Ringleader

Anya looked up at Xu Xiaoyou.

She had never seen this kind of expression on her face before.

So dim and wounded, even though it was nothing more than one of the most ordinary scenes in this hive city.

“Anya, let’s keep going.”

This alley was thick with signs of daily life. Clothes hung everywhere outside homes, and the smell of cooking fires drifted out from inside.

It felt like stepping into the entrance of a time tunnel. In a daze, Xu Xiaoyou felt as if she had returned to the past, walking once more upon the land of her hometown.

The conditions here were hardly any better than elsewhere in the hive city. It lay within the largest slum of the entire city. Aside from illegally stacked buildings, nearly all water and electrical facilities were privately tapped.

Dirty, chaotic, and rundown were the labels attached to this place. Yet the residents’ mental state was not as broken as those in other slum areas. Every few steps, one could see neighbors greeting each other, chatting about household trivia, their grimy faces wearing simple, honest smiles.

Xu Xiaoyou fixed her gaze on the deer-man figure at the far end of her vision.

She could not understand why Mr. Hao would come to a place like this.

She had followed him for three full days and had come to understand the daily life of a major underworld boss. He was far busier than she had imagined.

All day long, either something went wrong in one territory or someone caused trouble elsewhere, requiring him to step in and settle matters.

But today, something felt different.

From the moment he left home, she noticed it. Mr. Hao was wearing an expensive luxury-brand suit, his leather shoes polished to a shine. The fur on his body had been neatly groomed, and he wore sandalwood-scented men’s cologne.

What intrigued her most was that he had deliberately stopped by a flower shop and bought a bouquet of roses, now cradled in his arms.

After solemnly dismissing all his underlings, she had assumed that this aging man was having a moment of romantic revival, heading to a date with some wealthy young lady at the most upscale restaurant.

Instead, after winding through countless paths, he arrived at the slums.

Straight ahead lay the red-light district.

Xu Xiaoyou nearly laughed out loud.

So after all that effort dressing up, this old man was just going out to find a prostitute?

She followed the deer-man forward, figures constantly flashing through her line of sight.

Mr. Hao stopped before a platform. Looking out from it, one could see more than ten floors descending below. Between the buildings were countless advertising boards, and beneath the lightless tangle of pipes were streams of people. Seductively dressed women stood at shopfronts soliciting customers, while a noisy flea market bustled nearby.

Mr. Hao stood at the platform for a long time, as if preparing to go to war. Only after finally making up his mind did he walk down the rusted stairs.

He was just going to find a prostitute. What was there to be nervous about? Could it be that at his age, this was his first time?

Xu Xiaoyou could not understand.

That would be far too pathetic.

She followed silently, growing increasingly curious about what he intended to do.

After descending several floors, Mr. Hao stopped at one level, surveyed his surroundings, then turned and walked into the interior corridor.

This floor was residential, mostly cheap rental units that gave countless down-and-out city strugglers a place to rest.

The rooms were cramped and tiny. Looking inside through doors and windows, aside from yellowed, peeling walls, there were only a few tattered quilts. Flies and mosquitoes swarmed everywhere. The entire floor shared a single space barely worthy of being called a toilet. Xu Xiaoyou could even imagine the scene every morning, everyone on the floor scrambling to use it.

Of course, most people here preferred to just find some empty corner to relieve themselves.

Starting from this level, the number of moon shops increased noticeably. As the first layer of the red-light district, most of the women here were old and fading, their looks unremarkable. Many had eliminated from lower floors and pushed upward.

Regular customers knew well that the further down one went, the better the goods in the moon shops. The women were younger, more attractive, more skilled. Some moon shops even created personas and hype for their ringleader.

Each year, the most famous ringleader became the princess of the entire slum. A brilliant gem emerging from a field of worthless stones, driving countless people mad with competition. In a single night, she could fetch auction prices of tens of thousands of credit points.

Beauty alone was not enough to become a ringleader. One had to be proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Most importantly, she had to grasp the human heart, know how to veil herself in mystery, maintain the perfect distance while pleasing others.

What cannot be obtained is always the most desirable. The truly skilled ringleaders could make powerful bosses squander their entire fortunes with nothing more than a smile or a glance.

Yes. Even ringleaders, envied by countless people, had no freedom of their own.

Every ringleader was a living treasure bowl. During her prime, the value she brought to a moon shop was beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

No matter how much money a patron spent, he could never buy a ringleader’s freedom.

From the moment they became ringleaders, these girls were destined to spend their entire lives in this sunless place.

Mr. Hao finally stopped before a room and looked up at its sign.

“Little Zhang’s Moon Shop.”

Compared to the ornate and artistic names of larger moon shops, it was almost plain to the point of being crude.

This time, he did not hesitate. He straightened his chest, held the bouquet of roses, and walked inside.

Xu Xiaoyou thought to herself: with your status, coming to a low-end moon shop like this, don’t you feel it’s beneath you?

She had heard the saying that older tastes were more refined, but no matter how she looked at Mr. Hao, he did not seem like someone with such extreme preferences.

So much for judging people by appearances. Well done. You really play big in private.

This moon shop was rented on the second floor, with a snack shop on the first.

Greasy food sizzled at the stalls below. Rough-looking customers played drinking games, erupting in ear-splitting laughter.

Xu Xiaoyou carefully avoided splashing oil. Getting her clothes dirty would be troublesome to clean.

Passing through a dark corridor, she saw several pale-skinned, crimson-eyed ghouls locked in cages deep on the first floor. They crouched inside, casting bloodthirsty gazes at her.

People in the slums liked to keep ghouls as guard dogs.

Anya bared her teeth and snarled back at them.

After going up to the second floor and pulling aside a plastic curtain, pink and purple lights spilled from each small room. Soul-melting moans and rough panting echoed everywhere, all of which Xu Xiaoyou automatically filtered out.

Anya did not understand, but Anya was deeply shaken.

Under the lights of desire, everyone here had turned into primitive beasts.

Xu Xiaoyou watched with her own eyes as Mr. Hao entered the room at the far corner. To avoid drawing attention, she entered the room directly opposite and casually selected a girl for three credit points.

Not long after, a girl walked in. She looked quite young, her face covered in freckles, her features still green and immature.

Xu Xiaoyou was startled. A girl like this was already working in a moon shop?

Seeing Xu Xiaoyou clearly, the girl’s face flushed red. She twisted awkwardly, looking embarrassed.

Xu Xiaoyou leaned against the door and had just sat down on a chair when the girl moved close.

“W-wait, wait! What are you doing?”

The girl covered her face shyly. “I’ve never done this before… but I’ll try my best.”

“No need. Just go sit on the bed,” Xu Xiaoyou said, pressing her forehead.

“I’m clean! And I’m an adult. It’s just that my family has no money, and I need to earn some to take part in my company’s open recruitment exam.”

Disappointment flashed across the girl’s face, but she could not refuse a customer’s request. She could only sit silently at the edge of the bed, peeking at the blonde girl through her fingers.

She was actually quite pretty. Maybe losing her first time like this wouldn’t be such a loss.

Fear and anticipation tangled in her heart. She had heard that customers like this usually played very wild. What was going to happen next?

Before long, two coins were tossed in front of her.

Xu Xiaoyou’s expression was flat.

“Alright, you can leave now.”

The girl: “?”