Ma Wenyuan wanted to sneer and mock Gu Yi for putting on airs, yet he discovered that his own emotions had begun to turn sorrowful against his will.
In fact, it was not only him. At this moment, everyone inside the red flower pavilion had been affected by Gu Yi!
A profound sorrow emanated from Gu Yi. Without saying a word, he had already made everyone present feel heartbroken and miserable.
Qin Muwan thought in a daze, “What kind of tragic and beautiful story does he have?”
Qin Murong pursed her lips, revealing a complicated expression. “Is he thinking about me?”
Gu Yi slowly paced forward, took a deep breath, and recited:
“When will the bright moon appear?
I raise my wine and ask the blue sky.
I do not know what year it is tonight in the celestial palace above.
I long to ride the wind and return, yet fear the crystal towers and jade palaces are too cold at such heights.
Rising to dance, I play with my clear shadow; how could it compare with being among mankind?
It turns around the vermilion tower, lowers itself by the carved window, and shines upon those who cannot sleep.
The moon should bear no grudge, so why does it become full whenever people must part?
People have sorrow and joy, reunion and separation; the moon has brightness and darkness, fullness and waning. Such things have rarely been perfect since ancient times.
May we all live long, sharing the moon across a thousand miles.”
Red Butterfly, wait for me. In my previous life, I misunderstood you and abandoned you. Afterward, for ten thousand years, I could never find you again.
In this life, I will do everything in my power to find you and rekindle our former relationship!
Gu Yi secretly made up his mind!
After the poem ended, the qin sisters’ eyes were moist, completely moved by the artistic conception expressed between its lines.
Moreover, for some unknown reason, both of them simultaneously felt as though a glass bottle deep within their hearts had shattered. The sensation was strange and indescribable, yet deeply painful.
“May we all live long, sharing the moon across a thousand miles. May we all live long, sharing the moon across a thousand miles…”
Above the third floor, Miss Yingying murmured to herself, her eyes filled with infatuation. She sighed with emotion, “Young Master Gu is truly a great talent of this age! Young Master Gu, please come upstairs. This humble girl is willing to serve you through the night.”
Gu Yi stood with his hands behind his back, gradually withdrawing his longing for the beautiful woman before heading up the stairs.
The brothel madam anxiously said, “Young Master Gu, your twenty thousand taels of gold…”
Xu Santong painfully took out the silver notes and said, “Come get them here!”
Ma Wenyuan glared furiously and said coldly, “Gu Yi, if you dare go upstairs tonight, once you leave the Red Flower Pavilion, I will beat you into a cripple!”
Gu Yi looked at him, turned around with his hands behind his back, left the path leading to the third floor, and slowly arrived before Ma Wenyuan.
Seeing that Gu Yi indeed dared not go upstairs, Ma Wenyuan immediately laughed smugly. “You have some sense after all. Apologize and admit your mistake now, and it may not be too late!”
Gu Yi struck like lightning, and a resounding slap suddenly landed across Ma Wenyuan’s face!
With a crisp smack, the blow sent Ma Wenyuan, who was at the fourth layer of the true essence realm, flying. He crashed through the second-floor railing like a spinning top and fell onto the ground floor.
“Gu Yi, how dare you!” Ma Wenyuan’s young companion opened his eyes wide in fury and swung his fist at Gu Yi.
This man actually possessed the cultivation level of the first level of the true essence realm!
Gu Yi delivered a fierce kick to the man’s lower abdomen, sending him doubling over like a shrimp before he fell from the second floor and landed beside Ma Wenyuan.
“How noisy!”
Leaving behind those two cold words, Gu Yi turned and headed for the third floor.
Ma Wenyuan rose to his feet, his face flushed with boundless fury. Clearly unwilling to accept this, he was about to start a fight when a middle-aged man in a flower-patterned robe walked out from inside the red flower pavilion. Narrowing his eyes, the man said with a smile, “nephew Ma, you know the rules of my Red Flower Pavilion.”
Ma Wenyuan looked at him with apparent apprehension, clenched his fists, and cast a cold glance at Gu Yi, who had reached the third floor. “Gu Yi, I will not let you off!”
Without even turning his head, Gu Yi entered the room with Miss Yingying and closed the door.
“Let’s go!” Feeling that he had lost face, Ma Wenyuan did not want to stay any longer and turned to leave.
On the second floor, Qin Murong looked at the tightly closed door on the third floor, clenched her delicate fists, and muttered, “That lecher! I thought there was some profound meaning behind the poem he composed, but it was entirely aimed at the First-Night Auction!”
Qin Muwan gently shook her head. “I feel that he has sorrowful experiences in his past.”
Qin Murong snorted coldly. “I do not want to stay here another moment! Are you coming or not? I am leaving!”
The moment she imagined Gu Yi and Miss Yingying being intimate and facing each other naked in the room, she felt flustered!
Qin Muwan gave the room on the third floor a deep look, sighed softly, and rose after her. “Let’s go.”
Just as the two were about to leave, the closed door on the third floor opened again, and Gu Yi walked out with his clothes perfectly neat.
Both women revealed delighted expressions.
It seemed that Gu Yi was not the kind of person they had imagined!
It was not only the qin sisters; everyone else also revealed puzzled expressions and looked up.
As the saying went, a moment of spring intimacy was worth a thousand pieces of gold. Why had Gu Yi come out instead of deepening his relationship with Miss Yingying in the room?
Gu Yi came to the railing and called out, “brothel madam, bring me a small jade bottle. I want to collect Miss Yingying’s blood.”
Everyone: “...”
The brothel madam beamed. “Hehe, I never expected Young Master Gu to have such a special preference! Young Master Gu, please wait. I will have the girl deliver it to you right away!”
“Blood?” Qin Murong froze for a moment. Then, as if realizing something, she snorted angrily and turned to leave!
Qin Muwan gave Gu Yi one lingering look before following her away.
Gu Yi turned and returned to the room.
Miss Yingying stood on the thick, soft luxury carpet in a red gauze dress. With a trace of confusion on her face, she asked with a smile, “Young Master Gu, what exactly do you mean by asking for a small jade bottle to hold this servant’s blood?”
Liu Yingying had fair skin and exquisite features, like an artwork crafted by the most perfect master artisan, making her utterly captivating.
Gu Yi smiled faintly, came to the table, and sat down of his own accord. “To be honest, your ability to make a person’s appearance change so exquisitely and naturally is truly extraordinary.”
Miss Yingying’s eyes reflected thought. Then, she said shyly, “Young Master Gu, I do not quite understand what you mean.”
Gu Yi said, “I have seen quite a few demonic spirits. They are bizarre in every way, and their cultivation levels are not low. Yet their aesthetic sense when transforming into human form is always strange. Very few can create a flawless appearance like yours.”
Miss Yingying’s expression grew somewhat unpleasant. “Young Master Gu, why do we not discuss the poem you composed just now? I like it very much.”
Gu Yi shook his head lightly. “The poem was merely a tool to approach you. I have no particular interest in poetry or song. My purpose in coming to the Red Flower Pavilion tonight is simple: I seek your essence blood. I hope Miss Yingying will grant my request.”
“Young Master Gu, what exactly do you mean?”
Miss Yingying’s expression became even more unpleasant.
Gu Yi smiled faintly. He knew that Miss Yingying did not want to admit that she was a demonic spirit.
In the Wuji Kingdom, from high-ranking officials down to commoners, people were generally unwelcoming toward the existence of demonic spirits. In their eyes, demonic spirits were outsiders and ill omens.
There were even many demon hunters who specialized in hunting demonic spirits to eliminate demons and uphold justice. This forced many demonic spirits to conceal themselves among humanity and avoid revealing their identities.
Gu Yi, however, had no prejudice whatsoever toward the existence of demonic spirits. In his previous life as the Eastern Emperor Demon Venerable, he had seen countless demons and monsters. In fact, among the ten titled supremes, two were demon supremes.
Even his beloved, Red Butterfly, was a demonic spirit.
Gu Yi had never exposed Miss Yingying’s identity because he did not want to frighten or embarrass her.
After pondering briefly, he tested the waters. “How about I give you another poem, and you give me a bottle of essence blood in return?”
Miss Yingying loved poetry so much. Perhaps using a poem as an exchange really could make her heart flutter?
Sure enough, Miss Yingying’s expression changed several times. She asked hesitantly, “Can Young Master Gu still compose a fine poem like Sharing the Moon Across a Thousand Miles?”
Gu Yi nodded. “Perhaps.”
Miss Yingying pondered for a long while before nodding firmly. “As long as Young Master Gu can compose another masterpiece of that caliber, Yingying will give young master a bottle of essence blood!”
Taisui Spirit essence blood was priceless. For Miss Yingying to make such a decision, she must truly be enamored with poetry.
Yet even now, Miss Yingying still refused to admit that she was a demonic spirit.
They understood each other without saying it.
Outside the window, a pattering rain began to fall, tapping against the windowsill with a steady drip-drip.
Someone knocked on the door. It was a slightly immature girl in a green dress, sent by the brothel madam to deliver the small jade bottle.
Miss Yingying accepted the jade bottle and smiled as she watched the girl leave.
After closing the door and turning around, she saw that Gu Yi had already spread out the paper and ink and begun writing.
“Red flowers cover the mossy steps, green fills the branches; the cuckoo calls again and again, the cuckoo cries in sorrow!
Our embrace had barely begun before we parted again; the colorful phoenix flies alone, the colorful phoenix nests alone.
After parting, how long will this longing last? Who knows when we shall meet again? Who knows if we shall meet again?
How can I express this feeling and longing? One lovesick lyric, one lovesick poem.
Rain beats against pear blossoms, the door is shut deep; youth is forgotten, youth is wasted.
With whom can one discuss these delightful things? Beneath the flowers, the soul is ravished; beneath the moon, the soul is ravished.
Sorrow gathers between the brows, furrowed all day long; a thousand tear stains, ten thousand tear stains.
At dawn I watch the sky, at dusk I watch the clouds; walking, I think of you, sitting, I think of you.”
Gu Yi had lived for tens of thousands of years. What kind of person had he not seen? A demonic spirit like Miss Yingying, who loved poetry, simply possessed a delicate heart brimming with sentiment.
As it happened, he heard the rain outside the window and remembered this poem, casually producing it and presenting it as a gift.
“How is it? Do you like it?” He set down his brush and looked at Miss Yingying.
Brilliant ripples gleamed in Miss Yingying’s beautiful eyes. She stared blankly at the poem on the rice paper, dazed and intoxicated.
“Young Master Gu is a peerless talent. This poem is gladly accepted.”
Miss Yingying remained enthralled for a long time before returning to her senses. She found a dagger, cut one of her slender jade fingers, and let the bright red blood drip into the jade bottle until it was full.
Her face slightly pale, she handed the jade bottle to Gu Yi. Her gaze held undisguised admiration, and she spoke in a soft, melodious voice, “Young Master Gu, you have obtained the blood you wanted. The night is long, so let us retire early.”
She seemed to be overflowing with springtime desire. Her entire body radiated a captivating aura that made people unable to resist losing themselves in passion.
A curve rose at the corner of Gu Yi’s lips. He pulled Miss Yingying into his arms and walked toward the bed.
Miss Yingying wrapped both arms around Gu Yi’s neck. Her lovely face was flushed, her eyes slightly narrowed as though she were drunk. Her breath was fragrant and sweet, wafting across Gu Yi’s face.
Gu Yi smiled at her and reached out to gently tap the back of her neck.
“Urgh...”
Miss Yingying rolled her eyes back and fainted.
Gu Yi placed her on the bed, secured the bottle of Taisui Spirit essence blood, and then turned to leave.
As the Eastern Emperor Demon Venerable, he was not someone just anyone could sleep with.
Even Red Cloud Supreme, who possessed peerless talent, supreme authority, and profound cultivation level, was no exception.
Miss Yingying was indeed breathtakingly beautiful and captivating.
Yet Gu Yi’s heart remained utterly unmoved.