Chapter 52: Overlooking Clearwater Waves, Gazing at the Moonlight

“No way, no way. Zongzong will beat me.” Five-Colored Mottled Black shook his head in refusal and turned to leave. The rest of the intel team saw this and quickly pulled him back. They all put on stern faces and scolded him one after another. “Zongzong is so good to players. How could he possibly beat a player? You’re talking nonsense!”

“Exactly. And is your question really that outrageous? We have questions in our hands that are a hundred times worse than yours. For the sake of gathering intel and building a complete character encyclopedia, we’re all willing to sacrifice ourselves. Five-Colored Mottled Black, you don’t even have the guts for this? We’ve misjudged you.”

The players from the strategy group sighed one after another, their words dripping with contempt.

“I… let me see your questions.” He didn’t want to be the one getting screwed over.

“Go ahead and look.” The players generously spread their hands and handed over their slips of paper, each one posing with the upright demeanor of a gentleman.

Five-Colored Mottled Black lowered his head and took a look. Sure enough, his question wasn’t the most outrageous. The other players’ questions were even worse—one more wolfish and unrestrained than the last. Things like at what favorability could they play Go together, swing on swings together, exchange keepsakes, or go horseback riding side by side. They really were a hundred times more excessive! If Zongzong was going to hit someone, it would probably be all the players together.

Five-Colored Mottled Black instantly felt much better. He clenched his fist and declared, “Then I’ll go ask!”

“Yeah, go for it.”

Five-Colored Mottled Black really went and asked. Trailing behind him was a massive group from the strategy team.

Ruan Xuezong was sipping tea, still dressed in that new outfit of his. It made him look like he had draped a whole season of faint mist and drizzle over his shoulders, which only accentuated the snow-white expanse of his wrist. The hand holding the teacup was slender and fair.

Nearby, the player responsible for serving tea was drooling while frantically taking screenshots. When he saw Five-Colored Mottled Black approaching, he assumed the guy was trying to steal his job. His expression immediately turned hostile. “Five-Colored Mottled Black, it’s event time. Why aren’t you working hard? What are you doing here?”

The Twilight Spring Festival Event had turned into a massive welfare bonanza for the players. Not only could they wear “free” new clothes, but money, experience, and contribution points all came with buffs during the event. It was classic “planners handing out welfare”—miss this village, and there’s no next store. This had fired up a horde of interstellar players who griped about their real-life jobs being exhausting, turning them into a frenzy of activity in the game.

“I’m here to ask Zongzong a few questions.” Five-Colored Mottled Black held up his slip of paper. He looked a bit nervous, but when Ruan Xuezong’s beautiful eyes—quiet and serene as the night sky—turned his way, his mind went foggy from the sheer allure. His courage surged in an instant!

Ruan Xuezong said mildly, “Wanderer Five-Colored Mottled Black, what is it?”

His eyesight was sharp enough to spot Five-Colored Mottled Black right away, but he also noticed the sneaky group of players lurking behind him. At this, Ruan Xuezong’s brows lifted slightly, curiosity stirring within. He wondered what these players—who weren’t properly working—were up to now.

“Well, Zongzong, the players from our strategy group want to ask you some questions. They’re really important to us, so we hope you’ll answer. First off, in the official lore video, the baby has a birthmark on his arm. Do you have one too?” Everyone realized Five-Colored Mottled Black was actually pretty good at this. He’d first elevated the stakes to make it hard to refuse, then tossed out the question.

And it was a fairly normal one at that. Ruan Xuezong felt a touch of surprise, thinking he might have misjudged these players. After a moment, he replied, “I do.”

“Then can I take a look?!” Five-Colored Mottled Black quickly followed up.

“…???” Ruan Xuezong’s tea-sipping paused. In a flash, the air at the scene turned deathly silent. The player serving tea nearby also widened his eyes. He was screaming “holy crap” in his mind while twin streams of nosebleed gushed from his face.

In the official lore video, that peach-blossom-colored birthmark was on the baby’s arm and shoulder. To prove it, Ruan Xuezong would at least have to roll up his sleeve and bare a section of his jade-like arm. Just thinking about it was damn… tantalizing and thrilling.

Huh, why was this nosebleed getting worse?

“No.” Ruan Xuezong’s aura turned icy in an instant. Five-Colored Mottled Black noticed that Zongzong was angry but hadn’t actually hit anyone. His courage swelled again. “Next question: At what favorability can I hold your hand?”

After asking, Five-Colored Mottled Black bashfully lowered his head.

Ruan Xuezong’s mouth twitched. He realized he’d truly underestimated these players. Each question was bolder than the last. With that in mind, he kept a straight face and silently triggered the system.

【Due to your improper thoughts and intentions, Ruan Xuezong’s favorability toward you has dropped by 100 points.】

Five-Colored Mottled Black: “!!!” His expression turned horrified, and his first instinct was to bolt.

Damn it! His total favorability pool was just over seven hundred. How could it drop by a hundred all at once?!

The strategy group players hiding in the bushes saw that this question really couldn’t be asked. They sighed in regret.

Afraid of getting dragged down and losing favorability themselves, they quickly kicked Five-Colored Mottled Black from the team to distance themselves. The team count returned to 29/30.

Only then did they step out righteously, relying on strength in numbers to point accusing fingers at Five-Colored Mottled Black in front of Ruan Xuezong. “Five-Colored Mottled Black, how could you ask something like that? What wolfish ambitions!”

“You’re actually lusting after Zongzong’s body? You’re despicable!”

“Hubby Zongzong, you’re too merciful. For a shameless pervert like Five-Colored Mottled Black, we should palm-strike him straight to the afterlife, deduct another thousand favorability, stick him with all the crap tasks from now on, and make an example of him!”

Five-Colored Mottled Black was dumbfounded. “I didn’t! I didn’t! You’re all talking nonsense!” And weren’t these the questions you told me to ask?!

Ruan Xuezong saw right through their little scheme, but he still said, “No need for a palm strike. This once, consider it a light punishment. No repeats.”

Five-Colored Mottled Black wanted to burst into tears.

Dropping a hundred favorability and calling it a light punishment? Everyone knew Ruan Xuezong’s favorability was the hardest to grind in all the Rivers and Lakes.

“Zongzong, their questions are way worse than mine! They’re lusting after your body too. Don’t believe me? Check their slips. It’s all written there in black and white!”

Five-Colored Mottled Black turned around and snitched.

“Really?” Ruan Xuezong raised his head. That flawless, aloof beauty of a face turned their way, making the strategy group players’ hearts thump wildly—stunned by his looks and scared stiff.

But their moral qualities were top-notch, so they instantly responded, “Report to Hubby Zongzong, we didn’t! Our questions are all perfectly proper. Our feelings toward you are nothing but pure admiration for a lofty flower on a high mountain. Five-Colored Mottled Black is slandering us! See for yourself.”

Slip one: Asking Ruan Xuezong’s impressions of being hunted as a swaddled infant and later taken in by Heart Washing Manor.

Slip two: Asking who Hero Qi was.

Slip three: About Heart Washing Manor back then…

Sure enough, each one was perfectly proper.

“…???” Five-Colored Mottled Black looked at the slip in his own hand, then at the righteous faces of the strategy group bigshots. He finally realized, a beat too late, that he’d been set up.

That day, the world achieved “Only Five-Colored Mottled Black Gets Hurt.”

After the players left, Ruan Xuezong resumed sipping his tea and reviewing the ledgers. He had a stack in front of him—accounts from the Heart Washing Merchant Guild, Heart Washing Escort Agency, tavern, teahouse, and more. From the ledgers, he could tell just how enthusiastic the players were about the event and how much they were contributing.

Running merchant convoys earned slim margins but took effort, with high profits drawing players in droves.

Everyone had a copy of Linghu Xiao’s compiled strategy guide. Some made a killing, while others flipped their wagons. The merchant guild manager came to Ruan Xuezong for instructions on punishing the group of wanderers who’d lost all their starting capital.

Ruan Xuezong took a sip of tea. “Do exactly as I said before.”

The manager got the message and immediately dragged over a bunch of wailing players to Clearwater Pavilion, forcing them to sign contracts for a hundred hours of labor.

Clearwater Pavilion—named for “overlooking clearwater waves, gazing at moonlight”—sounded pure and lovely, but it was really just a brothel.

After the players tearfully signed their indentures, the good-looking ones (those who’d pinched their faces carefully) got assigned as tea companions for chatting. The ugly ones (those who’d pinched sloppily) became tea-serving attendants or kitchen chefs.

No helping it—even the martial world judged by looks.

The owner of Clearwater Pavilion was Ruan Xuezong.

He’d personally set the rule that the pavilion’s top courtesans only sold their arts, not their bodies—just, tea, and conversation. That was why the place was packed with songstresses who were masters of both beauty and art. Most were women who’d fallen into the rivers and lakes, with a few men mixed in. They’d endured hardship and wandering with nowhere to go, so they threw themselves into Clearwater Pavilion and treated each other like sisters.

They’d tasted bitter days and didn’t want their shelter to collapse, so they threw themselves into performing. Clearwater Pavilion’s business had always held steady at a certain level.

After all, beauties in the pavilion drew regulars under their skirts, and those patrons came year-round to show support. Ruan Xuezong hadn’t paid attention for a while, but how could sales have dropped so sharply in just the last month or two?

Ruan Xuezong spotted the issue in the ledgers. He instructed a player to summon Flower Mama.

Flower Mama was Clearwater Pavilion’s madam and manager. She’d trained countless top courtesans skilled in song, dance, and reading the room. Ruan Xuezong trusted her reasonably well.

When Ruan Xuezong questioned her about the reason, she hesitated at first. But seeing she couldn’t hide it, she gritted her teeth and admitted, “Master, business has been bad this month because Tangli, Zhi, and Su Hexiang—those three girls—ran off.”

Ruan Xuezong was surprised. “Ran off?”

He’d set the rule that the pavilion only used labor contracts, not body-selling ones. If someone wanted to leave for a brighter future, Ruan Xuezong welcomed it. They just had to fulfill their contract term, then pack their belongings publicly amid cheers from their sisters and brothers.

Leaving openly and honorably—why sneak away? Sneaking away was tantamount to betrayal.

“Yeah, they fled in the dead of night.” Speaking of it, tearstains seemed to linger on Flower Mama’s face. “Master, you know those three were ones I trained personally. Before coming here, they’d been cast off by husbands, abandoned by lovers, spat on by their families. I pitied them, so I brought them into the pavilion. I treated them like daughters—fed them, clothed them, gave them silks, rouge, and powder to dress up. I even taught them dances and music… They’d stumbled hard over love once before, and here they go again.”

“How do you know they ran off for love?” Ruan Xuezong frowned, interrupting on instinct.

Flower Mama pulled out a silk handkerchief and dabbed at her tears. “I heard from the servant girls that before those three ran, they’d been chatting with some rivers-and-lakes wanderers. Those poor wanderers had no money but sure could talk—promising to whisk them away to far horizons, to broader worlds… Then one day, they were gone. Tangli first, then Zhi and Su Hexiang… Those three fools! They’re all grown up and still believing men’s sweet talk! Heaven knows, rivers-and-lakes folk aren’t even as reliable as proper merchants!”

That was what filled Flower Mama with righteous indignation. Why elope with those types? If they got wronged, where could they seek justice? But people deep in love never listened.

“What about Jing Mo?”

Ruan Xuezong pointed to the Flower Register. Jing Mo was one of Clearwater Pavilion’s handsome male top courtesans—not your average pretty boy. Every tea-and-chat session, guests fought to book him.

Ruan Xuezong didn’t know Jing Mo’s full background, only that he’d apparently been from a noble house. But his body couldn’t handle martial arts training, so his arrogant family discarded him. He’d wandered into Clearwater Pavilion, taken a liking to the vibe, and gone with the flow—picking a herbal-sounding name and casting off his past to earn for the house.

“Him? He ran off too,” Flower Mama said indifferently. “Last month, a guest in a veil came—loaded with cash and smooth-talking. Gave him a whole chest of jewels, praised how someone so fine shouldn’t stay in the dusty world of pleasure. Seems like it moved him. A few days later, he was gone.”

Male top courtesans counted as her “sons” too, but Flower Mama clearly cared more about her delicate boys.

Losing four of their star courtesans in a month—how could Clearwater Pavilion not suffer a massive blow?

“They snuck off without a word too?” Ruan Xuezong’s brows furrowed. His fingers drummed on the table, irregular taps.

Elope for love (or money)—it fit worldly logic. But Ruan Xuezong sensed something off. He draped the fox fur cloak over his shoulders and resolved to head into the city to Clearwater Pavilion himself.