“Ye Chu, where have you been?” Ye Chu had only just entered the Huang residence when Huang Lin blocked his path. Huang Lin looked at him excitedly. “We have been looking for you for so long!”
“Hm?” Ye Chu looked at Huang Lin in confusion, wondering what this rash girl was up to now. He wanted to bypass her to see Bai Xuan. He thought that since he had suddenly left without a word, Bai Xuan must have been worried.
“Big Brother Ye Chu! Come with me quickly. There is somewhere fun I want to take you!” Huang Lin grabbed Ye Chu and tried to drag him out of the residence.
“What fun place?” Ye Chu asked, looking at Huang Lin. “Whatever it is, let me see Bai Xuan first!”
Huang Lin continued pulling him along. “It is already so late. Sister Bai Xuan has long since gone to rest with Yao Yao. Do not disturb them. I will take you to a great place.”
Though helpless, Ye Chu let Huang Lin drag him out of the residence.
“Lamp Tower!”
Huang Lin pulled him to a brightly lit pavilion adorned with large gilded characters. Ye Chu had never been here before, but he had heard Pang Shao mention it.
Pang Shao had said the women inside were both talented and beautiful, with exceptional skills in pleasing men.
“You brought me to a brothel?” Ye Chu looked at Huang Lin. “Do not tell me you think I am as low-class as Pang Shao, spending money to buy a woman’s company for a night!”
Huang Lin giggled. “Of course not! I brought you here to see something fun!”
Without further explanation, Huang Lin dragged Ye Chu straight into the pavilion. Seeing that Huang Lin could actually enter such a place, Ye Chu asked curiously, “Do they offer male companions here too?”
“Pah!” Huang Lin spat in mock disgust. “Do you think I am as filthy as Liu Shaoyang and Pang Shao? This young lady is still pure. I would not give myself to you filthy men.”
Ye Chu gave Huang Lin a glance, then said in a drawn-out tone, “Oh! So this place offers lily services. Truly high-end!”
“…” Huang Lin had spent enough time with Ye Chu to know exactly what “lily” meant. She thought to herself that he was the one who messed around with men. This young lady was not interested in men, and certainly not in women either.
“Ye Yuanwu is inside!” Huang Lin blinked at Ye Chu. “Hehe, Pang Shao and the others are planning to teach Ye Yuanwu a good lesson. I brought you here to watch the show!”
“Watch the show?” Ye Chu found it amusing. “You lot cannot even beat Ye Yuanwu. What kind of show could there be?”
“Who said anything about beating him?” Huang Lin giggled. “Did you not know? Pang Shao bought this Lamp Tower ages ago. When Ye Yuanwu comes here, he walks right into our trap. Also, I heard he is trading something with a few people from outside the region. Whatever Ye Yuanwu is willing to trade for must be something good. Perhaps we can snatch it for ourselves?”
Seeing Ye Chu still unmoved, Huang Lin grew anxious. “Do you know what it is? Rumour has it that it is a manual from one of the great cultivators in that small circle.”
“Which small circle? The Killing Spirit Realm?” Ye Chu asked curiously.
“You are sharp!” Huang Lin giggled. “Now are you interested? The Killing Spirit Realm is a small circle every cultivator dreams of joining. But you know how hard it is to enter. In the entire imperial city, fewer than ten people have managed to get in, and the number of great cultivators among them can be counted on one hand. In the eyes of ordinary people, the Killing Spirit Realm is shrouded in mystery. Cultivating by combining killing aura and spiritual energy is something every cultivator yearns for. Becoming a member of the Killing Spirit Realm means your future achievements will be extraordinary. And right now, there is a notebook from a great cultivator of the Killing Spirit Realm. If we can get it, it might even help you enter the Killing Spirit Realm.”
Ye Chu was indeed drawn in by this information. He naturally knew what kind of circle the Killing Spirit Realm was. Every member of it was a heaven-defying genius with limitless potential. Even the outermost members of that circle were people others fought to curry favour with.
The people in this circle could harness two opposing forces, spiritual energy and killing aura. This allowed them to cultivate far faster than others. At the same time, the explosive combat power from combining these opposing energies was far greater than that of ordinary cultivators.
Of course, in the eyes of outsiders, the Killing Spirit Realm was incomparably mysterious. To them, every member seemed unfathomably profound. This led cultivators to be willing to offend almost anyone, except people from the Killing Spirit Realm.
Because of its transcendent status, countless people worshipped it and yearned to join. Yet almost none succeeded.
Ye Chu had only heard about this circle from the fat dead man at Qingmi Mountain. He had never met anyone from it, nor did he know exactly how they cultivated using killing aura.
Ye Chu could not help thinking about his own physique. It allowed killing aura to enter his body without destroying his vitality. This was miraculous in itself. Back then, he had asked the old madman whether he could be taken to see this circle. Perhaps he could find the origin of his physique’s uniqueness.
But the old madman had simply said, “Your body is fundamentally different from that circle. Do not bother looking. There is no one in it who resembles you. You will have to figure it out yourself.”
With that single sentence, the old madman had refused him outright. Of course, Ye Chu had always suspected the old madman was just too lazy to take him. This had left him with a certain curiosity about the Killing Spirit Realm.
“Fine, let us go and take a look!” Ye Chu said to Huang Lin. He wanted to see whether his physique bore any similarity to that circle.
As soon as Ye Chu and Huang Lin entered, Liu Shaoyang, Pang Shao, and the others pulled Ye Chu into a private room. “Where have you been, you bastard? We have been looking for you forever. Hehe, come with us to see something interesting!”
“Ye Yuanwu?” Ye Chu asked.
“Damn! You already know? Huang Lin told you?” Pang Shao glanced at Huang Lin, then burst into laughter. “You will never guess what Ye Yuanwu is doing right now!”
“Hm?” Ye Chu asked curiously.
“Do you remember Auntie Liu from the old district?” Pang Shao raised an eyebrow at Ye Chu.
A figure immediately surfaced in Ye Chu’s mind. In the old district lived an extremely infamous woman of a certain age. She was a true character. Every day she caked at least a pound of powder on her face. Her complexion was pitted and uneven, and with her near three-hundred-jin weight, the first time Ye Chu and the others saw her, they had nearly fainted.
What made their scalps tingle the most was that this farting, belching, self-proclaimed beauty of a woman had an extremely high opinion of herself. Whenever she saw a man, she wanted to drag him to bed. She had once tried to drag Pang Shao away. For an entire month afterwards, Pang Shao had not touched a woman, and his face had remained deathly pale the whole time.
“She is here?” Ye Chu already felt the urge to flee.
“She is currently attending to our Young Master Ye!” Pang Shao snickered. “Do you believe it?”
“Rubbish! You are trying to fool ghosts!” Ye Chu looked at Pang Shao with disdain. He thought to himself that if Ye Yuanwu saw her, he would probably faint from fright. How could he even get it up?