Chapter 439: Death Atmosphere (10/10, Autumn Subscription)

Fang Yue sighed, returned to his room, and began cultivating the Blazing Fire Heart Method.

On the road earlier, Fang Yue had been busy protecting the group and never had a chance to cultivate.

Now he could finally settle his mind and cultivate.

His lifespan burned, internal force flowed like water bursting through an opened sluice gate, coursing through his body.

Having already broken through to the Postnatal First-rate Realm, his progress cultivating the mere sixth layer of the Blazing Fire Heart Method was astonishingly fast.

Of course, the consumption of fire stones was also great.

Flames ignited on his body, and the fire stone in his hand began to melt away rapidly.

By the time the Blazing Fire Heart Method's progress had risen a notch, the fire stone had already fully decomposed.

Switching to a new fire stone to continue cultivating, Fang Yue immersed himself entirely in his training.

Outside Fang Yue's inn, however, a night pavilion of revelry and song was just beginning to come alive.

This pavilion was called Qingluan Lou, the grandest pleasure house in Qingsi County.

"Hehehe! Hehehe!"

Jing Yan rubbed his hands together, and after half an hour of queuing in mild excitement, he finally stepped into Qingluan Lou.

Qingluan Lou stood five stories tall, and at every floor, young ladies tossed large red flower balls out to attract passersby on the street.

The girls twittered and fluttered like a flock of warblers, dazzling to the eye.

Stepping inside Qingluan Lou, the lively scene was much as he had imagined a pleasure house to be.

Watching the elegantly classical young ladies, gorgeously dressed and soliciting customers, Jing Yan felt that even the little Xiao Xuedou beside him had become several degrees cuter.

"Aww! What a cute little puppy!"

"Sisters, come look at this little dog! Its tail's wagging so fast, so cute, gagagaga!"

Jing Yan was quickly surrounded by the young ladies.

Inside, he kept repeating to himself: I'm a heartless camera, I'm a heartless camera, today I'm just here to scout the location and record footage for the next video.

Worried as he was, faced with the assault of fragrance and the soft, pale arms pushing and jostling around him, Jing Yan still couldn't help but show a lecherous, piggish expression.

"Oh my, this young master is so shy."

"Is this your first time at our Qingluan Lou, young master? Which of us sisters would you like to keep you company for drinks?"

"This young master, how do you like me? I used to raise a little dog too. After our nighttime activities, if you're tired, I can also look after your beloved pet for you."

Oh my god! What, what kind of divine service is this!

Jing Yan was thrilled; all his earlier restraint was instantly forgotten.

"You're the one!"

"Thank you for choosing me, young master." The woman curtsied and said with a light laugh: "May I ask which floor you'd like to dine on, young master? After food and drink, we'll retire to a room together — that's the rule of our Qingluan Lou, please understand."

"Which floor? What's the difference?"

"Of course there is. We're on the ground floor now, which handles daily activities and entertaining guests. For other services, you'll need to go upstairs. From here going up, there are the Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter floors, and finally the Tian floor. Prices go from low to high, and each is different."

Jing Yan's heart gave a sudden lurch.

"The Sp-Spring floor, the starting price is…"

"Price?"

"I mean, the minimum spend?"

"One hundred taels per table seat, food and drinks charged separately. My fee is also calculated by time, mind you — once we're in the room, it's a different price." The woman blinked: "Since it's your first time, I'll give you a discount — fifty taels per half hour."

Jing Yan: ……

So expensive!!

Although he had earned money through his studio, that was real-world money, unrelated to game currency.

Fortunately, he had prepared somewhat. Before coming to Qingluan Lou, he had specifically had the two off-staff members originally stationed in Qingsi County exchange real-world money for a large amount of silver.

Even so, he only had a little over a hundred taels of silver on hand for now.

Doesn't that mean… he could only afford the prelude?

Thinking it over, Jing Yan had the woman lead the way while he and Xiao Xuedou went upstairs, and sent a message to Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu.

"Emergency! Wu Wu, lend me five hundred taels of silver, quick!"

The reply came instantly.

"Five hundred taels? You think I'm some rich dog owner!"

"Wu Wu, I'm really begging you, I won't short you. If not five hundred, three hundred will do."

"Nope, none!"

"How can that be! Didn't you make a killing from that Mo Cun trip?"

"Spent it all!"

"Impossible! At least two or three hundred taels of silver. Lend me a hundred, just a hundred! My little brother's lifelong happiness depends on you!"

"Really gone! All spent!"

"Huh? What on earth did you do to spend that much…"

Jing Yan was just sending messages when his body suddenly froze, he stopped walking, and his eyes went wide.

Ahead of him, a very familiar woman was laughing heartily and gorging herself, with another young lady beside her pounding her back and massaging her legs — a perfect picture of a capitalist's smug face.

"…Wu Wu?"

"What? It's the young lady I just picked…"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu answered reflexively, turned her head to look, and her voice abruptly cut off.

The atmosphere seemed to suddenly freeze.

Like a death stare, the two of them instantly went rigid on the spot.

"You two... know each other?" the Qingluan Lou woman beside Jing Yan asked in confusion.

"No, we don't!"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu's voice shot up at once, and she hurriedly looked away.

"Don't know each other at all!"

Jing Yan kept his head lowered, shielding his face with one hand, and hurried forward, passing Wu Wu's table. But looking further inside, good lord — Chun Ceng's table was already fully occupied; the only empty table was the one right beside Wu Wu.

"Young master, please sit, there are no seats left."

"..."

Despair. Despair at this world with no seats.

"Woof woof!"

Xiao Xuedou, never forgetting to kick a man when he's down, immediately ran over to Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu, leaped up, and jumped into her arms, happily rolling over to rub against her belly.

"... You two, really don't know each other?" that Qingluan Lou woman grew suspicious again.

"... Don't know each other."

"Don't know each other!"

Jing Yan kept a stiff face, sat down at the table next to Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu, doing his best not to let his gaze drift her way, staring straight down.

But just then, the Qingluan Lou woman he had ordered started her soul-piercing question again: "Young master, your beloved dog is still over at the young lady's table. Won't you call it back?"

... Xiao Xuedou! You lost your midnight snack tonight!!

He forced out a fake smile: "Uh, miss, could you return my beloved dog to me?"

"Of course, of course, Xiao Xuedou... ahem, go on to your master's side."

Xiao Xuedou's cute big head first looked at Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu in confusion, then looked over at Jing Yan, whose smile had gone rigid.

Only then did it leap down from Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu's lap and run back to Jing Yan.

Only now did Jing Yan let out a huge sigh of relief — the atmosphere just now had been deathly frozen, awkward to the extreme.

He turned his head aside and began pretending to look at the scenery.

But just then, Wu Wu sent a message over.

"Why are you here too!! So the brains of you boys really are filled with nothing but lewd thoughts? Disgusting!!"

Damn! What's wrong with being a pervert!

"I want to ask you the same thing — why are you here? Doesn't this Qingluan Lou restrict girls from entering??"

(End of chapter)