Chapter 32

The man who had been watching the young girl’s movements darkened his eyes, his long fingers tracing five marks on the dusty, sandy ground.

In an instant, as he looked up, his originally gloomy eyes suddenly changed, filled with autumn water, soft and timid. His bewitching face appeared even more pitiful. He looked up at the young girl, his pleading intent fully displayed.

Seeing the young girl remain silent for a long time, he lightly bit his slightly reddened lower lip, looking back at the people approaching behind him. His body trembled slightly. He lowered his eyes, hesitating for a moment, then suddenly reached out to grasp the hem of the young girl’s clothes.

His beautiful face turned up, his voice weak and tearful: “Miss, please save this humble one. If you can save me, this humble one will surely repay you in the future…”

Looking at him like this, he did indeed seem quite pitiful. However, Shen Yao Xing wondered how he could be so certain that her small frame could save him. Thinking this, she pulled her clothes out of the man’s hands.

Just then, those few women with unfriendly faces walked over. The man lying on the ground seemed to move closer to her out of fear, his two hands gripping her clothes even tighter, impossible to pull free.

Seeing this, the lead woman coldly smiled: “I advise you not to be ignorant. You’re just a mere male courtesan. It’s your good fortune that our young mistress has taken a liking to you. If you’re smart, you’ll quickly submit. Otherwise, when you suffer, it will be too late.”

From these words, Shen Yao Xing had already figured out the situation. This kind of thing was too common. Whether to help or not still depended on understanding the situation first. She secretly tried hard to pull her clothes out of the man’s hands, but he was gripping them so tightly that if she used more force, her clothes would tear.

“Hey, let go of me first,” Shen Yao Xing had to bend down and say softly.

The man seemed not to hear, his slender body curled up at her feet. Looking at those people, he said clearly: “Qing Lian has said before that he only sells his art, not his body. It’s just that your young mistress is forcibly…”

“Enough nonsense,” the woman impatiently interrupted him, giving a signal to the people beside her. Those people then walked towards the man, obviously intending to use force.

The man seemed extremely afraid, his timid eyes looking towards the person beside him, completely treating her as the last lifeline.

Shen Yao Xing’s attention was still on her clothes. Seeing that he refused to let go no matter what, her anger rose. She stood up straight and shouted at the people rushing over: “Didn’t you hear him say he’s unwilling?”

The shout, infused with inner force, made several people’s ears ache with pain.

The lead woman raised her hand to stop the others’ actions, her face darkening: “Miss, I advise you not to meddle in affairs that don’t concern you. Do you know what the consequences are for opposing our young mistress?”

Shen Yao Xing’s expression wasn’t good either. She couldn’t be bothered to say more to them. She bent down to pick up a small stone from the ground, aimed it at them, and flicked it hard. With a “whoosh”, the stone grazed past the lead woman’s face and embedded itself in the tree trunk behind.

The scene was quiet for quite a while. The woman slowly turned her head to look at the big tree behind her, only to see a small hole in the trunk, the stone having penetrated into the tree.

After her face alternated between blue and white, the woman gritted her teeth, glared hatefully at the young girl, gave a hand signal, and actually led her people away just like that.

Shen Yao Xing, who had been holding back a big move to scare them, was stunned. She didn’t expect these people to be so easily frightened.

But it was also good, saved her the trouble.

Shen Yao Xing looked down at the man: “You can let go now.”

The hands gripping her clothes timidly released. The man slowly stood up from the ground. During this, probably due to weakness, he couldn’t stand steady. His body staggered a bit. Shen Yao Xing quickly avoided him, watching with wide eyes as he nearly fell again, but she had no intention of reaching out to support him.

A flash of gloom passed through the man’s eyes, but he steadied himself. After turning around, he still maintained a soft and weak appearance.

His slightly pale complexion made the colorful flower pattern at the corner of his eyes even more bewitching and stunning. His slightly reddened eye sockets still held a shallow light that hadn’t completely faded, that gaze naturally carrying an alluring meaning.

“Thank you, benefactor, for saving me. Otherwise, Qing Lian would have likely been unable to escape today’s misfortune.”

His voice was not as timid as before. The slightly cool tone formed a stark contrast with his bewitching face, making people even more captivated.

Shen Yao Xing forcefully smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes. Hearing this, she waved her hand indifferently. After fixing her clothes, she raised her head and said: “You don’t need to thank me. I didn’t do anything.”

If it weren’t for this person grabbing her clothes earlier, she might not have bothered at all.

However, the man seemed unable to understand her words. His fingers tidied his slightly disheveled light green clothes as he lowered his eyes and said softly: “Qing Lian will surely repay the benefactor.”

At times like this, Shen Yao Xing always had a feeling of talking past each other, just like with that Lin Luo Sheng. They always liked to forcibly impose some non-existent things on her. Perhaps the people of this world all really liked to repay kindness.

Shen Yao Xing nodded perfunctorily and was about to leave, but was called back by him: “Benefactor, if you don’t mind, you can come with Qing Lian to Ru Yun Yuan. Then, whatever requests the benefactor has can be freely made.”

Ru Yun Yuan?

It sounded oddly familiar. Shen Yao Xing furrowed her brows and thought for a moment, then suddenly realized that this was exactly the place of pleasure that Meng Xin Yi wanted to drag her to every day.

She had been to such places in the capital before. Each time, she was forcibly dragged into the brothels by Chu Yi. At that time, they hadn’t fallen out yet, so Shen Yao Xing had reluctantly stayed there once or twice.

It wasn’t as decadent as imagined, just a place to drink and listen to music. The difference from a tavern was that you could find someone to accompany you. Of course, if you were willing, you could even buy a male courtesan for the night.

Some indescribable scenes involuntarily floated into her mind.

Just as she was about to refuse, the man suddenly lowered his eyes in disappointment. His reddened lips were extremely well-shaped, trembling slightly before parting: “Is the benefactor despising Qing Lian’s status?”

The words caught in her throat, and Shen Yao Xing scratched her neck: “Of course not.”

The young girl’s tone was sincere, her voice pure, without a hint of pity. Qing Lian’s dark eyes stared straight at her, the flower pattern at the corner of his eyes becoming even more brilliantly red.

“Then, would the benefactor be willing to give Qing Lian a chance to repay the kindness? Not repaying a kindness would make Qing Lian uneasy for a lifetime,” he said softly.

Why are they all so stubborn? Shen Yao Xing looked towards the distant arched bridge, feeling the silver in her pocket.

Just at this moment, a faint gurgling sound came from her stomach. She turned her body away somewhat embarrassedly. She hadn’t eaten anything from getting up until now today. She had originally planned to get the reward silver and then have a full meal, but ended up embarrassing herself here.

“How about Qing Lian treat the benefactor to a meal at the pavilion?”

Shen Yao Xing’s thoughts paused, and she turned back: “You want to treat me to a meal?”

This was acceptable. She only had fifteen taels of silver on her now, and eating here wasn’t cheaper than in the capital. She didn’t know how long this little silver could last. Although catching criminals was easy, finding them was difficult. This fifteen taels of silver was what she had found by chance at the edge of the city after searching for several days.

Seeing that the young girl had finally shown interest, a smile appeared on Qing Lian’s lips. His alluring eyes rippled with light as he nodded gently.

“That’s fine then. Do you know what’s especially delicious in this city?”

When it came to food, Shen Yao Xing became particularly excited. These past few days, her taste buds had become bland eating with Meng Xin Yi. Unfortunately, that person had gone who knows where early in the morning, otherwise she could have invited her along.

The corner of the man’s lips curled up: “Of course I know.”

And so, the confused Shen Yao Xing followed him to Ru Yun Yuan. She had originally thought that such a place of pleasure in a chaotic city would be extremely messy and unsightly, but reality far exceeded her expectations.

The main hall was neat and orderly, with one or two neatly dressed male courtesans accompanying drinks at each table. Although there was some touching and fondling, it was at least much better than Shen Yao Xing had imagined.

“The benefactor probably hasn’t been to such a place before, right? Qing Lian has been here for several years and has long been accustomed to it,” Qing Lian, walking in front, suddenly turned his head to say to the young girl.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Shen Yao Xing looked around, discovering that the decor here was indeed quite beautiful, not inferior to the capital.

The man walking in front slowed his steps, his body stopping at the second-floor staircase. He turned to look at the young girl. Blocked behind him, Shen Yao Xing didn’t understand: “What’s wrong?”

It was hard to describe the expression on that bewitching face. He stared at the young girl for a long time, slightly pursing his lips. His voice carried a hint of coolness as he only said “Nothing” before continuing to walk up to the second floor.

The two passed through the second-floor corridor, not much different from an inn, except that when passing certain rooms, one could hear particularly ambiguous sounds from inside. Shen Yao Xing naturally knew what those sounds were, but she just coughed lightly and pretended not to hear.

“Since the benefactor often comes to such places, you must be familiar with these things, right?” The man’s voice had obviously cooled.

“What?”

Shen Yao Xing, whose attention wasn’t focused, hadn’t heard his words clearly. The man didn’t speak again, directly leading her to the room at the end of the corridor. A “Qing Ju” sign hung at the door of the room.

Shen Yao Xing followed the man inside. The elegant decorative style made people feel relaxed. She had no mind to observe more, sitting down at the tea table eagerly: “Quickly call someone to serve the food!”

The man glanced at the young girl at the table. For some reason, since earlier, there had been a bit of irritation in his heart. He averted his eyes, unwilling even to put on that deliberate posture.

He came to the corridor and waved to the people on the other side of the corridor.

The food was served quickly. Shen Yao Xing, who was starving, didn’t immediately start eating. Instead, she watched the man eat first before picking up her bowl and shoveling rice into her mouth furiously, not caring about her image. She only knew that this person truly hadn’t deceived her; the taste of the food was exactly the same as what she ate in the capital.

“I won’t be interfering with you here, right?” Shen Yao Xing swallowed the food in her mouth, only now remembering this matter. This person was a male courtesan. If a regular customer came to find him and saw her here, wouldn’t that be awkward?

“Qing Lian is a clean entertainer who sells art, not his body. Unless a noble specifically requests to hear a song, and Qing Lian has hung up his sign today, the benefactor need not worry about this,” the man’s pitch-black eyes fell on the oil-stained corner of her mouth, then indifferently looked away.

“Oh, that’s good then.” Shen Yao Xing nodded indistinctly. So this job was quite leisurely, not as bad as she had imagined.