Master Is Shallow!

Yaoqin lowered her gaze to the talisman she had crumpled in her hand.

The blood qi within it was wildly violent and highly aggressive, but in essence, it seemed much the same as the Blood Qi Spirit Stone Chu Xingchen had given her.

The blood qi in the talisman had clearly been turned into a means of attack.

Whereas that within the Spirit Stone was simply more stable.

And then there was how quickly Chu Xingchen's cultivation had risen.

She had only refrained from asking questions because she trusted him.

The Clearwind Sect was actually quite far from Yuzhou City.

How could they possibly risk extending their reach to the outskirts of Yuzhou City?! Were they tired of living?

That hardly served their interests, unless they had come to track Chu Xingchen.

Yet Chu Xingchen was living leisurely in Yuzhou City, clearly confident that he had handled everything cleanly and left no loose ends.

Chu Xingchen was no fool. If someone had followed him all the way here, he should have noticed quickly. Otherwise, with all his past courting of death, he would have been cold in the ground long ago.

That meant... Chu Xingchen must be hiding something from her.

Or he had actually switched to evil cultivation!

Yaoqin tightened her grip on the talisman. "I'm changing and going out. Whatever it is, wait until I return."

Her maid hurriedly asked, "Miss, aren't you taking me with you?"

"No." Yaoqin picked up the clothes beside her, her answer decisive.

The maid, Xiao Ling, hesitated to speak, but ultimately could only watch her mistress hurry away.

Yaoqin once again lowered her gaze to the slip of paper in her hand.

Chu Xingchen had given it to her, saying it was his current address.

After checking, she confirmed that the Courtyard House before her, its gates tightly shut, was indeed his current residence.

Yaoqin reached out and knocked lightly.

An answer came quickly.

"Coming~"

It was not Chu Xingchen's voice, but a woman's.

The tightly shut gates soon opened.

An innocent-looking, beautiful young woman opened them with a broad smile. At the sight of Yaoqin, she froze, then withdrew her smile.

"Have you come to the wrong house?"

Yaoqin frowned slightly at the young woman before her, then asked coldly:

"Does Chu Xingchen live here?"

Li Yingling was also taken aback by the beautiful older woman before her, whose bearing was so icy.

Who was she? She had just blurted out Master's name.

Could she be an old flame of Master's?

Or an enemy?

More importantly, how should I answer that question?

Did Master live here or not?

The main problem was that the woman before her clearly had cultivation, yet Li Yingling could not see through her even with her foundation establishment realm strength.

"That name... sounds a little familiar. What do you want with him?"

Li Yingling tried asking in a roundabout way.

"I have business with him."

"What business?"

Yaoqin frowned slightly. "What does that have to do with you? Does he live here or not?"

Li Yingling put on a friendly smile.

"I can't quite remember that name. My little brother has a good memory. He'll definitely know whether Chu Xingchen lives here. I'll go ask him. Please wait."

With that, Li Yingling hurriedly shut the gates.

She rushed to her second junior brother's door and hastily knocked.

Li Xingtian soon opened the door and looked at his senior sister. "What is it? Did something happen?"

Li Yingling whispered, "There's a woman at the gate looking for Master. I don't know what she wants. Hurry out and find him. Tell him a very beautiful woman with an icy manner is looking for him."

"If she's here to pick a fight, come back and give me a secret signal. I'll tell her Master doesn't live here."

"If she's Master's sweetheart... tell him to hurry back."

Li Xingtian frowned slightly... Wasn't Senior Sister overthinking this?

But seeing the serious expression on her face, he reconsidered.

Li Xingtian nodded and agreed to her plan.

After all, caution never hurt.

Li Yingling instructed him, "All right, use the back door. I'll stall her!"

"Be careful too, Senior Sister." After that reminder, Li Xingtian quickly turned and headed for the back door.

As for where his master had gone, Li Xingtian had a fairly good idea.

Whenever Master went out, he told his disciples where he was going, so they could find him if anything happened.

Right now, Master was most likely... listening to music at a brothel?

Ever since Master had fished up a corpse, he had decided to try a different way of tempering his state of mind.

Li Xingtian just did not understand what sort of mental discipline listening to music at a brothel could cultivate.

What was so good about listening to women sing?

Li Xingtian slipped carefully out the back door. After cautiously checking his surroundings and making sure no one had noticed him, he hurried toward the brothel Master had mentioned.

The brothel Master had mentioned was not far away.

A few streets were practically a stone's throw for a cultivator at the foundation establishment middle stage.

Before long, Li Xingtian reached the brothel Master had described.

Several scantily clad women leaned seductively by its entrance, holding pipas and other instruments as they softly sang explicit lyrics.

One look at the entrance was enough to tell him this brothel was thoroughly disreputable.

What a disgrace to public morals. Wasn't anyone in Yuzhou City going to do something about it?

Master, you're being foolish! Women like these were all deceitful foxes!

Li Xingtian's expression grew cold. He had long since seen through such shallow feminine allure.

However, entering the brothel required paying at the door.

An attendant waiting for customers at the entrance quickly approached him.

"Sir, here to enjoy some music?"

Li Xingtian had no patience for conversation. He casually shoved some silver into the attendant's arms and walked inside.

His gaze swept across the room. Almost everyone had a brothel woman in his arms and was doing something offensive to public decency.

Soon, his gaze settled on Master in the farthest corner.

To Li Xingtian's surprise, however, Master was not groping anyone like those vulgar mortals.

Instead, he was quietly savoring tea, a gentle smile on his face as he chatted with a brothel woman holding a pipa.

Li Xingtian thought no further and hurried over.

Chu Xingchen quietly savored the tea before him.

The brothel woman holding a pipa gazed at him with admiration written all over her face.

She murmured, "Young master, you truly are a great talent... I deeply admire the breadth of your vision."

Whether it was poetry and song, astronomy and geography, or even the changing ways of the world, the man before her possessed unique insights and remarkable mastery.

Cheap brothel women, such as those singing at the entrance to lure in customers, naturally needed little education. Being able to sing and play an instrument was enough.

Every profession had its high and low, its noble and humble.

She had been raised from childhood to become a top courtesan. She had diligently studied everything from poetry and song to dance, and even her every word and gesture had been carefully trained.

Her discernment and abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people. Only those who understood appreciation could truly appreciate.

The people she usually met coveted nothing but beauty. They had not a drop of ink in their bellies, their speech was coarse, and the lust in their eyes spilled out undisguised.

But this young master was different.

His every word and gesture revealed the bearing of a gentleman.

And his looks... he was simply far too handsome.

Stardust seemed to glitter within his eyes.

People said her job was to charm customers, yet now she felt as though he had charmed her instead.

Talking to the handsome man before her felt like basking in a spring breeze.

That stark contrast suddenly made him seem like a carefree immortal from the heavens, rather than a mortal.

Chu Xingchen gently set down his tea. Seeing the peach blossoms blooming in the woman's eyes, he knew his touch had not deserted him.