Chapter 21 – Qi Hong (2)
"Young master Xu, have Zheng Liqin taught you about how this brothel operates yet?"
"Yes. I know about the two schools and how they work, but she hasn't told me anything about the sect facilities or what I should do as a disciple yet. I don't even know where I can train or learn this sect's techniques."
"Oh, no problem. Do you know about the underground or the working floors, yet?"
"No."
"Okay. I'll explain…"
As Qin Hong was guiding Miaomiao, Jiang Lan, and four other disciples to the sect library, she taught Miaomiao how the sect and the brothel worked.
Aside from the outer disciple's quarters on the sixth floor to the fourteenth floor, the business areas that customers could enter were the fifth floor and below.
The fifth floor was for VIP customers. Over a hundred suite rooms were there to receive these distinguished guests. Not including service fees from the top workers, the brothel charged 100 refined spirit stones per night. Moreover, inner disciples from Joyous Yin School sometimes accepted guests, so they could dual-cultivate and steal yang qi from their customers.
The fourth floor was a bit less luxurious, but these 50x50 square meter rooms were large and fully furnished, which was comparable to high-class condominium rooms in this city. This area was still a high-classed zone, where rich guests bought their favorite service girls to attend them. It cost 50 refined spirit stones to stay, not including other service charges. Outer disciples from dual-cultivation school worked there part-time.
The third floor, where Miaomiao and Jiang Lan had slept, was the medium class area. All non-sect members and common prostitutes volunteered to sell their bodies in this settlement. Rooms on this floor were a bit smaller, 30x30 square meters. A night cost only 10 raw spirit stones, of course, not including service charges.
Low-class citizens of Mountain Goose City could only patronize the slaves and unpopular workers on the second floor. With the lowest price tag of 1 raw spirit stone per one sexual session, any customer could choose any slave from the brothel list and enjoy their service without any other service charge. However, the room quality was no different than a small storehouse as these bedrooms served as temporary places for intercourses. Also, the real lobby located at the center of this floor.
The first floor was a filter zone, where customers would be filtered by their purposes of coming to this building. Guests and customers would be led to the second floor or higher while thugs, robbers, and criminals would be sent to the underground area.
Hiding from the sight of civilians and other cultivators was the underground slaughterhouse and torture chambers. All caught criminals and troublemakers were tortured and killed there. Their corpses would be incinerated, and their remains would be used as fertilizer.
"Y-You killed your customers?"
After hearing the truth, Miaomiao's face lost color even though his complexion was already pale. Although he was fine that cultivators killed each other for resources, the brothel's secret activities still shocked him.
Now, it came to Miaomiao that he had just joined a major crime organization, an all-female mobster gang. With one wrong move, Miaomiao might be killed by either Xu Xiuying or this closed eye instructor.
Qi Hong found Miaomiao's reaction funny. She snickered, "If we don't resort brutality, those troublemakers will return with more men and cause more problems. We're weeding them out by the roots, so we can make this city a better place for the civilians and other cultivators."
"Err," Miaomiao gulped, "That's fair enough."
"Of course. Every sect is aware that some of us practice yin arts and the double dantian technique. Many of those fuckers thought that they could steal our cultivation strength by having sex with us, so they always came here, trying to cause a scene. Too bad, we spent a lot of resources nurturing many dual-cultivators, so those foolish men got their yang sucked dry. Oh, excuse me, young master Xu. Please do not mind my language."
"No, I don't mind. I'm a junior, so I should be the one worrying about my language."
"You're quite humble for a nobleman. Say-," Qi Hong got close to Miaomiao and whispered, so the other disciples couldn't hear her, "Did you turn Zheng Liqin into a Yin Cauldron?"
Miaomiao's entire body froze. Yet, his face's temperature rose as if he had a fever.
The secret was discovered!
Qi Hong grinned as she patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, young master Xu. I'm on your side. That stupid idiot has already killed countless of our VIP customers, so it's good that you taught her a lesson. If it's possible, can you break her to the point that she can no longer remember who she was?"
Betraying Miaomiao's expectation, Qi Hong wanted Zheng Liqin broken, and she didn't punish Miaomiao for the deed.
"Why? Is there something wrong about her?"
"You see, even though she has contributed a lot to our sect, Zheng Liqin has been causing trouble left and right. It gets to the point that your mother is planning to kill her."
Zheng Liqin's past achievements and her deeds were infamous among outer disciples. This dual cultivator mastered the sect's Ethereal Physique technique and transformed herself into a teenager. Because of her child-like appearance, nasty pedophiles and perverts in the city specifically requested her services.
At first, Zheng Liqin did what the sect had aimed to do, eradicating evildoers and killing all thugs. However, her charm attracted several innocent cultivators, which was tempted by the legal loli. Without differentiating who she should kill, Zheng Liqin murdered them all on her bed, stealing their Qi to the last drop.
Her action provoked many families of her victims. Although most of them were poor and powerless against Xu Xiuying and her sect, it affected the brothel's image and their businesses in general. As a result, Xu Xiuying had several meetings with the sect elders and informed them that she wanted her dead.
Still, many elders were against punishing Zheng Liqin as the latter's talent was indisputable. She was a genius among all dual-cultivators that many inner disciples couldn't hope to match with her. Thus, no one but Xu Xiuying wanted this troublemaker dead.
"So that's the case?"
Listening to Qi Hong's request and the backstory of Zheng Liqin, Miaomiao got goosebumps. Thinking back when Zheng Liqin was forcing herself on him, Miaomiao realized that his fate would have been different had he failed to contain this loli.
Qi Hong got to the point, "But from my point of view, it's a waste of manpower. I was thinking if it's possible to ask young master Xu to tame that troublemaker and overwrite her personality with your dual-cultivation skill. I'll add some contribution points to your account as a compensation."
Miaomiao didn't mind the request, but he was curious about the contribution points.
In novels, many sects utilized contribution point systems, aka free labor system, so their disciples could do the odd job for their sect. Still, there were many goodies for contributors to exchange their points, such as pills, spirit stones, techniques, or weaponry.
"How much will you give me? Also, can I see a catalog or a reward list that I can exchange with my contribution points?"
"Ahaha! I see that you are flexible. Since it's a direct request from me, I can rig you ten thousand points. As for the reward list, I'll show you where you can redeem your rewards later. For now, let's say that I've assigned you a task. Please complete it as soon as possible."
"…Okay."
.
.
.
The group took an employee elevator to the 11th floor. They could have taken stairs since they only needed to walk up one floor, but this place was inaccessible by normal means. After all, this was their sect's library, which stored many secret techniques.
When the elevator opened, a dozen women in armor were standing guard in front of a steel wall. On the wall surface, a glowing red barrier with unreadable scripts formed a magical array, protecting the secret room.
The ceiling was also unusually high. Measuring it from eyesight alone, Miaomiao estimated that it was at least 10-meter high, which was unnecessary from his point of view.
Just like the fifteenth floor, there was no entrance. Only authorized people could pass through this magic formation.
As soon as the guard saw Qi Hong, they saluted and activated the magic array, and a red warp hole appeared. A path toward the library opened.
"This way, young master."
Everyone followed Qi Hong into the gate.
Beyond the protective wall, it was a sealed 100 square meter room without any furniture. Only a 5-meter tall marble statue of an elderly woman stood at the center.
The elder woman sculpture had a peculiar pose. She stood tall, but she raised an ancient measurement scale up high with her left hand. Her right hand carried a silver sword, which emitted cold aura similar to the fifteenth floor's pool. Also, the statue's eyes were covered with black clothes.
Miaomiao was astonished. This marble sculpture was similar to Lady Justice Statues in the modern world.
Qi Hong introduced this statue to everyone, "That isn't just a statue, but she is a guardian spirit of our sect. We can request access to our libraries by standing before the statue and say that you want to access one of them. As long as you're a disciple of our sect and you don't have any ulterior motive, you will be teleported to the library. Otherwise…"
Qi Hong didn't continue explaining as she gave enough clues. Everybody understood it as well since this was a security protocol to weed out spies or intruders from accessing sensitive information.
"You girls, when you're inside, ask the librarian for the Succubi technique, and she will give you a copy of the manual. Take the manual and go practice on your own. As for you, young master Xu, you can enter first. Stand in front of the statue and say that you request to enter the core library. If the statue asks where you get the permission, tell her that you have mine."
"Alright."
Miaomiao braced himself and walked toward the tall statue.
As soon as Miaomiao got close, he could hear an old woman's voice in his mind.
[What is the purpose of your visit, young disguiser?]