Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 307: How Did This Witch Train

If that were all it was, though, Zhao Changhe felt that Chichi’s choice of going to a brothel to gather information was the wrong way to do things.

After all, this was a city of criminals.

The women in the brothel might not really be prostitutes. The woman she was talking to could very well be a vicious female criminal with her identity hidden. At the very least, the owner of the brothel had to be something of the sort, and these women appeared to all be trained subordinates of some powerful expert. For example, Qianqian was easily able to tell that he had designs for the nobleman next door and was eavesdropping on them, but she did not show any sign of concern. To them, such things were probably very common.

Does she really expect these women to give her any genuinely useful information? Does she really think these women will help her? Is she trying to use the same strategy she used to find Ruyan in Yangzhou?

No, no, Chichi almost never tells the truth. She must have other intentions. She’s most likely just pretending to be a newbie as she probes for information at the start. It’s even possible that her target is the brothel itself and she’s just misleading others into thinking that she’s after other information.

Just as this thought flashed through his mind, he heard the woman who was with Xia Chichi ask, “Young Master Luo, if you truly have a target, you can just tell us directly. If we can help, we might be able to cooperate...”

Xia Chichi said with a smile, “Oh, you’re dropping the act? Don’t you think it’s a waste for you to suddenly drop the act after pretending to be weak and acting so seductively for so many days?”

The brothel girl replied, “Young Master Luo, you’ve been beating around the bush yourself for several days. You’ve only been touching me but not sleeping with me. Are you that afraid I’d suck you dry?”

Xia Chichi just smiled. “Shouldn’t I be?”

The brothel girl added, “Actually, all this really isn’t necessary. Many outsiders who aren’t familiar with this place often come to us for information. Young master, you’re being overly cautious.”

Nicely put, if Xia Chichi happened to be someone on opposing sides with the brothel madam, then she might just end up dead in this den of beauties. Thus, there really was nothing wrong with being cautious. In fact, both parties had been probing each other the entire time.

Xia Chichi had been playing her role for several days, and only now had she managed to fully convince the other party that she had no connection with them. It was also only now that they began revealing their true intentions.

“Since that’s the case, I’ll be straightforward with you.” Xia Chichi smiled sweetly. “I’m indeed here to hunt someone down, but how can I guarantee that after I reveal their name, you won’t suddenly turn on me?”

Apart from those seeking refuge, Kunlun was also full of people who had come here seeking revenge. However, most of the latter end up returning empty-handed, unable to find their target or silently dying at the hands of unrelated people. Nowadays, very few dared to come to exact revenge, but that did not mean that there were none. Occasionally, there were still some stubborn ones, such as this “Young Master Luo.”

The brothel girl laughed upon hearing this, “If you put it that way, then we’re at an impasse... Why not take a gamble? Alright, let me put it this way: if you’re looking for someone from a renowned family who came here long ago, I truly can’t say whether or not it would clash with our interests. But if you’re looking for someone who arrived here recently, they really would have nothing to do with us. And even if they did, they would not matter much to us. As long as the price is right, we can talk.”

“Yang Qianyuan has been here for less than a year. Does he count as someone who’s only arrived here recently?”

“Sure enough, you really are looking for Yang Qianyuan. We did guess that a refined gentleman such as yourself, who could stir up such a storm, probably had something to do with the Yang Clan of Hongnong...”

“Since you had such an opinion of me, would Yang Qianyuan think so as well?”

The brothel girl laughed heartily, shaking with mirth. “With how big the city is, how many people could he possibly recognize on the streets in a year? Even if he saw you in person, how would he know for sure if you’re an outsider of a local? As long as we don’t reveal it to him, he surely wouldn’t know.”

Xia Chichi smiled and said, “Then do you really know his whereabouts?”

“I personally don’t know. You would have to ask our madam.”

“Then can’t you go and ask her? Or better yet, can’t you have your madam come and meet me? I might want to purchase other information as well. If I had to have you relay messages between us every time, it would be quite inconvenient.”

The door to the room opened, and the brothel girl went out to find the madam.

The room fell silent.

Zhao Changhe was now eighty percent sure that Xia Chichi’s target was the madam.

She had spent a few days putting on a facade so as to lower their guard and meet the boss behind the scenes, and then strike when the opportunity presented itself. Only someone like him, who knew Xia Chichi really well, would think this was a possibility. It was very unlikely for others to guess her true intentions.

As for finding Yang Qianyuan, he was not sure if it was just a decoy or if there was some truth to it. It was possible that she would deal with him along the way if she could.

Chichi’s quite impressive, but I’m honestly more impressed by that brothel girl at the moment.

Aside from the sound of the door opening, he had not been able to hear her footsteps at all. Even now, as a set of footsteps approached from afar, presumably the footsteps of the madam, there was only a single set of footsteps. The brothel girl’s steps made nary a sound.

In fact, a movement art of this level was not at all extraordinary to Zhao Changhe. It was likely that Chichi’s movement art was even superior to this. However, it was the brothel girl’s habitual stealth that was a point of interest. It had inadvertently become a giveaway. After all, did it make sense for a mere brothel girl to be more skilled than the brothel madam?

I wonder if Chichi noticed. If not, she might fall into a trap.

At this point, Qianqian had already played through several songs. Seeing Zhao Changhe still leaning against the wall and drinking, she could not help but feel a little annoyed. “Sir, my hands have already gotten numb from playing for so long. You’ve been listening for ages at this point. Why don’t you say something or just launch a sneak attack and be done with it?”

Zhao Changhe came back to his senses and said with a casual smile, “Well, would you like to do something else instead? How about playing the flute then?”

Qianqian’s gaze turned flirtatious. “How would you like me to blow your flute, sir?”

In the other room, the door had already opened. Hearing this, Zhao Changhe gripped the hilt of his saber.

The laughter of a middle-aged woman could be heard. “Young master, you’re looking for Yang Qianyuan?”

Xia Chichi smiled and said, “Indeed, do you have any clues on where I might be able to find him?”

“Of course, I do. Before that, though, I’d like to know how much you’re willing to pay.”

Xia Chichi’s actions were almost identical to what Zhao Changhe had done earlier. She took out a gold ingot and casually stuffed it into the brothel madam’s cleavage. “Is that enough?”

This move was too common among patrons, so the madam did not find it strange at all, allowing Xia Chichi to stuff the gold into her cleavage with a smile on her face.

However, just as the gold was about to slip into place, Xia Chichi’s hand stopped, and she asked with a smile, “Where is Yang Qianyuan?”

The madam, still smiling, replied, “He’s a part of the Yukun Gang in the east of the city, under Tian Lingzi.”

“Okay, thank you.” Xia Chichi let go and the gold ingot slid into place.

But just as her hand emptied, a knife suddenly shot out from her sleeve, plunging straight into the madam’s chest!

Having succeeded in acquiring the information she wanted, as well as in getting within range, Xia Chichi was like a seemingly harmless tiger cub that suddenly bared its fangs. She struck viciously and swiftly!

The madam was actually a very strong expert herself. She managed to move backward even under the sudden attack. As she dodged, she kicked at Xia Chichi’s abdomen in an attempt to force her back.

At the same time, the brothel girl’s expression changed, and she struck at Xia Chichi’s neck, her palm emitting a strange pink mist that was clearly poisonous.

Despite their quick reactions, they could not avoid Xia Chichi’s lightning-fast surprise attack. The knife pierced the madam’s heart without suspense. At the same time, Xia Chichi smoothly abandoned the knife, spinning to dodge the madam’s kick.

The spinning motion also scattered the pink mist from the brothel girl’s hand. And as she spun, Xia Chichi’s left hand shot out, clashing with the brothel girl’s strike.

Seemingly unable to withstand the brothel girl’s strike, Xia Chichi used the momentum to gracefully exit through the window. As she left, she said, “I really never thought Tarantula’s skin would be so smooth. I had a lot of fun touching you these past few days. Thank you for your hospitality. Farewell.”

The brothel girl really is Tarantula! And Chichi knew the entire time!

Zhao Changhe chuckled in amazement, finally relaxing from his tense state.

She had managed to assassinate her target right under the nose of the figure ranked fifty-eighth on the Ranking of Man.

After a long time apart, Xia Chichi had mastered the art of deception and become much more cunning. She had grasped skills befitting a femme fatale. In many stories, such a woman would be a long-term enemy of the protagonist, with possible romantic entanglements.

Zhao Changhe mused over his unique fate. To think his first love turned out to be someone like her!

The window shattered as the white-clad young master elegantly exited. He was so dashing that the prostitutes who saw him were star-struck, including Qianqian, who even gasped and said, “So handsome...”

Suddenly recalling the patron who was into the nobleman, Qianqian turned around to look at him. However, the yellow-faced man who had been sitting right there just a moment ago was now nowhere to be seen.

Tarantula leaped out of the window with a furious expression, swinging her sword in rage. “Who are you?! What grudge do you have against us?!”

Clang!

Iceheart was drawn. Xia Chichi turned around and deflected the strike, using the force from the impact to propel herself over the courtyard wall. “I have no grudge against you personally, but the same can’t be said about the madam. The Four Idol Cult will stop at nothing to execute traitors. Whoever stands in my way shall die!”

Shadows flickered as the brothel’s guards swiftly scaled the wall and blocked Xia Chichi’s escape.

Just as she finished speaking, she swung Iceheart, and frost spread.

Amidst the gently falling snow that filled the air, countless streaks of sword light emerged and mixed with the snow. All of a sudden, the gentle snowflakes transformed into lethal blades. Wherever the snow brushed past, throats were slit and blood was spilled.

Tarantula’s sword relentlessly pursued, and Xia Chichi, standing atop the wall, exchanged a series of blows with her.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

At this point, she felt a bit of a headache. She knew that she was weaker than Tarantula, but she also knew that their movement arts were on par. As long as she managed to put some space between them, she could escape.

The problem was, this was Tarantula’s territory. She did not have much say in the space between them; she had to think of another weak point she could make use of.

While she was stressing her brain out trying to think of a way out, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

A smile formed on her lips, and she abruptly changed the direction she was going. She leaped from the wall toward a narrow alley.

Seeing this, Tarantula was secretly pleased.

Does she really think she can escape by running into that alley? I have people lying in wait there. As long as they delay her for a moment, she won’t be able to escape.

However, as she hurriedly chased after Xia Chichi, she saw that the other party moved completely unhindered. Xia Chichi stepped lightly on the eaves, somersaulted into the treetops, and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Tarantula was utterly bewildered.

Looking down, she saw that the alley, which should have been filled with her subordinates, was littered with bodies. Her men had been taken out, silently and efficiently, making it so that they could not hinder Xia Chichi in the slightest.

Her subordinates immediately caught up. “Madam...”

In fact, each of them was secretly shocked. Tarantula was renowned for her use of poison, and while her capabilities in direct combat and her movement arts were not top-notch, they were still nothing to scoff at. Her use of poison alone made her an incredibly formidable opponent. Many even believed that she deserved a higher rank than fifty-eight on the Ranking of Man. But now, a young man had humiliated her and made her look extremely pathetic. The other party managed to carry out an assassination right under her nose, and they even managed to escape gracefully.

With no proper chance to use her poison, she was made to look utterly useless in actual combat.

Tarantula’s face turned grim. She took a deep breath and said coldly, “Does he really think that he could avoid my poison just because he’s been cautious these past few days? Hah, I already gave him a slow-acting toxin. There is no one other than me who can cure it in this world. He’ll eventually come crawling back to me asking to be saved. At that time, I’ll turn that handsome face of his into mince!”