Immortalis

Corpse Demon Nine

As the lanterns were first lit, it was again the busiest time of day in Yongyi City.

It was often said: to the south stood the Rouge Pavilion, to the north lay Handkerchief Street. As the gathering place for the northern brothels and pleasure quarters, the reputation of the courtesan Zui Xiang had attracted countless patrons to the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion.

"Sister Li, with so many customers today, why hasn't she come out to receive them?"

Just as You hour began, the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion was already packed with people. The doorman at the entrance was completely overwhelmed and hurried to invite Li Niang, the madam in charge of the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion, to entertain the distinguished guests. After knocking on her door for a long time, Li Niang finally opened it halfway, her face veiled with a thin gauze.

For some reason, she had wrapped herself up tightly today. As soon as she spoke, she began coughing: "I've caught a bit of a chill and can't stand the wind. If I don't come out, isn't it to avoid passing it on to you all?"

With that said, Li Niang's voice did sound somewhat hoarse. The doorman sighed: "There are too many people. How can I handle them all by myself?"

"If I catch more wind and fall seriously ill, you'll have to work nonstop like this for the next half month."

Li Niang snorted coldly and was about to close the door, but the doorman remained persistent, holding the door firmly and adding: "Several regular customers specifically asked for you, Li Niang. At least come down and see them."

Under normal circumstances, Li Niang wouldn't pass up the extra silver, and even if she were coughing her lungs out, she would definitely go downstairs to meet them. But today, Li Niang seemed to have taken the wrong medicine, angrily retorting, "Are you going to bury me when I die of illness, old woman?" before slamming the door shut with a bang. Left outside with the door shut in his face, the doorman spat and cursed "unlucky woman" before hurriedly going downstairs to attend to the customers.

It seemed they had managed to deceive them.

Listening as the footsteps faded away, Yang Wujian inside the room let out a soft sigh of relief, then couldn't help but smile wryly.

Although he had been disguising himself as a woman for many years, this was the first time he had directly impersonated a brothel madam... They didn't know Young Master Guanhuo's background and didn't dare provoke him lightly, so they had no choice but to resort to this plan.

Rewinding a few hours earlier, Li Niang had just stepped out of the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion when two dark figures leaped out from the street corner and knocked her unconscious. Compared to Shen Qingshi, Yang Wujian was clearly the more suitable one to impersonate Li Niang.

"I can only hold out for one night at most... Don't kill her."

Before leaving, Yang Wujian couldn't resist adding another reminder.

After all, Shen Qingshi was from the Zhaoming Division. Although she had many interrogation methods, most of them left no survivors.

Everyone knew Li Niang was the madam of the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion. If a life were lost, they probably wouldn't be able to leave Handkerchief Street unscathed.

After that, the three split into two groups. Yang Wujian replaced Li Niang and entered the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion, while Shen Qingshi and Zhou Huai took the real Li Niang and went straight to a desolate courtyard in the outskirts of the city.

"Miss Shen... what do you plan to do?"

To avoid revealing their identities, both were dressed in black, wrapped up tightly. As Zhou Huai watched Shen Qingshi skillfully tie Li Niang to a chair, he felt very uncertain.

The madams of Handkerchief Street, even if they had no martial skills, had certainly seen their share of storms and wouldn't reveal the truth with just a few words from them.

Zhou Huai had barely seen any women since he was young. Although he occasionally acted arrogantly and made bold threats, he was essentially a paper tiger. Now that it was time to get serious, Zhou Huai had no idea what to do.

"Just watch from the side. I'll handle it."Shen Qingshi, who frequently moved about the inner palace, had naturally interrogated many palace maids. She knew that methods like flaying or plucking the pipa would cause ordinary women to succumb quickly. Thus, the most commonly used punishment in the inner palace was Plum Blossoms in the Rain.

Early on her way here, Shen Qingshi had prepared mulberry bark paper. As soon as the person awoke, without a word, she soaked the first layer in water and pressed it tightly against Li Niang’s face.

“Do you even know who I am to dare kidnap me?”

With one layer of mulberry bark paper, most people would only experience slight breathing difficulties, so Li Niang still had the strength to shout at them.

Shen Qingshi said calmly, “I advise you to save your energy. Otherwise, you’ll suffocate easily.”

Zhou Huai, standing nearby, had never witnessed such a scene before. Hearing Li Niang’s piercing screams, the terrifying memory of standing before the Dragon Locking Coffin in his childhood surged back. He instinctively wanted to flee, but Shen Qingshi stopped him with a glance.

“Running away is useless.”

Shen Qingshi’s words seemed directed at Li Niang, yet also at him.

She mercilessly grabbed Li Niang’s well-maintained hair and said coldly, “We only want to know one thing. If you can tell us, we’ll let you go. Otherwise, you’ll be sitting in this chair for a long time.”

“What do you want to know?”

Seeming to realize she was dealing with a ruthless character, Li Niang quickly softened: “If I can tell you, I will.”

“Good.”

Shen Qingshi asked softly, “Six years ago, there were rumors of a White-faced Fox haunting Handkerchief Street. Was that fabricated by you?”

“What…”

Li Niang never expected that such a fuss was made over this question. She said incredulously, “Why would I fabricate something about the girls under my care going missing? I…”

Before she could finish, Shen Qingshi splashed water on her face and added two more layers of paper. Instantly, the suffocation made Li Niang convulse in the chair. Zhou Huai instinctively moved to stop it, but Shen Qingshi held him back, whispering, “I’ve listened to her breathing. It’ll take at least six or seven layers to kill her. No need to rush.”

She…

Although Shen Qingshi had always been cold-hearted, this was the first time Zhou Huai had seen her so ruthless. He opened his mouth, realizing in that moment that he had never truly understood the person before him.

Shen Qingshi meticulously smoothed the edges of the paper on Li Niang’s face. Ignoring the woman’s painful gasps, she leaned close to her ear and asked quietly, “Was it fabricated?”

Li Niang’s makeup was now ruined, the rouge smeared by water, soaking through the paper like seeping blood, creating a terrifying sight. Struggling, she opened her mouth wide, desperate for air: “Yes… it was fabricated.”

“Why fabricate it?”

Shen Qingshi narrowed her eyes and deliberately dripped more water onto Li Niang’s face. The woman, who could see nothing, shuddered violently and screamed, “Because… because we couldn’t say.”

“What couldn’t you say?”

“Before they disappeared, they had all met the same person.”

Through the paper, Li Niang could see nothing, only the suffocating pain rising layer by layer. Fearful that another layer would render her unable to speak, she poured everything out in one go.

“The son of a second-rank official came to see them… We couldn’t refuse.”Shen Qingshi and Zhou Huai exchanged a glance, both knowing exactly who that person was. Shen Qingshi said coldly, "Was that person wearing a plain jade pendant on his waist?"

"Yes... yes, it was that jade. At the time, I knew this person's origin was anything but ordinary. Moreover, he appeared completely deranged, claiming those girls all came from the Imperial Entertainment Bureau and didn't belong here—that he should take them back."

"The Imperial Entertainment Bureau?"

Shen Qingshi had only known that Zhu'er was originally an Official Courtesan. She hadn't realized the other missing girls also came from the Imperial Entertainment Bureau. She asked coldly, "Are there really so many Official Courtesans on Handkerchief Street?"

Li Niang gasped painfully, struggling to catch her breath. "Some ordinary Official Courtesans were rather plain-looking to begin with. In the Imperial Entertainment Bureau, they only served crude men, so they weren't worth much on the market either. But... those few were originally female relatives from Zhu'er's family—they were the mistresses. They were bought together to make Zhu'er serve clients properly."

Zhou Huai was shocked. "What? All the missing girls knew Zhu'er?"

Li Niang wept, "We didn't know originally... We only found out after they disappeared... That Master Hu, he came specifically for Zhu'er. He first went to Full Spring Tower, saying he wanted to redeem his wife. But Zhu'er was already the top courtesan by then—how could they let him take her away so easily? So Full Spring Tower deceived him, saying Zhu'er... Zhu'er refused to serve and had already jumped into the large well outside the city."

The situation had developed in a direction they never anticipated. Shen Qingshi was momentarily stunned, then immediately realized the rumors of someone climbing out of the Meat Well might not be baseless after all.

After all, there was a resting place in the middle of Yongyi's Meat Well. Even if someone jumped in, as long as they retained a shred of consciousness, an ordinary person might still be able to climb out.

She frowned and asked, "You told him Zhu'er jumped into the well, and he believed it?"

Li Niang was so frightened she kept sobbing. "We don't know if he believed it or not, but he did disappear for several days and stopped pestering Zhu'er. It was only when he returned later that we realized he had gone completely mad. When he couldn't find Zhu'er, he started specifically asking for those girls by name..."

Shen Qingshi's expression grew increasingly grave.

She knew perfectly well that the Zhao family's female relatives had all entered the Imperial Entertainment Bureau that day. Among them, of course, it wasn't just Zhao Lu'er, but also her close sisters and dear friends.

Once the daughters of convicted officials entered the Imperial Entertainment Bureau, it was as if they had died. Several of them naturally changed their names and entered different establishments, but they still recognized each other. And Cao Zhao had mentioned in his letter that the Imperial Entertainment Bureau's Feng Luan had accepted bribes that day and sold eleven women at once—among them might very well have been Zhao Lu'er's former relatives.

For some reason, these women were resold several times, yet ultimately ended up together with Zhao Lu'er. In the end, they even became Hu Rui's bargaining chips to harass Zhao Lu'er.

The situation had become much clearer by now.

Zhou Huai murmured, "That Meat Well outside the city... ordinary people who step into it become haunted by their Inner Demon... Hu Rui's Inner Demon was Zhao Lu'er. So after he miraculously survived, and because he had martial skills to rely on, he actually climbed out of the Meat Well and returned to Handkerchief Street, single-mindedly wanting to find his childhood sweetheart."

What climbed out of the Meat Well was never any demon, but Hu Rui, who had gone completely mad... This was also why Li Niang would say what emerged from the well was a vengeful spirit coming to claim lives.He had always been infatuated with Zhao Lu'er, but after being deceived into entering the Meat Well, this obsession spiraled out of control, ultimately driving him to seek out Zhao Lu'er's relatives one by one...

Due to his status, the madams of several brothels covered up the matter, which eventually led to his downfall at the hands of the White-faced Fox.

Yet, after Hu Rui took Zhu'er away and seemingly got what he wanted, why did he ultimately die in the well?

What roles did Zui Xiang and the White-faced Guest play in this affair?

Shen Qingshi hadn't yet pieced together these details when suddenly, the outer courtyard gate was forcefully pushed open, and Yang Wujian stumbled in, looking utterly disheveled.

Gasping for breath, he bitterly laughed and said, "I messed up... I should have just spent some silver. Now, we've truly made enemies of the entire Handkerchief Street."