Chapter 47 – A Myriad of Charms
Zheng—
Whether it was Luo Yi’s pipa or the flutes from elsewhere, they all fell silent. The drunken guests felt a faint chill like clear snow scrape past them, and their drunkenness sobered by a third.
“A cold string shatters the silk and bamboo,” Lu Jing praised in a low voice. “What a solitary zither sound.”
Accompanied by the clear and cold zither music, the white jade platform in the lotus pond gradually rose higher. Beads of water trickled down the upturned and downturned lotus patterns around the jade platform like a broken string, echoing the string music as they struck the umbrella-like lotus leaves in the pond. In the space between a pluck and a drop, an artistic conception of “holding a cold string to listen to the fine rain” was created, instantly dispelling the decadent atmosphere of the pleasure quarter. The guests suddenly felt a cool breeze brush their faces, and in the breeze, the celestial light was brilliant.
The spring wind was chilly, the clear stream sandy.
It was the season when the winter ice of the Qin and Wei rivers first melted. A young man held a flower and walked upstream, looking around. A fair lady was on the other side of the water, silently playing the zither. The music was filled with so many heartfelt things she wanted to tell him, so melancholic, so hesitant.
Since I have a date with you, why have you not come?
“The Drunken Wind Pavilion has lost.”
Lu Jing sighed as he listened to the zither.
Low-class lust came with clothes stripped off, eager to display one’s full figure to the world. Only boorish and vulgar people could swallow it whole, finding it cloyingly sweet. Mid-class involved heavy makeup, gorgeous clothes, and flowing glances, emphasizing luxury and decadence, like an enchanting and demonic decoration. It was startling at first sight, but after a while, it felt tacky. High-class was like the Drunken Wind Pavilion, where the beauty would only appear after many calls, still holding a pipa to half-cover her face. At this point, the woman was like a flower that could not be plucked and could not be left, each with her own pitiful and lovely aspects.
But the Qin Tower, in the art of romance, was simply awe-inspiring.
In the word “qingse” (passion), the character “qing” (emotion) came first.
With emotion, the entertainer was no longer a flower in the dust, but a fleeting morning dew, a peerless beauty fallen from the sky to the mortal world. It was not an exaggeration to call her a “Heavenly Maiden.” A zither, a sufficiently peerless beauty, and a fair hand plucking the strings, awakening the most ignorant and innocent, most beautiful and hesitant reveries in the hearts of all the distinguished guests.
Thus, everyone became young, everyone became a handsome Pan.
By now, the white jade platform had risen to a height where all the private rooms of the Qin Tower could clearly see the Heavenly Maiden’s appearance. Lu Jing, Zuo Yuesheng, and Monk Budu all stood up, pretending to casually walk to the door, but in reality, they were eager to stick their heads out to see Heavenly Maiden Lian’s true face.
At first, they were a little embarrassed, afraid of appearing lecherous. But then they looked around and saw that the corridors of the Qin Tower were already filled with people, each fanning themselves and carrying swords, as flamboyant as peacocks spreading their tails.
The three of them were immediately relieved and also went out onto the corridor, fanning themselves and clasping their hands behind their backs, leaning on the railing to look down.
“Young Master, aren’t you going out?”
Luo Yi, holding her pipa, mustered the courage to ask Chou Bodeng.
Chou Bodeng slowly drank the wine in his cup, propped his head up, and looked at her with his raven-like eyelashes half-lowered, asking sincerely, “Why should I go and look?”
“Huh?”
Luo Yi was stunned at first, then nodded vigorously.
“That’s right, the Young Master doesn’t need to go and look.”
Most of those who came to the Qin Tower tonight with a White Peony Flower Slip were here to see the number one beauty in the world… Luo Yi glanced at this young master in red and felt that if he really wanted to see a beauty, instead of looking at that pale woman outside, he might as well admire himself in a mirror.
Chou Bodeng didn’t answer, slowly continuing to drink.
The lights were hazy, and the corners of his eyes were tinged with red.
Luo Yi, preoccupied with her own happiness, didn’t notice that this beautiful young master, who looked perfectly fine reclining there, was actually already drunk. If Lu Jing and Zuo Yuesheng, who were intent on winning the Heavenly Maiden’s white peony to brag about later, had noticed he was drunk, they would have definitely jumped up and dragged him out of the tavern in a hurry.
This fellow Chou Bodeng was troublesome enough when he was sober. When he was drunk…
It wasn’t just about causing trouble; it was about poking a hole in the sky.
The chimes rang one after another.
Every time a young master finished a “masterpiece” with a flourish of his brush, a maid in white would hurriedly place the poem on a vermilion plate and send it to the white jade platform. Although the poems, good or bad, could proceed to the “Twelve Questions of the White Flower” as long as they could move the Heavenly Maiden, the Heavenly Maiden couldn’t really choose some nonsensical poems that didn’t make sense. Otherwise, failing to convince the crowd would be a small matter, but damaging the Heavenly Maiden’s elegance would be a big one.
Therefore, the masterpieces of the young masters had to be reviewed one by one by the Heavenly Maiden’s twelve literary maids and eliminated in succession. If any masterpiece could pass these twelve tests, a young attendant in green would strike one of the chimes. The whole audience would then quiet down for a moment, and the author of the work would personally recite the poem to the Heavenly Maiden.
Whether it could move the Heavenly Maiden or not, being qualified to recite a poem in public at the Qin Tower was in itself an affirmation of one’s talent.
This was also an opportunity for some less talented cultivators to make a name for themselves.
The Heavenly Maiden of the Qin Tower receiving slips for the first time was also a grand literary event.
Even if the recited poems couldn’t move the Heavenly Maiden, winning the applause of the entire hall was still an infinitely glorious achievement… However, as the saying goes, “there is no first in literature, and no second in martial arts.” Anyone with a bit of talent would be unwilling to admit that their poem was inferior to others’. The person chosen by the Heavenly Maiden, before passing the “Twelve Questions of the White Flower,” would ten out of ten times be severely criticized by the other “talents.” Even if the god of poetry himself were reincarnated, he would be challenged to the point of blowing his beard and staring in anger.
Attendants in white shuttled through the hall like a flock of graceful cranes, and poems and paintings were hung up one after another.
While the chimes rang continuously on one side, on the other, Meiniang walked along a long corridor and quietly entered a secluded secret chamber.
Meiniang had once been a Heavenly Maiden of the Qin Tower herself. Every move she made was imbued with charm, and she could even cast flirtatious glances at the Pavilion Master of the Mountain Sea Pavilion, Zuo Liangshi. But as soon as she stepped into this secret room, she changed instantly. The seductive charm faded from her, and in a flash, she transformed from a brothel madam into a calm and composed cultivator, a kind of heroic spirit etched into the lines of her face.
“Mister.”
She knelt before a white paper screen and kowtowed respectfully.
“Have the four distinguished guests been settled in?”
The person behind the screen asked. His voice was very gentle at first, seeming to always hold a hint of a smile, but after listening for a while, one would feel that the gentleness was as empty and fleeting as the moon on still water, and even the smile carried a strange quality.
“Yes.”
Meiniang pressed her forehead tightly against the wooden floor.
No matter how many times she had met this man who called himself “Mister Xi,” no matter how gentle his tone or how friendly his attitude, Meiniang never dared to look up. As a former Heavenly Maiden, Meiniang had received countless great figures, but none had made her so fearful, so terrified. No matter how high their cultivation or how cold they were, they were still human. And as long as they were human, they had passions and desires, and playing with passions and desires was the specialty of a courtesan.
Meiniang had once been confident that she could play with all the men in the world in the palm of her hand, just like the legendary Yan Weiyu who first established the Qin Tower.
Until she met this man.
When they first met, the man sat behind the screen and asked her with a smile, “I heard that Meiniang can tell what a man desires with just one look. Why don’t you take a look and see what I want in my heart?”
She answered “yes” and ambitiously raised her head to look at him.
With just one look, she trembled all over.
From then on, she fell into a nightmare from which she could not escape.
It was that one look that made the beautiful and talented Meiniang step down from her position as “Heavenly Maiden”—because she had lost the courage to play with passion and desire, and a Heavenly Maiden who could not play with “emotion” and “lust” in the palm of her hand had only one path: death.
“Chou Bodeng… Zuo Yuesheng… Lu Jing… Monk Pudu…”
The Mister Xi who terrified Meiniang so much was holding a polished crystal piece with silver tweezers, observing a glass sphere placed in front of him through the crystal.
The glass sphere was about a meter in diameter, and tiny points of light were arranged closely together on its surface. When one of the points was magnified by the crystal piece, the image of the young man in red drinking by himself appeared. With a slight movement, one could see Lu Jing, Zuo Yuesheng, and the others at the door, rolling up their sleeves and scratching their heads.
“Have you tested them?”
Mister Xi had a delicate and harmless face, with regular but unremarkable features that could easily be lost in a crowd. If there was anything unusual about him, it was the smile that never disappeared from his lips. At first glance, the smile seemed very gentle, but after a while, it would send a strange chill down one’s spine.
“One does not go to a temple for no reason. What is the profound meaning behind our distinguished guests’ visit?”
Meiniang hesitated for a moment.
“In Wu Mei’s humble opinion, the young masters’ visit to the Qin Tower seems to have no profound meaning. Young Pavilion Master Zuo is probably here to welcome his friends. Young Master Lu and Monk Budu are interested in the Heavenly Maiden’s peony flower. As for Martial Ancestor Chou… he should just be here to drink.” Meiniang paused. “Is Mister worried that they were sent by Pavilion Master Zuo to test the Qin Tower? I heard that Pavilion Master Zuo had prepared a welcoming banquet for Martial Ancestor Chou at the Tide-Listening Tower. When he learned that Young Master Zuo had brought the others to the Qin Tower, he was furious. I think it should be a coincidence.”
“Pavilion Master Zuo is an actor,” Mister Xi smiled. “Don’t believe his joy or anger.”
Meiniang was terrified and repeatedly agreed.
“I’m just a little curious.”
Mister Xi put down the crystal lens and took out a clean sheet of Xuan paper, writing a few words on it.
“Does anyone really come to the Qin Tower just to drink? Tell the Heavenly Maiden to go and test him.”
“Yes.”
The paper slid in front of her. Meiniang tucked it into her sleeve, bowed her head, stood up, and then bowed her head again as she retreated.
Just as the door was about to close, Mister Xi’s gentle voice came from behind her.
“Meiniang.”
Meiniang was startled, a chill crawling up her spine like a snake.
“Why do I feel that you are a little afraid of that Martial Ancestor Chou from Taiyi?” Mister Xi asked grimly.
“Taiyi is the number one immortal sect, and they act without restraint,” Meiniang replied. “Meiniang is afraid that one day she will wake up and Elder Jun’s Gold-Inlaid Saber will have already cut off Meiniang’s head.”
“Is that so. Taiyi… indeed.”
Mister Xi seemed lost in thought.
“Go.”
Meiniang dared not stay any longer and quietly retreated along the secret passage.
Only when she had walked to a place where the rotating sphere could no longer observe her did a cold sweat suddenly soak the clothes on her back. She had lied. She was indeed afraid of Chou Bodeng, but not because of Taiyi, but because Chou Bodeng reminded her of the time she looked up at Mister Xi… At that time, she had only seen…
Evil.
Pure evil.
Chou Bodeng and Mister Xi were two completely opposite people.
But their purity in certain things was exactly the same.