Chapter 98: Chapter 98 “The Great Supplement” Person
Willows by the fireworks alley, orioles and swallows in the brothels.
Zhou Heng had seen plenty of brothels in dramas on Earth, where all were filled with beautiful women, and litterateurs and scholars gathered to recite poetry and compose melodies, all just for a smile from a lovely lady.
Even young heroes from the martial world liked to visit these places, often encountering a few exceptional women who sold their talents but not their bodies, and had mysterious identities, weaving a story that had to be told.
Zhou Heng was naturally curious about brothels.
Of course, it was just out of curiosity.
He never thought about anything messy.
However, after he stood in front of the brothel called Tongtian Pavilion and looked around for a while, he turned and left, ultimately not going inside.
The main reason was that he saw the price list at the door.
The minimum spending for a night was two taels of silver, and the slightly better services cost ten taels, but the most terrifying thing was learning that listening to a song from the top courtesan actually cost over a hundred taels of silver.
This was in a small county smaller than Yuyang County City!
A hundred taels of silver was almost equivalent to fifty thousand yuan-just to listen to a tune. Wasn’t that absurd?!
Why not enjoy a cup of tea for a copper coin, and get your fill listening to a storyteller? Isn’t that wonderful?
Still, Zhou Heng felt a bit envious.
This brothel was making money way too easily.
He even considered for a moment-if he got some kind of divine skill that allowed him to create duplicates or transform, whether he should set up his own brothel and make some easy money.
Seemed feasible?
Everything from the venue and architecture to the working personnel would all be himself, which seemed pretty nice!
“Hmm, speaking of which, I haven’t had the chance to open those Fortune Bags
I got earlier. After leaving the tea house, I’ll find an inn to stay in and then open a few to try my luck,” he thought.
With a plan in mind, Zhou Heng left the Tongtian Pavilion and set out to find a tea house.
That’s the kind of spending that suited his taste.
Drinking and appreciating tea, fresh and elegant, cultivating sentiment, enriching the qi and nurturing the spirit.
Brothels and the like were too vulgar.
Tongtian Pavilion had three floors.
Those living on the top floor were the creme de la creme of the courtesans, who sold their talents but not their bodies, and most were simply waiting for the highest bidder.
This period of waiting, naturally, was the most expensive and offered the highest treatment.
However, not all here were forced into a life of sorrow-some enjoyed their lot.
At this moment, there were two stunningly beautiful women leaning on the railing of the top floor, looking at the departing Zhou Heng.
One was dressed in red and the other in yellow; both appeared to be in their twenties, with pretty faces and seductive charms, lithe figures with curvaceous lines, and gorgeously adorned skirts that were tightly wrapped around their bodies, not even revealing their wrists.
This only added a different kind of temptation and interest.
“This young man is truly tantalizing,” said the woman in red, looking at Zhou Heng’s retreating figure while extending her dainty tongue to lick her luscious red lips, laughing. “Just now I almost couldn’t resist the urge to go down and kidnap him.”
“Judging by that beard, his physique, and the brimming virility, he must be a great tonic,” the woman in yellow said, her eyes sparkling as she stared intently in the direction Zhou Heng had gone.
“Such a great tonic is hard to come by; we sisters should enjoy our blessings together,” the lady in red suddenly became somewhat guarded and looked towards the lady in yellow next to her, “You better not follow in Chen Hanyu that bitch’s footsteps.”
“Sister, rest assured,” the lady in yellow giggled, saying, “Although my cultivation realm is not as high as that lowly maid’s, my character has never been in question. Everyone at Honghua Palace knows I never compete with others for food.”
“The men from Shocking Thunder Manor are actually not bad either, with their thunderous energy being so overwhelmingly masculine and assertive,” the lady in red reminisced, licking her lips, “Sadly, with the Five Elements Sect oppressing too much, those mighty brothers haven’t visited us for a long time.”
“Sister, it seems that the sight of that great tonic earlier has sparked your interest,” the lady in yellow narrowed her eyes and laughed, “How about you and I go catch that young fellow tonight?”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” the lady in red’s face brightened with smiles, “Let’s enjoy together, sister, and give this young man an exquisite time, hahaha.”
“…Legend tells of this Fairy of the Pinnacle, truly like a fairy descending from the heavens. With a single thrust of her sword, exquisitely brilliant, even the highly skilled and exceptionally talented Broken Bones was forced into a flustered defense, retreating repeatedly…”
” …Thinking of the towering man being bested by a delicate girl… The two became familiar through combat and unexpectedly developed some fond feelings for each other, indeed making for a fine tale…
The Storyteller on the high stage narrated with animated expressions, spraying saliva everywhere, as the audience below showered him with praise, shouting until they were hoarse and couldn’t help but pay extra for several cups of tea. While others listened with great interest, Zhou Heng felt a twitch in his eyelid, sensing that Cheng Jianjian might very well draw her sword and come after him at any moment.
Storytellers in Da Qi truly were among the most skilled at crafting tales of the famous, each possessing a bit of dramatic flair. Regardless of the actual sequence of events or the truth, they managed to bend every tale towards romance.
First, there was the story of Zhou Heng and Wang Qingqing that had to be told, then the secret affection between Broken Bones and the Fairy of the Pinnacle, with hardly any truth in the teller’s words… Of course, it might also be because it met the audience’s demands. After all, it isn’t easy for a Storyteller to earn his living.
Although Zhou Heng inwardly criticized, he still sat quietly and listened, and with every chapter he heard, he’d add money and order more tea.
This also reminded him of some of his experiences back on Earth.
He hadn’t been a storyteller, but he had written web novels on Qidian, which was pretty similar to storytelling – earning a split from the proceeds of tea money, with the occasional reward from a patron.
After the Storyteller1 s tale reached a pause, Zhou Heng had gathered some intel about Shocking Thunder Manor and the Five Elements Sect and left the tea house.
There was an iron basin at the entrance of the tea house, scattered with copper coins. Someone was keeping watch next to it, the very Storyteller from before.
This was the tip basin.
If guests were pleased with the storytelling, they’d often leave a few coins as a reward upon departing.
It was usually sparse, one or two copper coins to show appreciation, ten or twenty to show gratitude. The Storyteller was always thankful.
Whoever threw money into the basin would receive a word of thanks from him.
Clang!
When Zhou Heng left, he dropped two ounces of silver into it.
This left the Storyteller stunned for a long time, and it wasn’t until Zhou Heng had walked out of the tea house that the Storyteller came to his senses and hurried to the entrance to bow and thank Zhou Heng from a distance.
Two ounces of silver was roughly equivalent to a thousand coins, which on Earth would be the donation of an Alliance Hierarch.
That was like granting the Storyteller an alliance on the spot.
After leaving the tea house, Zhou Heng casually picked an inn.
He was just about to lie on the bed and open a few Fortune Bags, then practice his Innate Skill for a while, when his ears twitched and his eyebrows furrowed in concern.
Something seemed off.
Then, he detected a somewhat peculiar scent.