Selling Herself, Not Her Skills

The woman in red had features as picturesque as a painting, but her words carried a chilling killing intent:

"Second Young Master, shall we kill that boy surnamed Bai?"

Xiao Bushi, the Second Young Master, smiled.

"What? Chun Niang, have you discovered something suspicious about him?"

The woman named Chun Niang gave a seductive smile.

"I have not, but I see that Second Young Master still has doubts in his heart. Then we should simply kill him and be done with it."

Xiao Bushi pondered for a moment.

"The more critical the moment, the more cautious we must be. We must not create unnecessary complications."

"Chun Niang, send someone to test him. If there is a problem, kill him. If not, remember not to create unnecessary complications."

The woman in red let out a tinkling laugh.

"Rest assured, Young Master. My people will certainly give him a proper welcome."

She casually flicked her sleeve, neither hurried nor slow, and red gauze fluttered through the air.

The next moment, the woman in red had vanished without a trace.

Xiao Bushi, however, seemed unsurprised. He merely gazed into the distance.

"The great undertaking is nearly complete. We must seek stability in all things and cannot allow the slightest flaw."

Meanwhile, Bai Yu was heading toward the mortuary.

Right now, all he wanted was to flee the Xiao Family, this land of trouble and strife, as quickly as possible.

If he had not been worried that leaving too hastily would expose a flaw, he would even have used his lightness skill to fly straight back.

But that would only make people more suspicious. Though Bai Yu was anxious inside, he kept an unhurried expression on his face.

He even stopped to buy a skewer of candied hawthorn and ate as he walked, looking indescribably at ease.

No matter who saw him, they would not have noticed anything unusual.

Having encountered no danger along the way, Bai Yu could not help letting out a breath of relief.

Just then, as he passed a secluded intersection, he saw a pretty and alluring young married woman standing at the street corner.

She had lovely features, a curvaceous figure, and wore clothing that was exceedingly thin.

"Young Master, why not come in and have some fun?"

The alluring woman approached with a smile, and a refreshing fragrance washed over him.

She moved close to Bai Yu and reached for his arm. As she casually lowered her head, it was as though one could glimpse vast white snow mountains.

Bai Yu thought to himself:

Could she be one of those independent streetwalkers? Are streetwalkers really this high-quality nowadays?

He hurriedly waved his hands.

"No, no. My body cannot take it."

The alluring woman smiled sweetly.

"What are you saying, Young Master? You look strong and sturdy. How could you possibly seem unwell?"

"Come sit with me, Young Master. I can do anything you want."

Bai Yu's eyes immediately lit up.

"Anything, really?"

The alluring woman gave a tinkling laugh and reached to take Bai Yu's arm.

"Of course. I know all sorts of tricks. There is only what Young Master cannot think of, nothing I cannot do."

Bai Yu dodged her and chuckled.

"Wonderful. Then do an arithmetic problem for me."

"There is a group of rabbits and roosters locked together. Altogether, there are thirty-five heads on top and ninety-four feet below. How many rabbits and roosters are there?"

The smile on the beautiful woman's face froze, as though she were saying, Are you messing with me?

A lone man and a lone woman, soft jade and warm fragrance—and all he could think of was doing arithmetic?

But she immediately resumed her gentle smile.

"Young Master must be joking. I sell myself, not my skills."

Bai Yu flew into a rage, retreating several steps with his face full of vigilance.

"Hmph, you just said you could do anything. This is false advertising, deceiving your customers."

"My master said women love to lie. The prettier the woman, the better she is at lying."

The beautiful woman suddenly felt an enormous headache. Why was this man so difficult to deal with?

Suppressing her anger, she smiled.

"Do not be angry, Young Master. I do know a few talents. What I am best at is dancing."

Bai Yu asked:

"What kind of dance?"

The beautiful woman smiled.

"An ethnic dance, from the northern tribes. Young Master surely has never seen it before."

As she spoke, the light gauze in her hand danced and flashed before Bai Yu's eyes.

Her hands seemed slow, yet were in fact swift, wrapping around Bai Yu's arm.

Bai Yu's heart tightened, and he pushed the Mystic Tortoise Breath Concealment Art to its utmost limit.

Even the skin on his body loosened, and his muscles became soft and slack, making him look nothing like a powerful martial artist who had undergone Skin Tempering.

With a blank expression, he said:

"Not interested."

The beautiful woman said seductively:

"It is without clothes."

Her soft, pale hand gently brushed over the back of Bai Yu's hand, and a trace of puzzlement appeared in her eyes.

Unwilling to believe it, she secretly sent another stream of inner force into Bai Yu's body.

Bai Yu was greatly shaken. He ran the Breath Concealment Art with all his strength, causing even the inner force within his body to hibernate completely.

On the surface, he seemed utterly unaware, every inch the greenhorn. He snorted coldly.

"If you do not wear clothes, how would I know which tribe you are from?"

"Go on, go on. I have no money. I am saving it to marry a wife."

At that moment, footsteps came from around the corner. Someone was walking this way.

Taking the opportunity, Bai Yu broke free from the beautiful woman's embrace and slipped away clutching his bundle like a thief guarding against thieves.

Not long after Bai Yu left, the beautiful woman also turned and entered the house.

Inside, Chun Niang sat at a square table drinking tea.

"Qiu Lan, how was it? Did you find out that boy's true capabilities?"

The beautiful woman performed a respectful curtsy and said:

"Reporting to Fragrance Master, after this servant's probing, that boy's qi and blood should be at the Second Rank Muscle Forging Realm."

"His tendons and muscles are quite strong and have reached a certain level of refinement. There are also faint signs of strengthening in his skin membrane. It seems he has already come into contact with the Skin Tempering Realm."

"However, he has no inner force within him and has absolutely not entered the Fourth Rank."

Chun Niang lifted her teacup and blew on it, then took an elegant sip.

"Are you certain? At such a crucial juncture, not the slightest mistake can be made."

Qiu Lan smiled.

"Fragrance Master worries too much. He is merely a young fellow who has learned a few tricks. You did not see how pathetic he looked—he trembled at the slightest tease."

"If someone had not come from outside, he would never have escaped from the palm of my hand."

Chun Niang set down her teacup and nodded faintly.

"It is good that there is no problem. The more critical the moment, the more cautious we must be."

With that, her figure flashed, and she once again vanished as unpredictably as a ghost.

Meanwhile, Bai Yu had already gone far away.

Nothing showed on his face, but his heart was pounding wildly.

The instant he saw her, he had realized something was wrong.

A beauty of that caliber would have been a first-rate courtesan even at Spring Breeze Pavilion.

Even if she could not manage that, she could have gone to the lesser Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion or Crimson Red Courtyard and perhaps even become their top courtesan.

A beauty like that would never become a streetwalker, much less solicit customers on the street.

Sure enough, after carefully observing her, Bai Yu discovered that she possessed no small amount of martial skill.

The beautiful woman's repeated probes afterward had all been attempts to investigate Bai Yu's cultivation.

Fortunately, Bai Yu had cultivated the Mystic Tortoise Breath Concealment Art to the point of complete mastery, even allowing him to alter his physique. Only then had he escaped disaster.

By now, his back was already drenched in sweat.

Fortunately, nothing else went wrong afterward, and Bai Yu returned smoothly to the mortuary.

The moment he entered, he saw Zhu Tong clicking away at an abacus as he spoke.

"Little Bai, you're back? Have you heard? Something huge has happened."