Uniform Temptation

Perhaps from the moment they first met, Xue Mu had repeatedly conveyed that he could help their sect develop. Or perhaps it was because he had always seemed generous and confident, with enough charisma to sway others. Yue Xiaochan did not question whether he was boasting. Instead, she eagerly poked his hand with her chopsticks. "Let's hear it."

Meng Lan lowered her head slightly, her expression somewhat strange. To be honest, even now she could not figure out Xue Mu's background. Even if he was related to the Sect Master, the young sect mistress should not have treated him with such casual familiarity... Her earlier flirting now seemed like courting death. Was she suspected of stealing a man from the young sect mistress...

"First, I need to make a few things clear." Xue Mu raised one finger. "First, are all the brothels in the Capital City run more or less the same way? Showing off beauty and talent, with no other tricks?"

Meng Lan replied, "More or less. Of course, some advertise themselves as selling art but not their bodies, but sooner or later, they still open the gate."

Xue Mu nodded. "Second... are you afraid of offending the Righteous Path?"

Meng Lan was stunned. How had this turned into offending the Righteous Path? If he wanted to compete with other establishments, would he not be offending their own kind?

Before she could respond, Yue Xiaochan sprang up first. "Who are we? How could we possibly fear offending that pack of hypocrites? We only hate that they do not die fast enough! Besides, even if we do not offend them, do they not still make trouble for us? The Southern Region just had a clash not long ago. Are we supposed to hope for peace to bring wealth?"

"Then good..." Xue Mu leaned close to Yue Xiaochan and beckoned.

Yue Xiaochan instinctively leaned her little head over, and Xue Mu bent to whisper in her ear. A man's breath had never come so close to the little girl's ear before. Yue Xiaochan suddenly felt as if currents of electricity were crackling wildly through her body. Her heart began racing, and heat rose from nowhere, instantly burning her cheeks scorching hot.

That crystal-clear little earlobe began changing color right beneath Xue Mu's eyes, turning pink at once before spreading to her face, then down her neck. Xue Mu stared blankly for a moment and unconsciously swallowed.

You really could not tell that this girl was such a fledgling... No wonder she had been so upset over her earlier misunderstanding of him. She really was a complete fledgling... At that moment, those soft pink earlobes seemed to radiate endless temptation, tender and adorable. Xue Mu felt an intense urge to kiss one, but reason told him that was far too perverse. This girl was only thirteen. No matter what, he should not be having such thoughts about a girl whose feathers had not even fully grown...

Could it be that a young girl's natural bashful beauty was more moving than any Charm Technique?

The air between them seemed to freeze. Nearby, Meng Lan rested her chin on her hand and watched with great interest.

Their sect did not preach the Joyous Union Sect's theories of harvesting and replenishing. They actually held some expectations toward love. But the Demon Sect was still the Demon Sect. Using women's innate advantages to enchant men until their souls were utterly bewitched was something they did with practiced ease. The young sect mistress had originally been hailed as a once-in-a-century genius within the sect. She should have waited until her coming-of-age years before entering the martial world to charm all living beings and topple the world... Yet before she had even entered the martial world, she had been embarrassed into such a state by a man while still green and unripe. Meng Lan wondered whether the Sect Master would cough up blood upon seeing this.

Perhaps noticing Meng Lan's amused expression, Yue Xiaochan hurriedly sat back down and glared at Xue Mu furiously. "If you have something to say, spit it out. Your strategy will need Senior Sister to carry it out too, so why are you whispering in my ear? Were you deliberately teasing me?"

Once she had moved away, Xue Mu let out a quiet breath. "I'm not interested in snot-nosed little girls."

Yue Xiaochan glared at him. "You!"

Xue Mu swiftly changed the subject. "Right, I forgot to ask. Do the major Righteous Path sects have uniforms?... Uh, I mean standardized sect clothing."

Yue Xiaochan knew perfectly well that he was changing the subject, yet she had no choice but to go along with it. "Most of them do. Why?"

"Then there's the solution." Xue Mu no longer played mysterious and spoke quickly. "You can have the girls change their outfits... For example, put them in Daoist robes and have them tell customers they are female Daoists cultivating in some great sect... Or dress them in martial attire with swords at their waists, making them look like cold and sharp women wanderers of the martial world, claiming to come from some Righteous Path sword sect. The key is to make the act convincing..."

Yue Xiaochan had originally been full of mingled indignation and embarrassment, and her racing heart had yet to settle. But as his words slipped into her ears one by one, that little girl's...

Blushing, racing-heart feeling had long since flown beyond the ninth heaven. Her large eyes grew brighter and brighter, while an extremely excited glow gradually lit her little face.

Meng Lan's eyes also brightened. She exchanged a glance with Yue Xiaochan, and both rose to their feet at the same time. They hardly needed to think before knowing this move would work—very well...

Those great sects stood high above everyone else. In ordinary times, they would not even spare common people a proper glance. If an ordinary martial wanderer had a chance to exchange a few words with them, they would likely be happy for two or three days. This role-playing would absolutely fulfill the cravings buried in countless hearts, drawing people like ducks to water. It did not matter if they could not fool anyone. What people wanted was merely that feeling of desecrating a goddess. Meng Lan could practically foresee Hundred Flowers Garden packed to the doors with guests. There was no suspense at all.

This move was wicked and demonic, able to make money while also disgusting the Righteous Path sects. It was simply too perfectly suited to the tastes of demonesses like them. One look at Yue Xiaochan's shining eyes made that clear. Perhaps her little head was already drawing inferences from one instance to another, thinking up things even more outrageous...

And other establishments could not copy this trick. Those with ordinary backgrounds would never dare offend super sects like the Sword Inquiry Sect and Mysterious Heaven Sect. But who were they? They had been opposing the Righteous Path from the start, had they not? It would be best if they could anger them to death.

Only the Joyous Union Sect, another great demonic sect, would dare copy this move. Even if they did, it would not matter. They could share the pressure of the Righteous Path's retaliation, and perhaps the Joyous Union Sect's business would even become better, leaving the Star Moon Sect no longer as the bird that stuck its head out.

This was a miraculous move tailor-made for them! It required no capital, brought ten thousand profits, killed several birds with one stone, and would take effect quickly. Meng Lan admired him so much she nearly wanted to kneel. How had he come up with it?

"Good, good, good!" Yue Xiaochan paced about in extreme excitement. "The Sword Inquiry Sect's style has the most flair—white robes like snow, a body like a drawn sword? Hahaha... I heard Mu Jianli is currently on the Ten-Thousand-Li Sword Pilgrimage. If she learns that someone dressed like her is being held in customers' arms, would she be angered to death on her road of ascetic practice? And those stinking Daoist nuns from the Mysterious Heaven Sect, hahaha, their Daoist robes are quite recognizable too... I'll organize people immediately to hunt down those hypocrites whose eyes grow on their foreheads and strip a few outfits off them for use."

Seeing Yue Xiaochan's clearly overexcited appearance, Meng Lan cautiously reminded her, "It would be better to let the Sect Master know about this. After all, it could very likely provoke major retaliation."

Yue Xiaochan waved her hand. "Master will only praise us when she hears it! I'm going to tell Master right now."

After saying that, she did not even feel like using the door. She shot out through the window like a flying arrow. The instant she landed on the windowsill, she suddenly remembered something and turned back with a half-smile. "If you really like women's earlobes, you can kiss Senior Sister's. Didn't she flirt with you before?"

Leaving behind that remark, which was impossible to tell whether it came from jealousy or a desire to cause trouble, her figure flashed and vanished.

Xue Mu and Meng Lan looked at each other, both falling into awkward silence. Frankly speaking, Meng Lan's age and figure suited Xue Mu's tastes much better. If the time and place had not both been entirely wrong, Xue Mu would have been very willing to develop an indescribable story with her. But the atmosphere had long since changed. Forget picking up where they left off—even saying a few words alone felt unbearably awkward.

After a long while, Meng Lan was the first to recover. She raised her cup in a toast to Xue Mu. "Thank you, Young Master, for your brilliant plan."

Xue Mu tried hard to drag his thoughts away from the mess between men and women. Taking a light sip of wine, he pondered, "Brothels are not a long-term solution in the end. You could actually develop in other directions entirely."

Meng Lan shook her head. "Could it be that Young Master does not know? Ten years ago, we did not even have any businesses in the open. Every day, we hid here and fled there amid all kinds of encirclements and extermination attempts. It was only because the Sect Master was a heaven-sent genius, forcibly breaking through the limits of the Heavenly Human Realm in the bloom of youth and intimidating both the black and white paths, that everyone gained the chance to settle down, survive, and grow stronger. None of us know how to run businesses. Brothels are merely making use of our strengths. We do not know what else we could do."

Xue Mu said lightly, "In my eyes, it is simply too easy... It is only a pity..." His voice gradually lowered. It was only a pity that he was not truly Xue Qingqiu's relative. How could they possibly listen to everything he said?

Meanwhile, at the distant Six Fan Gates, Xue Qingqiu was called out by her disciple. Upon hearing it was such a trivial matter, Xue Qingqiu was already in a bad mood. But after hearing the details, she did not know whether to laugh or cry. "That idea is truly vicious. Xue Mu came up with it for you?"

"Yes, yes!"

"Hehe... It seems that Xue Mu does have some real ability after all. Our saving him was not in vain. Go do it. The Righteous Path is noisy; your master will bear the burden."

Sure enough, demonic aura and devilish nature ran in the same bloodline. Yue Xiaochan had been right—Master would only praise them after hearing it...