What the Hell Is in Jiangliu City?

Xiao Yu stood tall, carrying a basket of firewood on his shoulder as he walked up to the city gate.

He watched the gate guard opposite him with a teasing look, even wearing a trace of confidence on his face.

The place where he had hidden his storage pouch was somewhere the other party would not dare search even if given ten thousand times the courage.

As for the Qi-Concealing Jade, that was even more deeply hidden!

Just as he stood before the soldier with his firewood, full of confidence, the man suddenly began trembling upon seeing Xiao Yu's expression.

Xiao Yu raised the corners of his lips and smiled warmly. "Sir Officer~ You've worked hard~"

Then Xiao Yu copied the person before him, raising both hands above his head.

He wore an utterly confident expression, as though he were freely allowing the other party to search him.

Upon seeing Xiao Yu's expression, the soldier spoke in extreme panic. "Next, next!!!"

Xiao Yu immediately shrank his neck...

Seeing that the soldier had no intention of searching him, he was momentarily dumbfounded.

What?

Bro~~!?

When the soldier saw that Xiao Yu still was not leaving, he directly drew his blade. "You dead queer, why aren't you scramming? Don't hinder me from carrying out official duties!"

Xiao Yu hurriedly shouldered his firewood and headed into the city.

He could not walk too quickly, because his storage pouch was tucked in his crotch...

The other party had let him in without even searching him?

What did he mean, calling him a queer?

Having spent a year in the Hehuan Sect, Xiao Yu naturally knew what "queer" meant.

It referred to men who enjoyed the company of other men.

Women who liked women, meanwhile, were called mirror-grinders!

No... He had seemed perfectly normal just now, hadn't he? He had only smiled at that soldier. Was that really necessary?

Xiao Yu passed through the city gate and entered the city.

In the distance, a dazzling array of palaces shimmered and glowed.

Nearby lay broad streets paved with bluestone slabs.

Carriages and horses flowed like water, people surged like dragons, and the cries of street vendors rang out without end.

High eaves and soaring ridges, carved beams and painted rafters—every pavilion was as magnificent as an immortal palace, while large red lanterns hanging from their doors swayed in the wind.

The fragrance from taverns and teahouses permeated the air, and their halls were packed with guests.

It was Xiao Yu's first time visiting such a large city, and everything felt novel to him.

Just as he was absorbed in the sights, a pale-faced man suddenly approached from ahead.

The man's eyes gleamed with delight, his lips curled upward, and he leaned close to Xiao Yu's ear to whisper, "Brother~ I can tell at a glance that you are a man of true temperament!"

As he spoke, he produced a silver ingot and held it out to Xiao Yu with a suggestive look.

At the same time, he used the paper fan in his hand to touch Xiao Yu's neck, lightly sliding it across.

Xiao Yu's scalp instantly went numb. "GET LOST!!!" His voice cracked.

The pale-faced man froze. By the time he recovered, Xiao Yu had already carried his firewood far away.

Xiao Yu was so disgusted by that pretty-boy that he could not recover for quite a while.

At that moment, he finally realized something alarming.

After picking up a piece of cloth to cover his face, he looked grimly around the streets.

There were men walking hand in hand with women, and women supporting men as they walked.

There were also... women with their arms around women.

But there were men with their arms around men as well!

Xiao Yu hurried to an empty place, took out his pipe, and smoked with a look of utter revulsion.

He seemed to have forgotten something extremely important.

This place had apparently been ruled by the Hehuan Sect for a time. One had to know that there were scarcely a few normal cultivators in the Hehuan Sect.

Sometimes, when they could not find dao companions within the sect to circulate their cultivation arts with, they would sneak into places where mortals lived and seek out those mortals...

Immortals and mortals were worlds apart. Once they were done, those cultivators would simply leave.

Yet some mortals were left with lasting ailments, while others developed addictions!

There were quite a few of them...

He seemed to remember hearing about it before.

There was a one-hundred-and-thirty-year-old old man at the Qi Refining Stage in the Hehuan Sect.

He specialized in feeding the young men of Jiangliu City Hehuan Pills. His Dragon Guiding Art was invincible, able to pierce anything...

All who heard of it lost their courage!

Looking at the mortals of Jiangliu City, whose conduct had exploded beyond all limits, he dared to conclude that gays must be everywhere in this city.

Just as he smoked to ease his revulsion, he suddenly saw an old beggar by the street charge at a male stray dog.

"Awoo~! Woof woof woof woof~!!!"

The dog's howls rang out without end.

Xiao Yu ran at once. Even he could barely withstand such an explosive scene.

He definitely could not watch something like that, or it would leave a shadow in his heart...

After several detours, Xiao Yu finally arrived at what seemed to be a safe marketplace.

Looking at the men around him, he instinctively kept an enormous safe distance from them.

How was he supposed to describe this feeling?

It was like scrolling through short videos and suddenly coming across a video of two men.

The visual impact was enough to leave him unable to recover for half a year.

Who would have thought that tiny Jiangliu City could be so dangerous!

After considering it, he contacted Li Qingyun inside the Jade Maiden Gourd through his divine sense.

Li Qingyun said, "Master, do not stay in the north of the city. The north is close to the Hehuan Sect, and the mortals here suffered terribly back then!"

"The south of the city is more normal. This little girl's home is in the south, but it seems there are cultivators from the Profound Spirit Sect over there!"

Upon hearing that there were Profound Spirit Sect cultivators in the south, Xiao Yu fell into thought.

"Don't go to the south yet... I'll find a place to gather information first. We can talk about when to visit your home later!"

Li Qingyun nodded repeatedly. "Alright, Master. Please be careful in all things~!"

After changing his outfit, Xiao Yu headed west through the city.

There truly were quite a few soldiers on the streets.

Moreover, every other intersection, Xiao Yu saw someone who looked like a cultivator watching from a rooftop.

After many twists and turns, he finally found a tavern with a great many customers.

The tavern was crowded and bustling with noise.

Guests came one after another between the tables and chairs, leaving barely any room to stand.

Xiao Yu looked around and found a secluded corner.

After ordering two liang of warmed liquor and a plate of dried meat, he listened respectfully to the conversations around him.

At the next table sat four people, all dressed like talented scholars.

A man holding a bamboo fan slowly took out a packet of chewed sugarcane pulp and steeped it in his teacup.

"This sugarcane pulp was spat out by a beauty I knew in my youth. I have treasured it for five full years! Whenever this brother thinks of that young lady... I take it out, steep it in my cup, and savor it carefully!"

"What I miss is not the tea, but that heartbroken person~"

Upon hearing this, another young man slowly took out a frayed handkerchief from his clothes.

With an elegant and dashing expression, he said, "This item was also used by one of my beauties. Whenever I am consumed by melancholy, I take it out and cover my face with it. It feels as though that young lady is nestling close against me... truly wondrous beyond words~"

Xiao Yu's eye twitched. What the hell was wrong with the people in Jiangliu City?

Why was every last one of them even more depraved than he was...

Looking at the man steeping a tiny piece of chewed sugarcane pulp in his tea, Xiao Yu was disgusted to the extreme.

He had always thought himself perverted enough, but compared to these refined scholars, he was still lacking!

No wonder people said those who wrote books were no good. Today, he had seen it for himself!

Just then, he suddenly saw two Qi Refining Stage cultivators in long robes walk in.

They appeared to be from the Profound Spirit Sect.

"Waiter, bring us a pot of the finest Jiangliu Fragrance! And two plates of duck meat!"

After ordering, the two began discussing something.

Xiao Yu sat behind them, with his back facing them.

He ate while listening.

"That Shen Mengya from the Jade Maiden Sect branch is really too much. What right does she have to order our Profound Spirit Sect around? What does the destruction of the Jade Maiden Sect's main sect have to do with us?"

"That Bai Yue overestimated herself and fought the Hehuan Sect Master. She lost and got herself destroyed, so how can she blame us?"

"Why should that bitch Ye Zhirou come and take a share of our supplies?"

The other person hurriedly advised him, "Don't speak so loudly. It will be troublesome if those women hear you. Shen Mengya probably claims she wants to avenge Bai Yue, but in truth she wants to take advantage of this to seize benefits! Ye Zhirou was likely sent by her to collect those benefits..."

"But... Isn't Ye Zhirou Bai Yue's disciple? Why has she now acknowledged Shen Mengya from the Jade Maiden Sect branch as her master?"

The person opposite him slapped the table. "Ha~! You don't know, do you? Shen Mengya is Bai Yue's junior sister. I heard long ago that the two had a poor relationship. Now that Bai Yue is finished, Shen Mengya has started treating herself as the Jade Maiden Sect Master!"

"Shen Mengya is now using the banner of avenging Bai Yue. In an extremely short time, she gathered more than a thousand Jade Maiden Sect disciples who had scattered outside. Adding the thousand people from their branch, they are probably already close to the numbers the main sect under Bai Yue had before!"

Xiao Yu frowned and drank from his cup with a thoughtful expression.

Looking at Bai Yue in the Judgment Room, he roughly understood.

Ye Zhirou's betrayal of Bai Yue had likely been ordered by Shen Mengya. There might even be some hidden secret within all this.

Just then, the two men behind him spoke again. "Standing guard every day is far too annoying. We are cultivators, so why should we protect these mortals? What if we fail to rest properly and lack strength in battle? Wouldn't that be even more troublesome?"

"Mm... This is called keeping up appearances. Since we are a righteous and prestigious sect, we have to step forward to protect mortals..."

"What bullshit. These days, how many people who cultivate immortality embark upon the immortal path to protect ants? I'd say there is an eighty percent chance that old Nascent Soul Realm monster is using the power of mortal faith to nourish some treasure! What a lunatic!"

"Forget it, stop talking. We still need to go to Spirit Light Temple later! Let's see if we can ask Fire Monk to forge some magic artifacts for us to carry!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu slowly walked out. Fire Monk was at Spirit Light Temple...

Now he no longer needed to search every temple one by one.

Just as he was thinking about finding Fire Monk, he seemed to spot something.

Was that a bald head up ahead?!

Not the kind of bald head he had in mind.

It was a nun... a nun with curved eyelashes and an extremely voluptuous figure!

Xiao Yu was instantly entranced.

Even without hair, she could not conceal her stunning beauty.

Exquisite!

She was an exquisite, peerless beauty!!!

The nun held several strings of prayer beads as she said to passing women, "Female Benefactor, these are Nine-Spirit Bodhi beads. Only three taels of gold! They can ensure fortune and prosperity!"

The woman immediately frowned. "Three taels of gold? Are you robbing me?"

The nun pressed her palms together and slowly lowered her head. "Amitabha... Monastics do not speak falsehoods!"

"Only a ghost would believe you. Heh, nuns are even coming out to scam people for money now? Have you no shame at all!!!"

The woman left after saying that.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu hurriedly stepped forward, wearing the expression of someone converted to Buddhism. "Master Nun... Might this humble one borrow these prayer beads for a look?"