Immortalis

Corpse Demon III

Two days later, the three of them finally arrived at Yongyi County via a small path.

Like Jingyang City, Yongyi was located in the far north, so there were many Northern Desert settlers here. However, being even more remote, this place clearly didn't adhere to rules as strictly as Jingyang did.

In broad daylight, many unlicensed prostitutes sat lazily by the roadside holding long tobacco pipes. If you made eye contact with them, they would half-open their robes, attempting to solicit customers.

This scene thoroughly frightened Zhou Huai, who had never witnessed such worldly affairs before.

Even while wearing a bamboo hat, he didn't dare walk along the sides of the street, sticking instead between Yang Wujian and Shen Qingshi. He kept his eyes fixed straight ahead to avoid seeing anything inappropriate.

"Young master, having wandered the martial world alone for so long, have you really never been with a woman?"

Yang Wujian finally understood completely.

Not only had Zhou Huai not grown up surrounded by women, he had hardly even seen any. Who knew what he had been doing all these years with the money Yang Ye gave him?

Though his shortcomings had been exposed, Zhou Huai couldn't afford to worry about face now. His voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum: "Wasn't I sick as a child? The Taoist priest my father invited said that my birth elements were already weak. If I... if I carelessly lost my primordial yang, I would be even more susceptible to possession by vengeful ghosts. Even if I wanted to, I value my life too much."

"So that's how it is."

Hearing this, not only Yang Wujian but even Shen Qingshi couldn't help curling the corners of her mouth slightly. Zhou Huai's face turned bright red: "But I... I haven't completely avoided such places either! I was curious once and went to one in broad daylight."

"Oh?"

Yang Wujian thought to himself that this explained why the young master still hadn't realized Shen Qingshi was a woman. He couldn't help laughing: "Young master, don't tell me you paid for a girl, then went in and just chatted with her under the covers?"

At these words, Zhou Huai's face turned even redder: "I... I did chat with her. Because I could tell she wasn't happy. Later, I wanted to redeem her freedom. But she said she came from the Imperial Entertainment Bureau and was registered there. Even if enough silver was paid, her name couldn't be removed from the registry. Even if she secretly followed me into the martial world, she would only bring me trouble."

"You wanted to redeem her?"

Yang Wujian was startled: "What happened afterwards? What became of that woman?"

Zhou Huai sighed: "To help her receive fewer customers, I visited frequently. But then she fell ill. The last time I saw her was through her door and window. She said she wanted to take advantage of her illness to harm more men who came to mistreat her, but she didn't want to harm me, so she absolutely refused to see me."

At this, Yang Wujian could no longer laugh. Shen Qingshi said calmly: "In recent years, some wealthy merchants have been willing to spend heavily to purchase Official Courtesans from the Imperial Entertainment Bureau for their own brothels to attract customers. However, without special pardon, even if an Official Courtesan leaves the Imperial Entertainment Bureau, she cannot have her name removed from the registry and must remain a courtesan for life."

"Spending money to buy Official Courtesans as common prostitutes?"

"Yes. Official Courtesans are skilled in music theory, and many are exceptionally beautiful. Their methods of attracting customers surpass those of common prostitutes. Thus, such transactions emerged. Moreover, since Official Courtesans are managed by the Imperial Entertainment Bureau with more rules for patronizing them, when Official Courtesans enter the common market, they often attract many customers."

As Shen Qingshi spoke of this, she recalled Fu Hong saying she could probably become a top courtesan at the Imperial Entertainment Bureau and couldn't help frowning.The three didn't even need to ask for directions, simply following the street where clandestine prostitutes solicited customers downward, soon arriving at the famous Handkerchief Street.

Behind deep walls and spacious courtyards stood several brothels lining the street, still bustling with activity even in broad daylight. Judging by the attire of people on the street, there were wealthy young masters, merchants from beyond the frontier, and wandering martial artists - none were missing. Some were clearly regular patrons, being pulled aside by madams and pimps before even entering, receiving enthusiastic greetings.

"Young Master Shen, we'll be going inside to investigate soon. Are you sure you can handle this?"

Yang Wujian, who had long moved through the martial world in female form, naturally seldom visited such pleasure quarters. But having grown up in shadowy places, he was still more worldly than Zhou Huai.

He smiled and said, "Young Master Shen doesn't seem like someone who'd linger in places of tender comfort either. What shall we do? You two can't possibly rely on me, a young lady, can you?"

He meant it as teasing, but unexpectedly, Shen Qingshi merely glanced around and declared, "We'll go to the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion on the left. It's the only establishment without greeters at the door, yet still attracts many visitors. This means it's the largest brothel here - perfect for asking about that incident from six years ago."

With that, she walked straight toward the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion, joining the stream of people entering. Indeed, while the building appeared unremarkable from outside, its interior revealed another world entirely.

Colorful silks hung from the ceiling, and a pool stood in the center of the courtyard. The six-story building had every level's corridor packed with people. Amid clinking cups and exchanged toasts, many were openly embracing and being intimate with the establishment's women in plain sight, making Zhou Huai blush with heated embarrassment.

"These... are certainly bold customs," he murmured.

Yang Wujian raised an eyebrow, about to tease further, when Shen Qingshi suddenly covered both his and Zhou Huai's mouths, calmly stating, "There's something off about that central pool. They've likely added aphrodisiac drugs to the water - the vapor is intoxicating. That's why these people are acting this way. Take one of Zhou Huai's brain-refreshing pills so you won't be affected."

Hearing this, Zhou Huai hurriedly produced the pills. Each of them took one, and indeed, the turbid feeling in their chests immediately dissipated. Zhou Huai asked incredulously, "Young Master Shen, how did you know about this? Unless..."

Though Shen Qingshi appeared cold-hearted and detached, surely she couldn't actually be experienced in these matters of romance?

Although Zhou Huai no longer felt jealous over every little thing as before, he still found it difficult to accept that Shen Qingshi might be more popular with women than he was.

"Stay here. Don't drink any alcohol offered to you. I'll find a woman. Serving two masters requires extra payment - we probably won't be able to afford an inn tomorrow night."

These brief words left both Zhou Huai and Yang Wujian stunned.

Watching Shen Qingshi familiarly approach the madam, even Yang Wujian was greatly astonished.

Shen Qingshi was clearly a woman incapable of intimate relations with others - why would she be so familiar with these matters? Or perhaps, having joined the Zhaoming Division in this form, she had ultimately endured some humiliation along the way?

Yang Wujian's wild speculations inexplicably stirred some anger within him. In the blink of an eye, Shen Qingshi returned, and the madam beamed upon seeing their party of three. "Understood, understood! Worried our girls might get too tired, so you brought along a maid - I understand completely! Come, Chu Qiao, accompany these two gentlemen upstairs."With that, she pushed a delicate young woman into Zhou Huai's arms. The young master immediately became flustered, not knowing where to put his hands. Eventually, Shen Qingshi took the girl's hand and said, "Lead the way."

Thus, Chu Qiao brought them to a private room on the second floor. As soon as they entered, a faint peculiar fragrance wafted over them. Shen Qingshi lowered her voice: "Miss, please extinguish the aphrodisiac incense in the room. We're not here for that purpose and won't do anything to you."

Hearing this, the girl named Chu Qiao was momentarily stunned. Then, holding a cup of tea, she walked around the room and actually extinguished five hidden incense burners, leaving Zhou Huai dumbfounded.

"Isn't this drugging people?"

"All brothels are like this."

Shen Qingshi thought to herself that the tricks in the palace were even more numerous. There were always concubines skilled in blending fragrances who wanted to use aphrodisiac incense to keep men around. Having moved through the inner palace all these years, she could tell at once that the scent of the bed-curtain incense here was problematic.

"Ylang-ylang, right?"

Shen Qingshi looked at Chu Qiao, only to see a bitter smile appear on the other's face: "Young master, you're the first to recognize it by smell."

"Using too much will cause abdominal pain and nausea. It's harmful rather than beneficial to your health as well."

Shen Qingshi walked to the table, picked up the room's tea and smelled it before pouring it out. Then she poured several cups of clean water from her own water pouch and said, "Miss, come sit. We have some questions for you."

"Young Master Shen, this tea..."

Yang Wujian deliberately wanted to test how much Shen Qingshi knew about these unsavory tricks when he heard her say: "This tea smells strangely fragrant. I suspect it's mixed with cnidium monnieri and epimedium. Drinking it will make one feel feverish all over."

"Young Master Shen, don't you know a bit too much about these things?"

Yang Wujian smiled without warmth.

Thinking about what the emotionless, submissive Shen Qingshi must have endured in the Zhaoming Division, he practically wanted to curse Cao Zhao as a beast. But unfortunately, being in a female body now, he couldn't vent his anger. He could only snort coldly as he sat at the table and asked stiffly, "Miss, have you heard of the White-faced Fox?"

"What? You're asking about that?"

The girl was startled, then actually chuckled: "If you want to ask about the White-faced Fox, anyone in Yongyi City can tell you about it. Why bother coming to Hidden Fragrance Tower and spending this wasted money?"

"How can this be called wasted money? You're accompanying us tonight, at least you don't have to entertain other customers. Consider it a rest."

Zhou Huai answered without thinking, which made Chu Qiao widen her eyes and stare at them blankly for a moment before she smiled bitterly: "Gentlemen, you're good people. Meeting you is my luck. Ask whatever you want, I'll definitely tell you everything."

Shen Qingshi asked: "First tell us, is the story about the White-faced Fox true?"

Chu Qiao nodded: "Although I haven't been here long, I've heard from the sisters in the tower that the White-faced Fox really did come to Handkerchief Street to eat people. At that time, there were even sisters from this Hidden Fragrance Tower who were eaten."

Yang Wujian was shocked: "What? Someone from Hidden Fragrance Tower was eaten too?"

Chu Qiao said: "Yes, we lost two here, Xunfang Court lost two, and Full Spring Tower lost one. All disappeared after that White-faced Fox came. Here, we can't run away even if we want to, so when people disappear without a trace - neither alive nor dead - they must have been eaten by monsters."

"What about Zhu'er?"Shen Qingshi immediately pressed further: "Wasn't it said that a peerless courtesan of exceptional beauty and talent also went missing?"

Chu Qiao nodded vigorously: "The one missing from Full Spring Tower is indeed the courtesan Zhu'er. I've seen her portrait in the tower—they say when she first arrived, she was so breathtakingly beautiful she had to wear a veil daily to prevent the tower's threshold from being worn out by endless visitors. Rumor has it she was purchased at a great price, excelling in lute, chess, calligraphy, and painting. That's why her disappearance caused such an uproar."

"Purchased?"

Shen Qingshi frowned: "If it truly was the White-faced Guest, he couldn't have been unaware this woman was a lavishly bought courtesan. Why would he specifically abduct her? Unless..."

She asked: "Who owns Full Spring Tower? Are they from the martial world?"

Chu Qiao thought for a moment: "Many of the brothels on this street are owned by Young Master Guanhuo. I've heard some sisters in the tower say he seems connected to some sect called Thousand Cliffs Fortress. When Zhu'er disappeared back then, that sect sent many people who searched every corner of Handkerchief Street, but still couldn't find her."

"Young Master Guanhuo is connected to Thousand Cliffs Fortress? Then wouldn't the White-faced Guest's mischief here be deliberately provoking another martial sect?"

Yang Wujian instantly grasped the implication, grinding his teeth in fury. Guanri was truly vicious—every time he committed such acts, he'd drag in another party, making it convenient for these people to later blame Longevity Palace.

"White-faced Guest? Do you mean the White-faced Fox?"

Chu Qiao, unsure why the three before her wore such grave expressions, decided to divulge everything she knew in one breath.

"However, although people went missing wherever the White-faced Fox visited, some actually benefited from it. For instance, when Young Master Guanhuo finally came to our tower to arrest someone, the White-faced Fox was right in Zui Xiang's room."

"Zui Xiang?"

"Yes, she's now the tower's head courtesan. Just to see her costs at least a hundred taels of silver, and many patrons come specifically for her."

Chu Qiao lowered her voice: "That day, chunks of flesh were discovered in Zui Xiang's room—soft, pulpy masses no longer recognizable as human. They guessed it was leftovers from the White-faced Fox's meal. Zui Xiang had no idea how the person vanished; one blink, and the White-faced Fox was gone from her room, nowhere to be found."

"Then why say Zui Xiang had good fortune?"

Shen Qingshi faintly sensed something peculiar about this.

Chu Qiao's voice dropped even further: "Well, of course, it's because Zui Xiang only became the head courtesan after that incident. Originally, Zui Xiang was born on this street—humble origin. Though beautiful, she could never compare to Zhu'er, who came from official courtesan lineage. But after Zhu'er disappeared and Zui Xiang had hosted the White-faced Fox, her fortunes soared. Many even came specifically because she'd encountered the White-faced Fox."

"What kind of preference is that?"

Zhou Huai didn't know whether to laugh or cry, thinking this was just asking for trouble. Then he heard Chu Qiao add: "Anyway, many in our tower say Zui Xiang, jealous of Zhu'er's beauty, used some Yin evil method to summon the man-eating White-faced Fox from the large well outside the city, luring Zhu'er away to be devoured..."