Swordholder

If the other party was just a spoiled brat who bullied the common people, he wouldn't bother to help them at the aristocratic family gathering and would just let them fend for themselves.

If they possess genuine talent and still uphold moral principles, then forming an alliance might be worthwhile.

The tournament, which was originally meant for the Xiang Beast Clan to hunt down human prodigies, has been turned into a nightmare for the Xiang Beast disciples.

At this moment, Chen Yuan and his companions inadvertently turned their gazes to the courtesan who was being fawned over by everyone.

"Holy crap, that woman is absolutely gorgeous!"

Li Wei exclaimed excitedly again, his eyes fixed intently on the courtesan downstairs.

"She's not pretty."

Nuomi suddenly spoke up, paused, and then added seriously, "Her real appearance is far less beautiful than Sister Ning's."

"This is a bewitching magic."

Chen Zhaoning looked at Nuomi in surprise, not expecting that at such a young age, she could see through the woman's bewitching illusion.

She rubbed Nuomi's chubby little head, took out a bottle of medicine from her bosom and distributed it to everyone, "Apply it to your eyes and you will be able to see her true face."

"Her true form is a fox beast. Relying on her bewitching powers, she can make everyone who sees her regard her as their dream lover, completely falling in love with her and unable to extricate themselves."

Chen Zhaoning glanced at the various expressions on the faces of the people around her. When she saw that Chen Yuan remained calm and unmoved, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little smug.

Sure enough, this younger brother is different from other men.

"Holy crap! This is even more outrageous than using a level 10 beauty filter; they're practically unrecognizable!"

After applying the medicine, Li Wei gasped and made gagging motions upon seeing the true appearance of the courtesan Meng Shushu.

The promised young woman turned out to be an older woman in disguise!

Upon seeing this, Chen Jianming, Chen Jianchu, and the others couldn't help but chuckle quietly.

"Let's go downstairs and take a look."

Chen Yuan became interested and immediately got up and walked towards the stairs.

The others followed closely behind and went downstairs together.

……

Zhang Shan, Tang Hu, and Li Shouren, with haughty expressions, sternly rebuked the plump middle-aged woman who was a brothel madam, insisting that she summon the most beautiful courtesan to keep them company.

But the madam showed no mercy and didn't take the three of them seriously at all.

They even threatened that if the group continued to cause trouble, they would be kicked out of the brothel.

"Zhang Shan, what do we do now? Even on our deathbeds, we can't kill that courtesan?"

Tang Hu looked at the group of fierce-looking guards around him and spoke in a low voice.

He was tall and imposing, with sharp and intimidating eyes.

Standing beside him, Zhang Shan, dressed in black, was even more robust, towering over him by a full half a head.

As for why they killed that courtesan, it was entirely because they discovered that she was a wicked woman who abducted innocent young girls.

"Let's wait and see if we get a chance to make a move!"

Zhang Shan corrected him in a deep voice, paused briefly, and said in a solemn tone, "The current situation is tricky. We do not have absolute combat power, nor do we have a legitimate reason to confront them head-on."

Zhang Shan continued, "That courtesan possesses bewitching and illusionary arts; her true form is a fox demon. She has seduced and harmed countless women, forcing them to sell themselves here to survive..."

Zhang Shan's words made Tang Hu's face turn icy cold, and his heart was filled with resentment and indignation.

They had already accepted their fate after learning that they would be sent to participate in the aristocratic family assessment competition.

Since I'm doomed either way, I might as well cause a scene at the Spring Dream Pavilion and get rid of that wicked courtesan!

Just then, Li Shouren, who was usually taciturn, suddenly pointed at several women who had just been brought in and exclaimed in surprise, "Aren't those...aren't those the three girls from Qingniu Village?"

"Niu Jinhua, Niu Yinhua, Niu Aihua? What are they doing here?"

Upon hearing the sound, Zhang Shan and Tang Hu's eyes suddenly sharpened, and they both looked towards the person.

Among the crowd, three young girls were being embraced and forced to drink by several burly orcs covered in fur. They were crying their eyes out, looking extremely pitiful.

No matter how much they cried and begged, they were powerless to change the situation.

"Damn it! Those three women were kind to us, and now they've been trafficked to a place like this?"

The two spoke almost simultaneously, their voices filled with fury.

The three girls happened to see Tang Hu and his two companions and immediately cried out for help.

Seeing this, Tang Hu immediately led the group to try and redeem the three people.

However, the madam of Chunmenglou insisted on refusing, and the guests present also tried to stop her, which immediately led to a dispute and then a fight.

By the time Chen Yuan and his group approached, Tang Hu and more than a dozen others had already been subdued, their faces bruised and swollen, and they were pinned to the ground.

The three girls were being slapped hard across the face by the madam in public.

"Hmph, once you're in my Spring Dream Pavilion, you should behave yourselves. You're all cheap sluts that anyone can sleep with these days!"

"Damn it, all coy and hesitant, does she really think she's still a virgin?"

"Dare to cause trouble here, I'll scratch your faces and break your legs!"

"Even if it costs you your worthless lives, no one will say a word!"

······

The madam cursed and slapped several girls repeatedly, causing their mouths to bleed and their cheeks to become swollen and ulcerated.

"And you lot, don't think you can cause trouble here just because you're from a prestigious family. Do you really think Spring Dream Pavilion wouldn't dare kill you?"

"You are nothing but discarded pawns abandoned by the human clans!"

"Kill you all, and at worst, your families will just send another batch of disciples to die at the grand assembly!"

On the other side, a woman wearing a thin gauze dress, with a seductive figure, large breasts and a pert bottom, and half-covered by a veil, spoke in a cold voice.

She raised her long, slender, snow-white legs, and with her boots, stepped directly onto Zhang Shan's face, grinding them down relentlessly.

"what……"

Blood trickled from the corner of Zhang Shan's mouth, and he screamed in agony.

This woman is none other than the most beautiful courtesan—Meng Shushu!

She looked down at Zhang Shan and his group with a mocking expression.

"Hmph, a man on the verge of death, yet he tries to act like a hero and a chivalrous knight-errant? Utterly foolish!"

"I might as well tell you frankly, these women are actually prostitutes we kidnapped and forced into prostitution."

"In this world, if it means they have to become prostitutes, it's a way to survive! This is what we call the righteous path!"

"It is their privilege to serve you esteemed Beast Masters. Hmph, you want to save people? You overestimate yourselves!"

"In this chaotic world, besides a few brainless fools like you, who else would bother with other people's business?"

······

As soon as he finished speaking, many guests in the room chuckled softly.

In chaotic times, people at the bottom of society have no control over even their own bodies.

No one would be foolish enough to stand up for themselves and act as a chivalrous hero.

"You're wrong. I'm meddling in other people's business."

Just then, a clear, cold voice broke the tense atmosphere in the room.

In an instant, everyone in the room looked in the direction of the sound, and their eyes all fell on the person who spoke.

Zhang Shan, Tang Hu, and Li Shouren were all stunned.

None of them expected that someone else would get involved in their mess.

The one who spoke was Chen Yuan.

Seeing that someone dared to contradict her in public, Meng Shushu was furious. She quickly glanced at Chen Yuan, and after confirming that she did not recognize him, she immediately stepped forward.

She pointed towards the stairwell and shouted sternly, "Get out of here right now! You're not welcome at Spring Dream Pavilion!"

"Stay away from me, you fat, big-eared woman."

Chen Yuan glanced at her, his tone full of disdain.

Chen Zhaoning and the others behind him immediately burst into laughter.

Li Wei, without any restraint, burst into loud laughter.

"Someone who uses seductive arts to hide the fact that she's an old woman, does she really think she's some kind of celestial being?"

Li Wei, without any hesitation, grinned and said, "It's like an old abalone whose water supply has been cut off!"

Everyone was confused.

"What fat-headed, big-eared woman? What old woman?"

As if her tail had been stepped on, Meng Shushu jumped up abruptly, pointed at Chen Yuan and Li Wei, and shrieked, "If you dare say another word, I'll beat you to death!"

She boasted that she could manipulate men with her looks.

Who wouldn't want to taste its saltiness and depth?

Nowadays, how dare anyone say she is a fat, old, and ugly woman?

That fucking bastard!