19 Brothel Sister

The loud voices in the market of Gangkou were louder than the ones in Huayuan. The street market and hawkers competed with one another's prices, making sure to attract the buyers out of the walking populace. With a rather limited budget, Sun Yin and Lu Bang only went from one stall to another to look.

Technically, it was their first time to be in Gangkou. Even though he did not like to admit it, Lu Bang was quite a shut-in. He did not dare go outside of Huayuan unless he needed to, which rarely happened. Sun Yin was asleep for the last fifty years, way before this city had sprouted. The couple enjoyed the new sites, but they did not lose sight of what they came there for.

"Big Brother!" Sun Yin called out to a fisherman who was hauling in his too-little catch.

The fisherman had a large body from hauling in fishes from the sea. His stature was not too tall to keep a perfect balance in the boat, but not too short to be underestimated. His powerful, bulging arms looked like they could hurl three people out in the water at once. His bony face told them that he worked too hard every day, draining the fat from his face to sweat.

He was indeed in a bad mood. Of course, the maiden was met with a deep frown. His eyes wandered from her pretty face to the China rose on her chest. He did not dare ogle at the maiden, out of anger towards what he saw.

However, her sunshine grin did not waver. "Big Brother, do you know when the traveling ships will be coming?"

"They should be here in two days." He answered, bringing his eyes back to the boat, cringing at the catch. "Damn cultivators…"

Lu Bang hummed at what he said. "What did they do?"

The man turned to them again. He was clearly glaring at the man. "What did they do? Maybe you meant what did you guys do?! You have been disturbing the fishes in the sea with all those maniacal explosions! They're running away from the sight of humans!" He even dared to use both arms to push Lu Bang, taking his anger out on someone. "Why don't you just—?!"

Sun Yin grabbed an arm and giggled behind her sleeve. "Ah, please no need to be violent towards us, Big Brother." She felt him try to shake her off, but her iron grip remained. "We don't know what those people are up to. Perhaps you can help us understand?"

"Let go! I ain't talking to cultivators!"

His arm was released from her grip. Sun Yin only hummed and made her graceful exit along with Lu Bang. He was lucky Lu Bang was holding down Huaban's handle as if calming the raging sword.

The male only huffed, congratulating himself for not punching the fisherman with his other fist. He had learned to be ambidextrous due to the nature of swords art taught to them in the Huayuan Lin sect temple. He followed Sun Yin through the maze of a market to another place.

"We should find a place to stay. If the boats to Haiyang would be arriving in two days, we must deal with the Storm Snake in less than two days." Sun Yin sounded unaffected by the earlier confrontation. "Help me look for the inn."

"You sure act like nothing happened." Lu Bang hummed, thinking that Sun Yin was just masking her annoyance.

"Not at all. He said he didn't talk to the cultivators. It meant he had no information about them or the Storm Snake. Talking to him right now is just a waste of time." Sun Yin had her back on Lu Bang as they walked through the crowded market.

The sea of people kept on moving in two directions, and it was not like they were holding each other's hands. It only took her one moment to lose him in the crowd. However, she was the Bride, and she could track down the dark energy in Huaban. She turned around and failed to see the man where he was supposed to be.

On the other hand, Lu Bang got grabbed by a woman who emerged from a side. She held onto him and wrung her arms around one of his. He tried prying her off while asking what she was doing but to no avail. Soon, he did understand.

When his gaze strayed at the direction of where she came from, some men looked like bad news. It would not be bad if he had his golden core with him. The sea of people kept on moving, but Lu Bang stood there like a rock, unmoved by the strong current. The woman, who jumped at him, held him close and tight, fighting the sea of people.

His eyes locked at the men on the 'shore'. However, his hands went to hold the handle of Huaban and his coin pouch. He looked down at the woman who was actually trying to steal from him. He wore the clothes of a cultivator from a major sect down south; of course, they would think he had something valuable on him.

"Hands off." His voice thundered across the noise of the market. He did not shout or exclaim, but he did speak loud enough for her to look up at his frowning face.

"Mister Cultivator, please help me. They're going to kill me..." She tried to get his sympathy, wanting him to let go of anything he was holding. She even pressed her chest against his arm and chest. "Please help me..."

Lu Bang could resist Sun Yin—the prettiest maiden of her time, and so this woman had nothing on him. He only sighed and let go of the sword. The woman took advantage of the moment and grabbed the sword's handle. However, instead of running back to the men, she felt her arms shoot up into the air. Her feet left the ground, and she screamed with no sound when Huaban lifted her up in the air.

Her grip gave up, and she fell down into Lu Bang's arms who knew what would happen. Huaban, however, had a strong sense of justice. She darted towards the men and chased them away. That was when Sun Yin looked for him, and she just missed Huaban flying away. At that moment, Lu Bang went to the other side of the street to lecture the woman.

"Never steal from anyone. You don't know how dangerous they could be." He kept his frown and his lecturing finger. "Why are those men after you? What did you do to piss them?"

"I... I'm not really a thief or anything." She looked away from him. She kept her arms on her chest. "You see, I'm... I work in the brothel. They said they'd pay me double if I steal from someone. I'm sorry, I'm not going to do it again."

"You already sold your body for money. Don't sell your dignity along with it." Lu Bang sighed before looking at the crowd. He walked away from the woman to grab Sun Yin's back collar and slowly dragged her to the shore. "What are you looking for?"

"Oh, you're here!" Sun Yin clapped her hand.

Then, there was a scream of a man at the distance.

"I thought I already lost you!" She moved her body to the side as if looking at the woman behind him. "What might you be doing with this young lady, huh?"

More screams came. However, only a flying sword emerged from the alley and darted overhead to find its way back to its sheath.

"She tried to steal Huaban." That was all he said before frowning at Sun Yin. "Did you make Huaban attack those men?"

"It was you who made her chase them around." Sun Yin acted innocent, a sleeve pressed against her lying lips. However, she was more interested in the young woman. She moved to her side. "Young lady, aren't you supposed to be going home now?"

The lady looked at the two of them. She was always told that cultivators were different from normal mortals like them. They would not grow old as fast as normal mortals would, and they had curious powers to do curious things with or without weapons of their choice. However, she was not ready to learn about their mindset. They seemed to be fictional creatures, not getting angry at her for trying to steal—even at the fact that she was a night lady.

She only smiled at them as a response… before saying something she should not have in front of cultivators brimming with purity as the normal mortals see them. "My name is Zhang Min! Please visit the Rose Red Brothel House if you have the time!"

Silence passed between them, the two shocked at her words—the young lady even more so. Zhang Min then waved her hands in the air to clear the situation, but her lips only produced mumbling.

Sun Yin then giggled before patting her shoulder. "You're now responsible to save us a room if the inns turn us down, okay?"