Chapter 461

"The patriarch of the Lu family is nicknamed 'Lu the Skinflint'…"

"Lu the Skinflint?"

Mo Hua froze.

Sister Qinglan nodded. "It's because he's greedy, selfish, and brutally exploits the miners—like peeling off a layer of skin."

Sister Qinglan sighed. "This is what my parents told me… before they died…"

"Back then, I was young. I just thought it was a story. I had no idea of the suffering behind it…"

"It's said that centuries ago, the Lu family was just an ordinary clan, owning a few mines, neither strong nor weak, holding a place in Nan Yue City—but there were several families stronger than them, and the Lu family wasn't special…"

"Until the Lu patriarch took power."

"After he rose to power, he colluded with several other families that owned mines to create spirit contracts, acting in unison to suppress miners' wages."

"Originally, miners earned five-tenths of a spirit stone per day…"

"The Lu family imposed rules, finding endless excuses to deduct pay; miners' actual earnings dwindled, gradually falling to three-tenths, then one-tenth, until finally they received only one full spirit stone per day…"

"The miners' lives grew even harder…"

"But the Lu family earned more spirit stones than ever."

"After earning spirit stones, they wanted to indulge in food, drink, and pleasure."

"Nan Yue City was barren, with little to entertain them, so the Lu patriarch decided to build his own…"

"And thus, Jin Hua Street was born."

"Lu the Skinflint—the Lu patriarch—indulged in every vice: eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring, so Jin Hua Street had every kind of establishment: gambling dens, brothels, all fully stocked."

"They squandered the spirit stones earned by the miners' blood and sweat, spending it all in gambling dens and brothels…"

Thinking of her parents, who toiled until they starved to death, Sister Qinglan's eyes filled with tears, her fingers clenched white.

Mo Hua also frowned deeply.

Sister Qinglan steadied her emotions, eyes red, and continued:

"Opening Jin Hua Street—food, drink, gambling—were easy to arrange…"

"But brothels needed girls."

"The family's own daughters would never do such a thing; they wouldn't sell themselves in brothels—at least not openly."

"So the Lu family turned their eyes to the miners."

"They mistreated the miners: neglecting cultivation arrays, failing to purge toxic miasma, using ancient, worn-out mining tools—all to cause injuries or deaths."

"Injured miners needed treatment; dead ones needed burial—both cost spirit stones."

"Without spirit stones, they had to borrow."

"The Lu family lent at exorbitant interest, trapping miners in massive debts."

"When miners could no longer repay, they were forced to surrender their children as collateral—sold to the Lu family."

"Boys became servants, lackeys."

"Girls were thrown into brothels, dressed up, and sent out to… serve clients…"

Sister Qinglan struggled to speak, tears streaming again from her eyes.

Mo Hua felt a pang of sorrow hearing this.

He hadn't realized that Jin Hua Street's prosperity was built atop the miners' suffering.

The brothel girls smiled and laughed, but beneath their faces flowed blood and tears.

The harder the miners suffered, the more extravagant Jin Hua Street became.

Mo Hua asked again: "Do other families do the same?"

Sister Qinglan nodded, then shook her head. "At first, the Lu family did this together with several other families…"

"But the others didn't go as far as the Lu family—didn't have their cruelty. Gradually, they were either swallowed up, or forced to sell their mines to the Lu family and flee to other cities…"

"Slowly, Nan Yue City became dominated solely by the Lu family…"

Mo Hua frowned. "The Lu family's actions violate Dao law—has Dao Ting Si never intervened?"

Sister Qinglan nodded. "They did intervene—but it was useless."

"The former Zhou Zhangsi was fiercely righteous, but he couldn't fight the Lu family."

"The Lu family bribed connections and had him transferred away."

"The Zhou Zhangsi who came after him at first pretended to act, but after visiting Lu family brothels a few days and accepting several chests of spirit stones, he became one with them."

Mo Hua understood.

That Zhou Zhangsi was probably the current Qian Zhangsi.

In bed with the Lu family.

Mo Hua suddenly remembered something and asked: "Has the Lu patriarch died?"

Sister Qinglan nodded, a hint of satisfaction in her voice. "Dead!"

"It's said he committed too many evils, indulged excessively, and his dark thoughts festered—during cultivation, he lost control and died at over two hundred years old."

"On the day he died, the miners used their food money to buy firecrackers and set them off all day long…"

"The Lu family couldn't stop them."

The old bastard died well—and noisily…

Mo Hua thought silently.

But living two hundred years before dying? He got off too easily.

Mo Hua thought a moment longer and asked: "After the Lu patriarch died, the new head of the family is Lu Chengyun, right?"

"Mm." Sister Qinglan nodded.

"Is Lu Chengyun evil?" Mo Hua asked.

Sister Qinglan frowned, thought for a while, then said:

"Average at best—not particularly good, but compared to the rest of the Lu family, he can be called a 'good person.'"

"He isn't harsh on the mine cultivators."

"When a mine cultivator dies, he makes the Lu family pay spirit stones."

"He doesn't go as far as the Lu family's ancestral elder in many things."

"Although the mine cultivators still live in hardship, they've always been in hardship, so they're used to it—and no one blames him."

"Unlike the Lu family's ancestral elder…"

Mo Hua nodded slightly.

It matched his impression.

Lu Chengyun was refined and elegant, but deeply calculating; he measured all actions by the Lu family's interests, acted cautiously, never overstepped, yet would never abandon the family's mine profits to treat the mine cultivators kindly.

Mo Hua asked again: "Sister Sister Qinglan, have you met any of the Lu family's elders at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion?"

Sister Qinglan nodded. "I've met a few."

"Among them, is there anyone particularly suspicious?"

Sister Qinglan frowned. "What kind of suspicious?"

"Like…" Mo Hua thought, then said, "someone who understands arrays but doesn't seem like a Lu family member—or acts furtively, doing things in a way unlike others…"

Sister Qinglan pondered a moment, then shook her head:

"I don't know. I've only seen them from afar; I haven't interacted with them much."

Then she added, "But if you're asking about suspicious people, the elder from the Nan Yue Sect who brought you here—he's quite suspicious…"

Mo Hua blinked. "Nan Yue Sect? Elder Su?"

"Mm-hmm." Sister Qinglan nodded. "His surname is Su."

Mo Hua asked curiously: "Why is he suspicious?"

Sister Qinglan frowned. "He's a regular customer, yet pretends not to know you—isn't that suspicious?"

Mo Hua's eyes flickered, and he whispered:

"Is Elder Su a regular at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion?"

"Yes. He used to come often—he practically treated the pavilion like home…"

Mo Hua's expression turned stunned.

He suspected Elder Su was familiar, but never imagined he was *this* familiar…

Truly… appearances can be deceiving.

Sister Qinglan glanced at Mo Hua, hesitated, then after a pause lowered her voice:

"I'm telling you this—don't you dare tell anyone else…"

Mo Hua's curiosity flared, and he nodded quickly.

Sister Qinglan leaned close to Mo Hua and whispered:

"Elder Su once had a very close relationship with Sister Shuixian—he even tried to buy her freedom."

"Later, it was said that Sister Shuixian… was pregnant with Elder Su's child…"

Mo Hua's mouth opened wide.

He never imagined Elder Su had such a "romantic entanglement."

"What happened to the child?"

Sister Qinglan shook her head. "I don't know."

"What about Sister Shuixian?"

Sister Qinglan sighed. "She died."

Mo Hua frowned.

Sister Qinglan felt both regret and sorrow. "Sister Shuixian was a kind person—beautiful, skilled with her hands, gentle to everyone…"

"But then, for some reason, she just died."

"Elder Su seemed heartbroken for a while, tried to investigate something, but eventually gave up…"

"He probably couldn't find anything."

Sister Qinglan lowered her head. "People like us—we're lowly. When we die, Dao Ting Si won't care, the Lu family won't care, the madam will only mourn the loss of a body that earned spirit stones…"

"Whether we live or die, they don't care—and no one in this world cares either…"

Sister Qinglan's voice grew quieter, her expression deeply desolate.

Mo Hua felt a pang in his chest.

Sister Qinglan kept her head down for a long while; seeing Mo Hua's mood also sink, she suddenly startled, wiped her tears, and smiled:

"Forgive me, Young Master—I shouldn't have said all that."

Then she added gratefully:

"Without you, Young Master, I doubt I could have escaped this sea of suffering…"

"I might still be in the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, forcing smiles, selling my body for survival, until one day, I just… died without anyone noticing…"

"Now I don't have to care about others' glances—I earn my own living. That's better than anything."

Sister Qinglan's gaze was open, her tone sincere.

Though her eyes were red, her look was resolute.

Mo Hua felt a little better.

After leaving the inn, Mo Hua walked down the street.

To the south lay the mines.

To the north lay the golden and dazzling Lu family, and at night, Jin Hua Street would glow with lights, a world of decadence and revelry.

Mine cultivators toiled for them; their children were reduced to slaves and prostitutes, used for their amusement and turned into tools to harvest spirit stones.

They also became leverage for bribing Dao Ting Si and courting other factions.

In Mo Hua's eyes, a faint glint of cold light shimmered.

(End of Chapter)