The young man's exquisitely carved face suddenly sank, hostility rising between his brows, and his eyes grew dark and gloomy like an approaching storm.
A cold aura silently rippled around him. Even though he stood amidst warm fragrances and soft whispers, it felt as if frost had covered one's back.
Those heterochromatic eyes already made people feel somewhat fearful. Now, with their deep and gloomy gleam, they added an even more terrifying pressure.
"Get lost."
The word spat from his thin lips carried murderous intent.
A courtesan who had gotten too close suddenly felt an inexplicable fear and instantly stepped back half a pace.
The girls immediately scattered a bit, not daring to approach him again, and instead swarmed toward another gentle and amiable young master nearby.
Wu Li's face was gloomy as he pushed through the figures and walked straight ahead, grabbing Chai Xiaomi and pulling her into his arms.
"Are you a ball? You roll away the moment you're pushed." He kept his voice low, faintly gritting his teeth. "What are those two hands of yours for? Usually, you pull my sleeves vigorously, but now you don't know to hold on tight?"
"There are so many people here. If you get squeezed and lost, I won't have the spare time to look for you."
Chai Xiaomi looked up at him blankly.
She saw his eyelashes drooping, casting shadows deep into his heterochromatic eyes.
Emotions she couldn't understand seemed to be churning inside.
It looked like both anger and panic.
"I'm not a child, I don't get lost that easily." She curled her lips and muttered softly, but still wrapped her two arms around the young man's sturdy arm. "There, I've locked you up. Is that okay now?"
The flames of anger that had originally burned in the young man's eyes suddenly flickered, replaced by a somewhat flustered and helpless expression.
Wu Li cast a hasty glance at the arm she was hugging tightly. Beneath the fabric, a vague soft touch could be felt.
His fingertips twitched, wanting to pull his hand back, but he was afraid she really would run off and get lost.
He could only stiffen his body and let her hold him.
No one knew that the arm inside his sleeve was already as rigid as iron and stone.
That faint, almost imperceptible touch could draw out his suppressed and rapid breathing.
At this moment, he only hoped to leave this noisy and bustling crowd faster, even faster.
There was no one to share the firepower.
Only Jiang Zhiyu was left calling for help while surrounded by the chattering beauties.
"Yaoyao—Yaoyao—save me!"
Song Yueyao stood with her back against the pillar, holding her crescent blade, and casually rolled her eyes.
If Wu Li hadn't stepped out of the crowd just a moment ago, she might have gone up to save him.
But Wu Li managed to get out, while he couldn't.
Whose fault was that?
She could see that he was clearly enjoying it!
"Girl Song—Girl Song—save this old man!"
At this time, Alchemist Ji's cry for help also came from the crowd.
It could have originally used its small size to nimbly dart out from among the people, but unfortunately, this unfilial disciple was afraid of being left behind and hugged it tightly in his arms.
It couldn't struggle out, and in the chaos, someone even plucked a few handfuls of its fur. The cat fur was almost plucked bald.
What was even more critical was its precious whisk.
If they squeezed any further, it looked like it was going to break.
The cat's heart was bleeding.
Alchemist Ji had a sudden thought and hurriedly changed the person he was calling for: "Xiaomi—Xiaomi—save this old man!"
For the sake of that drop of nectar, Chai Xiaomi couldn't just stand by and watch.
She raised her eyes and scanned the hall, immediately locking onto a plump, brightly dressed woman in the corner. She had thick rouge on both cheeks and a striking matchmaker's mole above her lip.
What a standard NPC.
This person was almost certainly the madam, right?
Hearing her question in her mind, Youtiao quickly scanned and confirmed: "Host's guess is correct. This is indeed Madam Liu, the madam of the Phantom Sound Pavilion."
Chai Xiaomi immediately grabbed Wu Li's arm and dragged him straight toward the woman.
It took a lot of effort to drag him those few steps.
She shot Wu Li an inexplicable glance. Why was his whole body as stiff as a rock?
Finally arriving in front of Madam Liu, she deliberately shook the coin purse in her hand. The opening of the bag was slightly open, and the piece of gold Song Yueyao gave her shone brightly through the gap.
"That brother of mine only has a fat cat on him, no silver. All the real gold and silver are with me. When doing business, couldn't the boss lady recognize who the big spender is?"
Naturally, whoever could give silver was the real master.
Madam Liu looked over. She had secretly paid attention to this girl since she entered the door.
Having been in this line of work for a long time, her eyes were the sharpest. She could pick out the outstanding seedlings in a crowd with one grab. Although the girl in front of her wore no makeup, she looked like a pure lotus, full of aura.
If she were carefully dressed up, who knew how she would captivate men.
She was even qualified to be the top courtesan.
She remembered that these people had come in together. At this moment, she saw the little girl shaking the coin purse and saying:
"If you let these people keep pestering my brother, your house won't make a single penny of this silver today."
However, Chai Xiaomi didn't notice that after tossing the coin purse a few times, it wasn't securely hung and was dangling precariously at her waist.
Careless! Sloppy!
The young man beside her cursed silently and steadily caught the falling coin purse.
Hearing this, Madam Liu hurriedly piled on a face full of smiles, slightly apologetic: "Please don't be angry, miss. It's all my fault for not disciplining them well, letting these blind fools offend the distinguished guests."
She then turned toward the other side, raising her voice with a bit of authority, "Have you all lost your minds? Have you forgotten all the rules you were taught? Go do what you're supposed to do! I will personally attend to these distinguished guests."
When the crowd dispersed, a bright red lip print had suddenly appeared on Jiang Zhiyu's moon-white collar. What left people even more speechless was that there was even a mark on the fluffy fur of the white cat in Alchemist Ji's arms.
No wonder he had been calling for help inside.
Among that group of courtesans just now, there was clearly a cat lover mixed in.
"This old man has met all sorts of mountain spirits and ghosts in his life, but to think he'd fall into the hands of a bunch of crazy bees and wild butterflies!" The white cat carefully protected its whisk in its arms, feeling ashamed and aggrieved.
"Shh—keep your voice down, Old Ji. Don't let people think you're a monster again."
Chai Xiaomi made a shushing gesture at it.
Ji Bai had long been accustomed to her disrespectful way of addressing him. Having just received her help in getting out of trouble, he could only puff his cheeks, blow his whiskers, and sulkily turn his head away.
Song Yueyao's expression was far from pleasant.
Her gaze quickly swept over the red lip print on Jiang Zhiyu's clothes. She coldly snorted, snapped the pair of hand-holding sugar figurines in her hand in two with a "crack," threw the half resembling a man at Jiang Zhiyu, turned, and walked away.
"Yaoyao, Yaoyao!"
Jiang Zhiyu hurriedly chased after her.
At a time like this, he would rather she turn back and give him a rap on the head, scolding him a few times, than leave with a cold face without saying a word.
*
The Phantom Sound Pavilion's buildings were grand and ingeniously constructed.
The center of the entire building was an open-air hollow space. At the bottom, a delicate water pavilion courtyard was built with flowing water. The surrounding pavilions embraced it on all four sides. The floors were connected by suspended sky bridges, looping and overlapping. No wonder there were countless guest rooms.
Different rooms corresponded to different views, divided into Heaven, Earth, and Human grades.
The cheap rooms had naturally been occupied long ago. At present, only the Heaven-grade rooms were still available.
It was situated on the highest floor of the building, boasting the most breathtaking view.
The group followed Madam Liu across the suspended skybridge. Just as they were about to make their way toward the pavilion on the opposite side, Song Yueyao suddenly stopped in her tracks.
