“Why would it be your turn?” Qing Lan hesitated a bit and slowly said, “I went to Jade Lan sister’s place and was seen by him. He stared at me for a long time, his eyes were like a poisonous snake, and sticky and disgusting…”

“I guess he has bad intentions.”

“And after Jade Lan sister died, A Niang also told me…”

“A Niang?” Mo Hua was slightly startled.

Qing Lan looked around, and seeing no other people, she lowered her voice and said, “It’s the madam.”

Mo Hua nodded.

The madam is the brothel’s old procuress. The girls under her care call her “A Niang.”

Qing Lan continued, “A Niang also told me that there is a guest who specifically asked for me… I asked who this guest was, but A Niang just smiled vaguely and didn’t say clearly.”

“I asked her repeatedly, and A Niang just got angry, hit me, scolded me, and said that I have grown wings and dare to ask her all sorts of questions. She also said that I am a money-losing commodity and even deserve to die…”

Mo Hua frowned and said, “Your A Niang is really bad.”

Qing Lan did not dare to speak ill of the madam, she only nodded slightly.

“Then what?” Mo Hua asked again.

Qing Lan said, “Then I just guessed that he definitely wants me to accompany that person in gray.”

“Jade Lan sister died, and before that, some other sisters also didn’t survive.”

“I, I…”

Qing Lan could not say any more, and silently wiped her tears.

Mo Hua poured her another cup of tea and softly comforted her,

“Rest assured, you will be fine.”

Qing Lan, with tears streaming down her cheeks, seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw. Her eyes filled with hope, she said,

“I won’t die, will I?”

“Everyone has to die,” Mo Hua said truthfully.

Qing Lan: “…”

Mo Hua said with a small face, “But before he harms you, he will definitely die first!”

Although Qing Lan felt these words were a bit strange, she still received some comfort and slowly let out a breath.

She didn’t know the origin of this young mister, but seeing his young age and even Elder Su’s respect for him, she estimated his identity was not ordinary and held some hope in her heart.

“Have you not told anyone these things before me?” Mo Hua said curiously.

Qing Lan shook her head and said bitterly,

“Who would I tell? Jade Lan sister is dead, and the other sisters are all living each day uncertain of their fate. They don’t know when they might offend a guest and be beaten until they can’t get out of bed. A Niang is also… not good-tempered…”

Mo Hua frowned as he listened, “Does no one manage you here?”

Qing Lan smiled bitterly, “We are lowly people, others only see us as entertainment. Who would care about our life and death?”

Mo Hua felt a bit unpleasant listening to this, “What about your parents?”

Qing Lan’s gaze dimmed, “I was sold in by my parents.”

Mo Hua was slightly startled to hear this, and Bai Zi Sheng and Bai Zi Xi looked at her with sympathy.

Mo Hua was silent for a while and softly asked, “Do you hate your parents?”

Qing Lan shook her head, “I don’t hate them, because they are already dead.”

“Dead?”

“Yes,” Qing Lan nodded, “Starved to death.”

Tears flickered in Qing Lan’s eyes, and her voice was still somewhat choked,

“My parents… were afraid that I would starve to death, so they sold me into the brothel. They even secretly gave me the spirit stones from selling me, so that I could live well…”

Mo Hua felt a bit sad upon hearing this, “Are they mine cultivators?”

Qing Lan nodded, “Yes. My father dug mines for the Lu family, but he encountered a mine collapse and broke a leg. He was also invaded by foul qi and could no longer dig mines…”

“My mother struggled too much to support the family and became ill from accumulated labor. Both of them knew they would not live long, so they sold me into the brothel, hoping I would at least have a way to live…”

Mo Hua’s gaze slightly condensed, “Is this brothel also the Lu family’s?”

“Yes,” Qing Lan said, “Not only this brothel, but also most of Jin Hua Street, including the food, drink, prostitution, and gambling industries, are mostly owned by the Lu family…”

“Then do you want to get out of the brothel?”

Qing Lan shook her head sorrowfully, “I cannot get out.”

Mo Hua furrowed his brows, lost in thought, and muttered to himself, “The Lu family…”

Bai Zi Sheng softly said to Mo Hua, “This Lu family also doesn’t seem to be good people.”

Then he calculated, “The Qian family, the Sun family, the Lu family… How are these families all not good people…”

Bai Zi Sheng was suddenly startled, “Our Bai family, won’t also not be good people, right…”

Bai Zi Xi’s beautiful eyes were like swords, and she glanced at him.

Mo Hua also didn’t know what to say to him.

Bai Zi Sheng scratched his head and muttered, “It’s really hard to say…”

Mo Hua shook his head and asked again, “Sister Qing Lan, do you know what cultivation level that gray-clothed cultivator is?”

Qing Lan furrowed her brows, “I’m not too sure.”

“It’s okay if you’re not sure.”

Qing Lan hesitated for a moment, then said, “I guess he is possibly a Foundation Establishment cultivator…”

“This is what Jade Lan sister told me. She said his cultivation is very profound, and Jade Lan sister is at the late stage of Qi Refining, so he should be at the Foundation Establishment level…”

Mo Hua slightly shook his head.

If he’s at the Foundation Establishment level… it would be a bit difficult to handle.

“Then when does he usually come to the brothel?”

“He comes on the 4th and 14th of every month, and then his stay is indefinite.”

“I see.”

Mo Hua nodded, and he pointed to the jade bracelet in Qing Lan’s hand, “You keep this jade bracelet for now, and don’t let others see it. On the 4th, I will come over, and you can say that you stole Elder Su’s jade bracelet, and we came to cause a scene with you.”

“This way, whether it succeeds or not, it won’t involve you.”

Qing Lan looked at Mo Hua and softly asked, “What are you… planning to do?”

“You don’t need to worry about this.”

Qing Lan nodded, looked at Mo Hua and the other two, and still felt a little worried, “You are not old. Don’t get caught in that gray-clothed person’s schemes trying to save me. That person is gloomy, and he probably acts maliciously…”

Bai Zi Sheng said, “Don’t worry.”

He pointed to Mo Hua, “Don’t look at his young age, the bad stuff in his belly is not necessarily less than others…”

Mo Hua was unhappy, “Who has a belly full of bad stuff?”

Bai Zi Sheng looked at the sky with both eyes, pretending he didn’t say anything.

Mo Hua muttered, “Having a belly full of bad stuff is still better than being an idiot…”

“Alright, you’re calling your senior brother an idiot again?”

“You’re also calling your junior brother a belly full of bad stuff?”

The two of them argued in low voices.

Bai Zi Xi was helpless, and she reached back and slapped each of them.

She hit Bai Zi Sheng a bit harder, but Mo Hua was weak, so she hit him a bit lighter.

Bai Zi Sheng bared his teeth in pain and said, “Zi Xi, you’re biased!”

Bai Zi Xi ignored him and only said to Mo Hua, “Talk about proper things, and go back early.”

“Okay, okay.”

Mo Hua agreed.

After Mo Hua asked for some more details, he instructed Qing Lan, “Sister Qing Lan, you go back first. Don’t tell anyone about this, and don’t show any emotion. We will come back to find you in a few days.”

Qing Lan pursed her lips and nodded solemnly, then left.

Mo Hua went to find Elder Su again.

Elder Su was leisurely drinking wine, listening to music, and watching the female cultivators dance gracefully on the stage below.

Seeing Mo Hua, Elder Su asked, “Have you finished asking?”

Mo Hua nodded.

“Good.” Elder Su didn’t inquire much, after all, these count as cultivators’ privacy. Inquiring rashly is not very polite.

“Young mister, do you want to play for a while longer, or…”

“It’s getting late, I want to go home,” Mo Hua said.

Mo Hua’s words weren’t wrong, but at this time, hearing this sentence inside a brothel felt a bit strange.

Elder Su said regretfully, “Okay then.”

Seeing the unsatisfied expression on his face, Mo Hua quietly said, “Or, we can go back first, and Elder Su, you can play for a while longer?”

Elder Su was tempted for a moment, but then quickly shook his head, “No, no, no, no, what kind of person do you take me for? I’m not familiar with this place, and there’s also no… nothing good to play…”

Elder Su said insincerely.

Mo Hua looked at Elder Su with an expression that seemed to smile but not smile.

Elder Su felt somewhat guilty being looked at by him.

Then the group of people left the Hundred Flowers Building, and Elder Su’s expression was a little lost on the way.

This was his first time being so “lofty and unsullied,” passing through flowers without touching a leaf.

To thank Elder Su, Mo Hua took out several rare array diagrams and gave them to him.

Elder Su was a little shocked, “Are these for me?”

Mo Hua nodded, “Courtesy demands reciprocity.”

Elder Su then became happy, and all the warblers and swallows in his mind were forgotten. He flipped through the array diagrams, unable to bear to part with them.

As Mo Hua walked, he suddenly asked Elder Su, “Elder, are those girls in the Hundred Flowers Building not all quite pitiful?”

Elder Su paused slightly, and the smile on his face gradually faded.

He sighed, “Yes.”

“Most of them are from mine cultivator backgrounds, sold to brothels. Their lives are like duckweed, it is difficult for them to have a good end. Even if you want to help, you cannot help.”

Mo Hua asked curiously, “Have you also thought about helping them?”

Elder Su nodded, and then became a little embarrassed, “Although I have some selfish desires and occasionally linger here, it’s all a matter of mutual consent. I cannot bear to see them ruined like this.”

“But I cannot help them.”

“Even if I could help, it would only be one or two. There are so many brothels on Jin Hua Street, so many female cultivators, I cannot help them all…”

“Moreover, even if I could help them, it would be useless.”

Elder Su sighed.

“Why?” Mo Hua asked.

Elder Su pointed to the distant dark mines and said in a heavy tone, “The root of this brothel is not on this street, but in the mines.”

“As long as the mine cultivators in the mines are poor and have to sell their children, this brothel will never fall, and there will never be a lack of female cultivators in this brothel…”

“Admittedly, there are also those who are self-indulgent and do not cherish themselves, but they are after all a minority.”

“The majority of female cultivators still hate and detest this deeply and do not want to live in this mire…”

Elder Su sighed deeply and said somewhat powerlessly, “But this is not a problem that we Foundation Establishment cultivators can solve.”

Mo Hua’s gaze flashed, as if he was thinking about something.

Afterwards, he praised, “Elder Su, you are a good person.”

Elder Su nodded with a smile, then was startled for a moment, and immediately shook his head, “No, no, it has nothing to do with me. These are all things I heard from a ‘friend’…”

Mo Hua said, “This ‘friend’ you’re talking about…”

Elder Su waved his hand, “Not me, not me…”

The matter of the brothel cannot be solved temporarily. Mo Hua plans to first fish out that gray-clothed cultivator.

After bidding farewell to Elder Su, Mo Hua and the other two returned to the cave mansion and discussed together.

“Should we kill that gray-clothed cultivator?” Bai Zi Sheng asked.

Mo Hua grasped his small hand, “First catch him, then interrogate him, then kill him!”

“It’s not easy to catch a Foundation Establishment cultivator, is it?”

Mo Hua nodded, “It’s a bit difficult for the three of us.”

“Then what do you plan to do?” Bai Zi Sheng asked.

Mo Hua thought for a moment and stealthily said, “We will report it to the Dao Court Division…”

“Report?”

“Yes,” Mo Hua said righteously, “This person buys murderers to kill people, traffics in corpses, violates Dao laws, and is unforgivable for his ten evils. Naturally, we should report it to the Dao Court Division and have the Dao Court Division catch him. Why should we waste this effort?”

Bai Zi Sheng said, “Then suppose the Dao Court Division catches him, and we don’t get any news?”

“We won’t,” Mo Hua said mysteriously, “We have people in the Dao Court Division!”

Bai Zi Xi was a little doubtful, “Our people… are you talking about Sister Si Tu? She shouldn’t be considered ‘our people,’ right…”

“It doesn’t matter whether she is or not, the result is the same anyway.”

As long as the Dao Court Division can interrogate the news, he can go and ask Si Tu Fang, and naturally, he can know clearly.

Everyone is such good friends, Si Tu Fang will definitely not hide anything from him.

Therefore, falling into the hands of the Dao Court Division is the same as falling into his hands.

Bai Zi Sheng asked again, “Then suppose the Dao Court Division doesn’t catch him?”

Mo Hua softly said, “Then we can just sit back and watch the snipe and clam fight, and the fisherman will benefit…”

(End of this chapter)