"Because you're uglier than me. If that girl fancies you, it proves she's a good girl," Shen Yan said, turning his face slightly.
Mu Anxiao glanced at the passersby, then trotted to Shen Yan's side and deliberately brought his face closer: "Then I can be sure you'll never find a partner in this life. You should stop thinking about becoming an immortal."
"As long as you're alive, you have to help me," Shen Yan pushed Mu Anxiao's face away and said, "Talk less, do more."
"Tch, I know. I'll go find you a matchmaker and a girl right away," Mu Anxiao said, rolling his eyes at Shen Yan before striding towards the small courtyard not far ahead.
Shen Yan watched Mu Anxiao's running posture, a smile playing on his lips: "This guy, though greedy, is quite reliable when it comes to business." He then walked leisurely in the direction Mu Anxiao had run.
Mu Anxiao stopped before the courtyard gate, clearing his throat nervously. "Is anyone home?"
"Who is it?"
A very unfriendly female voice called out from inside. Startled, Mu Anxiao turned to look at Shen Yan, who was walking towards him, and swallowed. "Who am I? I... can't quite say."
"You can't even say who you are?"
Mu Anxiao felt awkward.
The next moment, the door was pulled open, and the person's face came into Mu Anxiao's view.
"Are you a matchmaker?" she asked timidly, looking with surprise at the young woman before her.
The girl nodded. "Yes, I'm the only matchmaker within a hundred miles. Why... is it strange?"
Mu Anxiao hurriedly shook his head. "No, no. I just thought you'd be an older matchmaker, I didn't expect you to be so young."
"People say my voice is mature," the girl replied patiently. "And I must say, it's my first time meeting a young man who comes looking for a wife himself."
"Yes, do you have any well-qualified young ladies here? Someone gentle and elegant, understanding, who doesn't care about many things. Preferably someone who..." Mu Anxiao pursed his lips and said, "isn't afraid of ghosts, and has a destined connection with immortals, even better."
"Not afraid of ghosts? Destined connection with immortals?" the girl repeated, tilting her head back and bursting into laughter.
"What are you laughing at?" Mu Anxiao was bewildered.
"What kind of requirements are those? Not afraid of ghosts? Destined connection with immortals?" the girl said between laughs.
"I mean," Mu Anxiao pondered for a moment, clenching his fists slightly, "someone who believes in gods and ghosts."
"Is there a difference?" the girl asked, a mocking smile on her face.
Mu Anxiao's expression gradually turned awkward. He straightened up and shook his head. "No difference."
"Are you a cultivator, young man?" the girl asked casually.
"No," Mu Anxiao replied with a slight shake of his head.
"No," the girl repeated. She stepped over the threshold and placed a hand on Mu Anxiao's shoulder. "Then why are you making such a request? Wasting my time? Or are you playing with me?"
"That's not what I meant. Actually," Mu Anxiao gently pushed the girl's hand away, turning slightly to point at Shen Yan, who stood not far away, "I'm looking for a partner for him. He's a cultivator."
Following Mu Anxiao's gaze, the girl saw Shen Yan, who stood elegantly by the wall, his face deliberately turned away. She smiled. "The young gentleman you're pointing to certainly has the air of a cultivator."
"Many people say that," Mu Anxiao said uncomfortably.
For the past six months, every woman who had seen Shen Yan had shown this expression. Mu Anxiao was long accustomed to being mocked like this.