The entire Jade Fragrance Pavilion was extremely vast and luxurious.
Red carpets paved the floor, and elegant rooms stood in close succession. Curtains embroidered with a hundred flowers, gorgeous and splendid, flowed through the hall like a spring breeze, both romantic and refined, slowly nurturing lust in a gentle and comfortable atmosphere.
Mo Hua held Little Junior Sister's hand as they walked through the main hall's corridor,绕过 one staircase after another. As they walked, Bai Zixi suddenly asked, "Where are you going?"
Mo Hua said, "The Flower Building."
Bai Zixi said, "Did we take a wrong turn?"
She remembered that the singing girl had indicated a different direction.
Mo Hua was startled, realizing that he had indeed strayed. He had been so focused on holding Little Junior Sister's hand that his mind wandered, and he forgot to note the path.
In fact, he had almost forgotten why he came to the Jade Fragrance Pavilion in the first place, thinking that if only he could keep holding Little Junior Sister's hand like this forever...
"Indeed, women make men dumb—"
What Shuang Hu said when they were kids was right.
Mo Hua muttered to himself.
Bai Zixi looked at him curiously. "What are you thinking?"
Mo Hua said, "Nothing."
Bai Zixi's gaze sharpened. "So, did you take a wrong turn?"
Mo Hua said seriously, "There are too many people and formations over there. We need to take a detour; it's safer this way."
Bai Zixi was momentarily stunned but said nothing.
So Mo Hua led Bai Zixi by the hand, took a detour, and made a big loop around the main hall and front courtyard of the Jade Fragrance Pavilion.
Bai Zixi had her suspicions, but her hand was held by Mo Hua, warm in his palm, so she subconsciously didn't ask further.
And so, the junior and senior siblings walked hand in hand around the main hall and front courtyard.
If one ignored that this was a large brothel, the scenery and atmosphere were quite beautiful.
After touring the front hall, they came to a large gate, the entrance to the second courtyard. Beyond it lay the real private rooms of the Jade Fragrance Pavilion—the so-called "Spring, Flower, Snow, Moon" four buildings.
Guards stood before the gate, inspecting the tokens issued by the madam before allowing entry.
A group of young masters and wealthy gentlemen queued to enter the courtyard, their faces composed and calm, but their subtle glances betrayed their impatience.
After all, the beauties they coveted were waiting for them in the Spring, Flower, Snow, Moon buildings; a night of passion was worth a fortune.
Mo Hua hid among the crowd, using a Fire Ignition Spell to quietly set fire to the pants of two men, causing quite a commotion.
Amid the chaos, Mo Hua easily unlocked the "restriction" on the courtyard gate and slipped through with Bai Zixi.
Bai Zixi glanced back at the panicked crowd, then turned to look at Mo Hua, who acted as if nothing had happened. She thought to herself,
"Little Junior Brother really is the same as when he was young—quietly mischievous..."
He showed no sign of it on his face after causing trouble.
Mo Hua, however, had no idea that his senior sister was inwardly teasing him. He simply held her fair hand and continued forward, earnestly instructing, "Senior Sister, there aren't many good people in this Jade Fragrance Pavilion. We don't know what might happen next... Once danger arises and swords are drawn, don't act rashly, or your disguise technique might be exposed."
Bai Zixi looked at Mo Hua and nodded. "Mm."
But in her heart, she thought: If there are many bad people in the Jade Fragrance Pavilion—I wonder if any of them are as bad as Little Junior Brother.
And so, Mo Hua led Bai Zixi deeper into the Jade Fragrance Pavilion.
The four buildings—Spring, Flower, Snow, and Moon—occupied the four cardinal directions: east, south, west, and north.
Connected as one, they formed the lavish main structure of the brothel, built with great expense and effort.
From the exterior decorations, the Moon Building shone like the moon; the Snow Building glistened like snow; the Flower Building bloomed with a hundred flowers;
The largest Spring Building combined the best of all, with dreamlike spring snow, crystal-clear spring moonlight, and a river-like sea of flowers.
Added to that was the hazy, illusory aura of lust and passion between men and women, drifting through the buildings.
Just looking at it made one's heart flutter and sink into intoxication.
Mo Hua's Dao heart was naturally very firm, but for some reason, seeing this beautiful scene made his heart beat slightly, and his hand holding Little Junior Sister's began to feel hot.
Bai Zixi seemed to sense it and gently squeezed Mo Hua's hand.
Mo Hua turned to look at Bai Zixi.
Bai Zixi said, "Find the person."
Looking at Little Junior Sister's crystal-clear eyes, Mo Hua sobered a bit and nodded. "Mm."
According to the singing girl, the courtesan named "Miao'er" lived in the Flower Building.
The Flower Building, the second largest, was heavily guarded with formations, but it posed no obstacle for Mo Hua, who now had the strength of a third-rank high-grade formation master.
Not that Mo Hua could solve all the formations in the Flower Building, but the vast majority were no challenge for him.
After all, a mere brothel wouldn't use "fourth-rank" formations.
Thus, Mo Hua led Little Junior Sister, unlocking several access controls and avoiding guards, easily slipping into the Flower Building.
The Flower Building's exterior was exceptionally dazzling and luxurious.
But no matter how brilliant the exterior, the interior still had to follow the norms of monastic architecture and formations.
Moreover, places like the Jade Fragrance Pavilion focused too much on appearance, sacrificing the integrity of the internal formation framework for outward luxury.
Thus, the overall formation structure had many errors and loopholes.
In front of an expert like Mo Hua, it was full of flaws.
Before long, Mo Hua unlocked the defensive formations by the door, pried open a side door, stepped onto the eaves pillars, climbed the main pillars, walked along the beams, and found the building's structural hub—from beginning to end, with practiced ease, as if he were visiting his own brothel.
Bai Zixi couldn't help but ask, "Do you come here often?"
Mo Hua subconsciously said, "Mm."
After saying "Mm," he realized what he had just said and quickly added, "It's my first time!"
"First time?" Bai Zixi asked. "Then why are you so skilled?"
Mo Hua said, "I... I'm good at formations."
Bai Zixi just said "Oh" and didn't ask further.
Mo Hua breathed a silent sigh of relief, feeling a bit regretful. He thought to himself, if he had known, he wouldn't have brought Little Junior Sister to crawl through the rafters.
All his good reputation was ruined.
But having crawled this far, there was no turning back.
Mo Hua began to check each room one by one, following the rules of the beam structure, looking for the woman named "Miao'er."
By unlocking the formations and invading the building's internal structure, one could roughly see the situation inside the rooms from the beams.
This kind of "beam-roof sneak" was not Mo Hua's first time.
But it was Bai Zixi's first time "fooling around" with Mo Hua like this, so she found it very novel and interesting.
When they crouched together on the beam and looked down, her eyes sparkled.
Mo Hua, on the other hand, was on edge, afraid that Little Junior Sister might see something unsightly or inappropriate.
Fortunately, it wasn't too late in the evening, and most of the young masters and wealthy gentlemen were still in the main hall, drinking, watching performances, or discussing private matters.
Most of the Flower Building's courtesans hadn't yet received clients.
The women in the rooms were either applying makeup before the mirror, painting or playing the zither, or cultivating or resting. They were dressed, so nothing was offensive to the eye.
Only then did Mo Hua feel comfortable letting Little Junior Sister peek.
At the same time, he was also looking for the woman named "Miao'er."
Each room in the Flower Building had a nameplate hung at the door.
On the nameplates were written the courtesans' stage names: some were "Ru Yan," some "Si Yu," some "Chan Juan," some "Hong Xiu"...
But after a while, he still hadn't found the characters "Miao'er."
Mo Hua focused his mind and searched patiently for a while longer.
Suddenly, his eyes brightened as he spotted a nameplate that clearly read "Miao'er" in graceful, meaningful strokes.
Found her—
Mo Hua's heart stirred. He cast a glance into the room and saw a flash of white.
Before he could see what it was, a pair of jade-white hands covered his eyes. A voice whispered beside him, like orchid-scented breath, "No looking."
It was Little Junior Sister's voice.
Mo Hua asked, "What's wrong?"
Bai Zixi said, "Just don't look."
Mo Hua had no choice but to say, "Then... can you tell me when I can look?"
"Mm," Bai Zixi said softly.
The Flower Building's formations were relatively tight, with good soundproofing. The beams and the interior were also separated by formations.
So while Mo Hua and Bai Zixi chatted, the people inside couldn't hear them.
Conversely, they couldn't hear the sounds inside either.
Mo Hua's eyes were covered by Little Junior Sister's hand, so he obediently stayed in place and didn't look at anything.
After a while, Bai Zixi let go of her hand and whispered, "It's okay now."
Mo Hua then looked inside and saw a small bathroom with drifting steam.
Earlier, a woman had been bathing, hence the flash of white.
But now she had finished bathing, put on a robe, and was combing her hair, her body covered.
From her figure, she was quite graceful.
Mo Hua then looked at the woman's face. Fresh from the bath, her cheeks were flushed from the steam, and her features were indeed quite alluring.
Was this woman the "Miao'er"? Was she the Scholar's Miao'er or Liu San's?
Mo Hua frowned.
Bai Zixi whispered, "Should we capture her?"
Mo Hua was taken aback. "Capture?"
"Mm," Bai Zixi nodded. "Capture her for interrogation."
"This..." Mo Hua hesitated.
So far, he had never interrogated a woman before.
Bai Zixi whispered, "How about... Little Junior Brother, I'll do the interrogation on your behalf? No woman can lie to me..."
Mo Hua couldn't help but glance at Little Junior Sister. When she said this, her eyes sparkled with a hint of anticipation, carrying a dangerous, domineering aura that toyed with others. His heart tightened, and he quickly said, "No rush, no rush. Let's see the situation first..."
Seeing Mo Hua say this, Bai Zixi nodded.
Just then, a knock came at the door.
Mo Hua couldn't hear the knock, but his spiritual sense detected the faint vibration of sound waves in the room.
And the alluring woman who had just bathed, the one named Miao'er, heard the knock, brightened, quickly pinned up her hair, slipped into her robe, and went to open the door.
Soon, she welcomed a tall, heroic man in a sky-blue robe into the room.
The two held each other intimately, then sat at the wine table.
Miao'er poured wine for the tall man in sky-blue, who drank and chatted with her while laughing.
But with the soundproofing formation in place, they couldn't hear what was said.
Bai Zixi glanced at Mo Hua, as if asking if there was a way.
Mo Hua nodded, then took out a magnetic formation needle, broke a corner of the soundproofing formation, and embedded the needle into the room's space.
Inside the magnetic needle was inscribed a "sound theft" formation.
In no time, intermittent voices of a man and woman began to transmit—
First, a man's syrupy voice: "—My dear Miao'er—have you missed me these past days?"
A charming woman's voice, half in jest and half in reproach: "You heartless man—it's been so long, and you haven't come to see me—leaving me alone for so long, and you still ask if I missed you—you're so thick-skinned—"
The man said, "Miao'er, forgive me—it's just—there's been a lot of work at the department, and I haven't had the time—"
Department?
Mo Hua was startled and exchanged a glance with Bai Zixi.
Department—what department?
Was this tall man from the Dao Court Department?
Was the Dao Court Department man also an old flame of this Miao'er?
Mo Hua could tell his cultivation was around the early Core Formation stage. In the Dao Court Department, that would at least be a senior executive clerk or a newly promoted supervisor?
Mo Hua's expression grew somber as he continued listening. He heard Miao'er complain coquettishly, "Always 'busy with work'—whenever you neglect me, it's 'busy with work'—you men are all the same, sweet words on your lips but cold as stone in your hearts—you forget people the moment you turn around—"
The tall man laughed apologetically, "Miao'er—I'm not lying to you—if I were, may the heavens strike me down—"
"Pfft, all lies."
"Not lies at all. You don't know—the higher-ups are investigating very strictly, and the Earth Sect is also pressing hard."
"If I don't handle the higher-ups well, I'll lose my job. If I don't handle the Earth Sect well, there's no fat to skim—"
"Really?"
"Could it be false?"
"Is there a lot of fat?"
"You guess—"
"Annoying—how could I guess—"
The two chattered on for a while.
Then the tall man's voice grew heavier. "Speaking of fat—it's been a while since I tasted the flavor of you, Miao'er—let me—have a bite—"
"No—annoying—"
—
Mo Hua's mind went blank. He glanced down furtively and saw that the man and woman had already locked in a passionate embrace, frantically pulling at each other's clothes.
First startled, then alarmed, Mo Hua instinctively looked up and met Little Junior Sister's gaze.
They exchanged a glance and quickly looked away.
In a brothel, such things between a man and a woman were actually normal.
But neither of them expected that Miao'er and this man, who had just been discussing secrets, would suddenly fall into an embrace and kiss.
The junior and senior siblings were unprepared and caught off guard, momentarily at a loss.
Fortunately, both had firm Dao hearts. After an instant of awkwardness, they each steadied their minds, trying not to look at what was happening below.
But though they couldn't see, the sound theft needle transmitted every detail of the wanton sounds from below, unceasingly.
The space on the beam was narrow, and the sounds of kissing and moaning echoed in the tight space, burrowing into their ears, stirring their heartstrings.
Mo Hua's mind grew unusually restless. Thankfully, he followed the path of divine sense cultivation and had weathered battles with evil gods, demons, and various monsters, leaving his Dao heart pure enough to barely steady himself, preventing him from doing anything untoward under the influence of these seductive sounds.
But just as Mo Hua thought he could calm his mind and focus, a deep, nine-colored radiance flashed through his sea of consciousness.
An ancient, dazzling golden needle, one that could stir hearts and refine lust, slowly emerged.
Mo Hua's reason began to crumble bit by bit.