On the brilliantly illuminated street, pedestrians bustled to and fro in a continuous, endless stream. Beside them stood a towering building decorated with lanterns and colored banners, where the three shimmering, golden, calligraphic characters for “Yanchun Brothel” on the plaque were particularly eye-catching.
At the entrance of the high building stood several pretty, middle-aged brothel madams, coquettishly waving embroidered handkerchiefs in their hands to invite passersby inside.
Not far from Yanchun Brothel, a man dressed in a crimson-purple robe and a youth wearing a Buddhist kasaya stood side by side, both displaying identical dazed expressions on their faces.
Yun Qingzhou glanced sideways at the person beside him out of the corner of his eye, twitching his mouth slightly, and asked uncertainly, “The place you wanted to bring me to… is here?”
Han Yujiu rubbed his aching temples, utterly speechless. After he had cleared out the slave market in one fell swoop, he had casually found a member of the Demon Clan to manage this territory.
He had never expected that although the other party had obediently preserved the original layout here, they had turned the place into a brothel, flanked by several smaller male brothels and courtyards.
Was it too late for him to regret this now?
Forget it, it did not matter anymore!
Han Yujiu took Yun Qingzhou’s hand and marched forward with large strides as if heading to his execution, not forgetting to nag incessantly along the way: “This is the place. Once you go inside later, do not let yourself be seduced by those people…”
Yun Qingzhou had been held firmly by the hand by Han Yujiu all along the way. At first, he had resisted a couple of times, but in the end, he compromised under the man’s thick skin, successfully completing his hand desensitization therapy.
The moment the two arrived at the entrance of Yanchun Brothel with great momentum, they naturally caught the madam’s attention. As soon as the madam set eyes on Han Yujiu, her eyes lit up completely.
There was no other reason than the man being exceptionally handsome. Although his clothing was quite low-key, it was not difficult to tell that he was a young master from a wealthy family.
The madam displayed a satisfied smile, but as her gaze swept past Han Yujiu to the person behind him, the smile on the corner of her lips froze slightly. “Cough… A monk!”
Although he was as beautiful as a celestial being, he was clearly a monk!
The madam took two heavy breaths, quickly repressing her surprise at seeing Yun Qingzhou, and led the two inside Yanchun Brothel: “Hahaha, please come in, both of you!”
The interior of the building was grand and magnificent. All around were vermilion-painted sandalwood pillars carved with exquisite blue dragon patterns. On the floor, a long red crane carpet woven with golden threads extended to a massive circular platform in the center. From the beams and pillars above the circular platform hung several sheer red silk ribbons that draped down into the middle of the stage.
Surrounding the circular platform were all kinds of white jade wine tables where many men and women were eating and drinking, with a few glamorous women even dancing gracefully off to the side.
Seeing Yun Qingzhou and Han Yujiu enter, several young ladies standing nearby who were not serving customers immediately started giggling and playing around, pushing one another as they walked toward the two.
Seeing this situation, Han Yujiu instantly sounded the alarm bells in his mind and hurriedly shielded Yun Qingzhou behind him.
Unfortunately, in the madam’s eyes, this gesture made it look like Han Yujiu was simply impatient. She revealed a smile of mutual understanding, waved her hand, and summoned a few exceptionally beautiful girls.
In just a brief moment, Han Yujiu was dragged off to the side by several girls.
Now, the madam finally directed her gaze to Yun Qingzhou, and as she looked at his face, she found herself in a predicament.
Because the youth’s demeanor was far too clean and aloof, and he was a monk who knew nothing of worldly desires, she felt a bit embarrassed to arrange for girls to wait on him.
However, business was business after all. She simply brought over two girls who looked relatively pure to sit next to Yun Qingzhou.
What the madam did not expect was that the two girls were extremely enthusiastic: one rested her hand on Yun Qingzhou’s shoulder while the other pulled on his arm, dragging him to sit directly across from Han Yujiu.
Han Yujiu’s eyes did not dare leave Yun Qingzhou for even a single moment, and the chilly aura emanating from his body grew heavier and heavier. A girl beside him who wanted to feed him grapes was swept with a cold glare from him, scaring her into stopping her movements mid-air.
The girls beside him were mortals, so he could not use spiritual energy either, lest he accidentally harm them. This made Han Yujiu deeply regret his foolish decision.
Yun Qingzhou seemed to be extraordinarily popular. Even without the madam’s arrangement, several girls standing nearby gathered around him, competing and scrambling to feed fruit and wine to Yun Qingzhou.
“Amitabha. Benefactor, men and women should not touch or be intimate. It would be better to keep your distance from this humble monk.”
Yun Qingzhou pressed his palms together, his eyes half-lidded, as his body was swayed back and forth by several girls pulling at him.
“Oh my! Little monk, since you’re already here, what is there to be shy about?” A refined-looking woman whispered right against Yun Qingzhou’s ear, her scent remarkably sweet.
“That’s right! Master, why don’t you read my fortune? See if I am fated to be with you in this life…”
A girl spoke with a seductive voice, rolling up her sleeves as she held out her delicate, bone-soft hand in front of Yun Qingzhou, as if wanting to hold his hand.
“Hey! Master, what do you usually eat to make yourself look so captivating to my heart…”
“Master, let’s play together!”
“Exactly, Master, don’t be so insensitive to romance…”
Several women teased Yun Qingzhou casually, leaving him silently screaming for help in his heart.
These young ladies were all stunners of the mortal realm, but his current persona was a bit difficult to manage!
【Zhou, why don’t you take a look at the male lead…】 The System gave a kindly reminder.
Hearing this, Yun Qingzhou finally raised his eyelids to look at Han Yujiu, who was sitting across from him. That single glance gave him a fright.
Han Yujiu’s face was completely dark, his eyes bloodshot, and the fingertips gripping his teacup turned white from pressure. That gaze looked as if he wanted nothing more than to swallow him whole and tear him apart.
Yun Qingzhou shuddered and swallowed his saliva: ‘What does the male lead mean by this? Is he jealous because I’m more popular than him?’
The System rolled its eyes speechlessly, wanting to slam its head into a wall. However, it was also to blame for tricking Yun Qingzhou earlier into believing the male lead wouldn’t do anything to him, leaving this foolish host unable to recognize the current situation.
【I… wish you good luck.】
Leaving behind these words, the System went offline, leaving Yun Qingzhou sitting alone in his spot, trembling nervously.
Seeing that the red lips of a girl beside Yun Qingzhou were about to kiss his face, Han Yujiu could finally endure it no longer.
The man stood up abruptly, startling the girls beside him so much that they trembled and dared not approach him. Then, Han Yujiu strode forward with large steps, walking toward Yun Qingzhou with an aura of slaughter and dominance.
This caused the girls beside Yun Qingzhou to freeze their movements as they leaned toward him, cold sweat breaking out, before they scattered and fled in an instant.
With a dark, grim face, Han Yujiu suddenly bent down and picked Yun Qingzhou up in a princess carry, drawing a wave of gasps from inside the building.
Yun Qingzhou’s eyes widened. He did not offer any resistance throughout the entire process, seemingly completely stunned by Han Yujiu’s sudden action.
Only when he heard the gasps did he snap back to his senses, his face flushing crimson as he whispered, “Benefactor, put me down!”
Han Yujiu did not listen to Yun Qingzhou. He dropped a few gold ingots, taking angry strides toward the exit. Just as they reached the doorway, both of their figures suddenly vanished from everyone’s sight.