You Found Out

Zhao Ke had no idea what had happened at the inn, but he did hear that utterly miserable, shrill scream.

However, he had already lost interest in Xiong Da. Still, when he thought of how great the shock would be once Xiong Da realized that the pot he had eaten was bear meat, and whether it might drive him mad...

The thought actually gave Zhao Ke a faint sense of anticipation.

Following the innkeeper's directions, he headed along the road toward the northern slope. After asking around a little, Zhao Ke saw passersby exchange knowing smiles before pointing him in the right direction.

He followed the mountain path upward and soon saw the so-called Zhuangyuan Tower.

It was completely different from what he had imagined.

From what the innkeeper had implied, Zhuangyuan Tower was supposed to be a place of romance and pleasure. Even if it was not draped in the colorful banners and lanterns seen in television dramas, there should at least have been a few girls outside greeting customers.

Yet rather than a tower, what stood before him looked more like the entrance to a temple.

"Could the innkeeper have tricked me?"

The temple before him did not match the alluring establishment the innkeeper had described at all. Zhao Ke could not help wondering if the man had deliberately deceived him.

He immediately felt disappointed. He had only wanted to see what an ancient brothel was like, yet it looked as though he had come all this way for nothing.

"Honored guest, why pass by without entering? Could it be that you find our establishment too humble?"

Just as Zhao Ke was about to turn and leave, an elderly cultivator hurried over. The old cultivator looked to be in his fifties, with kind features and a gentle demeanor. He held a thick booklet in his right hand and a brush in his left.

Yet his attire was neither truly Buddhist nor truly Daoist, looking somewhat incongruous.

It was clear he was a practitioner of some kind, though Zhao Ke had no idea what exactly he cultivated.

"Uh..."

Caught off guard by the old cultivator's question, Zhao Ke felt rather awkward. He could hardly say he had come here to buy a woman, could he?

Perhaps noticing his embarrassment, the old cultivator merely smiled calmly. "You must be a scholar traveling through for the examinations. Since you have come, it is fate. Why not enter and rest awhile, then enjoy the sights within our Zhuangyuan Tower?"

"The sights?"

The old cultivator nodded solemnly. "The sights!"

Zhao Ke met the old cultivator's gaze and instantly understood.

With one hand behind his back, he pinched out the remaining bits of silver from the Post Album. There was neither too much nor too little, around three taels. The innkeeper had mooched plenty of food and drink from him and had not even charged him for the room, while Zhao Ke himself had no use for the leftover silver.

If nothing unexpected happened, he planned to return to reality shortly. In the real world, this much broken silver was worth only about a hundred yuan or so.

"Master, please do not mind that it is so little. Consider it a small token of my sincerity."

"Excellent, excellent."

The old cultivator accepted the silver and weighed it in his hand. It was a little over three taels. Rice prices had already risen to forty copper coins per dou, and even an ox cost only three taels of silver. This money was enough to feed an ordinary household for half a year.

Delight immediately spread across the cultivator's face, and his eyes narrowed into slits. He quickly invited Zhao Ke inside.

"Young friend, this way."

The old cultivator led Zhao Ke into a side room. Zhao Ke took a look and found it quite nice, clearly a guest room that had been carefully decorated.

"Achoo!"

At that moment, he suddenly sniffed, catching a strong scent of orchids that made him sneeze. Turning around, he saw a woman in a long robe entering the room at some point.

The robe was loose and flowing. Each step she took sent its hem fluttering in the wind, revealing and concealing one pale thigh after another beneath it, stirring endless fantasies.

"Please have some tea."

The woman held the tea in both hands and knelt before Zhao Ke, raising it toward him. As she lifted her arms, the robe rose with them, revealing a pair of delicate little feet, white and smooth as jade. On the pale tops of her feet were butterfly tattoos the size of thumbnails.

Looking at her face again, Zhao Ke saw a shapely rounded chin, large eyes, slender brows, and cherry-red lips. She was the very image of a beauty. Even without hair, she remained delicate, alluring, and charming.

She blinked softly at Zhao Ke, her eyes rippling with seduction. A small mole at the corner of her mouth, paired with her pink-red lips, made her impossible to look away from.

"So it really is a brothel!!"

He had thought the innkeeper was fooling him, but it turned out to be exactly this kind of place.

"Honored guest, please have some tea."

Zhao Ke had been lost in thought and did not reach out to accept it. The woman assumed he had been entranced by her beauty, so she covered her mouth and smiled. Leaning forward slightly, she nearly pressed half her body into Zhao Ke's arms. Her voice was soft and seductive, as though it could steal a man's soul.

If she had been some ordinary nightclub hostess, Zhao Ke would not have thought much of it. But she was a sweet and delicate female cultivator, making an already bewitching woman seem even more wickedly alluring as she leaned into his embrace.

She was truly as enchanting as water.

More importantly, it was the contrast in status. A cultivator who served the gods was presenting herself before him as though she would let him do whatever he wished. Just thinking about it was thrilling.

Yet beyond the excitement, Zhao Ke felt even more wary. He had not forgotten where he was.

With Li Hongbing's fate as a warning, how could he possibly let down his guard completely?

Seeing this, Zhao Ke reached out and took the tea, only to casually set it aside, apparently with no intention of drinking it.

However, the woman suddenly drew the tea back into her arms and said, "Benefactor, do you think the tea is too hot? Why not let this little woman feed you instead?"

As she spoke, the woman brought the tea toward him. But just as the cup reached Zhao Ke's face, he raised his brows, opened his mouth toward her face, and sneezed. "Achoo!"

Whether it was snot or tea, along with the tea leaves in the cup, it all sprayed across the woman's face.

"Sorry, I'm a little allergic to pollen." Zhao Ke looked embarrassed.

The woman stood there with tea splashed across her face, momentarily frozen. She could neither smile nor get angry, and the corner of her mouth twitched. Though she tried her best to hide it, Zhao Ke caught the vicious glint deep in her eyes.

Seeing this, the old cultivator immediately waved for her to withdraw. With a faintly apologetic expression, he said, "Young friend, there is no need to rush. There will be singing and dancing at tonight's banquet. Rest for now, and I guarantee you will enjoy yourself thoroughly this evening."

"You are too kind, too kind." Zhao Ke forced a smile and repeatedly waved his hands, speaking with empty politeness.

After exchanging a few more courteous words, the old nun led the woman out. The moment they stepped outside, the woman's eyes turned gloomy and vicious.

She glanced sideways at Zhao Ke's room, parted her red lips slightly, and extended a long, thin tongue. With a slurp, she licked the tea leaves and saliva clean from her face, wiped her mouth, and smiled before following the old cultivator away.

"Interesting!"

After sending off the old and young cultivators, Zhao Ke sat back down in his chair. The embarrassed look on his face gradually faded. Half-closing his eyes, he lightly tapped his fingers against the table as he recalled the woman's cold, sinister gaze. He immediately became more alert. This place does not seem safe either.

After resting for a while, someone lightly knocked on his door and called him to the main hall for that evening's vegetarian banquet.

The moment he stepped out, Zhao Ke noticed several well-dressed wealthy merchants emerging from their rooms one after another. There were quite a few of them; they had simply all been resting in their rooms earlier.

Some walked alongside Zhao Ke. They glanced at one another and exchanged knowing smiles. Everyone understood exactly why they were here.

After everyone gradually took their seats in the main hall, a broad, fat man sat beside Zhao Ke. Watching the cultivators moving through the room, his eyes went wide.

Those pale thighs swayed before his eyes, only to be hidden again beneath the long robes. Every cultivator serving dishes and pouring tea carried herself with dignity and composure, yet from time to time, she would cast a seductive glance that left a man's heart itching.

Once the food and wine had all been served, the old cultivator seated at the head of the table stood up with a solemn expression and pressed his palms together. "Boundless life and immeasurable longevity."

After saying that, the old nun waved her hand. A row of women in long robes stepped forward, each holding a ritual implement with both hands pressed together.

"Clap, clap..."

The women raised their legs, exposing long, pale limbs from beneath their loose robes. Pairs of jade-like hands gently caressed the thighs of the women beside them.

Their fingers slowly slid upward, making everyone's eyes widen as they stared intently at those climbing hands.

"Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap, clap-clap-clap..."

Figures overlapped before their eyes. Pairs of slender, boneless hands lightly slapped thighs smooth as mutton fat jade, brisk and forceful, leaving the spectators dazzled.

"Rip!"

The robes were tugged aside, revealing round, swelling curves beneath pink bellybands. Their slender yet powerful waists twisted around one another, and rather than diminishing the erotic dance, it made their demonic beauty even more striking.

At first, Zhao Ke found it amusing, but for some reason, the longer he watched, the dizzier he became. The figures before him seemed to multiply and blur.

"Clap, clap, clap..."

The slapping sounds beside his ears grew faster and faster. Zhao Ke felt as though his entire body were floating, becoming light and weightless.

Dimly, he saw a figure approaching him. Zhao Ke did not pay it much attention at first, but then he caught a scent, and his heart tightened. Those venomous eyes instantly surfaced in his mind. It's her!

Zhao Ke's heart jolted. A sense of danger surged through him, and his mind instantly cleared considerably.

"Huff... huff..."

Warm breath brushed his ear. Moist red lips pressed against his earlobe. "Honored guest, are you comfortable with this little woman's service?"

As she spoke, Zhao Ke felt his body tighten, as though something had wrapped around him from head to toe. Those red lips slowly moved from his cheek toward his forehead.

"Very comfortable!"

Though Zhao Ke kept his eyes closed and wore an expression of blissful intoxication, he grew ever more vigilant inside. His hands continued groping across the woman's body until, without realizing it, they had reached her neck.

At the same time, he lightly bit the tip of his tongue. The sharp pain made him open his eyes slightly. Once he saw the scene before him clearly, his scalp went numb. Where was the beauty? Before him was clearly a snake's face as large as a washbasin.

Seeing Zhao Ke's stiff expression, the snake face revealed a bizarre, ferocious grin. "Oh! You found out!"

(This chapter was revised for a long time. I was mainly afraid of crossing the line, so I kept deleting and rewriting, rewriting and deleting. That is why it was late, though even that may not be enough. I did my best, everyone.)