TFOD Chapter 112

Lan Xichen said, “Sect Leader Jin…could you explain what happened?”

Jin Guangyao didn’t speak, the knuckles of his fingers faintly turning white.

Wei Wuxian said, “It seems Sect Leader Jin isn’t willing to talk.”

With a wave of his hand, a naked female corpse immediately appeared in his grasp. Wei Wuxian placed his hand on her dark head and said, “However, if you don’t speak, does that mean I won’t be able to find out?”

The moment he empathized, before he even opened his eyes, Wei Wuxian found himself surrounded by a strong, cloying fragrance of makeup powder. A charming voice came from his own mouth, “…Her? She wanted to get married. When she met that man, she was already in her twenties, not young anymore. In a few more years, she definitely wouldn’t be popular, so she insisted on having a son, even if it meant getting scolded. It was all to get out of here. But that also required the man to want her.”

He opened his eyes. What he saw was a magnificent hall, quite spacious, with over a dozen large round tables. Several patrons sat at each table, along with a few quite attractive women, some with bare shoulders, others with disheveled hair, some sitting on patrons’ laps, others feeding wine to their companions; all of them had a sweet and intoxicated look.

It was clear at a glance what kind of place this was.

Wei Wuxian thought, “The person who was burned to death in this Guanyin Temple was actually a woman from a pleasure house. No wonder these resentful spirits are naked; they must all be pleasure girls and their clients.”

A patron next to him chuckled, “A son is still his own, wouldn’t the man want him?”

The woman said, “She herself said that the man was a big shot from a cultivation clan. His family must have many sons, so anything in abundance isn’t rare. How would he care about the one outside? After waiting and waiting, she didn’t see him come to take her away, so she could only raise him herself, for fourteen years.”

A few patrons said, “A big shot? Is that really true?”

The woman said, “Oh my, why would I lie to you about something like that? Her son is working here as a servant right now. Look, it’s him,” the woman twisted her waist, beckoning to a boy carrying a tray, “Little Meng! Come here!”

The boy indeed came over. “Sister Anxin, what is it?”

In an instant, Wei Wuxian understood everything.

A group of patrons sized up Meng Yao with scrutinizing eyes. Meng Yao asked again, “Is something the matter?” Anxin laughed, “Little Meng, have you been secretly studying those things recently?”

Meng Yao was startled. “What things?”

Anxin said, “The things your mother made you learn, like painting, calligraphy, etiquette, sword techniques, and cultivation manuals…how well have you learned them?”

Before she even finished speaking, the patrons started chuckling, as if finding it extremely funny. Anxin turned her head and said, “Don’t laugh, I’m telling the truth. His mother raises him like a young master from a wealthy family, teaching him to read and write, buying him a ton of sword manuals and secret cultivation books, and even wanted to send him to school.”

A patron exclaimed, “Send him to school? Did I hear that right?”

Anxin said, “Yes! Little Meng, tell these young masters, have you been to a library?”

A patron said, “Does he still go?”

Anxin said, “No, he went and came back in a few days, and said he wouldn’t go again. Little Meng, do you not like reading or do you not like it there?”

Meng Yao didn’t speak. Anxin chuckled, a crimson-painted fingernail poking Meng Yao’s forehead, “Little thing, are you unhappy?”

She poked him hard, leaving a faint red mark on Meng Yao’s forehead, like the lingering trace of cinnabar. He touched his forehead. “No…”

Anxin waved her hand, “Alright, alright, it’s nothing, go on.” Meng Yao turned and took a few steps. Then, she picked up something from the table, coaxing, “Here, have a fruit.”

Meng Yao turned back. The jade-green fruit hit him on the chest, falling to the ground and rolling away. Anxin scolded, “Why are you so clumsy? Can’t even catch a fruit. Pick it up, don’t waste it.”

Meng Yao’s lips curled into a smile. He should be fourteen, but perhaps because he was especially small, he looked only twelve or thirteen. This kind of smile appearing on his face made people feel especially uncomfortable.

He slowly bent down, picked up the fruit, wiped it on his sleeve, and smiled even more deeply, “Thank you, Sister Anxin.”

Anxin said, “You’re welcome. Go back to work now.”

Meng Yao said, “Call me if you need anything.”

After he walked away, a patron said, “If my son was in a place like this, I would bring him home no matter what.”

Another said, “Is his father really a big shot in a cultivation family? It would be easy for him to redeem a pleasure girl and give her money to raise her son. It’s just a matter of raising a hand.”

Anxin said, “How can you believe everything a woman says? Believing half is already too much. A big shot is what she calls him herself. I think he’s probably just a wealthy merchant with a bit of money, and she exaggerated him several times over…”

Just then, a scream was heard, along with the sound of cups and plates breaking from the second floor. A guqin came tumbling out, landing in the center of the hall with a loud crash, shattering into pieces, scaring the people who were drinking and having fun at the nearby tables into cursing out loud. Anxin almost fell, screaming, “What happened!”

Meng Yao cried, “Mother!”

Anxin looked up and saw a burly man grabbing a woman by her hair, dragging her out of a room. Anxin grabbed a patron next to her, her voice full of excitement and tension, “She’s at it again!”

Meng Yao rushed upstairs. The woman was covering her scalp, desperately pulling her clothes over her shoulders. Seeing Meng Yao running over, she said urgently, “I told you not to come upstairs! Go down! Go down now!”

Meng Yao tried to pry the patron’s hand off, but was kicked in the stomach, tumbling down the stairs, causing a chorus of exclamations.

This was the third time Wei Wuxian had seen him being kicked down the stairs.

The woman screamed, “Ah!” Immediately, she was grabbed by the hair by the patron again and dragged downstairs, her clothes pulled off. She was thrown into the street, and the patron spat on her naked body, cursing, “Ugly, overreacting! An old prostitute, still thinking she’s some fresh goods!”

The woman lay in the middle of the street, not daring to get up. As soon as she moved, she would be exposed. The passersby were both surprised and excited, wanting to leave but also wanting to stay, pointing, and their eyes glowing. The women from the pleasure house also gathered at the door, giggling and telling the patrons around them about what had happened to the embarrassed old woman, just like Anxin, gloating at her misfortune. Only one woman turned and walked out. She took off the light gauze she was wearing, revealing half of her snow-white, full breasts in a bright red undergarment. Her waist was very slender and eye-catching. Everyone looked at her. This woman spat and yelled, “Looking, looking, looking at what?! You think you can look at me? You have to pay for one look, pay up! Come on, pay!”

While she cursed, she indeed stretched out her hands, asking the onlookers for money. The crowd dispersed a bit. She threw the gauze she had taken off onto the woman, wrapped it around her, and they staggered back into the hall. As they walked, she scolded, “I told you a long time ago to change. Who are you putting on airs for? You’ve suffered, learn your lesson!”

Wei Wuxian thought, “This woman’s face looks somewhat familiar. Where have I seen her before?”

The woman whispered, “A-Yao, A-Yao…”

Meng Yao had been knocked off balance from the kick and could not get up for a while. He lay on the ground. The woman grabbed both of them, pulling the mother and son up. A patron next to Anxin said, “Who is that beauty?”

Anxin spat out two watermelon seeds, “She’s a famous hot-tempered one, very scary.”

Another said, with disappointment, “Is that the talented beauty, Meng Shi? How did she become like that?”

Anxin put on a smiling face again, “That’s how it is. She had to have a child. Once a woman has a child, can she still look good? If she weren’t relying on her past so-called ‘talented beauty’ name to barely make ends meet, I’m afraid there wouldn’t be many who would bother with her. In my opinion, it’s because of the books she read that caused her trouble.”

A patron said, “That’s right. People who have dabbled in books always have that inexplicable aloofness, always unwilling to give up that bit of thought.”

Anxin said, “If she could make a living from the books she read, then I wouldn’t say anything, but it was just a gimmick to attract customers. To put it bluntly, everyone here is a prostitute. You are high and mighty because you’ve read some books? What are you being so aloof about? Not only do outsiders look down on her, do the other sisters here like her? Customers who come to this place occasionally like seeing a delicate, reserved girl in her teens, that’s something novel and unique. Why would they spend money to look at someone old and haggard? She’s not popular anymore, everyone knows it, but she’s the only one who can’t see it…”

Just then, someone patted Anxin on the shoulder from behind. Anxin turned around and saw the woman standing behind her. She raised her hand and slapped Anxin.

With a “slap,” Anxin was hit, stunned for a moment, then furious, “Bitch!!”

The woman said, “Bitch!!! Always gossiping, is that the only thing your tongue can do?!”

Anxin screamed, “What I say is none of your business!”

The two women were wrestling in the hall, using their nails and teeth, tearing at each other’s hair and cursing, with curses like, “I’ll scratch your face sooner or later”, “Even if you paid me, I wouldn’t want you,” their words were so vulgar that they couldn’t be heard. Several patrons went to mediate, “Sisi! Stop fighting!”

Sisi?

Wei Wuxian finally remembered why the woman’s face looked so familiar. If you added seven or eight knife scars to that face, wouldn’t that be Sisi, the woman who came to Lotus Pier to report on them?!

Suddenly, he felt a wave of heat rushing towards his face, and the entire hall was instantly engulfed in a fiery red sea. Wei Wuxian hurriedly pulled himself out of the empathy!

Opening his eyes, Lan Wangji asked, “How is it?”

Lan Xichen also asked, “Young Master Wei, what did you find?”

Wei Wuxian took a deep breath, calming his mind slightly, “I guess this Guanyin Temple is the place where Sect Leader Jin grew up.”

Jin Guangyao remained impassive. Jiang Cheng said, “The place where he grew up? Wasn’t he in…” He wanted to say that he had grown up in a brothel, but suddenly understood. “This Guanyin Temple was previously a brothel. He burned it down and rebuilt it as a Guanyin Temple!”

Lan Xichen said, “You really set the fire?”

Jin Guangyao said, “Yes.”

Jiang Cheng sneered, “You admit it so readily.”

Jin Guangyao said, “Now that things have come to this, does one more thing or one less thing matter?”

After a moment of silence, Lan Xichen said, “Did you do it to erase the traces?”

Although many people knew that Lianfang-Zun had grown up in a brothel when he was young, for so many years, most people did not know which brothel he was from, which was strange. Everyone knew that Lianfang-Zun must have been intentionally manipulating things behind the scenes. However, it is unlikely that many people would have expected him to burn the place where he was born and raised to the ground.

Jin Guangyao said, “Not entirely.”

Lan Xichen sighed and didn’t continue. Jin Guangyao said, “Aren’t you going to ask me why?”

Lan Xichen shook his head. After a while, he answered, not quite on topic, “I used to not be ignorant of what you had done, but I believed you had your reasons for doing it.”

He also said, “But, what you did is too much. And I…don’t know whether I should trust you anymore.”

His voice carried deep weariness and disappointment.

Outside the temple, it was raining heavily with thunder. Wind seeped through the cracks in the temple door, and in the desolate whistling sound, Jin Guangyao suddenly knelt on the ground.

Everyone was stunned. Wei Wuxian, who had just confiscated his sword, was also startled. He saw Jin Guangyao weakly saying, “Second Brother, I was wrong.”

“…” Hearing this, even Wei Wuxian felt embarrassed for him, and couldn’t help but say, “Uh, what, don’t talk, just fight. Can we just fight?”

This person could change his face instantly, kneel when he wanted, with no dignity or domineering aura at all. Lan Xichen also had a difficult expression. Jin Guangyao continued, “Second Brother, you and I have known each other for many years. No matter what, you know how I treat you. I no longer desire the position of Immortal Supervisor, and the Yin Tiger Seal has also been completely destroyed. After tonight, I will travel far to Dongying and never come back. For all of this, please let me live.”

Traveling far to Dongying was just a fancy way to say he was running away. It sounded rather shameful, but Jin Guangyao was known for his flexibility and adaptability, choosing to be soft rather than hard. The Lanling Jin Clan could overpower one or two, even three or four families, but if all the families united to attack him, repeating the mistakes of the Qishan Wen Clan, it was only a matter of time. Rather than drag it out until then, it was better to withdraw immediately, avoid the storm, preserve his strength, and maybe have a chance to stage a comeback in the future.

Wei Wuxian said, “Sect Leader Jin, you said the Yin Tiger Seal has been completely destroyed, can you take it out and let me see?”

Jin Guangyao said, “Young Master Wei, the replica is not the original. There is a limit to how many times it can be used. It’s completely ruined now. And you know how heavy that thing is with resentment, you should know best. A useless item that only brings bloodshed, do you think I would still keep it?”

Wei Wuxian said, “I wouldn’t know about that. Perhaps you could find another Xue Yang?”

Jin Guangyao said, “Second Brother, everything I said is the truth.”

His words were sincere and earnest. And since he had captured Lan Xichen, he had been treating him with respect. At this moment, Lan Xichen really couldn’t immediately turn against him and could only sigh, “Sect Leader Jin, I told you when you insisted on planning such a great chaos at the Burial Mounds, you don’t need to call me ‘Second Brother’ anymore.”

Jin Guangyao said, “The Burial Mounds incident was a moment of madness, a big mistake. But, I have no way out.”

Lan Xichen said, “What do you mean no way out?”

Lan Wangji frowned slightly, his voice cold, “Brother, do not speak with him further.”

Wei Wuxian also reminded, “Sect Leader Lan, remember how you reminded Sect Leader Jiang? Don’t talk too much with him.”

Lan Xichen knew how skilled Jin Guangyao was at sweet-talking. But as soon as he heard there might be an inside story, he couldn’t help but want to listen. Jin Guangyao had also caught onto this point.

He said in a low voice, “I received a letter.”