Chapter 42 Part 1

With a creak, the window overhead was suddenly pushed open. A charming woman in a light purple gauze dress sat by the window. With a flick of her hand, an intensely fragrant handkerchief drifted down gracefully, landing directly on Li Jiangying’s head.

“Little sister, won’t you come up and sit with big sister?” The woman giggled, beckoning to Li Jiangying.

A window in the building opposite followed suit, opening to reveal a young man with a bare chest who leaned more than half his body out, a wine cup in hand. He grinned, “Her place is full of pretentious nonsense. You’d be better off coming to me, sister. I guarantee I’ll take good care of you.”

Li Jiangying woodenly swept the handkerchief from her head and turned to leave. Li Xiangshui hastily grabbed her arm. “Wait! It’s not what you think!”

Li Jiangying flew into a rage. “If it’s not what I think, then what is it?! I’m not going! Let the noble Moon Shadow Devil Venerable keep wallowing in this den of pleasure!”

Her face flushed crimson, Li Xiangshui wrapped her arms around Li Jiangying’s waist for dear life, dragging her deeper into Sleeping Fragrance Street. Li Jiangying struggled furiously, reaching up and yanking Li Xiangshui’s hair. “Let go!”

“No!” Li Xiangshui cried out, agitated. “If you don’t go now, Cui Yu will be forced into prostitution!”

Li Jiangying: “??”

Sensing Li Jiangying’s struggle weaken slightly, Li Xiangshui finally let go. By this point, people on both sides of the flower street were watching them. From the way they pointed and stared, they probably took Li Jiangying for some poor little thing being forced into the trade.

Uncomfortable under their gaze, Li Jiangying cleared her throat, raised her chin to project an air of unshakeable calm, and strolled forward. She lowered her voice to the Li Xiangshui beside her, “What exactly happened? Talk!”

Li Xiangshui clutched her sleeve, leading the way urgently. “Cui Yu didn’t bring enough money. Ugh, you’ll understand when you get there!”

Li Xiangshui led Li Jiangying all the way to the deepest part of Sleeping Fragrance Street. The further they went, the less ostentatious the surroundings became, replaced by an air of elegance and freshness.

Sleeping Fragrance Street was built against the mountainside, the terrain rising the deeper one went. The innermost and highest point was a seven-story building called Luo Goddess Slumber Tower. This building was luxurious yet understated, exuding an aura that screamed “stay away if you have no money.”

It was supposed to be a den of sin with a touch of class, but as Li Jiangying drew near, she saw a chaotic crowd buzzing around inside like headless flies.

The woman who appeared to be the madam stood with her hands on her hips, glaring upwards, equal parts furious and helpless. At her feet, Cui Yu was being detained. The madam paced anxiously a couple of times before her anger boiled over. She whirled around and screamed at Cui Yu, “What do you take my place for?! Get your master out of here, now!”

Cui Yu smiled bitterly. Catching sight of Li Jiangying from the corner of her eye, she immediately looked over in pleasant surprise. “Miss Yingying!”

In an instant, every person in the building—the madam, the servants—swiveled their heads to look. The madam raised an eyebrow and strode over rapidly. She jabbed a finger, painted with bright red nail polish, forcefully into Li Jiangying’s chest. “You’re another one of that madwoman’s subordinates? Good! That lunatic drank gallons of my best wine and forcefully dragged my top money-earner upstairs to keep her company! Get her out of here!”

She finished her tirade and glanced at Li Xiangshui, who was hiding behind Li Jiangying, still cloaked in black with her face hidden. The madam held out her hand and said with acidic sarcasm, “Oh? You didn’t abandon your comrade and run? How honorable. Pay up!”

Li Jiangying furrowed her brow, rubbing her ear as she listened to the chaotic shouting. It didn’t take long to piece together what had happened.

It turned out Li Yueying had arrived the previous night. She’d demanded many jars of fine wine and several male escorts, and then proceeded to drink all night long. The escorts who’d been drinking with her had all collapsed in a stupor. Seeing no sign of her stopping, the madam had started to panic. Was this woman planning to dine and dash?

That morning, the top courtesan of Sleeping Fragrance Street, the reigning beauty, happened to pass by Li Yueying’s room. Li Yueying took one look, fancied her, and forcibly dragged her inside.

The madam had been frantic, desperate to rescue her precious gem. But the woman’s aura was terrifying. A single glance was enough to make one tremble. A rough estimation led the madam to a shocking conclusion: this dine-and-dasher was a Transformation Realm powerhouse!

She couldn’t afford to provoke her. So she could only gnash her teeth in fury, biting her handkerchief as she watched her golden goose be ruined. Thankfully, this great deity seemed a few cards short of a full deck and had brought two rather weak subordinates. The madam had directed her fury at these underlings, demanding they find a way to haul this great god away immediately, and also pay the damages.

Li Xiangshui handed over a bag of Devil Stones. The madam opened it, counted, and her willow-leaf brows furrowed. “This pittance isn’t even enough for the wine at our Luo Goddess Slumber Tower, let alone for my darling daughter… Oh heavens, my good girl, to be so ravaged by her…”

The madam slapped her thigh and wailed, even as she pocketed the storage bag. “Get that madwoman out of here!”

Her wailing was like a Devil Sound Ear-Flooding. Li Jiangying’s skull throbbed. She rubbed her ear. “Where is she?”

The madam let out a cold huff, twisting her body. “Follow me.”

She led her upstairs, giving her a sidelong glare. “With your pitiful level of cultivation, can you really take that madwoman away?”

Li Jiangying: “Not really.”

The madam: “Ha! What’s that woman’s background, anyway? She’s a babbling mess.” She wrung her handkerchief mournfully, her voice filled with disgust and a hint of deep-seated fear. “Dragging a bunch of dead weight like you around… I wouldn’t have guessed she was so powerful.”

They walked all the way to the highest floor. Li Jiangying blinked and asked, “Have you heard of the Moon Shadow Devil Venerable?”

The madam: “I’ve heard the name.”

Li Jiangying gave a faint smile, stepped around her, and walked toward the room the madam had indicated. The room had a plaque with a rather elegant name: Orchid Pavilion Residence.

She pushed the door open and entered, leaving the madam frozen in place. Suddenly, the woman jolted, her face turning pale. “N-No… It can’t be…”

Before entering the Orchid Pavilion, Li Jiangying had privately imagined many scenarios. Perhaps Li Yueying was dead drunk, passed out in the arms of a beauty. Or maybe she was on an excited rampage, using her drunkenness as an excuse to do whatever she wanted with the poor courtesan.

In short, she had never, ever expected the inside of the Orchid Pavilion to be like this: a large round table laden with numerous wine pots, jars, and a few small dishes of snacks. The items were scattered messily around the table’s edges. Empty jars littered the floor, and the smell of alcohol saturated the entire room.

And in the center of the round table was Li Yueying. She was sitting on the table, her legs drawn up and held together in front of her body, curling herself into a ball. Her chin rested on her knees; her long hair was disheveled and hanging down; the hem of her clothes was soaked with wine. She was staring glumly straight ahead.

Scattered on the floor were the remnants of the snacks, pieces of broken porcelain dishes, and three or four women drunk into unconsciousness. Before Li Yueying, in the direction she was facing, was a chair. On that chair sat a person.

Li Jiangying looked past Li Yueying at the seated figure and saw a woman, possibly very beautiful, whose face was deathly pale and filled with terror and unease.

Why “possibly”? Because the makeup on this woman’s face was somewhat… horrifying. Her eye sockets were smeared black, her face was caked with thick powder, her mouth was smeared with bright red rouge that had gone well past her lip line, and her two cheeks were painted like a monkey’s rear end.

Yet, even beneath this terrifying makeup, Li Jiangying still detected a faint, subtle sense of familiarity in her features.

Just then, Li Yueying raised a wine jar, took a gulp, and spoke. She had been staring at the courtesan sitting in the chair, paying no mind at all to the person who had entered behind her.

Li Yueying was drunk. Her voice was airy, tinged with a sorrowful amusement. “Look at you. Look what you’ve become. This is what happens when you don’t behave!”

Li Jiangying silently ground her teeth. Well, she hadn’t expected the Devil Venerable Lord to have such a tyrannical side!

The courtesan shot Li Jiangying a desperate, pleading look from across the room. Li Jiangying remained silent and pretended not to see. She wanted to watch a little longer and see what kind of mischief Li Yueying would get up to when drunk.

Then she saw Li Yueying suddenly set down her wine jar and crawl over to the courtesan, right in front of her. Under the courtesan’s despairing gaze, Li Yueying pulled a box of rouge from her sleeve.

Li Yueying: “This is… hic… what happens when… you don’t behave!” She opened the rouge, scooped up a dollop with her finger, and with a splat, smeared it onto the courtesan’s forehead.

Courtesan: “…”

Li Yueying: “Hahaha!”

Li Jiangying looked at the courtesan with pure sympathy. “Sorry, that brute is ruining your pretty face.”

Normally, no sane person would think the courtesan currently looked good. But Li Yueying was not a sane person. She put away her rouge with satisfaction and laughed haughtily. Extending a finger, she pointed unsteadily at the women passed out drunk on the floor and asked the courtesan before her: “Do you see them? The way they gathered around me, laughing?”

Courtesan: “This… this slave arrived late and did not see…”

Whoosh. Li Yueying suddenly shot her a gaze filled with killing intent. The courtesan shivered violently and hastily corrected herself: “I saw it! I saw it!”

Li Yueying was satisfied again. She laughed scornfully, “This Venerable One can have anything she wants. As many women as she wants, she can have them. You… What do you amount to? How dare you… how dare you… cough.”

Li Yueying took a step back, holding her head as dizziness washed over her. She sat back on the table with one hand supporting her, legs together, and suddenly shouted harshly: “Li Jiangying!”

Li Jiangying’s heart lurched. She thought she’d been discovered. But she quickly realized she was overthinking it. The crazy, drunken woman was pointing at the ridiculously made-up courtesan in front of her and calling her by Li Jiangying’s name.

Li Yueying said, “Li Jiangying, say it. Say you’re an ugly freak, a slut, a liar. Say you deserve to die ten thousand deaths!”

Li Jiangying: “?!?!?!”

The courtesan, looking utterly miserable, trembled as she spoke: “I… I am an ugly freak. I am a slut… a liar. I-I deserve to die ten thousand deaths!”

She’d never dare again, wuwuwu. Last night, riding back in her sedan chair, boredly watching the street scene, she’d suddenly caught sight of this stunningly beautiful yet terrifying woman.

She’d been standing on a street corner, standing proud and tall. But as the night breeze blew, a sudden desolation had flickered across her face. She’d looked around silently, seeming not to know where to go. Another lonely Devil Cultivator with no home to return to.

The courtesan had smiled and ordered the sedan chair bearers to pass right by her. The sheer gauze curtains had gently brushed the female Devil Cultivator’s shoulder. The courtesan had turned and smiled back at her. Satisfied to see the woman’s gaze locked onto her, she’d happily instructed her bearers to take her back to Luo Goddess Slumber Tower.

Afterward, the courtesan had indeed received news that the female Devil Cultivator had arrived at the tower. But what surprised her a little was that the woman hadn’t asked for her company.

Could she be a pauper? The courtesan had felt somewhat unwilling. She’d clearly come for her—why wouldn’t she willingly bow before her charm? So, pretending to be passing by accidentally, she had stopped at the half-closed door of the Orchid Pavilion and peeked through the gap.

The female Devil Cultivator had happened to turn around, meeting her eyes. Already drunk, she had forcibly dragged the courtesan into the room, pushed her down onto a chair without a word, and ordered her to watch as she drank with other women.

It wasn’t that the courtesan hadn’t thought of escaping. She simply couldn’t.

And now.

The drunken, delirious woman barked a giggling laugh, biting her finger. She slapped the table forcefully, then abruptly her face darkened. In a threatening tone, she asked, “Li Jiangying, do you still dare to run away?”

What else could the courtesan do? She could only say, “I don’t dare.”

She thought that by playing along, she could soothe this crazy ancestor. But Li Yueying’s expression changed. With a sudden palm strike, she shattered a wine jar. “Liar!”

The courtesan immediately fell silent, her hands twisting together nervously as she looked helplessly toward Li Jiangying.

Li Jiangying spread her hands at her, mouthing: Don’t look at me, I can’t beat her either.

The courtesan slumped in her chair, despairing. She didn’t want to be here humoring a madwoman! She wanted to go back, wash her face clean, and continue being the top courtesan adored by thousands!