The Kui Gu Ling

On the third day of the third lunar month, it was auspicious to pray for blessings and make offerings; all other matters were ill-advised.

Like threads of silk, the spring rain clung to the travelers on the road. Xu Qing held an oil-paper umbrella, one foot bare, and stood in a dead-end alley.

He felt he was probably a little sick in the head.

By rights, even if he believed Emperor Longping could bed ten women in a single night, he still shouldn't have believed this gambler's skill would actually work.

Staring at the tall wall blocking the road ahead, Xu Qing threw his shoe again.

Let's try one more time. What if it gets it right this time?

Putting himself in a gambler's mindset, Xu Qing watched the shoe carve an arc through the air before landing in a wet pothole, splashing up a sheet of water.

"..."

Wasn't the almanac supposed to say today was auspicious for praying for blessings?

Seeing that the shoe was beyond saving, Xu Qing leaned forward and lowered his head to examine the "number" he had thrown.

The shoe before him, apparently possessing a will of its own, stubbornly kept its toe pointed at the tall wall at the end of the alley. Even the angle was not off by the slightest.

"So determined? Could the Wu Family Brothers really be on the other side of the wall?"

Xu Qing was amused by his own thought. He activated the Qi Gazing Technique and took a look. There was no sign of the Wu Family Brothers beyond the wall. It was clearly a manure pit where the Night Soil Collector stored fertilizer.

People said that good wine feared no deep alley, but no one had ever mentioned that the Night Soil Collector's favorite places to store fertilizer were precisely those deep alleys where few people ventured.

Xu Qing shook the dirty water from his shoe, his expression shifting from indecision to the steely resolve of a lone hero.

At first, he had treated throwing a shoe to ask for directions as nothing more than a little toy to amuse himself.

But now, its entertaining nature had changed.

Today, he was determined to see exactly where this gambler's little technique was trying to lead him!

After putting his shoe back on and climbing over the tall wall, Xu Qing stood beside a night-soil cart. The leisurely, carefree air he had started with had vanished completely.

His face was cold and hard. Ignoring the heaps of fertilizer piled up like mountains around him, he threw the shoe again every twenty steps.

Fortunately, travelers hurried along on rainy days, and few people noticed the strange man holding an umbrella and constantly throwing a shoe.

Xu Qing passed through streets and alleys, winding this way and that, until he finally stopped outside a tall building with upturned eaves and sweeping roof ridges.

The filthy shoe now stuck its toe out, pointing toward the flower house whose entrance stood wide open to receive guests.

Xu Qing was extremely familiar with this place. Longwind Street had three great flower houses. Apart from Cuiyun Tower and Youlan Courtyard, the most famous was the Shuhuang Pavilion before him.

Yet he had never visited this flower house.

There was no other reason than the fact that the Shuhuang Pavilion was famously expensive. Every girl inside was skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Even the least talented girls had impressive skills to rely on.

And with that came the rule that the greater the fame, the more expensive the seafood.

Xu Qing sized up the refined young attendant at the entrance, who wore a long gown and carried himself with polished courtesy.

In the end, he still felt that Big Teapot in his short jacket at Cuiyun Tower was more approachable.

His gaze swept over the lavish carriages and horses parked outside the Shuhuang Pavilion, as well as the guests entering and leaving in brocade robes and fine garments. Xu Qing gave his own evaluation of the little technique of throwing a shoe to ask for directions in advance—

A damn disaster!

How much money could Wu Yaoxing's Paper Craft Shop make in a whole year? Even if they sold him, it might not be enough for his son to spend a night with one girl at the Shuhuang Pavilion.

Not to mention that there were two Wu brothers.

Of course, it was not impossible that a girl might be willing to accept a double-dragon rendezvous.

Xu Qing had always been a meticulous man. To confirm the accuracy of his evaluation, he ultimately chose to walk into the flower house without the slightest hesitation.

The interior of the Shuhuang Pavilion was worlds apart from Cuiyun Tower.

Aside from the décor, the social etiquette here and the way one selected a girl were also completely different from elsewhere.

In a place like Cuiyun Tower, once you entered, there was no need to rack your brain. You only had to follow your instincts, call over Big Teapot or the madam, and speak your desires plainly. The more bluntly, the better.

For example: "I heard you have a girl surnamed Chang. Hurry up and call her out. I'm here to sleep with her!"

Or: "We just ate chive boxes and three pounds of oysters today. We didn't come here for anything else—we just want to make sure your girls can't get out of bed tomorrow!"

But if you dared to open like that at the Shuhuang Pavilion, being cursed out would be the least of your worries. You might even be thrown out with a black eye and a swollen cheek!

That was the Shuhuang Pavilion, a flower house with deep roots that took only the high-end route.

Xu Qing entered the hall. The warm, fragrant air from the brazier and incense rolled over him. Beneath the open central well, he could see seasonal screens and ink paintings of jade bamboo arranged along the corridors and around the corners of every floor.

There were refined scholars wielding their brushes, as well as musicians and courtesans playing zithers in harmony on the stage. The whole place presented an elegant scene of powdered glamour and scholarly fragrance.

Xu Qing was just marveling at how he had become Old Lady Liu entering the Grand View Garden. A vulgar man like him—how could he possibly be worthy of a place of this caliber?

After casually sweeping his gaze around and seeing no sign of the Wu Family Brothers, he intended to leave. But just as he turned around, he caught sight of Wu Zhiyuan entering the gate of the Shuhuang Pavilion under Wu Wencai's urging.

Xu Qing stood only a few steps from the entrance, his mind filled with question marks.

How could the result indicated by throwing a shoe to ask for directions have foresight as well?

Was it coincidence, or coincidence?

The more Xu Qing thought about it, the more wrong it felt. If he said it wasn't accurate, the two Wu brothers really had come here!

But if he said it was accurate, the Wu Family Brothers had not been here when he first arrived.

Leaving Xu Qing to his mental storm for the moment, Wu Zhiyuan was pushed into the Shuhuang Pavilion by Wu Wencai. This was the fledgling's first time entering a pleasure quarter.

"Wencai, this isn't right. You and I are scholars. How can we come to a place so... damaging to our scholarly dignity?"

Wu Wencai arched his brows and winked. "Good elder brother, this is a respectable place. The girls inside are all pure courtesans—they sell their art, not their bodies. Besides music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, they may even understand the poetry, classics, and principles we excel at."

"That may be true, but it would still be embarrassing if we happened to run into someone we knew."

Wu Wencai answered without hesitation, "What kind of place do you think this is? Other than Brother Zhu, who invited us here, who else could we run into? This isn't somewhere just anyone can enter."

The two chatted as they walked in shoulder to shoulder, heads down, never imagining that after only a few steps they would see "Uncle Xu," who lived next door to the Paper Craft Shop, staring at them in astonishment.

Wu Zhiyuan's face instantly turned deathly pale. If his father found out about this, he would certainly be unable to escape a brutal reckoning.

Wu Wencai's heart also pounded. While secretly cursing the bizarre turn of events, he also grumbled about his cousin's crow's mouth.

Just as the two had no idea what to do, a plump young man in brocade suddenly emerged from the side.

The moment he saw them, he laughed cheerfully. "You two finally made it! The Kui Gu Ling will begin after another quarter of an hour. Hurry inside with me. Today, no matter what, you have to help your brother win this contest and let me carry home the beauty of my dreams!"

Wu Zhiyuan followed the plump young man inside. When they passed Xu Qing, he couldn't simply pretend not to know him, so he flushed red and stammered, "Uncle Xu—"

Before the word "Uncle" could leave his mouth, Xu Qing cut him off. "What's this, Zhiyuan? We ran into each other outside, and now you don't even recognize Brother Xu?"

Wu Wencai was the most quick-witted of them all. He immediately introduced Xu Qing to the plump young man beside him. "Brother Zhu, this is my good classmate and friend, surnamed Xu."

"Brother Xu, this is Young Master Zhu of the Zhu Household of Jinmen. He specifically invited us here for a little gathering today."

The plump young man's eyes lit up when he heard this. "A friend of Brother Wencai's must be no ordinary man. If this gentleman doesn't mind, he is welcome to join us for the Kui Gu Ling. As for the entrance fee, allow your younger brother to cover it!"