After eating and drinking his fill, Qian Yue hurriedly took his leave, saying he had important matters to attend to. He left Steward Li to show Chen Xian and the others around West First Ward.
For the first time, Chen Xian truly realized just how powerful the Qian Family was in Ask-Dao City.
As they walked along, nearly one shop in every ten on West First Ward's East Street bore the Qian family's sign.
The tea houses were especially numerous. Nearly one in every three belonged to the Qian Family, and even though it was already late in the evening, customers continued streaming in and out of the Qian Family Tea House.
The wealthy people of Ask-Dao City were far more obsessed with Shou'er Tea than Chen Xian had imagined.
After a few cups of blood tea, their faces soon glowed red.
Those who didn't know the truth would find it impossible to resist.
And most of its customers were elderly people whose sun was already setting. If it could extend their lives by even a single day, what did it matter if each tael of tea cost a hundred gold?
But when he thought of how the tea was grown and the Blood Treasure Insects hidden in the leaves, Chen Xian shuddered.
It was true that he was desperately short on lifespan, but he had no desire to drink human blood or raise Gu insects!
"Elder Chen, I've already arranged rooms for everyone at the Like-a-Dream Inn."
Steward Li bowed respectfully to Chen Xian.
"Then take us there to rest." Chen Xian nodded and glanced back at the others, who had already lost interest.
Sure enough, men—young or old—weren't much interested in shopping.
Led by Steward Li, they checked into the inn.
"Elder Chen, if you need anything, just ask at the front desk. I've already spoken with the owner of this inn."
After making all the arrangements, Steward Li went back to report.
"You should all get some rest too. It's been a tiring day. We'll return to the sect tomorrow." Chen Xian handed out the room plaques and assigned rooms. Everyone let out a long sigh of relief, feeling that shopping was even more exhausting than cultivation.
As soon as he entered his room, an elegant scent of sandalwood washed over him.
Glazed tiles adorned the ceiling, rosewood beams supported it, white jade paved the floor, and silk curtains hung around the bed. The place was truly luxurious.
No wonder it was called the Like-a-Dream Inn. Sleeping here was like being in a dream.
Chen Xian wasn't sleepy, so he sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed and began cultivating. Now that he had been swept into the Blood Demon Sect's muddy waters, he constantly felt the pressure of not being strong enough.
Although he had been in the Sword Sect for so long, he had never once made a move.
Still, his instincts told him danger was closing in.
He drew all his senses inward, examined his Sword Bone, and refined his Dao Consciousness.
The sandalwood incense curled through the air as the night wore on and the candles burned low. Gradually, the time he could spend examining himself with his Dao Consciousness lengthened from a hundred breaths to two hundred.
"Creak—" Just as Chen Xian was immersed in cultivation, the door opened a crack.
Then a figure slipped inside, and the door closed again.
A rustling sound filled the room, as though someone were taking off their clothes.
But Chen Xian had completely withdrawn his five senses, so he didn't notice a thing.
Only when the bed curtains were lifted and something cool and smooth slipped beneath the covers beside him did he suddenly open his eyes.
"Who's there?!"
He barked the question, and the aura of a sixth-stage Dao Disciple burst forth. The glazed tiles overhead chimed against one another, and the candle on the table flickered wildly, nearly going out.
"Ah..." A soft moan came from beneath the covers.
The fierce aura Chen Xian had summoned immediately ebbed.
He turned his head and saw a pair of bright, watery eyes staring at him in fear.
A young woman who looked to be eighteen was hiding beneath the covers, her slender neck tucked in and her fragrant shoulders bare...
Then he saw the gauzy dress on the floor beside the bed, and immediately understood what had happened.
He hastily withdrew his aura, his face full of helplessness.
"Who sent you here?" Chen Xian got out of bed, pulled the covers higher over the girl's shoulders, then sat by the window and asked.
"Steward... Steward Li told me to... to serve you."
The girl was terrified, stammering as she answered. Tears had already welled in her bright eyes.
She felt terribly wronged.
And no wonder. Anyone would struggle to accept being assigned to serve a man old enough to be her grandfather.
"..." Chen Xian was speechless.
Was everyone in the Qian Family using the same trick? He was an eighty-year-old man with white hair and brows. He might not look like some immortal sage, but he certainly didn't look like a lecherous old demon, either.
Besides, the girl looked no older than eighteen or twenty—she could have been his daughter. He could at least have understood if they'd sent a mature woman.
What was this supposed to be?
"You don't need to serve me. Get dressed and leave."
Chen Xian bent down, picked up the thin, gauzy dress, and placed it by her pillow.
Then he drew the curtains closed and stood with his back to her.
Hidden beneath the covers, Qiao'er stared blankly at Chen Xian's silhouette through the gauzy curtains.
She had already imagined herself becoming the begonia beneath the pear blossom tonight, but she hadn't expected the pear blossom to be a gentleman.
She reached one hand out from beneath the covers and touched the dress, still warm from where it had lain. Then she drew her hand back.
Her nose suddenly stung. Her eyes reddened, and fat tears slid down her cheeks onto the pillow as she stifled her sobs.
Chen Xian was staring at the candle flame when he suddenly heard her crying behind him. He instinctively started to turn, then froze.
The curtains wouldn't hide anything. What if he saw something and his nose started bleeding?
"Little girl, why are you crying? I won't lay a hand on you. Go on back." Chen Xian tried to keep his voice gentle.
"Qiao'er... Qiao'er can't go back... If you don't want Qiao'er, even if Steward Li doesn't have me beaten to death, he'll sell me to Flower Lane."
"Waaah..."
Once she had explained, Qiao'er stopped trying to stifle her voice and burst into tears.
Chen Xian furrowed his brow. The Qian Family was seriously inhuman.
"Then I'll give you some money. You can run away." Chen Xian took ten banknotes from his Jade Ring—one thousand taels in all.
It was enough to cover the lifetime earnings of an ordinary family in Ask-Dao City.
More than enough for the girl to survive.
"Run away?" Qiao'er stared at the stack of banknotes in Chen Xian's hand, her breath catching.
It was a path she had never considered, because freedom came at a steep price.
For a moment, she was overjoyed. Then her spirits quickly sank, because she had no idea where she could go.
As long as she stayed in Ask-Dao City, she had nowhere to hide.
But if she left the city, how was a helpless young woman like her supposed to survive?
She had been an orphan since childhood, raised by the Qian Family.
Though she was skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, she knew nothing about how to survive. She was like the lark Steward Li hung from a beam every morning to bask in the sun—she had long since forgotten how to fly.
Besides, she wasn't the first to try to escape.
The daily brutal training, strings cutting into fingertips, writing brushes swelling the joints, meals kept scarce to maintain their figures, and soft whips that could fall across their bodies at any moment...
Some of the girls couldn't stand it and ran away.
But every day, Steward Li's lark was hung from the beam on time to bask in the sun. And just like that bird, the girls who had escaped always returned to the Qian Family before sunrise the next day.
Then came the inhuman torment.
Remembering those bloody scenes, Qiao'er couldn't help shivering. Even the covers seemed to turn cold.
"This money is enough to support you for the rest of your life. Or you could assume a new identity, find a good family, and settle down. That wouldn't be a bad life, either."
When the room behind him fell silent, Chen Xian continued.
Thankfully, he had wrung five hundred thousand taels from Qian Yue. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have wanted to part with this thousand.
A gap opened in the curtains, and a jade-white arm reached out to grab Chen Xian's sleeve.
The girl's voice trembled. "Master, please take me..."