Chapter 429: Chapter 429

"Gone? That little rascal who only reaches my ankles, couldn't he wait until evening to personally bid me farewell? Even if he couldn't wait, couldn't he write a letter with a bit more feeling? What is this thing he wrote?"

"What's this - 'I'm leaving, don't miss me!' Don't miss you my foot!!"

Wang Yanyu was quite displeased. She was upset that Xiaoyao left before her, but even more upset that Xiaoyao's heart was so simple - just five words, not even leaving his name.

"Next time I see you, I'll definitely make you regret it! Forget it, I'll finish things here early and move to a different place too. Where should I go this time?" Wang Yanyu looked at the night sky, several options appearing in her mind. She randomly counted one, two, three, four, five, and whatever choice she stopped on would be her decision.

Just that casually, Wang Yanyu also left Azure Dragon City. The two didn't know when they would meet again - perhaps it would be a long time, perhaps it would be soon...

Tianyuan Kingdom, a country formed after an empire's division, but still a powerful nation that even the Azure Dragon Empire wouldn't provoke lightly.

There were two other countries in the same situation as Tianyuan Kingdom. They were the three great powers that split from that empire, along with some other countries that also separated, but those were insignificant small nations.

Silver Heart City was the provincial capital of a state in Tianyuan Kingdom. Perhaps this city couldn't compare to some royal capitals or super cities, but it had a place famous throughout the world. They had a peculiar industry that could make people rich overnight, but could also make them lose everything in a single night.

This was something children and good kids shouldn't get involved with. Entry carried risks, investment required caution. Ordinary people were best not to touch it, those with families were best not to touch it. Those with poor self-control were best not to touch it, and those with poor psychological resilience should especially not touch it.

This was the gambling industry, one hand offering heaven, one hand offering hell.

Silver Heart City was a gambling city, a world-famous gambling city. No one knew how many gambling houses had set up shop here, and they were all the powerful kind, weaker ones would be squeezed out.

When gambling here, no matter who you were, you had to follow the rules. No one could cheat, no one could welch on debts, and only cash or equivalent valuable items were accepted, but they had to be things you currently possessed and could produce. Unless both parties agreed, the stakes had to be placed on the table.

This "no one" included the house, gambling establishments also had to follow the rules.

This was inevitable. Among gamblers were many powerful people. If gambling houses didn't follow the rules, they would be directly destroyed. Even without such people, if gamblers united, they would certainly overthrow the gambling house.

There were many martial artists in this world, and some of them enjoyed gambling. The most famous was the world's number one gambling god, who possessed not only powerful strength but also incredible gambling skills. He spent his time in Silver Heart City year-round, though generally his identity wouldn't be discovered. He had excellent disguise techniques and changed his appearance every day.

A hobby? Of course this wasn't a hobby. He was forced into it.

Originally he didn't know disguise techniques at all, but being forced by circumstances he learned them. Using them daily, he naturally became proficient.

Need you ask? If he didn't use disguise techniques, every gambling house would refuse him entry. The gambling houses' techniques simply couldn't handle him, and they couldn't cheat either. Letting him in would be like giving him free money.

So he mastered these advanced disguise techniques he originally didn't know.

Of course, the above matters about the gambling god had nothing to do with Xiaoyao for now. His current location wasn't a gambling house, though it was related to gambling, he was in a brothel.

Why was Xiaoyao in a brothel instead of at the Qi family? Need you ask - the Qi family wasn't so easy to enter. Going there without reason would only attract attention, making investigation more troublesome.

After arriving in Silver Heart City, Xiaoyao began collecting information about the Qi family, creating opportunities to chat with Qi family members, usually servants, as these people were easier to approach.

Soon, Xiaoyao obtained some information. The person he was looking for was called Qi Dongqiang, a typical wastrel young master who had three wives and four concubines but still frequently went out to spend money on women. Brothels were places he often frequented, which was why Xiaoyao was in a brothel.

This was unavoidable. No matter how much Xiaoyao inquired, he couldn't find out who the woman in Qi Dongqiang's painting was. Even those who knew about the painting weren't many.

Those who did know couldn't remember clearly. Some said this was from over twenty years ago, which matched what Xiaoyao was looking for, this was indeed how she looked twenty years ago. Who knew what she looked like now.

Although martial artists aged more slowly, twenty years wasn't a short time. Under normal circumstances, even if well-maintained, she should look to be in her thirties now. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel·fiɾe·net

In fact, Xiaoyao had also gotten information from Wang Yanyu. Though she only glanced at it, she was certain the painting's condition showed considerable age, ten to twenty years, though she couldn't determine exactly how long since she only took a quick look.

In that case, if Qi Dongqiang had never mentioned this painting, it would mean finding people from twenty years ago to learn about it. People from that time weren't easy to find, and even if found, they might not remember. So if Xiaoyao wanted information, he could only try to get it from Qi Dongqiang.

Xiaoyao was now trying to find a way to approach this Qi Dongqiang. He had followed him and entered an extremely luxurious brothel with "Yihong Courtyard" written above.

"Oh my, young master, do you have a favorite?" A courtesan in somewhat revealing clothes rushed over, fanning herself and speaking coquettishly.

"Sorry, let me look around first,” Xiaoyao replied. Looking didn't cost money, right? Just from this luxurious level, he didn't dare ask for anything, afraid he'd run out of money immediately.

"Looking? You mean selecting a girl? I have girls here who are all beautiful as flowers and jade. What type do you prefer?" The woman pressed against Xiaoyao's body, seductive as could be.

"What's that young lady called?" Xiaoyao saw Qi Dongqiang embracing a woman, she should be his regular here. He wanted to find this woman later to learn about the situation.

"Young master, that's one of our Yihong Courtyard's top ten courtesans. She doesn't serve just anyone. If you want to request her, you'd have to pay what she wants. Money works too, but it might be very expensive," the woman beside Xiaoyao said, still coquettish, showing no trace of disdain, though her words clearly suggested his money might not be enough.

"Just asking for a name, is it inconvenient to say?" Xiaoyao smiled, showing no awkwardness at the woman pressing against him. This made her think Xiaoyao was quite experienced.

"What's the problem with that? She's called Mudan." the woman replied with a smile. This wasn't important information, no need to offend a customer, even a relatively poor one. In this regard, this woman was very business-savvy.

Xiaoyao understood that Mudan was definitely an alias. Brothel women generally took aliases, but it was enough for him to identify the person. Names were just codes for finding people anyway, whether it was an alias didn't matter.

"How much for an upstairs private room?" Xiaoyao looked upstairs and asked. If possible, he naturally wanted to get close to Qi Dongqiang's room.

"Upstairs rooms don't cost money, but they need to be reserved, or you need to be a valued customer. You just need to spend more money here to be a valued customer." the woman pressed against Xiaoyao, smiling.

"What counts as spending more money?" Xiaoyao continued asking.

"As long as you call for a sister, that counts as spending money. Drinking companionship isn't expensive either, just one tael of silver." the woman smiled, "Choose me and I can give you a bit of discount."

One tael of silver was already quite a lot. Ordinary brothels charged at most a few qian of silver for drinking companionship, and inferior ones might only charge a few hundred or even dozens of copper coins.

This was one of Silver Heart City's best brothels, so naturally the prices were higher. And this was just the price for drinking companionship, not including overnight stays.

"Good, let's go upstairs," Xiaoyao was straightforward, directly going upstairs. Just one tael of silver, this brother still had that much. To find clues, this money had to be spent. Plus didn't she say there was a discount? Should save a few qian of silver.

"Alright, young master, then we'll go to Autumn Moon Pavilion!" Dujuan smiled and followed Xiaoyao, though she had slight objections to Xiaoyao walking ahead . Since you're asking me to accompany you for drinks, you should walk with me.

"Autumn Moon Pavilion?" Xiaoyao asked. He wanted to go next to Qi Dongqiang.

"Right over there!" Dujuan pointed in a direction, which didn't seem consistent with where Xiaoyao wanted to go.

Xiaoyao shook his head slightly and said, "This location isn't suitable for me in that direction. Let me see... over there, that room over there would be perfect." As he spoke, he pointed to the room next to where Qi Dongqiang had entered.

"Is there anyone inside?" Xiaoyao asked again.

"No one, it's still empty. Please follow me," Dujuan smiled. Though she was somewhat suspicious, how did Xiaoyao happen to point to the room next to Mudan's? Could he be trying to get close to Mudan?

Forget it, what did it matter if he was trying to get close to Mudan? As long as he spent money, that was fine. Maybe this would actually be better, he might come spend money every day.

In brothels, as long as customers spent money, they didn't care what purposes they might have, as long as it wasn't directed against the brothel itself. Xiaoyao's current behavior seemed like he was interested in Mudan, so they cared even less.

Dujuan had seen many of Mudan's admirers do things that made this seem perfectly normal in comparison.

"The place is pretty nice," After entering the private room, Xiaoyao found the environment acceptable. The furnishings were quite elegant, showing none of the atmosphere of a house of ill repute. This was the difference between high-class brothels and ordinary ones.

Many customers here pretended to be refined, and some were actual scholars. Naturally things had to be more elegant to satisfy these customers' desired feelings.