoke in a voice filled with deep exhaustion.

“…You criticized the woman you liked immediately after she treated your life-threatening injuries?”

Gu Beichen frowned slightly. “Her wrapping technique genuinely had flaws.”

“That is not the point!”

Several disciples nearly shouted the same thing simultaneously.

Gu Beichen looked genuinely confused by everyone’s reaction.

Tang Hui suddenly understood everything.

The running away.

The nervousness.

The avoidance.

This poor woman probably thought Gu Beichen hated her.

Tang Hui slowly sat back in her chair.

For the first time since opening her matchmaking stall, she truly understood the difficulty of her chosen profession.

This was not matchmaking.

This was repairing cultivation-induced emotional damage.