Chapter 10

After wandering the night market, the large group returned to the inn. Jing Yuan and Le You gathered the others to discuss while A Xu went to take a bath.

"Tomorrow, we're going to check out the legendary brothel," Jing Yuan dropped a bombshell as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Really?" The chubby Qi Ziguang jumped excitedly from his chair, and Xiao Wu was secretly thrilled too.

Xu Haoyue glared at them fiercely and asked, "What are you planning to do?"

Le You quickly explained, "Calm down, calm down, Youyou. We're not going to do anything bad. Brother Su Heng told us that Joyful Red Pavilion will also be there tomorrow. We figured we'd just take A Xu along to see Joyful Red Pavilion's true colors."

"That method isn't a bad idea, but is it really okay to go to that kind of place? And we don't have any money either," Xu Haoyue was still hesitant.

"Don't worry about the money. Today we already agreed to work as Aberration Catchers for the County Magistrate. Brother Su Heng also gave us part of the deposit from the Magistrate. We won't have to worry about food and drink for a while. Plus, I heard being an Aberration Catcher comes with a free house. We can move in in a couple of days."

"That good? Brother Haozi, I feel like everything's been going a bit too smoothly for us on this journey," Xiao Wu muttered worriedly.

The chubby guy nodded in agreement, saying, "I feel the same way. Something just feels off."

"Ah, you just don't get it! What's it called? 'Protagonist's halo'—isn't that exactly what we have?" Qi Ziguang's face was full of disagreement.

Xu Haoyue sneered, "That's such a ridiculous thing to say!"

"Hey, we've even experienced transmigration. What's so ridiculous about a 'protagonist's halo'?"

Seeing they were about to start arguing again, Le You patted the table and urged, "Hey, hey, hey! We're discussing serious business here. Save that transmigration protagonist talk for later."

"What more is there to say? Tomorrow, all Youyou needs to do is bring A Xu along. For the rest, we'll play it by ear!" Jing Yuan had the final say, and the matter was settled.

Once the group dispersed, Xiao Wu and Qi Ziguang started scheming about borrowing money. Unfortunately, they were accidentally overheard by Xu Haoyue on their way upstairs, and the plan fell through.

Early the next morning, Xu Haoyue, Jing Yuan, and Le You dragged A Xu out of bed by force. Before dawn, many residents in the inn were startled awake by A Xu's earth-shattering wails. Luckily, Xu Haoyue covered her mouth in time, preventing any serious disturbance.

A Xu, unwilling and reluctant, was dragged through their morning exercises. She slumped over the dining table, too sleepy to even eat. After they finally finished their meal, they dragged her out to wander the streets all day. Not only did they buy a bunch of random stuff, but they also insisted on buying A Xu two sets of men's clothing.

In the evening, before even eating dinner, they said they were going somewhere else and made the girls change into the men's clothes. A Xu hung her head, following weakly behind Xu Haoyue, and complained, "Why are we wearing men's clothes for no reason? They're so ugly. Where on earth are you taking me?!"

Xu Haoyue dragged A Xu out of the inn gate, following behind Xiao Wu. To avoid raising A Xu's suspicions, Jing Yuan and Le You had already left ahead with Qi Ziguang, leaving the chubby guy and Xiao Wu to accompany the two girls.

"A Xu, we're taking you to a fun place!" the chubby guy said with a particularly lewd tone. A Xu glanced at him and couldn't be bothered to respond.

The four of them wandered on the road for a while before finally arriving at the Joyful Red Pavilion. Qi Ziguang, who had been waiting at the entrance, was growing impatient. As soon as he saw them arrive, he immediately grabbed the chubby guy and rushed inside in a hurry.

The two of them had been dreaming about the Joyful Red Pavilion all day. Finally reaching the entrance, only for Qi Ziguang to be left waiting outside, was truly agonizing. When they finally rushed in... well, they were utterly disappointed. The imagined wonderful scene didn't appear. On the contrary, while the women inside were said to be scantily clad, at most they showed some arms and legs. It wasn't even as appealing as bikinis on a beach.

The two men sighed in frustration, looked around boredly, then ran back to drag away Xu Haoyue and A Xu, who were still gawking at the back. They weren't staring at arms or legs; they were just captivated by the gaudy, brightly colored clothes the girls wore. All sorts of strange combinations—some pretty, some not—it could only be said that the aesthetic sense here was something else, daring to mix any weird color recklessly.

Fortunately, A Xu had been holding Xiao Wu's hand the whole time. The little guy's eyes were practically glazed over, and he looked utterly dumbstruck. While going upstairs, several women pinched him quite a few times. Finally, it hurt enough that he pushed A Xu to hurry up and escape.

In a pleasure house like this, by nightfall, it might not be a roaring crowd, but it was certainly quite lively. Especially when passing certain rooms, one could hear all sorts of strange moaning and groaning sounds.

The chubby guy and Qi Ziguang's smiles grew increasingly lewd. Xu Haoyue couldn't stand it anymore and rapped them on the head several times. A Xu, meanwhile, kept covering Xiao Wu's ears and quickly hurried past.

They walked for quite a while before finally reaching the room Xiao Ai and Le You had booked. This was largely thanks to Qi Ziguang having informed the madam here in advance. Otherwise, even dressed as men, A Xu and Xu Haoyue probably wouldn't have gotten in so easily.

As soon as they entered, they saw Xiao Ai and Le You crouched by the wall, looking at something. They were even using some tools, seemingly drilling into the wall. Xu Haoyue was about to rush in and startle them, but A Xu held her back and told her to be quiet.

Xu Haoyue thought they were all acting very strange and couldn't help asking, "What's wrong with all of you today? So secretive. Brother Le You, move aside a bit. What are you looking at that's so interesting?"

Hearing her, Le You turned his head. Seeing Xu Haoyue standing behind him, he gave the others a mysterious smile, stood up, and vacated his spot.