The Quest for Immortality

”Why did it fall to you?”

Qinglan hesitated for a moment, then slowly said,

”I went to see Sister Yulan, and he saw me. He stared at me for a long time, with eyes like a venomous snake, sticky and disgusting...”

”I guess he harbors ill intentions.”

”And after Sister Yulan died, Mother also told me...”

”Mother?” Mo Hua was slightly startled.

Qinglan looked around, and seeing no one else, she whispered, ”It’s the female brothel keeper.”

Mo Hua nodded.

The female brothel keeper is the old matron of the brothel, whose girls she raises, referred to as ”Mother”.

Qinglan continued, ”Mother also told me that there’s a client who specifically asked for me... I inquired who this client was, and Mother gave a smile that wasn’t quite a smile and didn’t clarify.”

”I asked her over and over, and Mother got angry, hit me, scolded me, saying that I’ve grown too bold to question her like this, and even said I was a financial loss, that it would serve me right even if I died...”

Mo Hua frowned and said, ”Your Mother is really mean.”

Qinglan dared not speak ill of the female brothel keeper and just nodded slightly.

”What happened next?” Mo Hua asked.

Qinglan said, ”Then, I guessed that he must want me to accompany that man in gray.”

”After Sister Yulan died, there have been some other sisters who didn’t survive either.”

”I, I...”

Qinglan couldn’t go on and silently wiped away her tears.

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

”Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you.”

With tears on her cheeks, Qinglan clung to a lifeline, her eyes full of hope,

”I won’t die...?”

”Everyone has to die,” Mo Hua said matter-of-factly.

Qinglan: ”...”

Mo Hua set her small face firmly, ”But before he harms you, he will definitely die first!”

Although Qinglan felt that the words were somewhat ambiguous, she still felt comforted and slowly let out a sigh of relief.

She didn’t know the origin of this young gentleman, but seeing his young age and how even Elder Su respected him greatly, she assumed his status was extraordinary and a hint of hope grew in her heart.

”Have you told these things to anyone else?” Mo Hua asked curiously.

Qinglan shook her head and said bitterly,

”Who would I tell? Sister Yulan is dead, the other sisters are living on borrowed time, and who knows when they’ll displease a client and get beaten till they can’t leave their bed, and Mother is... not of a good temper...”

Mo Hua listened with a frown, ”Is there no one in charge here?”

Qinglan gave a bitter smile, ”We lowly people are only used for others’ entertainment; who would care if we live or die?”

Mo Hua felt uncomfortable hearing this, ”What about your parents?”

Qinglan’s eyes dimmed, ”I was sold here by my parents.”

At this, Mo Hua was momentarily taken aback, and Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi looked at her with sympathy.

Mo Hua was silent for a while, then quietly asked,

”Do you hate your parents?”

Qinglan shook her head, ”I don’t. They’re already dead.”

”Dead?”

”Yes.” Qinglan nodded, ”They died of starvation.”

With tears glistening in her eyes and a bit of a choke in her voice, Qinglan said,

”My parents... sold me to the brothel so that I wouldn’t starve to death. Even the Spirit Stone they got for selling me... they secretly gave it to me, so that I could survive...”

Hearing this, Mo Hua felt a pang of sorrow, ”Were they Mining Cultivators?”

Qinglan nodded, ”Yes. My father mined for the Lu Family, and when the mine collapsed, he broke a leg and was invaded by Filthy Qi into his heart meridians, unable to mine anymore...”

”My mother struggled to support the family, toiled too hard, fell seriously ill. Both of them knew they wouldn’t live long, so they sold me to the brothel, as a last resort to keep me alive...”

Mo Hua’s gaze hardened, ”Is this brothel owned by the Lu Family?”

”Yes,” Qinglan said, ”Not just this brothel, but most of Jinhua Street, the business of food, drink, prostitution, gambling, mostly belongs to the Lu Family...”

”Then do you want to leave the brothel?”

Qinglan gave a sorrowful shake of her head, ”There’s no way out.”

Mo Hua frowned, deep in thought, murmuring to herself,

”The Lu Family, huh...”

Bai Zisheng whispered to Mo Hua, ”This Lu Family doesn’t seem like good news either.”

He pondered, ”Qian Family, Sun Family, Lu Family... these families, none seem to be good...”

Bai Zisheng suddenly startled, ”Our Bai Family wouldn’t also be bad, would it...”

Bai Zixi’s beautiful eyes were sharp as she glanced at him.

Mo Hua wasn’t sure what to say to him.

Bai Zisheng scratched his head, muttering, ”That’s really hard to say...”

Mo Hua shook her head and then asked,

”Sister Qinglan, do you know what level of Cultivation that gray-clothed Cultivator is?”

Qinglan furrowed her brow, ”I’m not entirely sure.”

”Not being sure is also okay.”

After hesitating, Qinglan then said, ”I guess he might be a Foundation Building Cultivator...”

”That’s what Sister Yulan told me. She said his Cultivation was profound. Sister Yulan was in the later stages of Qi Refinement, so he must be at the Foundation Establishment level...”

Mo Hua shook her head slightly.

If he’s at Foundation Building... that would be somewhat problematic.

”When does he usually come to the brothel?”

”He comes on the fourth and fourteenth of every month, then the duration of his stay varies.”

”I understand.”

Mo Hua nodded. She pointed to the jade bracelet in Qinglan’s hand, ”Keep this bracelet safe. Don’t let anyone see it. On the fourth, I’ll come claiming you stole Elder Su’s jade bracelet, and we’ll come questioning you.”

”That way, whether we succeed or not, it won’t implicate you.”

Qinglan looked at Mo Hua and asked in a low voice,

”What are you guys planning to do?”

”You don’t need to worry about that.”

Qinglan nodded, looking at Mo Hua and the other two, her worries still evident,

”You are young; don’t get caught up in that gray-clothed man’s schemes in an attempt to rescue me. He’s somber and sinister, likely devious in his actions...”

Bai Zisheng said, ”Don’t worry.”

He pointed to Mo Hua, ”You might not think much of him because of his age, but he’s got no less cunning in his belly than anyone else…”

Mo Hua was displeased, ”Who has a belly full of bad tricks?”

Bai Zisheng looked skyward, pretending he hadn’t said anything.

Mo Hua muttered, ”A belly full of bad tricks is still better than being a fool...”

”Oh, you’re calling your senior brother a fool again?”

”And you were saying your junior brother is full of mischief?”

...

The two bickered in hushed tones.

Bai Zixi, helpless, slapped each of them on the back.

The slap on Bai Zisheng was harder, while that on Mo Hua was gentler due to his frailty.

Bai Zisheng grimaced in pain and said:

”Zixi, you’re biased!”

Bai Zixi ignored him and simply said to Mo Hua, ”Let’s focus on the matter at hand, head back earlier.”

”Mm-hmm.”

Mo Hua acknowledged.

Afterward, Mo Hua inquired about some details, then instructed Qinglan:

”Sister Qinglan, you go back first, don’t talk about this to anyone, and don’t show any signs. We will come looking for you in a few days.”

Qinglan pursed her lips, nodded solemnly, and then left.

Mo Hua went to seek out Elder Su.

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

Upon seeing Mo Hua, Elder Su queried:

”Are you done asking?”

Mo Hua nodded.

”Good.” Elder Su didn’t probe further, as these matters were considered the private affairs of cultivators, and inquiring rashly was impolite.

”Little gentleman, will you stay to play for a while, or...”

”It’s getting late, I should head home,” Mo Hua said.

This statement made perfect sense coming from Mo Hua, but hearing it in a brothel at that time felt rather odd.

Elder Su expressed his regret, ”Alright then.”

Mo Hua saw the look of unfulfilled desire on his face and whispered:

”How about this, we head back first, and Elder Su, you can stay a while longer?”

Elder Su seemed tempted but hurriedly shook his head:

”No, no, no, what kind of person do you take me for? I’m not familiar with this place and there’s nothing... no real fun to be had here...”

Elder Su said insincerely.

Mo Hua looked at Elder Su with a smile that was not quite a smile.

Feeling Mo Hua’s gaze, Elder Su felt somewhat sheepish.

Soon, the group left Hundred Flower Tower, with Elder Su looking a bit downcast along the way.

This was his first experience of such ”virtuous conduct,” passing through fields of flowers untouched.

To thank Elder Su, Mo Hua presented him with some rare Formation Diagrams.

Elder Su was somewhat shocked, ”Is this for me?”

Mo Hua nodded. ”It’s the least I can do.”

Only then did Elder Su cheer up, forgetting all about the flirtatious beauties as he flipped through the Formation Diagrams, unable to put them down.

As they walked, Mo Hua suddenly asked Elder Su:

”Elder, the girls in Hundred Flower Tower, are they all pretty miserable?”

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

He sighed. ”Yes, they are.”

”Most of them come from the mines, sold into the brothel, lives adrift like duckweed, rarely meeting a good end. Even if one wanted to help, it’s not feasible...”

Curious, Mo Hua asked, ”Have you thought about helping them?”

Elder Su nodded and then looked rather embarrassed, ”Although I do have personal desires and occasionally linger here, it’s always consensual, and I cannot bear to see them treated so poorly.”

”But I cannot help them.”

”Even if I could, I might only help one or two. With so many brothels on Jinhua Street and so many female cultivators, I can’t help everyone...”

”Besides, even if I could help them, it would be futile.”

Elder Su sighed again.

”Why is that?” Mo Hua queried.

Elder Su pointed to the dark mines in the distance, his tone grave:

”The root of these brothels is not on this street but in the mines.”

”As long as the Mining Cultivators in the mines remain impoverished, forced to sell their sons and daughters, these brothels will stand forever, never lacking female cultivators...”

”Of course, there are those who have fallen willingly, who do not cherish themselves, but they are a minority.”

”The majority of female cultivators abhor this life, not wishing to spend their days in such a quagmire...”

Elder Su took a deep breath, sounding somewhat powerless:

”But this isn’t a problem Foundation Building Cultivators can resolve.”

Mo Hua’s gaze flickered as if contemplating something.

Then he praised, ”Elder Su, you are a good man.”

Elder Su smiled and nodded, but after a moment, he paused, then quickly shook his head:

”No, no, it’s not that, it has nothing to do with me, all this is something I heard from a ’Taoist Friend’...”

Mo Hua said, ”This ’Taoist Friend’ you spoke of...”

Elder Su waved his hand, ”It’s not me, not me...”

...

The issue of the brothel couldn’t be solved for now, and Mo Hua decided to focus on tracking down the grey-clothed cultivator.

After parting with Elder Su, Mo Hua and the three gathered in their cave dwelling to discuss.

”Should we slaughter that grey-clothed cultivator?” Bai Zisheng asked.

Mo Hua clenched his small hand, ”Capture first, interrogate next, then execute!”

”It’s difficult to capture a Foundation Establishment, isn’t it?”

Mo Hua nodded, ”It’s a bit tricky, just the three of us.”

”So what do you plan to do?” Bai Zisheng asked.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then whispered conspiratorially, ”We report it to the Taoist Court Official...”

”Report?”

”Yes.” Mo Hua said assertively, ”This man hires killers and traffics bodies, violating the Taoist Law, utterly sinful. It’s natural to report it to the Taoist Court Official. They’ll capture him; why should we exert the effort?”

Bai Zisheng said, ”But if the Taoist Court Official catches him, won’t we be unable to find out the information?”

”We won’t,” Mo Hua said mysteriously, ”The Taoist Court has our people!”

Bai Zixi was somewhat puzzled, ”Our people... do you mean Sister Situ? She can’t really be considered ’our people’...”

”Whether she is or not doesn’t matter; the result is the same.”

As long as the Court Officials can extract the information, by asking Situ Fang, he would surely know everything clearly.

With their good relationship, Situ Fang would definitely not hide anything from him.

So, ending up in the hands of the Court is as good as being caught by them.

Bai Zisheng then asked, ”What if the Taoist Court Official can’t capture him?”

Mo Hua said in a low voice, ”Then we’ll just have to let the snipe and the clam fight, and reap the benefits like the fisherman...”