Chapter 10 Baihua Garden in Crisis

Yue Xiaochan went on, "Senior Sister, has something difficult come up? You might as well tell me."

Meng Lan smiled. "Nothing of the sort. The Young Sect Mistress is worrying over nothing."

Yue Xiaochan pursed her lips. "No trouble, and yet you went rushing off to seduce him? What's so wonderful about him? He's a plague carrier."

"..." Xue Mu kept his chopsticks moving and went on eating.

Meng Lan's face went a little pale. Only now did she realize her earlier seduction had not escaped anyone's notice. If the Young Sect Mistress knew, then the Sect Master surely knew as well—and who could say what ugly consequences that might bring.

Yue Xiaochan had not meant it as a reproach. She poured her a cup of wine with her own hand and went on, "Your behavior's been out of character, Senior Sister. It looks like you're in a hurry to climb higher, so something must be weighing on you. Can't you really tell me?"

Xue Mu was sighing to himself as well. Not over Meng Lan—over Yue Xiaochan.

He had now confirmed it: this girl was only thirteen. In his world, if eight was the age to start elementary school, thirteen put you in fifth grade; even starting at six, thirteen was only sixth grade. All of them innocent, carefree kids—the kind who chase after TFBoys yelling about how handsome their three little idols are.

And Yue Xiaochan had been raised as a future sect master since who knew what age, carrying a heavy sense of mission on her shoulders. Just look at this old-soul manner of hers, opening her heart to a disciple and helping her sort out her troubles—you would have taken her for twenty-three.

Only when she was bubbling with excitement over a story could you still tell she was a little girl.

Meng Lan took a silent sip of wine, and at last spoke up. "Young Sect Mistress, Baihua Garden is nearly finished."

In fact, Xue Mu had seen long ago that Baihua Garden really was finished.

Down in the main hall earlier there had been hardly any customers; the place was so vast that a lone guest had room to practice his fist forms right in the middle of the floor... And this was evening, when a brothel's business should be heading into its peak. It was simply too deserted.

Yue Xiaochan blinked. "They say the place was still turning a profit two months ago, and now it's only running a slight loss. How is that 'nearly finished'?"

Meng Lan explained, "Competition in the capital is savage—there are more brothels here than in any other prefecture. It used to be fine. Our sect had our seduction arts to give us the edge, and we were still second to none. But now..."

Yue Xiaochan did not follow. "We still have them, don't we?"

Meng Lan sighed. "In the end we never go down there ourselves; we only taught the girls a smattering of the art. The Hehuan Sect sends its outer disciples down in person. Their seduction arts and their natural looks both leave ours far behind..."

Yue Xiaochan ground her teeth. "Those bitches from the Hehuan Sect really do go out and sell it themselves!"

Meng Lan said, "Their creed is to indulge and enjoy to the full. They don't care."

"Then what are we supposed to do? To everyone else we're the same bunch as them! They've ruined our reputation for us!"

Meng Lan said nothing.

Yue Xiaochan thought for a moment, then said, "Even so, we're still ahead of the other houses, aren't we? Losing a bit of trade to the Hehuan Sect shouldn't be enough to sink us."

Meng Lan shook her head. "Since we can't pass our high-level arts outside the sect, all we have is those shallow tricks. People worked it out years ago; the other houses can do it too. We lost our advantage long ago."

At last Yue Xiaochan fell silent as well.

Meng Lan sighed. "What worries me is... whether one day the sect will have us outer disciples go down there ourselves too... From the way Senior Aunt Qingqing talks, she's already leaning that way a little. That's why I wanted to leave early, so I wouldn't be here when that day came." She turned to Xue Mu with an apologetic smile. "I did mean to make use of you, Young Master, but I meant no harm by it. I hope you can forgive me."

Xue Mu smiled to show he understood.

She has a clear, urgent need of her own, which makes her awfully hard not to touch. If the time and place had been right, I might really have gotten somewhere with her. What a pity, what a pity.

Yue Xiaochan said flatly, "Senior Sister, you know perfectly well our principles are not the same as those Hehuan Sect people's! The Star Moon Sect could never do such a thing. Being mistaken for being cut from the same cloth as the Hehuan Sect is disgusting enough—if we actually went and did it, that would be beyond the pale. I'll speak to Senior Aunt Qingqing about this."

Meng Lan looked at her steadily.

"And then what? The Sect Master may be unmatched under heaven, but the whole sect still has to eat, still needs resources. Are we to learn from the Hengxing Dao and take up robbery and murder—business with no capital outlay?

The Sect Master spent more than ten years of painstaking effort to finally open a crack here in the capital, to let us stand in the open. If we really did learn from the Hengxing Dao, all that effort would be wasted. The Sect Master would never want to go back to those days of hiding and skulking.

She might well approve Senior Aunt Qingqing's proposal. After all... we're only outer disciples..."

At that, Xue Mu finally paused.

So the Star Moon Sect and that Hehuan Sect of theirs aren't lurking behind the scenes pulling strings—they're demon sects operating openly in broad daylight? At least here in the capital, they're out in the open? Now that's a surprise. The image of the "mysterious demon sect" I had in my head has been turned completely upside down. By any normal logic, once you're branded demonic you're in constant friction with the righteous path, with deep blood feuds on both sides. So the moment a demon sect sticks its head up in the open, it must draw a mob of righteous sects down on it. Even if Xue Qingqiu is unmatched under heaven, their businesses would mostly be wrecked—like those southern holdings they mentioned, gone for good...

A demon sect running businesses has to work in the shadows; it can't possibly stand in the open. For them to be this anomalous and stand out in the open like this, it must have something to do with the capital's special status. At the very least they've got the court's permission, and the righteous path can't oppose them openly?

The government openly sheltering the underworld—or, put bluntly, the underworld being gradually legalized?

But why was it impossible before and possible now? Xue Mu kept his chopsticks moving, chewing it over in silence. He did not believe a political matter like this could rest on Xue Qingqiu's personal fighting strength alone. There might be something here worth digging into...

Yue Xiaochan's mind was on none of this. Their business was on the verge of collapse—and the sect's own disciples might actually be sent out to sell themselves?

If they really did it, what difference would be left between the Star Moon Sect and the Hehuan Sect? In the eyes of the world, at least, none at all.

This was no small matter. It touched on the great question of "walking different paths."

But clever as the girl was, she had been raised on martial arts; running a business was a completely different profession. What ideas could she possibly have? Even Xue Qingqiu herself might not have any good ideas, let alone her. Yue Xiaochan stared blankly at her wine cup, speechless for a long moment.

The mood turned stifling, and the only sound left was Xue Mu's loud chewing. Yue Xiaochan looked up and glared at him. "All you know is eat, eat, eat! How can you even be in the mood?"

"Running a brothel is hardly a big deal..." Xue Mu said leisurely. "Which is why I say you'll never grow anything on fighting and killing alone. I'd say the same to your master."

Yue Xiaochan's lip curled. "Hardly a big deal? Then if you're so capable, give me an idea."

"Actually, you don't have to run brothels at all. There's plenty of business out there to rake in money..."

"Is that all you can say?"

Xue Mu set down his chopsticks and casually wiped his mouth with the wet towel at hand. "Of course, if you think that's distant water and won't slake a thirst right now—then I need only put out a little scheme of mine, and Baihua Garden will rise from the dead."