“Then where will you sleep?” Jiang Ci asked, a bit slow to catch on. If she slept on the bed, would he sleep on the floor? She shook her head. No, how could she let him sleep on the floor? Just as she was about to speak, Lu Yan cut her off.
“I'll crash at a friend's place. You sleep here.” Lu Yan thought for a moment about how to describe his relationship with the crowd at the Abandoned Guest Hall. Business partners? Family? In the end, he settled on the most conventional word—friends.
“Oh,” Jiang Ci nodded. Crashing at a friend's place sounded like a great option. If she had friends, she would probably do the same. No matter where you were, the world was always like this—when you first arrived in a new place, you relied on relatives and friends. Unfortunately, she had nothing. Jiang Ci's eyes dimmed, and she fell silent. Lu Yan couldn't see this. He pushed the door open, but suddenly remembering something, he paused at the threshold.
“I've left some money with the inn. If you're hungry or want to eat something, just ask them. I'll be back tomorrow morning to apply your medicine.”
Before Jiang Ci could reply, the door had already closed. Honestly, she didn't need to eat; even if she had to drink two bowls of burnt porridge every day, she would be fine. Leaving her wounds untreated for a couple of days was fine too; it wouldn't kill her anyway. But being left to sleep alone in this room still made her feel... a little lonely.
But he had said he would return tomorrow morning. How much longer was that? She looked out the window. It wasn't quite bright, but it wasn't pitch black either. It shouldn't be too long. If only the night could pass a bit faster.
Jiang Ci composed herself, shaking off those unwarranted emotions. What was this? Anticipation? She didn't like anticipation; it was always followed by too much disappointment. Lying on the bed, she stared at the embroidered bed curtains and closed her eyes. She wanted the night to pass quickly. Perhaps he would be back when she woke up. Or perhaps, the moment she closed her eyes, he would already be there.
Lu Yan walked slowly through the cool night breeze toward the Abandoned Guest Hall. Today, Hong Jiu didn't come out to greet him. When he pushed the door open, the familiar scent of rouge and powder mixed with alcohol and hormones hit him right in the face. Coquettish laughter and heavy breathing drifted straight into his ears. Groping his way toward the inner room, he knocked on the door. No one answered. He knocked again, but there was still no response. After a brief hesitation, he pushed the door wide open.
Soft snoring drifted from Yao Wu's mouth. Lu Yan didn't even need to guess to know it was him.
The Abandoned Guest Hall was usually guarded in shifts by Chen San, Yao Wu, and Du Qi. Hong Jiu lived here, so she could pull shifts whenever she felt like it or rest when she didn't. Chen San ran a martial arts hall, Yao Wu had his apothecary, and Du Qi owned a bookstore. Since they had settled down in Black Mountain City, they didn't need to guard the place every single day, so they set up a schedule, rotating every two days. Because Yao Wu had shamefully arrived late last time, Du Qi had punished him by making him take this shift as well.
Third Master was a body cultivator who kept his eyes wide open like an owl at night, so the only one who could possibly be asleep was Yao Wu. No wonder no one answered the door. Lu Yan's mouth twitched as he raised his hand and slapped Yao Wu right on the back of the head.
“Crap, crap, crap! Which bastard dares to slap your daddy? Are you tired of living?!”
Lu Yan slapped him again, thoroughly annoyed. “You're sleeping on the job again. I knocked on the damn door three times and you didn't open it. Who else am I supposed to slap?”
Yao Wu grimaced and rubbed his head. “You little brat, what are you doing here at the hall in the middle of the night? Looking for trouble?”
“Got anything to eat? I'm starving.” Lu Yan sat down on a chair without standing on ceremony. “Also, get a guest room ready for me.”
“Oh?” Yao Wu let out an exclamation of surprise. “What's this? Finally giving up the hermit life and deciding to enter the world? I told you, keeping up that old lifestyle gets you nowhere nowadays. In this day and age, there are only a handful of people who know how to set up formations, and someone with your level of mastery is practically extinct. Partner up with your big brother here. I'll supply the elixirs, you set up the formations, and before long, we'll be able to strike back at the Central Continent Alliance!”
Listening to his unreliable tone and passionate speech, anyone who didn't know better would think they had stumbled into a pyramid scheme. Well, it was close enough. How much better could a brothel be than a pyramid scheme headquarters anyway? His mouth twitched, but he began to mull over Yao Wu's words. Nonsense like striking back at the Central Continent Alliance could be put aside for now. Look at the crowd currently at the Abandoned Guest Hall—a beastkin, a blade of grass, a blind man with zero offensive power, a Joyous Union Sect cultivator, and a Confucian cultivator with a shattered Dao Heart. Strike back? They would be lucky not to get attacked. However, partnering up with him to earn some spirit crystals was actually something worth considering.
“Can the elixirs be converted to cash?” Lu Yan spoke up slowly.
Yao Wu, who was still mid-speech, came to a grinding halt and let out a dry laugh. “Wait... you actually believed me?”
Lu Yan's fists clenched. He knew it; this guy was always full of hot air. Wanting to make money with him? He really was grasping at straws, believing just about anything.
“Ah—no! I was wrong, I was wrong! You're my brother! Brother Eleven! Don't hit the face—that's going too far! Ow—don't make me pull out my ultimate move! Why are you still hitting my mouth?!”
“Whew, whew...” Lu Yan panted heavily. Beating someone up was truly exhausting. He gave Yao Wu a kick. If his eyes weren't completely white, he definitely would have rolled them. “Cut it out, you're exaggerating. I didn't even use spiritual energy. Stop faking it.”
Yao Wu patted the dust off his clothes and raised an eyebrow, his raspy, punchable voice as irritating as ever. “Sigh, this is called providing that... what did you call it? Emotional value. Yes, yes, emotional value. If I scream louder, won't you hit me a few less times? This is called the art of language.” With that, he puffed out his chest, carrying his punchable attitude to the very end.
The veins on Lu Yan's temples throbbed. Was this concept meant to be used like this? So you're groaning loudly just to soothe me? Anyone who didn't know better would think we were into BDSM. You, providing emotional value to me? I fucking taught you that term because you asked me how to woo your martial sister, and now you're trying to woo me? Lu Yan, still sitting astride Yao Wu, flipped him off. Yao Wu didn't understand what the gesture meant, but he knew it definitely wasn't anything polite.
He clumsily tried to change the subject, but before he could finish his sentence, a seductive voice echoed from the doorway.
Hong Jiu leaned against the doorframe with a cigarette dangling from her mouth. She took a deep drag, blew out a smoke ring, and looked at the two men in the room with an unreadable gaze. “It seems I didn't come at the right time? Did I interrupt your fun?”
Rate on N.U.
