"What's with that weird look? So what if we run a brothel?" Yue Xiaochan eyed him sidelong. "A sect this big—where do food, clothing, and shelter come from? Where do cultivation resources come from? Are you going to go rob for all of it?"
Xue Mu thought about it. She had a point. In those fantasy worlds full of leveling up, hunting treasure, and endless fighting, how did sects actually develop? Usually only demon-beast hunting or fighting over ore veins got mentioned, but in truth any society is made up of many facets, and money and cultivation resources alike come from all sorts of places. A world that ran purely on combat, contention, and auction houses would be a deformed one—the entire foundation of human life would have collapsed; it could never have lasted.
Yue Xiaochan went on: "The brothel is only one of our businesses. The girls are not our disciples. We simply run the place, the same as any other sect runs its own businesses. Don't go thinking this sect is out selling itself. That look of yours really is annoying."
Xue Mu raised his hands in surrender. You're the one who keeps letting a seductive air slip out, and at your age you talk about men and women like it's nothing—and I'm the one to blame for getting the wrong idea?
Then again, her values were plainly crooked. How the hell was running some other business the same thing as running the flesh trade? Did she really think human trafficking and forcing decent girls into prostitution were no different from other people collecting land rent or selling grain? No wonder you people are the Demon Sect.
Of course, Xue Mu wasn't about to pick a pointless fight with her over it. The truth was, a man from the entertainment industry like him wasn't exactly clean on that count either—he'd done his share of pimping over the years. So he shut his mouth.
Only when they arrived did Xue Mu learn that Baihua Garden, worthy holding of a great sect that it was, was not the low-class, single-brothel-house affair he had imagined. It sprawled over several qing of land, pavilions and terraces ranked one after another, with gardens, rockeries, and glimpses of flowing water. Had no one told him it was a brothel, Xue Mu on first arriving would have taken it for the estate of some prince or noble.
The so-called brothel was only the several-storied building closest to the street. Behind it the grounds were divided into zones of various grades—courtyards where guests stayed the night, quarters for the guards, and so on. Past the courtyards lay a bamboo grove, and the heavily guarded place at its deepest end was where the disciples of the Star Moon Sect were stationed.
They did not go through the brothel itself, but entered the bamboo grove by a back gate. The grove was laid with a formation; Xue Mu watched a woman guard step forward and work some mechanism, and the mist-shrouded bamboo instantly became clear and bright, while somewhere a bell tone rang out, faint and drawn-out, like a doorbell.
Xue Mu turned it over privately. A formation, properly speaking, involved the arts of calculation—so if the Star Moon Sect understood formations, they should not be putting on an act of not knowing how to add and subtract. Perhaps each disciple had her own specialty, each in charge of a single discipline?
Seeing him deep in thought, Yue Xiaochan seemed to read his mind and pouted. "If Senior Aunt Yinye weren't trapped in the Six Doors, why would Master do the accounts herself? Once we get her out, she'll probably have plenty to talk about with you."
Xue Mu nodded and said nothing. So it really was a division of duties; a sect could not possibly be that simple.
A lovely young married woman led several girls out of the bamboo grove and bowed gracefully to the carriage. "Greetings, Sect Master."
Xue Qingqiu's voice came from inside the carriage. "Qingqing, what's the situation with the Six Doors?"
"Elder Yinye was brought in by Xiahou Di personally, so she should not be mistreated. This disciple has investigated: the Elder is now in the Heaven-Character Cell No. 3, heavily guarded, with intricate formations everywhere. As for breaking her out... the odds of success are not high."
"Xiahou Di..." Xue Qingqiu sounded like she had a headache coming on. "Since that madwoman did it with her own hands, getting anyone out will be that much more trouble."
"The Sect Master need not worry. Xiahou Di does not hold the Six Doors in the palm of her hand alone; there are still ways to be found."
"Mm... Get everyone settled, and we'll discuss it again."
"Yes." Qingqing's gaze came to rest on Xue Mu; surprise flashed through her eyes, and she seemed hesitant.
Their entire sect was women—what was this man who had appeared out of nowhere? What standard of quarters should he be given? And the man seemed to have not a shred of cultivation... Since when did the sect have anyone like this?
Reading her confusion, Yue Xiaochan said, "This is Xue Mu. Master personally appointed him as our accountant."
Surname Xue, keeping the accounts... Qingqing seemed to understand something at once. She stopped fretting and smiled. "Everyone, please follow me."
Xue Mu knew she had misunderstood—perhaps she took him for a relative of Xue Qingqiu's? He turned to look at Yue Xiaochan, and Yue Xiaochan made a face at him.
This girl... she did that on purpose, didn't she. Xue Mu felt a little warmth in his heart. That deliberate nudge mattered a great deal: whether he was treated as an honored guest or as a servant all depended on that one sentence. Strangely, Xue Qingqiu had not objected either—whether she simply did not care, or doted on Yue Xiaochan too much to cross her, he could not tell. But with that tacit acquiescence, the way everyone looked at him changed at once...
Seizing a spare moment, Yue Xiaochan leaned to his ear with a grin. "Don't look at me like that. I just think you're very different from the servants. If you really want to thank me, tell me a few more stories."
Xue Mu smiled faintly. "As many as you like."
Being a man, Xue Mu was in the end housed apart from the Star Moon Sect disciples. The one who guided him was a young girl who gave her name as Meng Lan; she had been standing beside Qingqing earlier, so she was clearly an important disciple in charge of things here for the Star Moon Sect. Xue Mu did not try to strike up idle conversation with her. He followed her in silence the whole way to a small, standalone courtyard.
A little bamboo house built of green bamboo, understated and elegant. Unnamed small flowers bloomed in the courtyard, their fragrance pleasant. Xue Mu liked the place at first sight, and thought to himself that none of those modern farm-stay resorts are this fresh and real. A pity there was no chance of internet here—the nights were bound to be very boring.
The girl Meng Lan stopped and gave a slight bow. "Young Master, we have arrived."
Silent the whole way, Xue Mu finally spoke. "Thank you, Miss Meng Lan."
Meng Lan bit her lower lip lightly, a seductive smile rising on her face, and softly leaned in; the snowy plumpness of her chest brushed seemingly by accident against Xue Mu's arm as she murmured honeyedly, "The place is humble. I hope the Young Master won't mind..."
Soft jade and warm fragrance, soft words assailing him—Xue Mu tilted his head slightly and met Meng Lan's face, feeling a stir of surprise. What are you doing?
The girl was only seventeen or eighteen, with a face of unmatched clarity and beauty. Perhaps from years of cultivating the Star Moon Sect's techniques, she carried a trace of a hazy aura, very close to what Xue Qingqiu and Yue Xiaochan occasionally let slip—an elusive sense of mystery. This must be a trait of their school: like stars, like the moon, like a dream, like an illusion; a very particular kind of beauty, and a xuanhuan air Xue Mu could never have laid eyes on in modern society, which he had always admired greatly.
But in this moment Meng Lan's aura reversed itself: spring tides brimmed in those peach-blossom eyes, her sexy red lips parted as if about to speak, a faint floral fragrance reached his nose, her breath like an orchid. The most primitive desire in the human heart was drawn by this fall from mystery into the mortal world; one wanted only to tear the veil a little further back and see more clearly.
Xue Mu was no virgin who had never been with a woman—quite the opposite, he had played around far too much. Yet at this moment he still felt a primitive urge rise from the bottom of his heart, and his eyes fell of their own accord on the snow-white at her chest; he wanted only to tear it open and bite down viciously.
Xue Mu trusted that he was battle-tested; however pretty the other party was, a casual tease could never have brought him to this. It must be the legendary seduction arts she was quietly working. He sighed slightly, moved half a chi away, and smiled. "I'm quite satisfied with this place. Thank you, miss." Then he gestured at his robe. "Might you help me find a change of clothes? I want to wash up."
He had seen plenty of outlandish attire on the street, so this bathrobe of his was hardly eye-catching—but walking around in a bathrobe was thoroughly awkward, and the first thing Xue Mu wanted to do now that he was settled was put on something normal.
Seeing him calm as though nothing had happened, a surprise barely visible flashed through Meng Lan's eyes; then she stroked Xue Mu's chest and said softly, "That's a small matter. How would it be if Meng Lan served the Young Master in his bath?"
Xue Mu smiled. "Miss, this sect's seduction arts ought not to be used on your own people."
Meng Lan froze for a moment, and her seductive smile finally withdrew. She stepped back half a pace. "The Young Master has no cultivation, yet his self-control is extraordinary. Meng Lan was too forward." She paused, then smiled radiantly again. "Meng Lan will take her leave. Someone will bring clothes shortly."
With that she drifted away. As her lovely figure vanished, the surging desire Xue Mu had been pressing down instantly receded. So it really was seduction arts. These silent, invisible arts really did make it easy to stumble; presumably she had been wary of hurting him and had not used her true skill—otherwise a dash of inner force on top would have guaranteed his ruin. Or had it been some young man with little experience of women, even that much would have left him utterly entranced. Good thing he was battle-tested and not easily ruled by a pretty face.
He had only just arrived in this place and had no idea where his future lay—where would he find the interest to chase girls? Besides, he was not really Xue Qingqiu's relative; where would he get the nerve to fool around? It wasn't as though he was so horny his brain had quit on him.
But why had she tried to bewitch him? And at their very first meeting, at that—so impatiently?