A crisp sound of board beating sounded and people stopped talking and looked towards the stage at the center.
Eight graceful women dressed in chiffon clothing went up the stage holding their instruments.
They covered their faces with white veils so the crowd cannot see their faces clearly but everyone knows that the women in New Moon Brothel were all beauties.
With such graceful figures, the white veils that were covering their faces added a tinge of mystery and temptation to them.
Chu Li watched with a smile. New Moon Brothel was indeed worthy to be the New Moon Brothel. They had grasped a man’s heart.
After the eight women went up to the stage and sat at the back, they placed their instruments down and stayed silent for a while with their hands resting on the instruments.
A flute slowly sounded and the crowd’s attention was immediately drawn to it and they swayed with the sound of the flute. The whole New Moon Brothel became silent with only the sound of the flute in the air.
The woman who was playing the flute only exposed her delicate white chin and attractive red lips. It was as if the sound of the flute came from the bottom of her heart, stirring the crowd’s heartstrings.
The sound of the flute rose and the sound of zither sounded. Its sound was as clear as spring water, integrating with the sound of the flute. The crowd felt as if they saw an eagle flying in the sky and fishes swimming in the spring water—a vast scenery appeared in the crowd’s minds slowly.
Xue Ling turned to look at Chu Li and sighed, “Amazing!”
She was proficient in zither but when she heard this woman’s zither, she had to admit that the woman’s zither was better than hers. The woman’s zither playing skills can get back to the basics, purely using feelings to move the audience, integrating her feelings into the music. This was the realm she had been pursuing and now that she had heard it, she realized how far she was from achieving that realm.
Chu Li nodded with a smile.
Mei Ao Shuang concentrated and listened to the music thoughtfully.
After the flute and zither, the sound of dulcimer joined in and slowly pipa, flute, piccolo, drums, xun [1], and erhu—eight kinds of musical instruments joined in one after another. The crowd felt as if there was a moonlit night on the spring river scene right before their eyes.
They were enchanted by the music and did not take notice of the passage of time. After the song ended, the spellbound crowd sighed. They had experienced a great enjoyment.
“Boom, boom, boom…,” a sonorous drumming sounded like a battle drum and the crowd who were in a melancholy mood turned excited.
Chu Li let out a sigh of admiration: this sound of the drum had a mysterious effect and it corresponded with the vigor of the human body. Each profession’s skill was close to the principle of martial arts. This graceful woman had stunning attainments in playing the drum. Each hit on the drum was like a beat on the crowd’s hearts, but she was actually someone who did not practice martial arts—she was really incredible.
When the drumming turned more urgent, a graceful woman flew down from the sky gently. Her figure graceful was like a catkin that came fluttering down.
“Wonderful—!” the crowd applauded and praised.
What she used was not levitation. There was a ribbon in the air that brought her down, making it looked like she was flying.
She was dressed in a light green gown with an outer layer of white chiffon and her face was covered with a white veil, looking like she flew out of a picture.
Her clothes flapped and the white veil fluttered. Her movement followed the sound of drums, sometimes fast and sometimes gentle. Her graceful figure entranced the crowd and their eyes were completely drawn to her, unable to extricate themselves.
Chu Li recognized from a glance that the woman was Liu.
The Liu down the stage was lovely and delicate, arousing pity and sympathy—a stunning woman. The Liu on the stage was dazzling, mysterious and deadly.
Xue Ling turned her head and exclaimed, “Master, how about I learn to dance too?”
Seeing Liu displaying the dance moves one after another, that was so beautiful it was enchanting, with her graceful figure, she felt that she was very clumsy in comparison and not attractive at all.
Chu Li smiled, “Sure.”
Mei Ao Shuang cast an askance glance at Xue Ling and studied Xue Ling’s face.
Xue Ling looked at her.
Chu Li said, “Valley Leader Mei Ao Shuang also wants to learn?”
Mei Ao Shuang sneered and was just about to speak when Fong Xiao Feng who was afraid that the both of them will get into a fight again, said hurriedly, “Master Chu Li, this girl is …?”
Just now, Chu Li and Mei Ao Shuang were bickering, so he did not introduce Xue Ling to them. They had been speculating about the relationship between the two.
“I am Master’s maid, Xue Ling,” Xue Ling said plainly.
“Oh—?” Fong Xiao Feng looked at her astonishingly, “That’s unexpected!”
She saw that Xue Ling’s cultivation level was deep and refined, so she thought that Xue Ling was his companion, but looking at Xue Ling’s demeanor, she did not seem like it. She did not expect Xue Ling was really Chu Li’s maid. She had such a cultivation level at such a young age but she was only a maid, it was really a waste of her talent.
Xue Ling said plainly, “What did Senior Fong Xiao Feng not expect?”
In front of Chu Li, she will smile sweetly but when she faced others, she immediately turned cold.
Fong Xiao Feng laughed, “You are an Innate Master at such a young age. You must be regarded as a rising star even in the public house, right?”
Xue Ling smiled slightly, knowing the meaning behind Fong Xiao Feng’s words.
Fong Xiao Feng was not someone from the public house so it was no wonder that she will have such thoughts. The people from the public house will not think so. The maid of Master must at least be at Innate Mastery’s Boundary, or else, she will not be able to match Master’s identity.
During the four’s conversation, Liu’s dance did not stop. The crowd watched with unblinking eyes, for fear that they will miss any moves of the dance.
The sound of drum stopped and the performance ended abruptly.
“Splendid—!” the crowd cried and applauded loudly.
Liu bent her legs slightly to curtsy. She held onto the ribbon that was hanging in the air and flew to the fourth floor, disappearing from the crowd’s line of sights. Flying here and flying away—like she was not a mortal.
Chu Li applauded and let out a sigh of praise. It was really pleasing to the eyes. No wonder people were willing to spend so much money.
Xue Ling showed a look of envy.
A moment later, Liu changed into a gown and came back once more.
Xue Ling took her hand and asked her how to dance well.
The eight musicians from the stage retreated slowly and disappeared from the crowd’s fields of vision.
The crowd felt melancholy, wishing that this performance will never end, but New Moon Brothel will only have a performance every night—be it singing or dancing—a different performance every day.
This made people revered the power of New Moon Brothel. A wonderful show every day—just how powerful they needed to be to do so?
However, Chu Li did not think so.
He came from the modern world so he had a different view. He knew that the ones who were powerful were not those beautiful girls. After all, New Moon Brothel had more than thirty girls and all of them had unique talents, be it singing or dancing. They only need to take turns to perform once a month. The ones who were powerful were those who created the show.
New Moon Brothel provided for a few groups of powerful people and each group was responsible to teach one or two of the girls in order to produce such a wonderful show.
Chu Li said to Xue Ling who was holding Liu’s hand, “Let Miss Liu teach you personally.”
“Is that okay?” Xue Ling quickly said.
Chu Li smiled at Liu, “Miss Liu, is that fine?”
Liu revealed an embarrassed face, “Master, you need to ask the brothel-keeper. I cannot make the decision.”
Chu Li smiled, “Sure.”
Mei Ao Shuang gave him an askance glance, feeling disdain for his pompous behavior.
With Fong Xiao Feng here, every time Mei Ao Shuang argued with Chu Li, it will be intervened by Fong Xiao Feng so there was no big conflict.
This made Mei Ao Shuang very dissatisfied. She had been itching to fight and she had finally caught this opportunity. She really wanted to teach him a lesson.
Chu Li handed Xue Ling his jade tag from his waist, “Take this and follow Liu to see the brothel-keeper. Don’t need to bother her to come here in person.”
“Yes,” Xue Ling took the jade tag.
A moment later, Xue Ling came back happily and with a glance, everyone knew that it was successful.
The night deepened, Chu Li and Xue Ling went out of the New Moon Brothel. Mei Ao Shuang and the others followed and left too.
Chu Li did not expect that Mei Ao Shuang actually did not take the opportunity to fight with him, but her haughty expression before she left was irritating enough.
The next morning, he had just finished practicing when Siao Qi came to his courtyard personally.
Chu Li sighed inwardly. It will still come in the end.
He can guess the purpose of Siao Qi’s visit. She was here to help Mei Ao Shuang persuade him.
The refreshing breeze blew gently, Siao Qi who was dressed in a white robe was sitting quietly in the pagoda. She said softly, “I’m good friends with Mei Ao Shuang. I heard from her that Chen Ying has great talent. With Mei Ao Shuang’s training, she can become a Grandmaster in three years.”
Chu Li sat across from her, sipping a mouthful of tea, “Didn’t Valley Leader Mei Ao Shuang hate the people from the public house?”
“When we first met each other, she did not know that I’m from the public house,” Siao Qi looked at the rustling bamboo trees, with a distant look in her eyes as if she was reminiscing the past, “At that time, I used a fake name in the martial arts world. I’m alive until now thanks to her help.”
Translator Notes
[1] 埙or in its Chinese pinyin form, xun, is a globular, vessel flute from China.
(Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xun_(instrument)#/media/File:Xunfront.jpg)