Chapter 24: Flourish House

"Never heard of it," the young man shook his head and walked inside, entering a three-story inn just behind us.

That was odd. I was told that Flourish House was in this Hai Long street.

'Did that guy actually lie to me? No no, his life was at stake, such a person wouldn't lie,' I stroked my chin as I looked over the crowded street.

There were no stalls here but this was the street that connected the marketplace with the residential area of common people.

"Why did you bring me if you yourself don't know where this house is?" Hu Shuo asked impatiently.

Somehow, I had managed to bring him along. It took nearly an hour to convince him.

This afternoon was as hot as any other. We were standing in the middle of the street, dressed in white and yellow, sweating just like everyone who passed by. I was not wearing a long sleeved robe today. I wondered how these people could manage this heat, wearing clothes that practically covered all of their body expect for their heads, palms and feet.

The wind was completely still but the dust below was disturbed by numerous footsteps. If we stayed here, our bodies would quickly become dirty. I proposed to go to a rather narrow sidewalk on the other side.

"What brings you young men here? I saw you two were standing in the middle there," a slightly chubby woman spoke from behind as we reached the other side.

She had excessive makeup on her face and a large bag on her hand. I smelled blood, there was meat inside. I looked behind me and saw a large meat shop. The banner was old and torn.

'Gen's meat house, huh,' I read the words written on it.

"Do you know of a place called Flourish House?" Hu Shuo asked, coming a little ahead. I was mildly suprised. He didn't know that that was the name of a brothel.

"Huhh... I don't think I've seen or even heard of it," another negative response.

"Gen Ja, do you know of such a place?" she turned to the meat shop and asked the man who was busy chopping. However, he didn't answer and kept focusing on his job.

"I know. There is this building called flourishing cosmetics, maybe you should look there," she left after saying that.

These people were at the first rank of body tempering yet they weren't afraid of me at all. Higher ranking practitioners rarely associated themselves with low ranked ones. There were also the rules and regulations of this town that prevented any bullying. Most of the practitioners here would be passionate about cultivation in their youth but that would slowly fade away as they grew older. They could now be counted as non-practioners.

'I should've asked more before strangling him to death,' with a little regret, I also started walking. Hu Shuo had gone ahead.

We asked several people about it but they didn't know this place at all. We did manage to find the cosmetics but it was just a small shop. And, it was closed.

An hour and half passed just like that before he and I got tired. Evening was approaching and we still had no clue.

"Are we even in the right place?" He took out a handkerchief and started wiping his sweaty face.

I did the same but instead with my forefinger. I didn't have a hanky with me.

"Let's rest inside that inn for a while. After that, we'll ask around for another half an hour and return if we don't find anything," I said and he nodded his head. After burning our skin for such a long time, we didn't have much energy for any disagreement.

"Welcome, welcome customers. How can I help you?" said a lightly dressed girl as soon as we entered the inn. She had came running towards us.

"Some refeshments. Also, Is there some place we can take a nap?"

Her eyes glanced mine and Hu Shuo's pouches and she immediately smiled, "Yes, yes we have a nice lobby for tired travellers."

She slightly bowed and led us to a clean table first. Saying that she'd come back in 'just a while,' she went inside another room whose entrance was covered by a brown curtain.

"This place is not so bad," I said, leaning on my chair.

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We were in a different room which had sliding doors and hanging lanterns. This inn didn't have a single dining hall where people could eat. Instead, there were multiple small rooms which could accommodate six or seven people at most.

"Yes, I'm surprised how empty it is considering the number of people walking on the street," Hu Shuo said. Other than us, only a middle-aged man was inside, sipping some kind of soup.

The girl who'd brought us here came back quickly just as she had promised. She brought a few drinks... green tea, and some long sticks that were meant to be chewed slowly.

As we ate, the girl sat there looking at us with a wide smile. I cannot say I wasn't suspicious of her.

'Why are you here? Do you want a tip?' I thought, narrowing my eyes. She seemed a little scared of me after that and stopped looking my way, focusing on Hu Shuo instead.

Those sticks we ate were made of wheat and the green tea was actually good. It truly had a refreshing effect.

Hu Shuo was a slow eater. By the time I was finished eating, he was still sipping his tea. I guessed it was too hot for him.

"Give me a fan," I said. I could use some air. This room was poorly ventilated.

Suddenly, a sharp voice of an old woman came. Like a lashed whip, the girl before me stood as soon as she heard that voice. She quickly glanced at Hu Shuo and went upstairs. Too bad, he'd ignored her obvious gazes this whole time.

'Poor girl, she probably works here all day and earns only a couple silvers,' I thought. How could Hu Shuo be so heartless? He should help her, right?

Hu Shuo was cautious today. He chewed on those baked sticks only after I had eaten two of them. I knew that but I didn't point it out.

I could hear the old woman talking but had hard time understanding her. This ceiling blocked my half-spirit sense. At first, her voice was sharp and harsh, but overtime it softened as the girl began speaking. Faint sounds of people talking still reached my ears, though.

Just when Hu Shuo also finished eating his part, the door slid open, showing a different girl this time. She was older and wore slightly revealing clothes. Though, it couldn't even be called revealing compared to what people on earth wore.

"This way, customers. Let this Dui'er take you upstairs," bowing, she stretched her right hand forward. I could see her cleavage which she didn't bother to cover properly.

The middle-aged man also stood up from the other table and we went upstairs. The wooden stairs didn't creak and there were no railings installed yet. This meant the inn wasn't that old and no one had accidentally fallen from the stairs to this date.

"You boys seem new here," said the middle-aged man, poking his ears with his pinky. How unhealthy.

"Yes, we only came here today. If we weren't looking for..."

"...Flourish House," Hu Shuo read the bold red words painted on the wall opposite to us. He forgot what he had wanted to say.

"Well, well, well... who could've guessed..." my lips curved upwards. I walked ahead as if I was a regular visitor.

The girl who came with us had already latched on to the middle-aged man, calling him as "Uncle Lian."

'Now, why did she pick him over us?' I was only confused about that one thing.

The second floor was a big chamber, leading to numerous rooms. There were a lot of people here, it was nearly packed. I spotted the young man we'd first asked, exiting a room looking more tired than us. He had lied to us earlier.

Women, both beautiful and ugly but all dressed up seductively, leaned on the doors of the open rooms.

"Ahhhh!"

"Ohhhh!"

These sounds coming from the closed rooms were more than enough to confirm that we were in the right place.

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