Chapter 26: Fellow Daoist? Fellow Daoist

Seeing the sky grow pale and the stars thin, with the night about to fade, Xu Qing leaped onto the high wall. Focusing his intent, he cast the Qi-Gazing Art to survey the entire mill.

The five-element, five-colored mists varied from shallow to deep, different in every corner.

He channeled his spirit and saw the calm, ripple-less orange human auras in the distant courtyard.

Clearly, the living people in the mill were still resting and had not yet awakened.

Xu Qing looked down at the ruined corpse-workers scattered everywhere. He had intended to leave, but his heart still felt unsettled.

While pondering, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. Using the Qi-Gazing Art to scan his surroundings, he finally fixed his gaze on a place filled with fiery, parched energy.

That was the fire-room where the kitchen staff would light stoves to cook meals and boil water for the mill workers.

Xu Qing felt that in this second lunar month, the cold had not yet dissipated, and it was the time when everyone was most prone to lingering in bed for warmth. Being a kind-hearted person who couldn't bear to see others suffer from the cold, he decided to stoke a fire for the folks in the black workshop before leaving, so they could warm up!

Thinking of this, Xu Qing was almost moved to tears by his own kindness. He scurried to the fire-room, busied himself for a while, and then, taking advantage of the early hour and adhering to the principle of doing good deeds without leaving a name, he vaulted over the high wall and vanished into the street alleys.

The fifth watch passed in the blink of an eye. The night watchman, carrying his copper gong and clapper, finished his shift and was walking back leisurely.

On the road, he met the night-soil collector who was up early to work, and the two acquaintances began their habitual greeting.

"Yo, dung-carrier, you're up a bit late today, aren't you? I've already finished the fifth watch, and you're only just starting your rounds?"

"Sigh, don't mention it. It's cold these days, and nobody wants to leave their night-soil buckets outside. I can't go knocking on doors to ask for them, and since the work is the same regardless of how early I start, I figured being late is fine; I'll get it done eventually."

As the two were talking, the night-soil collector suddenly stretched his neck, looked behind the watchman, and asked suspiciously, "Why is the sky so red over there? Could it be a fire?"

The watchman instinctively replied, "How is that possible? I just finished patrolling that area..."

Before they could finish speaking, someone in the distance suddenly shouted, "Fire! Hurry and put out the fire!"

One word stirred up a thousand waves. While the watchman was still stunned, the barking of dogs and the crying of children began to ring out sporadically.

Immediately after, hundreds of people shouting, hundreds of children crying, and hundreds of dogs barking woke up the entire street in a short time.

The night-soil collector hurriedly reminded him, "You're supposed to be patrolling the streets, preventing fires and thefts. Now that something has happened, why aren't you beating your gong!"

Hearing this, the watchman snapped back to reality, hurriedly picked up his copper gong, and the hammer fell like raindrops.

"Disaster strikes—there's a fire! Everyone, get up and fight the fire!" The watchman's professionalism was beyond question; he started with the old routine the moment he opened his mouth.

Two streets away from the mill, Xu Qing stood by the roadside, watching the government office runners and soldiers carrying water-dragons and driving water-carts toward the scene.

He wasn't worried at all that the fire would spread elsewhere; the Cui Family Mill was surrounded by a ring of alleys specifically designed to prevent fires from spreading to it.

Now, that firebreak had become a great helper for them to burn themselves out.

Aside from the patrolling servants, Xu Qing also saw the Linhe Constable Zhao Zhonghe rushing over with a group of his newly awakened subordinates toward the scene.

Who would have thought this constable was so dedicated!

Withdrawing his gaze, Xu Qing walked out of the dark alley and looked toward Changdeng Street.

Changdeng Street was one of the most bustling places in Linhe Ward. Regardless of day or night, rain or thunder, as long as the sky didn't fall, one could see the figures of scholars, refined gentlemen, or commoners coming and going everywhere.

Perhaps someone might ask what the reason was, why other places weren't bustling, but this area was so lively?

The answer was simple: because there were courtesans here!

Xu Qing had been busy all night and was just worrying about where to rest his feet. Naturally, he had to come to this place of red lanterns and green wine to warm his body and listen to some tunes.

By the way, he could also test whether the palace secret technique he had just acquired was effective.

There were indeed quite a few pleasure houses on Changdeng Street. Xu Qing stood at the entrance, and on both sides were brightly lit, colorful pavilions.

Walking into the street, the lanterns reflected on his body, and even the coldness on him melted a bit, which showed how popular this place was!

In front of a flower house, a pimp wearing a green hat stepped forward to greet him.

He asked, Yichun Courtyard?

Never heard of it, not going.

Arriving at the second house, Shuhuang Pavilion? And it's full of talented women and beauties inside?

Then no!

This pedantic name sounded plain, and it was expensive.

When he reached the third house, Xu Qing looked up and saw that at the entrance of the carved-beam and painted-rafter high building, two large red lanterns were hung high, with characters written on them.

Xu Qing was dazzled. A rough look showed "Wind and Flowers" carved on the left and "Snow and Moon" written on the right.

In such a romantic place, he figured they wouldn't come up with anything too pure.

Looking at the plaque in the middle: Cuiyun Pavilion.

The name sounded familiar.

Xu Qing thought for a moment and recalled this place.

Wasn't this the new employer Su Hongxiu found after she returned to her old profession!

The scandal at the Liu residence had spread through every street and alley. After Su Hongxiu was driven out of the Liu residence, she used her "widow" persona to become the top headliner in Linhe Ward, outshining everyone else.

She single-handedly increased the "gold content" of that scandal by quite a bit.

Fate, it is! This is the one!

Xu Qing didn't have much interest in the so-called widow, mainly because he was a nostalgic person; hearing familiar place names and people's names made him feel close.

It was now the second month of spring, and the weather hadn't warmed up yet. At the entrance of Cuiyun Pavilion, thick and light warm curtains were hung to block the cold air. As soon as Xu Qing entered, he felt as if he had arrived in Jiangnan where lotus flowers had just bloomed; the warm, hot air rushed toward his face.

"Master, please sit inside!"

Unlike the pimps with green hats at the previous houses, this time he was greeted by the "Big Teapot" on duty inside.

That is, a waiter in a brothel or pleasure house.

When Xu Qing "liberated" that brothel helper, he learned quite a bit of knowledge in this area.

For example, the reason the waiter in front of him was called a "Big Teapot" wasn't because he was well-endowed, nor did it mean he carried a teapot to refill water and tea for people.

It was because in the flower houses, most were private rooms, and the courtesans and guests were usually doing "refined business" together.

When people were drinking water, chatting, and talking about feelings, the waiter couldn't just lift the curtain and walk in like a tea boy; that would easily get him beaten up.

Who knows what a lone man and woman are doing in the room? What would it mean if you suddenly walked in?

But the problem arose: if the waiter couldn't enter privately, what should they do if the water in the room was finished or used up?

It was simple: the guest just needed to pick up the pot and tap the teapot with the lid. When the waiter outside heard the sound, he knew it was time to come in and refill the water.

Some considerate brothels, in order not to affect the guests' performance, would even custom-make a large teapot with a three-foot-long spout to refill water from outside the window.

This was also a skill. Over time, the waiters in brothels got this nickname: Big Teapot.

"Big Teapot, take me around first."

Xu Qing had never been to such a place, and everything looked fresh to him.

After chatting with the Big Teapot for a while, he learned some of the rules of the house.

It turned out that Cuiyun Pavilion wasn't just one building, but a combination of one main building and twenty-four small buildings, with four courtyards in total. Each building had a headliner, and the rankings of these twenty-four headliners would be re-ranked after a period of time.

Like that Su Hongxiu, she was receiving guests in Building 23.

Xu Qing asked about the price and found that the cheapest headliner cost at least three or four silver taels a night, almost enough to equal the money he got for collecting one corpse!

He pondered his money bag, thinking that this "gold-consuming cave" really lived up to its name.

The scent of premium laurel wax drifted into his nose from the surrounding compartments. Xu Qing's heart stirred, and he randomly picked a girl from an empty spring pavilion. Before going upstairs, he didn't forget to give the Big Teapot a few instructions:

"Prepare more high-quality candles, and bring some dried fruits and snacks. Remember to get more persimmon cakes; I love sweets."

"Understood!" The waiter smiled knowingly and happily accepted the silver pieces Xu Qing tossed him as a tip.

After there was no one around, Xu Qing walked up to the pavilion alone. For some reason, from the moment he entered Cuiyun Pavilion, he felt that the yin energy here was much thicker than in other places.

In the deep boudoir of the four-courtyard enclosure, a familiar scent of incense faintly drifted out.

Xu Qing knew what that was. Whether as a corpse-driver or a zombie who often consumed spiritual incense, he was all too familiar with this smell.

Could it be that in this place of wind and moon, there were also people from the Yin Sect or fellow practitioners?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 27 =====