Chapter 8 - Xie Shuang

"Madman?" Tian Bo flinched slightly as he softly murmured, "Manman has been dead for nearly three years."

"Dead for nearly three years?" Qin Yun’s expression changed.

When he first entered Western Mountain Sword Garden, he was the son of an ordinary constable and he was only ten years old.

Tian Bo was the son of a wealthy merchant of little significance and he was only nine years old.

Xie Lei"s family operated an armed escort company for the delivery of goods. He was only eleven years old.

Xie Lei was always very headstrong and had an impulsive temper. Hence, his nickname was "Madman Xie". At that time, Tian Bo had a frail and skinny body. He was also shy; thus, he was teased and called "Little Bobo".

Strictly speaking, Tian Bo was equivalent to lackey. Qin Yun and Xie Lei were the two with the strongest sword techniques in Western Mountain Sword Garden. The two of them frequently sparred with each other. Qin Yun treated Madman Xie"s sister, Xie Shuang as a younger sister. Qin Yun also once had a younger sister. However, she had died when he was eight years old. Both Xie Shuang and his sister looked similar. Even the way they wheedled was similar.

Qin Yun and Xie Lei"s relations.h.i.+p was extremely good. He could not believe that the extremely tactical and strong Madman Xie would simple just die like that.

"What happened? How did he die?" Qin Yun felt his heart wince. The various scenes from his youth surfaced in his heart as his eyes could not help but turn red.

"I had planned on telling you privately after the gathering today." Tian Bo lowered his voice. "You knew too that Madman"s father had been ill a long time ago. He had been bedridden and about half a year after you left, Madman"s father finally pa.s.sed away! However, Madman had the strength and skill. He still managed to secure his position as chief of the escort company. A marriage for him was even later agreed upon. It was with a concubine"s daughter from a large family clan in Grand Dominance Prefecture, the Hong family. You could say that by doing so, he would have the Hong family as his backers. However, no one expected the incident before the wedding."

"What happened?" Qin Yun followed up with a question.

"The Xie family received a request to escort some goods of extremely great value." Tian Bo said. "Madman personally led the escort. They were about to reach their destination when they unexpectedly encountered demons. That battle was rumored to be extremely horrifying. Only three out of the hundreds of people manage to survive while two of the demons died. When Madman died, his sword had managed to penetrate the demon"s head through its mouth. However, that monster also managed to shatter Madman"s heart."

Qin Yun fell silent.

Demons…

If an escort company were to meet with a demon, all they needed to do is to offer the treasures and the demons might let them off. This was because, without absolute confidence, a typical escort company of considerable strength could vanquish a demon or two.

"These demons." Qin Yun clenched his teeth. Demons were generally of lower intellect than humans and there were some that were even dumber! With bad luck, offering the treasures would be useless. One could only rely on the weapons in their hands.

"What about Little Shuang?" asked Qin Yun.

With Madman Xie dead, the young girl was the only Xie family member left.

"That was a huge business. The escort failed so the Xie family had to compensate the clients. Despite so many of their men dying, the Xie family had to even make compensation." Tian Bo shook his head. "Sister Xie Shuang was rather just and honest. After the escort company closed down, she sold all her wealth to compensate the families who had their men die. Later on, she didn"t even have the silver taels needed for the compensation. She was forced to sell herself to Swallow Phoenix Brothel to ama.s.s the necessary amount."

"She sold herself to Swallow Phoenix Brothel?" Qin Yun"s face turned white.

Madman was dead and his sister, Xie Shuang, had sold herself to a brothel?

Thankfully, Swallow Phoenix Brothel was a famous brothel in Grand Dominance Prefecture. The courtesans there only sold their trade and not their bodies. Only ordinary wh.o.r.ehouses would sell s.e.xual services.

Providing s.e.xual services was something extremely frowned upon. Typically, half a tael of silver was sufficient to pay for one session. As for the truly famous courtesans, they would be swarmed by rich and distinguished guests. Just treating the courtesans to a cup of tea or having a chat with them would cost the patrons dozens of silver taels! Furthermore, it was only if the courtesan gave consent. For example, some famous courtesans that were known by all would not even meet those from a distinguished family even after they spent more than a thousand silver taels!

Of course, if the famous courtesan was agreeable to it, they could be betrothed to a rich man but that was very rare.

"Sister Xie Shuang is the only daughter of the Xie family. She is proficient in sword dances and is great at the lute. She"s also extremely beautiful so she was able to sell herself for a high price," said Tian Bo as he shook his head. "I originally wanted to help her monetarily but she needed nearly twenty thousand taels of silver. My Tian family would have had to sell half of its estate to make up for it. Furthermore, a fire sale would only lower the price. Therefore, there was no other way. My dad would not agree to it either."

"Nearly twenty thousand taels?" Qin Yun nodded. Having that amount was enough to make one considered wealthy. It was already rather rare for the Swallow Phoenix Brothel to be willing to bear the cost of twenty thousand silver taels.

"Let"s go to Swallow Phoenix Brothel tonight," said Qin Yun.

"Alright, I"ll accompany you." Tian Bo nodded.

…

Although he was anxious to meet Xie Shuang, Swallow Phoenix Brothel only opened its doors to guest at night. Furthermore, Xie Shuang had already been in Swallow Phoenix Brothel for more than two years. There was no point in rus.h.i.+ng to meet her. Qin Yun waited patiently as he accompanied his old friends.

He sat beside a handrail and drank wine as he watched his good friends sparring above the water.

"Brother Qin Yun, why don"t you give us some pointers?"

"That"s right. Hurry, don"t just spend your time drinking."

His friends beckoned him.

"Forget it," said Qin Yun as he forced a smile. He was really not in the mood for it. Just thinking of Xie Shuang that had been sold to Swallow Phoenix Brothel, and Madman Xie that had pa.s.sed away, he was repressing the pain within his heart.

"Brother Qin Yun," a handsome youth dressed in casual and relaxed clothes walked over and sat beside Qin Yun. He was Young Master Wufeng that had established Western Mountain Sword Garden years ago. He said with a smile, "When you were thirteen, you had already achieved the ninth level of Qi Refinement. At fifteen, you began roaming the world alone. Now, you must have acquainted yourself with an immortal"s destiny and knocked open the gate of immortality, right?"

"After a great deal of suffering, I did eventually manage to knock open the gate of immortality," replied Qin Yun.

Young Master Wufeng could not help but sigh, "Impressive. You are the only one from the Grand Dominance City"s younger generation that has knocked open the gate of immortality. Also, do you know why I"m so impressed by you?"

Qin Yun was puzzled.

"I"m impressed by your guts." Young Master Wufeng said, "With the talent from back then, joining any of the cultivation sects surrounding Grand Dominance Prefecture would have been easy. It wouldn"t have been difficult for you to knock open the gate of immortality either. However, you clearly thought nothing of these ordinary cultivation sects. You would rather tour the world to seek opportunities and perhaps, enter truly top sects. Maybe one needs such determination to embark on the path to immortality."

Qin Yun was startled. He shook his head and said, "There"s no need to praise me. Back then, my journey away from home was fraught with difficulties. I was frequently on the brink of death and had to grit my teeth to endure through it. Subsequently, I really missed home. However, I discovered that I was already far away from home. The return journey was equally treacherous. However, having taken that path, I could only walk it to the end."

"It is already amazing to bear going this far away from home." Young Master Wufeng raised his wine jug. "Let me toast you."

Qin Yun raised his wine jug as well.

The two clinked their drinking vessels.

After drinking the wine, Young Master Wufeng said, "You are already different from us. Your lifespan is already different. After knocking open the gate of immortality, you can live past a hundred years old. If you were to step into the Congenital realm, just the False Core stage extends your lifespan to two hundred years! The legendary Golden Core realm means a lifespan of five hundred years, making them true immortals. In the future, playmates of your childhood such as us would return to the earth but you would still remain very young."

Qin Yun faltered slightly but he did not speak a word. He looked at the friends that were sparring over the lake as he quietly drank his wine.

******

In the evening,

Qin Yun politely rejected the invitation for a gathering at night before leaving with Tian Bo.

"Let"s go to Swallow Phoenix Brothel."

The two returned on horseback.

Swallow Phoenix Brothel was one of the biggest brothels in Grand Dominance Prefecture. Officials roamed the place as wealthy merchants gathered there. Just drinking an ordinary cup of tea inside required one silver tael. One silver tael could feed an ordinary family of three for three months.

At this moment, Swallow Phoenix Brothel had already opened its doors to receive customers. Red lanterns were long hung up. There was a group of beautiful female attendants that were warmly welcoming guests outside the main entrance.