Great Li Martial God

”The price is quite steep, but meeting the two of you is this one’s good fortune, and no amount of silver would be too much.”

The scarred man spoke his flattering nonsense with a straight face and waited for Li Musheng and the hemp-robed elderly man to respond.

Before either of them could speak, however, the little girl in pink fixed her eyes on the scarred man and said, ”Stop talking such nonsense. Why would my grandfather go to a place like that?”

Hearing this, the scarred man let out an awkward chuckle, and Li Musheng glanced at the little girl and said, ”You understood that rather quickly for someone so young. You know quite a lot, it seems.”

The little girl in pink rolled her eyes at him, saying, ”If you want to go, go by yourself. Do not drag my grandfather into it.”

At that point the scarred man, sensing the atmosphere at the table had grown somewhat tense, hurried to add, ”The Hundred Fragrance Pavilion is not actually all that wonderful. There is really no need to...”

But before he could finish, Li Musheng gave a nod and said, ”We will go. Straight to the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.”

Li Musheng had suddenly felt that what lay ahead at Falling God Peak was likely to be rather brutal, and relaxing a little before that was not a bad idea.

After all, he was no bloodthirsty fiend who took pleasure in killing. Too much killing could well give rise to certain psychological complications, and naturally required some appropriate relief and adjustment.

Hearing this, the scarred man’s expression livened, while the little girl in pink directed a look of contempt at Li Musheng.Li Musheng paid this no attention, and then glanced at the hemp-robed elderly man beside them.

The hemp-robed elderly man wore a pondering expression. Seeing this, the little girl quickly tugged at his sleeve and said, ”Grandfather, do not let them lead you astray.”

Hearing this, the hemp-robed elderly man was quiet for a moment, then said, ”Since your grandmother passed, I have at times felt quite alone. And I do not have much time left...”

The moment she heard this, the little girl immediately reached out to stop him, and the expression on her small face went through a rapid succession of changes, shock, fury, and embarrassment all at once.

After a moment, she finally gritted her teeth and said, ”If Grandfather is going, then I am going too.”

At those words, the scarred man’s expression became extremely peculiar. Who brought a child to a place like that?

...

Half an hour later, leaving the Tin Mountain Blade Sect disciples behind to watch the carts, the scarred man brought Li Musheng and the hemp-robed elderly man to a building blazing with lantern light.

The little girl in pink naturally came along at the hemp-robed elderly man’s side, making a group of four that looked distinctly odd together.

”The Hundred Fragrance Pavilion is an establishment that lives up to its name for draining one’s purse. From what I hear, the ladies inside are either daughters of respectable families, young misses from some martial world household, or women who once walked the martial world as fighters, and ended up here because they fell afoul of Falling God Peak.”

The scarred man said this in a low voice, his heart already beginning to stir with anticipation.

Under ordinary circumstances he would never dare come to a place like this, and could not truly afford it.

But the current situation was different. He had a justification, and was spending this extravagant sum to win over Li Musheng and the hemp-robed elderly man in order to protect the Tin Mountain Blade Sect’s disciples. It was only reasonable that he would be able to claim it back from the sect on his return.

Entering through the main gate of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion cost one gold ingot.

The interior of the building was lavishly decorated, and there was no shortage of patrons, most of whom were wealthy and prominent figures from the martial world. The mingled scent of rouge and perfume was quite pleasing to the senses, and the beautiful young women in their light, revealing clothing were enough to dazzle the eye.

The scarred man swallowed quietly, then casually took hold of a passing attendant, who before he could say a word extended a hand directly, saying, ”One tael of silver.”

The scarred man had no choice but to hand over the tael. The attendant pocketed the coin in his cloth bag, then looked the four of them over, and let out a chuckling laugh, saying, ”Quite a varied party you have here.”

With that he turned and beckoned, saying, ”Follow me and I will take you to choose your company first. A word of caution in advance, the ladies of our Hundred Fragrance Pavilion start at ten gold and have no upper limit. If you choose someone and then cannot pay, do not say I failed to warn you about the consequences.”

Hearing this, the scarred man quickly said, ”Rest easy, rest easy. I have brought more than enough silver. Nothing of the sort will happen.”

The attendant glanced back at the scarred man with a cold smile, nodded, and said, ”So much the better. There is one other thing I must make clear. Ladies in the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion priced above one hundred gold are the ones who choose their own patrons.”

He gave a short laugh and said, ”If you are fortunate, one of the pavilion’s courtesans might take a fancy to you.”

Hearing this, Li Musheng rubbed his chin. That was clearly directed at him. Given his appearance, it would be more unusual if none of the courtesans were interested.

At that point the attendant continued, ”And there is one most important rule above all others. All Falling God Peak disciples take precedence without exception. Falling God Peak disciples enjoy complimentary service in the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion, and any lady a Falling God Peak disciple takes a liking to may not be contested by any other patron.”

At those words, not only Li Musheng and the hemp-robed elderly man, but even the scarred man’s enthusiasm dropped noticeably.

The attendant had made things perfectly clear. The Hundred Fragrance Pavilion was, at its core, a place of entertainment for Falling God Peak’s disciples.

For those who came from outside Falling God Peak, the ladies they had to spend enormous sums of gold to spend time with were made available to Falling God Peak disciples at no charge whatsoever.

It was an obvious arrangement to make them feel like fools being taken advantage of, while at the same time driving home the contempt of those who looked down from above, ensuring that everyone who was not of Falling God Peak always knew exactly where they stood.

The scarred man felt a flicker of resentment at this, though he had long since grown accustomed to the rules Falling God Peak imposed on all others and quickly warmed back up to his previous eagerness. After all, he had never had the company of a Falling God Peak woman before.

At that moment, the little girl in pink standing nearby said in a sudden, cold voice, ”Let us leave.”

Hearing this, the attendant who had been leading the way stopped and turned to look the group over, then said with a cold smile, ”Leave quickly if you are going. Do not waste my time.”

The scarred man quickly stopped and turned to look at Li Musheng and the hemp-robed elderly man.

He understood well that neither of the two people before him was ordinary. The hemp-robed elderly man’s martial cultivation was unfathomable, and the group Li Musheng had traveled with earlier had killed Falling God Peak’s people without a second word.

At that moment it occurred to him that while he himself might be able to accept Falling God Peak’s rules, these two were another matter entirely.

The hemp-robed elderly man furrowed his brow in thought for a moment, then let out a sigh and was already preparing to take the little girl and leave.

But right at that moment, Li Musheng suddenly reached out to stop him, then looked toward the attendant ahead, saying, ”Go now and have every courtesan in the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion brought out. Tonight, this old gentleman is booking every single one of them.”

”And furthermore, tonight it does not matter who comes. This old gentleman is not giving up a single one of them.”