Madam, please listen to my explanation.

Chapter 135 Take your knife and get out of here.

"No rudeness!"

Compared to the two men's heightened state of mind, the raven-headed man seemed completely oblivious, calmly gesturing with his hand:

"There's no need to be so nervous. If we didn't even have this much insight, how could we dare to do such a business that could cost us our lives? Please have a seat."

Xiao Han's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he was just about to make his move.

However, since Junruo strongly objected, they had no choice but to give up and sit down opposite the man.

"This must be your first time here, so please don't be shy. Our shop is open for business, and we naturally strive to make money through friendly interactions."

What would you two like to know? I'll tell you everything I know, as long as you can afford the price.

Beside the stove, a delicate purple clay teapot emitted a bubbling sound.

Xu Jinhuan's face was completely hidden behind a mask as he slowly poured a cup of hot tea for each of them.

Shangguan Qi followed his instructions and hid in the study behind the screen.

The inside of the Raven Head Mask contains a magic array that conceals one's aura and voice, a standard feature nowadays in brothels across the country.

He was very curious about what these two ignorant fools were trying to find out.

It's better to take the initiative than to have Shangguan Qi relay the message.

Li Junruo's eyes darted around, and she began to think seriously.

This man, who appeared to be the owner of the brothel, simply sat there, exuding an aura as deep and imposing as a mountain, making it impossible to discern his true nature.

Not to mention, there was a hidden master behind the opponent.
Ravens, as the fastest means of information transmission on the Qin land, have always had their owner's identity remain a mystery.

If this force is behind the 'brothels,' then many things can be reasonably explained.

The other party claims that they can "buy any information you want to know," and that's probably true.

However, we will only know the exact price to pay after testing the waters.

"May I ask, innkeeper, is there a man named Chen Xinghe at Hidden Sword Manor? What is his position, and where is he now?"

Xu Jinhuan tapped the table lightly with one hand, and chuckled softly upon hearing this:

"It's necessary to remind the young lady of three issues."

"puff--"

Li Junruo looked embarrassed.

Xiao Han, standing to the side, even spat out a mouthful of hot tea!
What a calculating businessman!

She took a deep breath and nodded, saying, "Alright, there are indeed three. I wonder if you could answer these three questions for me, and what price would I have to pay?"

"Naturally."

The man with the crow's head agreed without the slightest hesitation.

"As I just said, our shop is open for business, so of course we're looking to make money. Since you're new here, I've taken the liberty of giving you a discount, just to settle two things."

After saying that, he raised two fingers: "Two hundred taels."

"Hey, Ah Yu, this is too much!"

Li Junruo immediately felt a pang of heartache, but ignored his companion's objections, took out two silver notes from his pocket, placed them on the table, and pushed them over:
"Please inform us, shopkeeper."

Xu Jinhuan unhesitatingly put the silver note into his pocket. "I can answer your first two questions now. There is a man in Cangjian Manor named Chen Xinghe, who is the branch leader in charge of the weapons business in the southwest region."

If you weren't stuck in a remote and impoverished place like Nanliang, you could easily find out the answer by asking around. I'll only charge you ten taels of silver.

After saying that, he stood up. "As for the third one, please wait a moment."

Before the words were even finished, the person had already walked around the screen and entered the study behind it.

A moment later, the sound of pages being turned could be heard. Xiao Han crossed his arms and spat out:
"He acted all mysterious, I thought he knew everything. Turns out he was just a show-off."

"Ah Yu, do you think this guy would have taken the money and run away?"

"Idiot. That makes perfect sense."

Unlike his companions' scoffing, Li Junruo's expression was solemn as he earnestly advised again, "If the other party could know the whereabouts of even a mere sect leader like the back of their hand, that would be strange indeed!"

Xiao Han's mouth dropped open upon hearing this.

He knew the other person was right, but he was still very angry.
He simply turned his face to the side and stopped talking.

A moment later, the man with the crow's head reappeared and sat down opposite the two again:

"As for the second question, why do you two pretend not to know the answer? Didn't that Chief Chen just enter the city with you this evening?"

Hearing this, the two felt a little relieved.

After all, if a brothel dares to do this kind of business, authenticity is of paramount importance. Even ambiguous matters would not be easily traded.

Otherwise, like the two of us, we would spend hundreds of taels of silver only to get false information. Who would come knocking on our door in the future?
Xu Jinhuan, however, did not care about this.
After all, from beginning to end, the brothels only served people from the State of Yan.
Whether the two princes and young masters of Zhou will come again or not is none of my business.

"Alright, the information has been conveyed truthfully. If you two have nothing else, please leave."

Xiao Han had long been fed up with the dark and eerie atmosphere here, and immediately wanted to get up and leave, but was stopped by Li Junruo beside him once again.

He looked at them suspiciously, and saw the other person ask:
"May I ask, sir, is it possible to directly purchase someone's past or general history? If so, will the brothel keep this matter confidential?"

Xu Jinhuan's lips curled up slightly.

As expected of Li Junruo, her mind works really fast.

Instead of asking "Who is Chen Xinghe, and where is he now?", if she had just asked for "general information about Chen Xinghe", she might have saved herself the cost of one question.
With a little effort, one should be able to deduce from the information obtained whether the person picked up on the road today is indeed Chen Xinghe himself.

If she were facing the real Shangguan Qi, this girl might have already gotten what she wanted, but alas.
Today, I'll take this opportunity to teach the three people in front of me and behind me a lesson.

"Young lady, you've just had two more questions."

His fingertips continued tapping on the table, and he leaned forward slightly, chuckling softly:
"Two hundred taels."

"???"

Li Junruo was about to lose her temper when someone beside her was one step ahead of her!
boom!
With a loud crash, Xiao Han slammed his palm down, shattering the table in front of him into pieces!
He stood up abruptly and said angrily, "Stop wasting your breath on this heartless shopkeeper, Ah Yu, let's go!"

Li Junruo bit her lip lightly, her face showing reluctance, and ultimately did not get up with the boy.

"Chu Nan, calm down."

As she spoke, she took out two more silver notes and handed them over:

"Please answer my question, shopkeeper."

"Ah Yu! You!"

The man with the raven-head mask remained seated calmly, naturally accepting the silver note. "First question: Of course. After all, you're not the first to try to buy information about someone from a brothel; there are precedents."

Secondly, as long as it's information that the brothel possesses and the customer can afford the price, they will naturally tell you everything they know, with only one exception.

That is the specific content of the questions raised by each customer. The brothel will never disclose this information.

Alternatively, you two could come back to trade with your faces concealed next time. My shop will never investigate your identities without my permission. This is a rule established by the brothel from the very beginning, so you can rest assured. So, young lady, do you still intend to continue the transaction?”

But I have already concealed my appearance!

Li Junruo took a deep breath and cursed under her breath.

But then I thought about it again, and the other party only pointed out that I was a woman, without saying anything else.
Just as I was thinking this, I heard the other person continue:

"Since we get along well, I'd like to offer a friendly reminder: no matter who you want to inquire about, our shop will, as is customary, provide you with a fairly detailed profile, including their cultivation level, lineage, techniques, and general background. However, the price will vary greatly depending on the person's status."

This is a complimentary gift for the girl, and it's free of charge.

Xu Jinhuan had a vague feeling that what the other party wanted to inquire about was probably not someone far away, but someone right in front of him, Xu himself.
Sure enough, the girl opposite seemed to have finally made a decision and asked:
"Okay, I'd like to know more about Xu Jinhuan. He's the one who's ranked eighth on the Earth Ranking, and who just defeated Senior Ba Dao a few days ago."

As if afraid that the other party might cause some trouble again, she tried to describe it as accurately as possible.

Xiao Han clenched his fists tightly, feeling extremely frustrated.

He could understand Junruo's thoughts; after all, in her mind, she was about to marry a complete stranger.

It's only natural to want to know something beforehand.
However, little did he know that this action was tantamount to rubbing salt into a knife's edge.

No.
Seeing the other person's serious expression, Xiao Han instantly understood.

With her intelligence, she naturally knew, but she simply didn't care.
Xu Jinhuan crossed his arms and said leisurely:

"Xu Jinhuan? Although he's not in the imperial court, he is indeed a very important figure in our Great Yan. This is a bit difficult to handle."

Xiao Han snorted, "You speak so grandly, but in my opinion, you're nothing but a fame-seeker! When it comes to truly important people, there's nothing you can do! Ah Yu, aren't you leaving?"

Before he could finish speaking, the man with the crow's head continued, "It costs more money."

"Shopkeeper, please speak freely!"

Xu Jinhuan opened his palm and held it up in front of the two of them:
"Five thousand taels of gold."

"Ah Yu!"

"Shut up!"

Li Junruo gritted her teeth in anger.

She had thought she had thought highly of her 'husband' whom she had never met, but now it seemed that he was far more powerful than she had imagined.
This shopkeeper actually quoted such a price right off the bat; in other words, it was tantamount to telling people to leave.
However, she was really unwilling to give up after returning empty-handed.

She didn't care whether Xu Jinhuan was tall or short, fat or thin. What she really wanted to know was why she had been 'sold' to him.
After much deliberation, she took out two dark, short daggers from her bosom and carefully placed them in her palm:

"I cannot produce five thousand taels of gold. The most valuable thing I have on me right now is this item, which I believe you, the shopkeeper, will recognize."

Xu Jinhuan hadn't expected the other party to possess such a valuable item, and immediately nodded:
"Hailou Stone."

"Indeed, these two daggers are forged from raw sea-stone. Although they are not worth five thousand gold, they are not far off. After all, such things are extremely rare and have a high price but no market. Shopkeeper, could you use these items to offset the cost?"

"Ah Yu! Are you crazy! This is a life-saving item that your master's family specially entrusted to you! Besides, you just asked another question!"

Xiao Han was so angry that he pounded his chest and stamped his feet, which made Xu Jinhuan both laugh and cry.

This time, however, he didn't play word games with them. Instead, he said, "Exchange of goods is certainly possible. As for the price difference, it's simple. You two can use your secrets to make an equivalent exchange. Of course, my shop doesn't do forced sales. Whether or not to proceed with the transaction is up to you two."

At this point, Li Junruo finally understood the deeper operating principles of brothels.

Just like you are now. When you ask someone a question, some of your secrets that no one else knows are also exposed to them.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but admire him secretly.

The person behind this brothel is truly a chilling character!
"In that case, shopkeeper, please ask first. If you can answer, then we can continue the transaction."

“Alright.” Xu Jinhuan nodded. “It’s actually very simple. Just answer me: what exactly is your purpose in going to the Southern Frontier?”

"It's that simple?"

Li Junruo seemed somewhat unable to believe her ears.

From the moment they met, this mysterious shopkeeper put immense pressure on her.

She thought the other person was going to ask her something important. But it turned out to be just this?
Xu Jinhuan laughed heartily: "The two of you have a deep misunderstanding of me."

If I knew the matter was of great importance, or that the two of you would never tell me, why would I bother to ask?

Hearing this, Li Junruo and Xiao Han both breathed a sigh of relief.

If that's all there is to it, then it's fine to tell the other party.

"Alright, to be honest, shopkeeper, the two of us went to the Southern Frontier just to witness the battle between the Sword Immortal and the Great Demon."
In this way, we can seek ways to further advance in martial arts.

So that's all there is to it.
Xu Jinhuan understood.

I was overthinking things and overestimating these two people.

After all, no matter how powerful they become in the future, right now they are just two rookies who haven't even left their master's school yet.

Judging from this, their trip to the southern border was probably not at the behest of Emperor Zhou or Fatty Chu, and there was no great conspiracy or scheme behind it; it was purely a spontaneous act before the wedding.

"Deal made. Please wait a moment."

Xu Jinhuan went to the back of the house again, took out paper and pen, and wrote with great speed.

Shangguan Qi, standing to the side, smiled broadly and gave a thumbs up: "As expected of the young master, you've really got it!"

As the person in charge of the place, he naturally knew that the entire operating system of the brothel was created by the other party.

Since the start of this intelligence business, the financial gains have been secondary.

What's even more valuable is that more and more previously unthinkable secrets are now being taken over by brothels.

Therefore, he had long admired this young master, and now that he had met him, he was even more impressed that seeing him in person was better than hearing about him!

No wonder the manor lord went to great lengths to take him in as an adopted son.
"But young master, this concerns you personally. Are you really going to sell it to those two? Besides, the secrets these two little ones possess are truly of little value."

Xu Jinhuan shook his head: "Whether it has value or not depends on who it is. Anyway, my past experiences are not exactly secrets. It wouldn't hurt to tell them some."

A moment later, Xu Jinhuan came out of the study and handed the note he had just written to Li Junruo.

"Just a heads up, our store is honest and fair, and once sold, items are non-refundable. If there's nothing else, you may leave now."

Li Junruo took it immediately and, without lingering, pulled Xiao Han away from there.

As for the contents of the paper, she planned to look at them alone in her room.

"Humph!"

Xiao Han snorted coldly and was about to leave when he heard the man continue:
"Wait a moment."

The moment those three words were uttered, an unprecedented sense of crisis instantly gripped my heart.

Xiao Han froze in place, unable to move for a moment.

"I said, that girl can leave now."

"Did you not understand, or do you think you're a girl without a penis?"

The man with the raven-head mask spoke slowly, just as he had when he made the deal with the two men earlier, unhurried and deliberate.

Xiao Han felt as if a sharp, icy sword was pressed against his heart.

If he took just one more step forward, that sword would pierce his heart in an instant!
Li Junruo then noticed that her companion was already sweating and frozen in place.

She turned around angrily, immediately assuming the other party was going to break their promise, and questioned:
"Shopkeeper, what do you mean by this!"

hum-

The blade of the Broken Mountain trembled and suddenly began to hum.

The next moment, the heavy blade broke free from its reins and flew straight toward the crow-headed man with a whoosh!

'Ding--'

The biting cold that enveloped him was instantly dispelled a little. Xiao Han turned around with difficulty and saw that the giant sword he depended on for his life was being gently held between the other party's two fingers.

Xiao Han tried to step forward, only to find that his legs felt like they were made of lead, and even lifting them was incredibly difficult.

As Duan Yue made contact with the other party, his blood and meridians were being frantically eroded by an extremely domineering cold aura.

The biting cold made him almost shiver.

"The business is done, now it's time to settle the accounts."

"This young man broke my table, and he thinks he can just leave like that?"

As they spoke, a thin layer of frost gradually spread from the tip of the blade to the entire blade.

Xiao Han coughed up a mouthful of blood.

To Li Junruo's shock, she discovered that the bloodstains on the ground contained traces of ice.

"Chu Nan, quickly apologize to the shopkeeper!"

Xiao Han's body trembled, feeling as if he might be frozen into an ice sculpture at any moment!
But those eyes were not to be outdone, they were so angry they seemed to be spitting fire!
I was careless.
This bastard actually attacked when I was completely off guard.
His legs were losing feeling, and he was almost about to kneel down.

But as a fine young man of Zhou, how could he possibly kneel before a brothel owner from Yan?
Especially in front of Junruo!

He clenched his teeth so hard that blood gushed from his mouth as he struggled to speak:
"How much silver is the table worth?"

"Oh?"

Xu Jinhuan was slightly surprised.

This kid is exactly as I remember him; he's a tough nut to crack.

With a clang, the broken mountain, frozen into a lump of ice, fell to the ground, as if it had completely lost its spiritual essence.

A smile played on his lips as he slowly said:

"Five thousand gold pieces."

Li Junruo instantly understood, and felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

Then, Xiao Han, trembling, took out two dark daggers from his bosom that looked exactly like Li Junruo's.

Two soft "plop" sounds!
He actually stabbed himself in the calf first!
The intense pain restored some feeling to his legs, which finally prevented him from kneeling before the man and Jun Ruo.

He suddenly pulled out two bloodstained daggers and threw them in front of the shopkeeper.

"Use this item to settle the debt!"

With this movement, the chill that had enveloped his body vanished instantly, and Xiao Han collapsed to the ground with a thud, panting heavily.

“Look, young lady, this young master Xiao is not a completely inflexible, stubborn fool after all.”

But remember this: while brothels are places of pleasure, they are not places where you can run wild.

As soon as he finished speaking, the ice shell on the Broken Mountain shattered with a crack.

The man with the raven-headed head rose, put his hands behind his back, and walked back behind the screen:

"Give me a light punishment, take your knife, and get out of here."

Li Junruo hurriedly picked up the broken piece of wood, but almost dropped it because of the biting cold.

She gritted her teeth, held the knife in her hand, helped Xiao Han, who had collapsed to the ground, to his feet, and struggled out of the room.
-
Only after she was completely out of the Love Flower Pavilion's territory and confirmed that the other party had not followed her out did she finally leave Duan Yue aside.

The hand that had just picked up the knife was now frozen numb.

"Junruo...I'm sorry."

Xiao Han has regained basic mobility, but blood is still flowing from his legs and mouth.

"Alright, alright. Stop biting! You're practically grinding your teeth to pieces!"

Li Junruo shook her head, tore two strips of cloth from Xiao Han's body with a ripping sound, and simply bandaged the wound on his leg.

"Just now upstairs, you were the one who broke someone's table first. If you had been willing to humble yourself, you wouldn't have lost two precious Seastone daggers."

That was something Master specially left for us to save our lives. Now we're doomed.

Xiao Han's expression darkened. He silently wrapped Duan Yue around his waist and said in a deep voice:

"I know that no matter how precious Seastone is, it's still an external possession. If it's gone, we can find another way to get it."
At the time, I just felt that we couldn't be trampled underfoot by a person from Yan. Once that fighting spirit is gone, that's the real problem.

Li Junruo looked at the boy's gradually straightening spine and chuckled, "Alright, just like you said, if it's gone, it's gone!"

There are always higher heavens and more powerful people out there. This is not the Zhou Kingdom after all, so we must be careful in everything we do.”

Xiao Han nodded. "Indeed. I never imagined that an ordinary manager of a brothel in Nanliang would possess such strength."
Although it was a successful sneak attack, it did show some skill.

Still being stubborn!

Li Junruo pursed her lips. After all that talking, it was all just for that last sentence!

Before even leaving Nanliang, he was already injured. That young punk was indeed unreliable.
Too lazy to pay attention to each other, the two stopped talking and walked quickly towards the inn, braving the wind and snow.

(End of this chapter)