The three continued walking in the night through the silent city, heading southwest.

Ji Yuan didn’t mention the option of going to the City God Temple or anything like that. Zhang Rui already knew that she would have to go there in person to the situation.

For this kind of matter, Ji Yuan would not look to the ghosts and gods of the underworld. Firstly, it would be easy to stumble into jurisdiction disputes, and secondly, it would be troublesome. It was better to keep these solutions simple and crude.

Of the three of them, Ji Yuan was curious and had his own speculations, Wang Li was frowning, and Zhang Rui was the most relaxed. Mr. Ji had helped her by writing an Edict, which was equivalent to helping her temporarily condense her spiritual power, so she didn’t have to worry like before.

One peculiar aspect of Chengsu Prefecture’s capital was that the southern edge of the city actually did not have a wall, but instead directly bordered the Sushui River. As a large waterway, the width of this section of the river was dozens of zhang wide. This construction decision created a natural large port in the southwestern section of the city.

This large port was not only the water transportation hub of Chengsu Prefecture, but also one of the prefecture’s most prosperous locations. It was also a popular romantic spot. Of course, it was far from large compared to other constructions outside of Chengsu Prefecture.

The large performance boat that Zhang Rui mentioned, the Daxiu Ship,¹ was docked here. It was one of the more famous brothel ships in Chengsu Prefecture, and their red show² was even famous throughout You Province. Even some rich sons and young masters in the capital prefecture would visit due to its reputation.

As opposed to the silence of other parts of the city, there were still pedestrians in the parts of the city around the Sushui Pier at this current moment. Of course, it was obvious what their destination was, to be walking around outside at this hour and coming to such a place. Some of them had even secretly snuck out of their houses.

The Daxiu Ship was one destination; in fact, in addition to the tower ship, there was also a larger brothel on land next to it, called the Daxiu Building.³ The real Daxiu Ship was parked in a concave curve in the river behind the building. The buildings to either side belonged to the Daxiu Building, essentially forming a small harbor to surround the performance boat. Only after entering the brothel and walknig all the way to the back of the building could you enter the Daxiu Ship.

Before Ji Yuan and the others arrived, the sounds of mixed laughter, teasing, and screaming had already reached Ji Yuan’s ears. Soon, the complex smell of rouge and powder also rushed into his nose.

There was nothing to be embarrassed about; Ji Yuan led Wang Li directly into the brothel. Although Zhang Rui also followed, she had obviously cast a concealment technique, so that no one other than Ji Yuan and Wang Li could see her.

“Mr. Zhang, you are here quite late today?”

“Official Zhao, have a good time!”

“Come on, gentlemen, come on in…”

Some women outside the brothel were pulling customers. At this hour, some people who passed by outside would directly go in. There was no need to pretend this late. Even if some people pretended to pass by, they would half-push and half-be-pushed into the building after being called.

“Hey~! Mr. Wang, you are here again~ Come in quickly! Oh, who is this gentleman, such a charming demeanor!”

The three of them got closer, and Wang Li was immediately recognized by the girls outside. Someone immediately came over and took his hand to lead him inside.

“Uh, heh… Mr. Ji, I… I don’t come here that often…”

The brothel girls were quite discerning. They had a rough understanding of who could be pulled intimately, and whom it would be better not to touch too casually.

For example, Wang Li was pulled in quite affectionately, and they even rubbed against him with their bodies, but the others did not dare to do so with Ji Yuan, despite how many girls were watching him, and some who were even moved by his appearance.

But Ji Yuan was just standing there, and no one dared to casually pull him in.

“Hmph, not that often? Who would believe that? Mr. Ji, look, this guy can’t even be honest!”

Wang Li’s face flushed red, and he didn’t dare to look at Ji Yuan’s expression. This was the immortal of his dream, and he didn’t want to consider what he might think of him.

Ji Yuan had never faced this kind of situation in his previous life. If it had been the Ji Yuan of before, he would probably have blushed heavily, but at this moment, there was no particular emotion on his face, and his mood was relatively indifferent. Of course, there was still a trace of nervousness in his heart, but he was neither excited nor disgusted by the scene.

In the previous world, if one could regard prostitutes as people who were just trying to make easy money,⁴ then in this world, the girls in the brothels were were basically either sold to a brothel as children, or had become prostitutes due to some disaster. The social and environmental pressure of this industry was enough to crush people. Aside from a lucky few, there was almost no chance of these women being able to start anew in their lives.

“Mr. Wang, why don’t you come in? Sir, would you like to come in and rest for a while? It’s very windy and cold outside!”

These girls could see that Wang Li was looking at Ji Yuan with an embarrassed look on his face.

Ji Yuan nodded immediately.

“Mr. Wang, let’s go in.”

The women to the side were overjoyed, and immediately several of them rushed to hold Ji Yuan’s hand.

“Buzz…”

The Green Vine Sword behind Ji Yuan suddenly rang out, and a burst of suppressed sword intent filled Ji Yuan’s body, radiating over half a zhang away.

Both Wang Li and some of the brothel girls heard a ringing in their ears, felt extremely flustered. Many people even subconsciously took a few steps back in a panic.

“They are just misfortunate people who have no choice.”

Ji Yuan murmured in a low voice, and the terrifying feeling that made people’s hearts race disappeared instantly.

Zhang Rui retreated a dozen feet in horror, looking at Ji Yuan’s position from a distance, not daring to approach. She could sense it more clearly than ordinary mortals.

At that very moment, it was as if she could see an illusion of endless bright silver light filling her entire perception. It carried an indescribable sharpness, as if she were an ordinary person feeling the piercing sensation of a knife, scraping her bone with icy wind.

At this moment, Zhang Rui suddenly remembered that in the original version of “The White Deer’s Fate,” there was an immortal sword hanging around the “old immortal.”

‘That means…’

The goddess in white subconsciously glanced around Ji Yuan and in the sky above him. Just because she couldn’t see it didn’t mean it wasn’t there. It was normal for someone with a lower level of cultivation to not be able to see the immortal weapon.

While Zhang Rui was stunned, Ji Yuan and Wang Li had already entered the Daxiu Building. However, as opposed to the other guests, who were being hugged and tugged as they entered, the girls around the two of them only dared to lead them from the front at a distance, saying a few awkward words in conversation, and they didn’t dare touch their bodies at all.

Shaking her head, Zhang Rui gritted her teeth and followed them inside.

Inside the Daxiu Building, the busy Madam was arranging for several guests to be brought upstairs. When she turned around, she spotted Ji Yuan and Wang Li coming in, but her eyes only stopped on Wang Li for a moment before focusing directly on Ji Yuan. At first glance, she could tell that this newcomer might be of extraordinary status.

“Oh, Mr. Wang, you are here to do business again. Unfortunately, Miss Hongxiu still has customers today… And who might this be…”

The Madam greeted him with a smile, fanning herself with a round fan, and glared at the girls next to him. These girls were too ignorant, and couldn’t tell who should be more warmly entertained.

“Sir, are you Mr. Wang’s friend?”

The Madam stood beside Ji Yuan with a smile, and pretended to look him over casually. Although she couldn’t see any expensive accessories on his body, and his clothes were simple, he still felt extraordinary.

In particular, when she took a closer look at the seemingly ordinary black jade hairpin, it resembled transparent glass under the light, attracting people’s eyes.

‘Extremely rare, extremely precious! What a big fish!’⁵

When Wang Li heard the Madam’s words, he subconsciously showed some slight panic.

“Oh, madam,⁶ don’t speak nonsense. How could I be qualified to be Mr. Ji’s friend… Sir is… uh, my elder, yes, he is of the honored generation!”

Although Wang Li was just a storyteller, he was experienced in the ways of the world. Some young masters who appeared to be distinguished were in fact not so esteemed in Wang Li’s eyes. Occasionally, when he drank too much, he would inadvertently reveal this attitude.

Seeing Wang Li’s cautious reaction at this moment, the Madam smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum. She fanned the fragrance of rouge and powder towards Ji Yuan with two movements, bowed, and offered a thousand blessings.⁷

“Hahahaha… Mr. Wang must be joking. Sir, why don’t come to the performance boat~ The girls in the performance building are not worthy of you!”

The smell of excessive powder made Ji Yuan feel a little uncomfortable. The Green Vine Sword behind him did not ring out or emit any sword intent, but in the spiritual text on the scabbard, the character “concealed” had actually faded. If someone who was aware of this could see it, they would probably break out into a cold sweat.

Ji Yuan resisted the urge to blow away the thick and choking smell of powder with a wind technique, and calmly asked the Madam.

“I wonder if Miss Hongxiu is free?”

“Uh…this…Sir, Miss Hongxiu is playing the piano for Elder Official Liu. Elder Official Liu is the uncle of the prefect of Chengsu Prefecture. Sir, he is an official, we must afford him some respect, so we should…”

“Tsk…”

Listening to the Madam’s chattering explanation, Wang Li couldn’t help but sneer. How could the prefect’s uncle compare to Mr. Ji?

As soon as this sound came out, he watched Ji Yuan turn to look at him with indifference. He was so scared that his face turned pale, and he didn’t dare react any more.

The Madam’s eyes lit up, and her heart trembled slightly. What a man, he didn’t even care about the prefect, he was even better than she imagined!

“Uh, hahaha… How about the two of you head to the Daxiu Ship first to rest and have some tea?”

The Madam smiled, and continued considering her approach in her heart. This guest definitely had to stay.

“All right.”

Ji Yuan smiled for the first time since had entered this brothel, and walked towards the back of the building. A faint demonic aura was floating out from the back of the brothel, and Ji Yuan couldn’t smell any traces of powder to cover it up.

Just as Wang Li was about to catch up, he found himself being held back by the Madam, who laned close to his ear and asked in a low voice.

“Mr. Wang, Mr. Wang, what’s the background of that gentleman? I promise not to tell anyone. Please give me a definite answer. If his identity is important enough, Miss Hongxiu will…”

Wang Li’s eyes lit up, and he looked at Ji Yuan, who was almost ten paces away in front, and leaned closer to the Madam’s ear.

“If I tell you about his identity, it would scare you to death. Don’t even mention the prefect’s uncle, even the prefect himself cannot compare! As for who he is… I cannot say…”

“Oh oh oh… I understand…!”

The madam gulped and nodded with a look of astonishment. She understood that the identity of this gentleman was not so simple. She looked back, she found that the man in question had already gone far away, and hurriedly turned around to pursue him.

Zhang Rui carefully stepped closer to Ji Yuan and asked in a low voice.

“Mr. Ji, can I help you drive that vixen out?”

Ji Yuan shook his head.

“Your skills are not good enough. That fox demon is not so simple; it is not just a fox skilled in deceit, it might be a fox demon who has already achieved its transformation, or perhaps even more powerful than that! There are too many people here…”

1. Again, this naming was not in the raws, but I added to clarify what I will be calling the performance boat from here on. 大秀 (dà xiù) literally means “big beauty” or “big show”
2. Red, as in red light district, being the color of the lanterns used to demarcate the brothel/pleasure districts. “Red show” would mean that it’s the prostitutes performing. However, this is not necessarily sexual in nature, as this show might consist of playing musical instruments or dancing.
3. Same characters as previously mentioned for “performance boat,” except change the single character 船 (chuán) “boat” to 楼 (lóu) “building”
4. T/n: note that the sex industry in real life is a LOT more complex than JY is making it seem here. My respect to those who work in it
5. A common Chinese metaphor. In the sense of “I caught a big fish” for attracting a wealthy customer.
6. Prev. Madam (capitalized) meaning the proprietress/manager of the brothel, while this madam is an honorific
7. A specific formal, respectful bowing posture: left hand wrapped around right, hands held in front of chest.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read