Spring View Pavilion

"You don't have to believe me!"

"I've already received reliable information. The real boss behind Spring View Pavilion is a Demonic Creature."

"Why not come with me tonight and storm Spring View Pavilion? We'll take that Demonic Creature's head!"

"Then you'll know for yourself whether I can be trusted!"

Lu Xuenning gazed at Chen Fan and spoke in a low voice.

"Fine."

Chen Fan nodded at her words.

He hadn't even asked what level of strength the Demonic Creature at Spring View Pavilion possessed before agreeing.

Lu Xuenning was taken aback. She'd only said it offhand, never expecting Chen Fan to agree so readily.

"The Ape Demon at Spring View Pavilion is a Demonic Creature at the Blood Martial Saint level, the Fourth Stage of the Spirit Concealment Realm. But Demonic Creatures are born with stronger bodies than our Human Race, so even a Martial Artist at the Marrow Asura level, the Fifth Stage of the Spirit Concealment Realm, wouldn't have an easy time killing it."

"Have you truly decided to come with me and kill it?"

Lu Xuenning pressed him for confirmation, while also letting him in on some details about the Demonic Creature entrenched at Spring View Pavilion.

"What level are you?"

Chen Fan couldn't help asking.

"I've passed through the five stages of Skin Devil King, Bone Vajra, Muscle Bodhisattva, Blood Martial Saint, and Marrow Asura, and reached the Spirit Concealment Realm Peak."

Lu Xuenning straightened her slender waist and spoke with a hint of pride.

"That'll do."

"Let's storm Spring View Pavilion and kill that Ape Demon!"

Chen Fan's eyes lit up. He'd never expected this delicate-looking female constable to be a Martial Artist at the Spirit Concealment Realm Peak.

Didn't that mean she was on the same level as the Jinyiwei Baihu of Ping'an County?

And how old was she, anyway? She looked about the same age as Chen Fan.

Captain Cao, on the other hand, was already past fifty.

Put the two side by side, and the difference was plain as day!

Spring View Pavilion.

It was the largest brothel in Ping'an County and the tallest building in the entire county, a landmark by any measure.

Spring View Pavilion rose seven stories high, like a Seven-story Pagoda. At night, it blazed with lights, and people streamed in and out without end.

"No wonder it's the biggest pleasure house in Ping'an County. This place is truly magnificent."

Chen Fan stood in front of Spring View Pavilion in plain black clothes and spoke in a low voice.

"Don't tell me you've never been here?"

Lu Xuenning, dressed in a blue robe like a scholar, glanced at Chen Fan and raised an eyebrow.

"I really haven't."

"I joined the Jinyiwei just last year. Before that, I was a beggar who'd grown up eating at a hundred different households. After joining the Jinyiwei, I trained hard, and that's how I got to where I am today."

Chen Fan answered without batting an eye.

"You joined the Jinyiwei a year ago and reached this level with nothing but the common Body Tempering Fist?"

Lu Xuenning sounded surprised.

"And the Draw Sword Slash."

Chen Fan added.

"What difference does that make?"

Lu Xuenning shook her head and smiled.

In her eyes, the Body Tempering Fist, though common, had a few redeeming qualities. But the Draw Sword Slash was just a basic saber technique—utterly crude.

"Officers, please come in!"

The moment Chen Fan and Lu Xuenning stepped into the first-floor hall of Spring View Pavilion, the welcoming girls clustered around them.

They might sell their bodies for a living, but who wouldn't want to entertain a few handsome patrons?

Chen Fan was tall and handsome, with sword-shaped brows, starry eyes, a face sharply chiseled as if by a blade, and sun-browned skin that gave him a rugged, masculine charm.

Ever since Chen Fan had seen through her disguise at a glance, Lu Xuenning had made a point of dressing up this time. Now, in her scholar's outfit, she looked slender and delicate, with refined features and a rather feminine appearance. She was quite striking too.

"Miss, how did you know what we do?"

Chen Fan put an arm around a sweet-faced, curvy woman and asked in a low voice.

"That's easy."

"You're holding a Jinyiwei Hundred Refinements Embroidered Spring Blade, and you're wearing the Jinyiwei's regulation boots. So of course you're an officer of the Jinyiwei."

"And the handsome young man beside you is carrying a longsword that isn't standard issue, but he's wearing Government Office boots. So naturally, he's an officer of the Government Office."

The curvy woman smiled as she spoke.

Chen Fan and Lu Xuenning broke into a cold sweat. So they'd had that many obvious tells.

They'd thought they'd done a good job of hiding their identities. They hadn't expected a courtesan from a brothel to see right through them.

They exchanged glances, then each put an arm around a girl and headed upstairs.

So that's his type.

Shallow!

Lu Xuenning watched Chen Fan walk ahead, arm around a buxom courtesan, then looked down at her own chest and silently spat at him.

"Officers, which floor would you like to visit?"

The woman in Chen Fan's arms asked.

"What's the difference?"

Chen Fan asked.

"Just from that question, I can tell you two gentlemen have never been to Spring View Pavilion before."

"Our Spring View Pavilion has seven floors. The top floor is closed to the public; the Courtesans live on the sixth floor; the chaste courtesans live on the fifth; we red courtesans live on the fourth; the third floor is a gambling house; the second is a tavern; and the first is the pleasure hall."

"Which floor would the two gentlemen like to take a look at?"

The red courtesan in Lu Xuenning's arms asked with a beaming smile.

"Let's go to the second floor and get something to eat first."

Chen Fan replied.

They went up to the second floor, got a private room, and ordered a table full of food and wine. Lu Xuenning took out two taels of silver and gave one to each of the two red courtesans, asking them to step out for a while so she and Chen Fan could discuss something in private.

The two women left happily with the silver. All sorts of people came to Spring View Pavilion, including plenty like Chen Fan and Lu Xuenning who wanted a private room to discuss something they couldn't let others hear, then, once they'd settled things, find a few girls together and spend the night.

"How do you feel?"

Lu Xuenning asked.

"It feels pretty good. Kind of like coming home."

Chen Fan answered quite seriously.

Lu Xuenning: "???"

"That's not what I meant. I was asking if you'd noticed anything suspicious!"

Lu Xuenning said, her face darkening.

She felt bringing Chen Fan along had been a mistake. She'd planned to sneak into Spring View Pavilion in secret, wait until the dead of night, find the real boss behind it, and kill him in one fell swoop.

Instead, the moment she and Chen Fan entered Spring View Pavilion, two red courtesans saw through their identities. It probably wouldn't be long before the real boss behind the place heard the news and found out they were here.

They were completely exposed!

"The top floor of Spring View Pavilion should be where the real boss lives. We'll sneak up there in a bit and take a look. If we find a Demonic Creature, we strike. Then we're done."

Chen Fan spoke calmly.

"But we've already been exposed."

Lu Xuenning said helplessly.

"Plenty of high-ranking officials and wealthy men come to Spring View Pavilion every day. I've heard even the County Magistrate often comes here to drink with the Courtesans."

"The Jinyiwei in our Baihu Office, along with the constables from the County Government Office, may not come often because they're short on money, but they still visit a few times a year."

"So if two minor officers like us come here for a meal and a drink, do you think the boss behind Spring View Pavilion will pay us any special attention?"

Chen Fan smiled faintly as he spoke.

He'd realized that Lu Xuenning was young and powerful, but she didn't see the whole picture. She seemed like a flower raised in a hothouse. He wondered which wealthy family's young lady had come to Ping'an County to polish her credentials and experience life.