But then again—seducing a man till he's out of his mind and then not giving him that... Xue Mu knew that routine very well indeed.
What line of work had he been in? He was a girl-group operator, an idol maker... Building idols, selling personas, selling purity, selling an image—and what was all of it for, at bottom? Fans took their idols for lovers; let a romance leak and they cried themselves sick. But did the idol have anything to do with you, really? After she'd fleeced you dry, did she ever once let you fuck her? A single handshake event and you were so thrilled you didn't wash your hands for days...
And when she did give it up, she gave it up to somebody else. Since when was any of it ever for you fans?
Demon Sect = girl group? The discovery struck Xue Mu as very funny. The methods were different, but the essence really was about the same. So they were in the same trade, were they? All this time, it turned out he'd been a branch of the Demon Sect himself. Right?
Yue Xiaochan huffed. "Forget it. That's just how we Demon Sect enchantresses are. Think whatever you like."
"And what if I told you I like enchantresses better?" Xue Mu's smile was full of suggestion. He was looking at Yue Xiaochan a little through professional eyes now—obviously, given her monstrous natural gifts, if he put her out there to go solo, she might well become a national-level diva...
How was Yue Xiaochan supposed to know what the hell he was thinking? She sneered, "You don't mean a word of it."
Xue Mu had no idea how to explain that he was essentially in their line of work, so he came at it from another angle. "The thing is—you saved my life, healed my injuries, put me up and fed me... Whatever it is you people do, even if the whole world calls you enchantresses, to me you're the closest person I've got in this world. If some great hero really did come after you, I'd help you kill him."
Xue Mu meant that from the bottom of his heart. The closest person to him in this world really was this little girl standing here. If they ever did come to blows with the righteous crowd, whose side to take wasn't even a question.
Yue Xiaochan burst out laughing. "You? Help us fight? Someone breathes on you and you go flying."
Even so, her voice was noticeably lighter than before. "Seeing as your heartbeat and body heat didn't shift a hair when you said it, I'll take it that you meant it."
"Truer than true." Xue Mu seized the opening. "I don't know any martial arts—so you could teach me."
Hearing that he seemed to be dressed, Yue Xiaochan turned around. She plainly had more to say, but her eyes suddenly lit up. "Hey, you really are handsome in brocade like that."
Earlier Xue Mu had only glanced at the clothes. Now that he had them on he could see the whole design.
The cut was one he'd never seen before—something like the tough roving garb of a wuxia hero, snug at the sleeves and wrists, trousers bound at the legs, easy to move in, nothing like the trailing wide sleeves of a scholar's robe that got in your way.
But the fabric was costly, embroidered and brocaded, a jade belt wound at the waist lending him a touch of nobility, and the high white collar gave him a clean, refined air besides.
Set against Xue Mu's own modern white-collar briskness and ease, it made for something quite unlike the martial sharpness that was everywhere in this world—and yet not the fragile pretty-boy sort either. Altogether it was a distinctly striking, distinguished handsomeness.
Clothes make the man, as they say. That bathrobe earlier had frankly been a bit dorky; dressed like this, Yue Xiaochan's eyes nearly sprouted little stars.
Xue Mu checked himself in the mirror and was rather pleased. "Didn't think I'd look this hot in clothes like these."
Yue Xiaochan asked from behind him, "What's 'hot' supposed to mean?"
"It means handsome, obviously." Xue Mu turned and struck a pose. "Look how handsome I am—can't you teach me some martial arts? Or are your techniques for women only?"
"Vain." Vain or not, Yue Xiaochan was still looking him up and down; she clearly liked the handsome sight. "Our sect's arts aren't restricted by sex," she said. "It's just that the ones we're allowed to teach outsiders are all skin-deep tricks. If you want the real thing, you'd have to be brought into the sect—and because of something that happened years ago, we haven't taken a male disciple in a long while. Mind you, it's not actually forbidden. If my master nods, that's enough. Ask her yourself when you get the chance. I can beat the drum for you."
Xue Mu grinned. "So good to me? Don't tell me you've actually fallen for me. Aren't you afraid I'm some spy out to steal your sect's secret arts?"
"Go ahead and steal, then, if you've got what it takes. At your age, starting from zero, with poison so deep in you it can't be purged... ah, forget it, I won't say it." Yue Xiaochan spoke as though it were nothing, beaming. "The sect's all women, and I'm long sick of looking at them. One more pretty man around is easy on the eyes."
Xue Mu had no retort to that.
Whether it was the good effect of his earlier pledge of loyalty, or that handsome men simply got a head start, Yue Xiaochan was in high spirits now. She tugged at his sleeve and headed out. "Hungry? Come on, let's go to Baihua Garden."
"Hey—a little girl like you, dragging me off to a brothel?"
"You think a brothel sells girls and no good food? Master's right. Handsome men really do have straw for brains."
So this is the otherworld's male edition of 'big boobs, no brains'? Fine, call me a weakling in a fight, I'll take that. But you—a half-literate girl who can't even manage addition and subtraction—you dare say my head's stuffed with straw...? Xue Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Still, he was just as curious about their business model, so he followed her along with plenty of enthusiasm.
When the two of them reached Baihua Garden, Meng Lan came out to meet them. She gave Xue Mu a look that was half worry, half reproach, then lowered her head in salute. "Young Sect Mistress. Young Master Xue."
Apparently the girl had no idea her seduction attempt had been watched on live broadcast. Yue Xiaochan didn't call her out on it, only smiled. "Find us a private room."
"One where we can see the main hall clearly, if possible," Xue Mu added.
"Oh?" Yue Xiaochan tilted her head at him. "So you really are getting ready to take over as accountant?"
Xue Mu smiled faintly. "Trust me. I can do a great deal more than keep the books."
Even if it were a bathhouse, I could turn it into heaven on earth, couldn't I?
Following Meng Lan up to a private chamber, Xue Mu's eyes went first of all to the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall.
Splash-ink landscapes, freehand flowers and birds... and poems inscribed on them. So things like this do exist here... Except the level of poetry and painting was really rather crude. He couldn't tell whether the art itself had only developed this far, or whether Baihua Garden's standards were simply low.
Down in the main hall below, the strains of a guqin drifted up. Xue Mu walked to the doorway and listened closely.
Compared with appraising calligraphy and paintings, music was his real specialty...
After listening a while, Xue Mu was somewhat shocked. Not shocked at how bad it was—shocked at how damn good it was. Far better than those poems and paintings!
A solo instrument has real limits, which is why modern music sets such store by arrangement and chords. Yet the player downstairs, with nothing but that seven-stringed qin and a sweet, soft singing voice, had conjured up a tender, intoxicating atmosphere—like a spring breeze slipping into your heart, all soft and tingly.
This was a high-level coordination of composition, playing, and singing—a melody that went straight to the soul, a standard of excellence rarely found in the modern world.
Her cultural grounding was absolute shit, yet she was accomplished in every one of song, dance, strings, and voice. This isn't just 'like' a girl group—this is a girl group, and a powerhouse one at that!