I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 59 Listening to Snow Pavilion

North Street.

Tingxuexuan (Listening to Snow Pavilion)

Inside the elegantly decorated pavilion, in a spacious room, the wooden floor was covered with a clean bamboo mat, exuding a cool breeze in the golden autumn. On one side of the room, there was a small table with some exquisite dishes on it.

On either side of the table, Wu Ming and Chen Gui sat facing each other.

“I know that Brother Wu dislikes those lewd places. I specially chose Tingxuexuan to invite you here today. The courtesans here sell their art but not their bodies. Compared with the prostitutes in the brothels outside, they have a different kind of taste.”

Chen Gui smiled and poured Wu Ming a glass of wine.

In recent months, he had been busy with family affairs at the manor outside the city. After returning to the city, he heard about Wu Ming's breakthrough to the second stage of blood clotting and his promotion to patrol officer. He was extremely surprised and immediately went to find Wu Ming and invited him to Tingxuexuan for a drink, also to celebrate Wu Ming's breakthrough in martial arts and promotion.

Calculating the time, he and Wu Ming should have completed their first blood clotting around the same time. However, Wu Ming has already completed his second blood clotting, while he is still far from completing his second blood clotting. On the one hand, Wu Ming's aptitude is already higher than his. On the other hand, he doesn't focus all his attention on martial arts and spends a lot of time on other things, so his second blood clotting is naturally a long way off.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Brother Chen."

Wu Ming sat behind the table and took a small sip of wine.

Because he frequented the gambling dens on North Street, he had heard of Tingxuexuan. He knew it was a rather unique establishment in the red-light district, where the courtesans were skilled in various musical pieces, all of which had a calming effect. To have a drink and listen to a piece of music here, the price usually started at several dozen taels of silver, which was quite expensive compared to the cheap prostitutes outside. Even with his current wealth, spending money here would be a bit painful for him.

He didn't actually dislike places of entertainment, but martial arts cultivation was more important to him, and places of entertainment could easily affect his state of mind. Since he needed to restrain himself before he achieved success in martial arts cultivation, he naturally preferred to avoid them to keep his mind at peace.

but,

This Tingxuexuan is indeed different from the outside.

First of all, there was no pungent smell of rouge and powder in the air, nor any lewd smell. There was only a faint fragrance, which not only did not arouse, but also had a calming and concentration-enhancing effect.

Then there is this room, elegantly decorated and spacious, with only a screen in the center. Behind the screen is a woman's figure, faintly visible, playing a guqin. The music is melodious and elegant.

"Haha, it's just a little money, nothing to worry about. As long as Brother Wu is satisfied, that's all that matters."

Chen Gui smiled and said.

Actually, spending money at Tingxuexuan was a bit of a luxury for him, but now that Wu Ming had entered the Shenxing Division, broken through his realm, and been promoted, his status was very different from before, so his attitude towards Wu Ming was naturally not as casual as before.

Wu Ming nodded slightly, tasted a piece of fruit, and listened to the melodies playing in his ears. He nodded in approval, thinking that this place was indeed better than those vulgar places outside.

Martial artists cultivate pure Yang blood energy, and their temperament will more or less become more restless and violent due to the accumulation of blood energy. Listening to music here to calm the mind can, over time, alleviate the restlessness in one's heart to some extent.

of course,

This actually meant little to him, since he cultivated the "Lin" technique, and the agitation generated by his physical body and blood was not enough to affect his state of mind. It was just like a gentle breeze to him, causing no harm whatsoever.

Chen Gui sat leisurely to the side, listening to the music. When the piece ended, the courtesan who had been playing the zither stepped out from behind the semi-transparent screen, bowed gracefully to Chen Gui and Wu Ming, and then quietly withdrew.

Wu Ming watched him leave, then suddenly remembered something and asked Chen Gui, "Brother Chen, do you have any...?"

As he spoke, he lowered his voice slightly, and Chen Gui understood. He leaned over and listened to what Wu Ming said. He was slightly taken aback at first, then laughed and said, "Although my family doesn't sell this stuff, we do have some. Brother Wu, come back with me later, and I'll go get some to give you as a gift."

"Well then, I'll have to trouble you, Brother Chen."

Wu Ming nodded.

What he asked Chen Gui was whether there was any suitable 'cleaning' liquid, such as the so-called corpse-dissolving water. This was not exactly taboo, but it was not appropriate to talk about it openly. Among the people he knew, Chen Gui was the only one he could ask. As expected, Chen Gui did know.

Chen Gui didn't ask Wu Ming what he wanted it for, and Wu Ming naturally wouldn't ask on his own initiative. Actually, he just asked casually, and if there really was one, he would get a copy, just in case.

"It's a trivial matter, nothing to worry about."

Chen Gui smiled, then gently tapped a small bell beside the table, and soon a servant came in.

"Let's have someone else play another song."

"okay."

The servant responded and immediately went out to summon the messenger.

soon.

After three rounds of drinking.

Although Chen Gui was also a martial artist, once he got a little tipsy, he was not as composed as he had been at the beginning, and some of his worries could no longer be hidden, with a hint of sorrow appearing between his brows.

"Brother Chen, have you encountered any trouble lately?"

Seeing this, Wu Ming took the initiative to ask.

Chen Gui shook his head and sighed, "In this world, the most tempting thing is profit. Our Chen family has spent so many resources to finally cultivate a medicinal tea that can nourish blood and qi, but this business has become too successful, which has brought trouble... In the past few months, my family has been attacked many times when transporting medicinal materials into the city. Now, we have no choice but to ask the Nanhe Escort Agency under the Seven Martial Alliance to help with the escort of medicinal materials."

"I know which forces were behind this. Their appetite is far too great. They actually want 50% of the profits from the herbal tea business, and even want my family to share the herbal tea recipe. This is intolerable..."

Taking advantage of his drunken state, Chen Gui complained incessantly and vented his frustrations.

After she had finished speaking and calmed down, she looked at Wu Ming apologetically and said, "Alas, these are all troubles of my family. I shouldn't have told Brother Wu about them. I'm sorry that you had to laugh at me."

"It doesn't matter."

Wu Ming shook his head and said, "It's a pity that although I work in the Censorate, I am a lowly person and my voice carries little weight, so I can't be of any help."

The Censorate rarely intervenes in the power struggles between various factions over resources, especially since the Chen family's troubles are outside the city and stem from problems with their supply channels. The Censorate has even less jurisdiction over areas outside the city, a fact Chen Gui is well aware of. He doesn't actually want any help from Wu Ming; he's just venting his frustrations.

(End of this chapter)