A moment earlier, the women began leaving their rooms to see what was going on. Among them was a pink-haired woman with sleepy eyes, as if she hadn't slept well the previous night.
"What's going on?" she muttered while looking down. But when she saw their manager acting so polite, she couldn't help but ask another woman next to her, "Who is that person?"
"I'm not so sure, but he should be with the government. Maybe he's an inspector dispatched by them?"
"No, no. I think he's a far more important person. If you look at that token, you'll realize that he's a District Administrator... Assistant?"
"Now that I think about it..."
"Does he fancy someone here?"
"I haven't seen that person coming here."
"Still, he is young but already has a good position. The girl would be lucky if they get his fancy... I mean, I would feel that way. After all, most of us here just want to live normally, away from this. We just don't have that opportunity."
The people became silent, watching how Hao Yu looked up, examining all of them. Without hesitation, they began to pose or wink, trying to entice Hao Yu. However, everything changed when another woman came out of her room.
"What's wrong?" she asked while rubbing her eyes, her body moving toward the railing to find out what everyone was discussing.
"Nothing. We're just talking about the young Administrator Assistant." While she was informing the situation, this new woman took a look at the situation and jumped out.
"What—" She freaked out as if seeing a ghost. Not only did she jump back to the door, but her back also hit it quite hard, startling everyone.
"Oi, what's wrong with you?"
The people began to panic, not knowing why this woman acted like this. But with how she reacted compared to the rest, they thought this woman was the one that had Hao Yu's interest.
The woman had long, wavy brown hair. Her pair of black eyes gave a tranquil gaze, and her body emanated a gentle but mature aura. She looked a bit cold, but when she lowered her guard, she was pretty easy to talk to.
That was why they couldn't help but wonder about the history between her and Hao Yu. She tried to grab her door to hide in her room, but because of the panic, she couldn't reach the handle. Ultimately, it was too late for her as Hao Yu had climbed up to the top floor to see the mess going on.
"The official is here," one of the women announced out loud, alarming everyone. The other women froze. On one hand, they wanted to help this poor woman. On the other hand, if they stopped the official, there was a chance that their lives would become much worse.
"What are you doing?" While they were hesitant to move, the manager's voice echoed in everyone's ears, sealing their fate. They instinctively reacted by taking a step back to give way for the manager.
Meanwhile, the helpless woman became the center of attention as no one shielded her anymore. When the manager saw her appearance, she couldn't help but bow to Hao Yu, saying, "My deepest apologies, Sir. This girl is a new recruit we hired not long ago. We have been training her, but..."
"It's fine," Hao Yu gently smiled, assuring them. He even walked toward this woman and asked, "Are you alright? I'm just doing an inspection. You don't have to worry about it. Well, if you think my face is scary, then I have to apologize since you'll be seeing this face for an hour or two."
The women widened their eyes, not believing what they had just seen. Not only was Hao Yu not angry, but he even comforted the woman by making a light joke. No one admitted it, but they thought how good it would be to be in that position.
"I... I'm sorry," the helpless woman looked down as her body shook uncontrollably.
"There, there..." Hao Yu patted her back while raising his head. "I think she needs some water. Let her calm down first, and we'll continue with the inspection."
The manager immediately glanced at the person next to her, signaling her to bring a cup of water.
"I'll bring it right away!"
Due to the gentle care of Hao Yu, the helpless woman became calmer even though her body still convulsed.
"I think she should just rest in her room," Hao Yu glanced at the manager while positioning himself next to this woman, ready to carry her up.
"Yes. I apologize once again for this disturbance," Luo Xuan nodded while opening the door. Hao Yu then lifted her up, startling everyone. It was a pretty common occurrence, but Hao Yu did it without any hidden intention. He genuinely wanted to help her.
Inside the room, Hao Yu could see what kind of life these women were living. Depending on the beauty and worth of the courtesan, the bed size would become bigger and bigger. In addition, all the basic necessities, such as personal hygiene and clothes, were provided. Other than the fact that they had to work as a courtesan, it was a pretty good living standard. Of course, the brothel would be terrible if the government didn't supervise it strictly since they could simply cut all this cost just to earn more profits, leaving their courtesans miserable.
After scanning the room, Hao Yu put her down on the bed gently, asking, "Are you fine now?"
"I... I'm sorry," the woman weakly replied while lowering her head.
"It's fine. You don't have to worry about it." Hao Yu noticed that the one sent to bring the water had put it down on the table and asked the manager, "Do you mind if I ask this person a few questions?"
"Yes. But I hope that Sir Official doesn't forget that she is a new recruit. Her answer might not be accurate," the manager explained.
"I understand. Don't worry. It's just a couple of light questions." Hao Yu waved his hand, signaling them to leave the room.
All the women nearby couldn't help but think of the same thing. Hao Yu was planning to do it with her in the name of 'inspection,' but the manager didn't think that way. Looking at Hao Yu's behavior, there didn't seem to be any hints about his desire. Even his gaze was pure and untainted.
Nonetheless, they had vacated the room, giving him the chance to talk to this woman.
"I apologize if I startle you in any way..." Hao Yu smiled while making some distance. Now that no one could see what they were doing anymore, Hao Yu smirked, saying, "You can drop your act now."
In that instant, the woman's shaking body stopped as her gaze turned cold. Her eyes were emitting killing intent, wanting to eliminate Hao Yu right away.
"Well, you can rest easy..." Hao Yu turned his back, exposing his weakness to the woman. He walked toward the window and opened it to get some fresh air. "Your first reaction is the genuine reaction. I'm assuming that you're pretty injured and know what would happen if you are in the government's hands. Isn't that right, Iron Mountain Sect, Li Xue?"
Li Xue gritted her teeth and asked, "What do you want?"
"You have killed someone from the Iron Mountain Sect and ended up becoming a wanted person." Hao Yu added, ignoring her question.
"How... do you know?" Li Xue's face became aghast. "The people who know that..."
It didn't take too long for her to understand what was going on. There must be people from the sect that were going to hunt her down. That was the only way for Hao Yu to know the current circumstances.
"You..." Li Xue raised her stance, ready to kill Hao Yu before making her escape.
But upon saying those words, two guys entered the room through the window Hao Yu had opened earlier. They stood in front of Hao Yu, ready to apprehend Li Xue.
"You have nowhere to run, Li Xue," Zhao Xin stated. Su Han nodded as both of them pulled out their swords, showing Li Xue that they had the weapon advantage.
Li Xue clenched her fists, not knowing what she should do next.
"It seems that this is going to be an easy mission, right, Zhao Xin?" Su Han smirked.
"I have to thank Brother Hao for this." Zhao Xin nodded in agreement. "Without his assistance, it would take more time to fin—Mhmp?!"
Zhao Xin abruptly stopped before falling to his knees, coughing a mouthful of blood. There was no sound coming from Su Han because he was in the same state. Both of them looked at their chests, finding the same thing. It was the tip of the dagger.
In other words, both of their chests had been stabbed from behind. And the only one who could do this was none other than the man they tried to thank earlier, Hao Yu. The action was so swift that they had no time to react.
"A 10-Star Qi Gathering Stage can cut through the wall and crush everything behind it, a 9-Star can only cut the wall. By extrapolating that data, a 7-Star Qi Gathering Stage can only crush a table or something. In addition, cultivators usually drop their guard down when the enemies are far weaker than them, especially after ganging up on them. This causes them to have tunnel vision, not aware of what is happening in their surroundings."
Hao Yu was simply stating the data he got from the incident six months ago. He also recounted how the spear cultivator ended up in trouble after underestimating his opponent. And these two were no different.
"Brother Hao... You..." Zhao Xin widened his eyes in shock, trying to look at Hao Yu's face.
Hao Yu's expression was nonchalant as if nothing had happened. He said to Li Xue, "You can drop your act right now, Li Xue."
"Alright." Li Xue nodded calmly. All that reaction and emotion turned out to be fake. It turned out the one who had cooperated with Hao Yu from the very start was Li Xue, not these two. Zhao Xin was dumbstruck, but there was nothing he could do as his consciousness began to fade. Only one question remained in his mind.
'What happened between Li Xue and Hao Yu?'