The Disaster Was Redirected East

The Disaster Was Redirected East

After work.

Bai Yan treated three Brigade Leaders and over a dozen Squad Leaders to a night of drinking and courtesans at Baiwei Tower.

Yongtang City had a famous Wanchun Alley. There were over a hundred pleasure houses and brothels lining the alley, and Baiwei Tower was the largest of them all.

Baiwei meant savoring the hundred flavors of life. The pleasures of wine, women, song, and horses were naturally among the finest flavors as well.

Bai Yan brought Zhao Guangli, Song Jiangfeng, and the others to Baiwei Tower. Inside, it was a riot of swallows and orioles, flowers bright and willows green.

Any maid serving tea and pouring wine would have been a rare beauty outside.

Seeing them, a plump woman in her forties came forward, waving her handkerchief as she greeted them with a smile:

"Welcome, gentlemen. Do any of you have a favorite girl?"

"If so, I'll send someone to call her at once. If not, I have plenty of good girls here."

Bai Yan and the others had changed clothes after work. They were not wearing Flying Fish Robes, nor were they carrying Spring Embroidered Sabers.

But each of them still carried an imposing air. At a glance, it was clear they were not men to be trifled with, so naturally, the madam—a worldly woman who had seen it all—was exceedingly respectful.

Bai Yan was paying tonight, so he was in charge of everything. He smiled and said:

"Find two larger private rooms. Bring two tables of fine wine and dishes, then call some girls to keep us company."

The madam did not dare be slow. Swaying her waist, she nodded with a coquettish smile. "Certainly, gentlemen. Please, upstairs."

After three rounds of wine and five courses of dishes.

Inside the private rooms, several Brigade Leaders had drunk until their faces were bright red. Ren Hong, Li Kaiyao, and several other Squad Leaders were also dead drunk.

As the alcohol took hold, their courage swelled too. They chased the girls around the room, groping them here and there, having the time of their lives.

Bai Yan had naturally hired the saucy kind. In fact, the saucy kind was all he could afford to hire.

Because he truly could not afford the refined kind.

The Courtesur Queens who sang and danced at Baiwei Tower cost more than the last. Bai Yan had a little money, but before a Courtesan Queen, it was nowhere near enough.

Besides, Zhao Guangli and the others preferred the saucy kind too.

What fun was there in the refined kind? You could only look and not touch.

Spending several hundred or even a thousand taels of silver just to hear a song and watch a dance would only leave a man unbearably restless.

They were all a bunch of rough fellows, unlike those impoverished, affected scholars and gentlemen.

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, Zhao Guangli, Song Jiangfeng, and the others each put an arm around a girl and went off to sleep.

Only Bai Yan remained in the private room.

Bai Yan had no intention of staying the night.

It was not that he disliked such pleasures. Rather, he had something of a spiritual cleanliness obsession in that regard.

He had no desire to become a "fellow traveler" with countless nameless men.

If he were unlucky enough to catch some filthy disease, that would be a fine mess.

There were certainly innocent girls, but their prices were outrageously high.

Spending several hundred taels of silver just to sleep with someone once seemed far too poor a bargain to Bai Yan.

Once his status was high enough and his reputation great enough, innocent Courtesan Queens would naturally be willing to offer themselves to him.

At that point, he would not have to spend a single copper. Would that not be far more enjoyable than this?

"Honored guest, may I come in?"

Just as he was about to rise, a coquettish woman's voice came from outside the door.

Hearing it, Bai Yan frowned slightly. He had not asked for a girl. Where had this person come from?

He was about to refuse when the woman pushed the door open and walked in.

"I am Lian'er. Greetings, my lord."

The woman wore a thin veil. She bowed gracefully, and her eyes rippled with alluring charm as she looked at Bai Yan.

"You know me?"

"I do not."

"Then why did you call me 'my lord'?"

"I saw that you were heroic and extraordinary, surely a great man among men. I boldly made a guess. Judging by your appearance, it seems I guessed correctly."

Hearing this, Bai Yan looked the woman up and down once more, then suddenly smiled.

"I doubt you guessed. You had your eye on me the moment I entered, didn't you?"

Without waiting for her reply, Bai Yan continued on his own:

"Your aura is weak and unstable, your yin and yang are out of balance. Your yin is overwhelmingly heavy, while your yang is feeble. A strange condition like yours generally appears in only two kinds of people."

"One is a tomb robber. They spend years beneath the earth, tainted by terrestrial energy and deprived of sunlight. Naturally, yin flourishes while yang withers."

"The other is a dungeon guard. They likewise perform work that never sees the light of day, and the same thing happens."

The woman covered her mouth and giggled.

"My lord must be joking. How could I be a tomb robber who commits such acts that damage one's virtue?"

"As for a dungeon guard, that is even more impossible. I cannot even truss a chicken. How could I serve as a guard?"

Bai Yan shook his head slightly.

"You are naturally neither a tomb robber nor a dungeon guard. But neither are you as powerless as you claim. The two kinds of people I mentioned apply only under ordinary circumstances. You, however, are a third kind."

"Oh? Then tell me, my lord. What sort of third kind am I?"

"You cultivate a furnace-tripod demonic art, harvesting yang to replenish yin."

The moment he said this, the woman's expression became terribly ugly.

"I am drinking here with my colleagues today and do not wish to spoil their mood. Leave now, and I will spare your life. If you continue pestering me, you will die here!"

Having said that, Bai Yan's eyes turned cold, and killing intent surged from his entire body.

The dense killing intent radiating from Bai Yan startled the woman. She gave him a deep look, then turned and left without a word.

After the woman departed, Bai Yan did not linger either. He paid the bill and left.

What had happened was merely a minor interlude. Places like brothels were a mixed bag, and it was hardly unusual for a few ill-intentioned people to slip in. Bai Yan did not take it to heart.

When he left Baiwei Tower, night had already fallen completely.

Yongtang City imposed a curfew. After the Hour of the Rooster, commoners were forbidden to remain in the streets.

If discovered, they would be fined for a minor offense or arrested and thrown into prison for a serious one.

Only a few special areas, such as Wanchun Alley, Qingshi Quarter, and the Ghost Market, were exempt.

But Bai Yan was a Brigade Leader of the Imperial Guard and enjoyed special privileges, so he did not need to obey the curfew either.

He made his way back to South Lane. Suddenly, Bai Yan furrowed his brow and stopped.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several sounds of air being torn apart rang out. Several figures swept rapidly over the rooftops and landed in the middle of the street.

One in front and three behind, four people in all.

The three behind were clearly pursuing the one in front.

Bai Yan had excellent eyesight and instantly made out the four people's features.

The leader was a middle-aged man around thirty. He was short and thin, but his palms were exceptionally broad. He had likely trained in some sort of palm technique. His movements were nimble, and his Lightness Skill seemed quite good as well.

The three behind him consisted of two men and a woman.

The two men were one tall and one short, one fat and one thin, and both were hideously ugly.

The tall, thin man held a steel saber, while the short, fat man wielded a Wolf-Tooth Mace. The two were inseparable, as though they were one body.

The woman at the back was dressed in an extremely alluring and seductive manner.

She wore a red dress, had a fiery figure, and revealed large expanses of snow-white skin. She was incomparably beguiling.

All four froze for a moment when they saw Bai Yan.

The man in front's eyes lit up. He immediately called out to Bai Yan in delight.

"Wonderful! You finally came!"

"I've got the thing. Help me hold them off."

Before Bai Yan could respond, the man transformed into a black shadow and swept past him.

Bai Yan's expression immediately darkened.

So this was how he redirected the disaster east—he had taken Bai Yan for a scapegoat.