Chapter 33: Enemies Meet
Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Enemies Meet
That year, Yin Zheng pushed a cart of grain, filled with joy as he made his way from his Spirit Field to the marketplace.
Just as Fellow Daoist Chen had said, he hadn’t encountered any Tribulation Cultivators blocking the road along the way.
For someone who had only been a Spirit Plant Cultivator for a year to harvest two hundred catties of Spirit Rice, Yin Zheng felt like the chosen one. When he gripped the sixteen taels of Spiritual Sand in his hand, his back straightened with newfound pride!
He had originally planned to exchange some of it for Fasting Pills and return to his Spirit Field. However, as he passed by the Fragrance Pavilion, he was instantly captivated by the graceful silhouettes dancing inside. Thinking about the sixteen taels of Spiritual Sand he possessed, Yin Zheng swaggered right in.
The Female Cultivators at the Fragrance Pavilion were truly breathtaking. Their skin was as smooth as jade, and they possessed the beauty of Celestial Immortals. After having a taste of their charms, he felt as though he had plunged into a river of stars, drifting away in unbridled ecstasy.
However, the good times did not last. Those who indulged in the pleasures of a money pit would inevitably face a harsh awakening, and for Yin Zheng, that day came exceptionally early!
In just a single night, the sixteen taels of Spiritual Sand he had earned from selling his grain were completely spent. Not only that, but after drinking two successive pots of Spirit Wine and sleeping with three different Female Cultivators, he ended up owing the Fragrance Pavilion nearly twenty taels of Spiritual Sand.
Jolted abruptly back to reality, Yin Zheng panicked. He had originally planned to write an IOU and pay off the debt next year when his rice ripened. But the Fragrance Pavilion flatly refused. Ultimately, he was detained, forced to do the most menial labor and eat the most inferior food.
With his Spiritual Sand gone, he naturally had no Fasting Pills either. Out of necessity, Yin Zheng had to rely on food from the Mortal Realm to stave off his hunger. In just over a year, the Spiritual Qi in his body had largely dissipated, and he had aged several years in appearance. If this continued, it wouldn’t be long before he wasted away completely!
Yin Zheng had thought about resisting, about escaping, but his efforts were met with nothing but severe beatings. He gave up and accepted his fate. He hated everything in front of him, but he could only suppress his resentful gaze and inner fury, not daring to show even the slightest hint of it—otherwise, another beating awaited.
Hong Yan moved her foot away from Yin Zheng’s face, then gave him another irritable kick. Even so, he didn’t dare make a sound. It wasn’t until he heard Hong Yan’s command that Yin Zheng stood up, grabbed a pot of Spirit Wine from the back kitchen, and walked slowly toward Earth Character Room Two with his head bowed.
He arrived at the door like a walking corpse. He tapped gently, and only after receiving permission did he push the door open and walk in.
Inside the room, two Cultivators were sitting facing the door, with Yun Rou and Yu Xi—two of the Fragrance Pavilion’s top courtesans—pressed closely against them. The scene was sensuous and alluring, enough to make anyone envious.
Yin Zheng cast a hasty glance, not daring to stare. But that single glance left him frozen in place.
"Chen... Chen Mo?"
He never expected that he would meet the Spirit Plant Cultivator who used to contract Spirit Fields alongside him in such a place and under such circumstances!
"Yin Zheng?" Clearly, Chen Mo had recognized him as well.
Chen Mo had assumed the man had died at the hands of Tribulation Cultivators. Who would have thought he had run off to the Fragrance Pavilion to be a waiter? He sure knew how to live! However, looking at his severely aged appearance, Chen Mo wondered what had happened to him.
After a brief moment of shock, Yin Zheng’s heart filled with malicious sneers.
"Good! Good! Excellent!" he thought. "You’re just a Spirit Plant Cultivator, yet you dare come to the Fragrance Pavilion? Is this a place you can afford?"
The thought that the other man would soon end up exactly like him—a dog kept by the Fragrance Pavilion—made his entire body tremble with excitement.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, do you know him?" Song Yunxi turned his head and asked.
"He used to contract fields with me. He disappeared over a year ago, and I took over his two Spirit Fields," Chen Mo stated matter-of-factly, without embellishing anything.
"How about we let him join..."
"I’m not familiar with him," Chen Mo said with an icy expression.
"Then why aren’t you getting out of here?!" Song Yunxi snapped, quite displeased that the wine delivery boy was standing idly by and ruining their mood.
A cold smirk appeared on Yin Zheng’s face. Giving Chen Mo a deeply meaningful look, he left the room feeling incomparably delighted.
Men did not fear destitution, but rather disparity. Having lost everything and become nothing but a dog, Yin Zheng eagerly hoped that someone who used to be better off than him would be reduced to a dog as well. Perhaps, this was his only remaining obsession.
Back in the room, Song Yunxi slightly parted his lips. Yun Rou raised her jade-like hand, dipped a finger in some Spirit Wine, and flicked a few drops into his mouth. The two talked and laughed, clearly having known each other for a long time.
As for Chen Mo, he kept one arm wrapped around Yu Xi’s waist, letting her wandering hands caress him freely. He picked up his wine cup and took a sip. The taste was crisp, sweet, and incredibly refreshing—countless times more fragrant than any wine he had tasted in his previous life!
This was wine brewed from Spirit Rice. It was blessed by nature and unparalleled in the mortal world.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, what do you think?" Song Yunxi asked, looking at him with a tipsy flush on his face.
"It is a good wine, but it must be quite expensive."
"No matter! You just need to follow me, and it won’t be long before you can frequent this place too!" Song Yunxi declared confidently, patting his chest.
Of course, he had the backing to make such claims! At only thirty-five years of age this year, he was already at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer. He was a figure of prestige throughout the entire Ancient Dust Marketplace. Not to mention, he ran a grain station and was acquainted with Cultivators from Purple Cloud Peak.
"Then I’ll rely on Shopkeeper Song for your care!"
Chen Mo raised his wine cup, and the two clinked glasses. At this moment, Yun Rou and Yu Xi caught on and brought their own cups forward to join the toast.
"How can you two drink without us? Are you scorning Rou’Er?"
"How could we? Come, come, drink up!"
Song Yunxi downed his cup in one gulp, then, slightly drunk, planted a kiss on Yun Rou’s delicate lips. He scooped her up in his arms and headed straight for the inner room to engage in a passionate session of intimacy.
"Yu Xi, take good care of my friend!"
With that, he disappeared from Chen Mo’s sight.
Only the two of them were left in the outer room.
Chen Mo glanced at the Female Cultivator named Yu Xi. She had a delicate, elegant face with a touch of coldness between her brows. Unlike Yun Rou’s highly seductive posture, tone, and gestures, she was much quieter and more reserved.
"Are you also a Cultivator?" Chen Mo asked.
"Qi Refining First Layer."
"Is everyone in your line of work a Cultivator?"
"Naturally, everyone at the Fragrance Pavilion is. Otherwise, how could we catch the eyes of you men?" A faint smile flickered in Yu Xi’s eyes. "However, there are ordinary people in the marketplace who do this kind of work. Their prices are much cheaper. Those places are purely outlets for penniless Spirit Plant Cultivators to vent their carnal desires."
Penniless... Spirit Plant Cultivator...
To think those two phrases were actually synonymous.
"What was the deal with that man just now?"
"What else could it be? He slept with the girls at the Fragrance Pavilion and didn’t have the money to pay, so he has to stay here and work off his debt!"
Chen Mo nodded slightly, and the two continued to chat idly over their drinks.
Soon, the pot of Spirit Wine was empty.
Seeing that Chen Mo had no intention of taking her to bed, Yu Xi called for someone to deliver another pot of wine. She was incredibly delighted with patrons like him—all she had to do was keep them company and chat.
As for Chen Mo?
He simply wanted to drink a few more cups first. After all, the boss was footing the bill, so it would be a waste not to drink!
To him, whatever needed to be done would still be done. He definitely wasn’t going to engage in the melodramatic cliché of persuading a woman of the night to turn over a new leaf!