Chapter 72 Open the Door with Gold Leaves

Qi Sian's carriage slowly stopped in front of a row of low houses in the Western Market. When Pan Yueqing lifted the curtain, she saw several women dressed revealingly. They came forward, all decked out, their eyes shining like they saw two big copper coins. They grabbed the railing of the carriage and waved their handkerchiefs towards the inside of the carriage, smiling coquettishly, "Little gentleman~ Come down and have some fun, little gentleman~"

A low-class brothel. The thought flashed through Pan Yueqing's mind involuntarily. Her face turned as cold as frost as she closed the curtain and met Qi Sian's calm gaze with a probing look. Qi Sian was sitting upright. "What did you bring me here for?"

He was twisting a grape and slowly putting it into his mouth. His thick eyelashes lifted slightly as he met Pan Yueqing's gaze, and he smiled indifferently, "To sell you."

Pan Yueqing's eyes narrowed slightly. In her mind, this venomous Qi was capricious. The words that seemed like a joke with a smile on his face at this moment might actually come true. Qi Sian, seeing Pan Yueqing's instantly displeased expression, laughed heartily as if his prank had succeeded. He waved his hand at Pan Yueqing, put on his mask, bent down, and stuck his head out. He said coldly to the two flamboyant prostitutes, "Where's Beauty Ju?"

"Ju... Is the young master here to find Mama Ju?" The prostitute on the left suddenly smiled, covering up her surprise. Her voice changed from the previous wantonness to a bit of respect.

"I'm not looking for her. Ask her to come to me." Qi Sian deliberately lowered his voice, with a hint of a smile that made him seem to hold the power of life and death. Pan Yueqing sat upright beside him, looking straight ahead with a composed expression. She watched as the two prostitutes curtsied and left immediately. Soon after, a middle-aged madam was fanning herself and sniffing snuff, swaying her hips and saying lazily, "Oh! Which master is this~"

"It's me, Hu San." Qi Sian lifted the curtain and looked at the madam through the mask. "Beauty Ju, long time no see, huh?"

"Third... Third Master..." The wanton expression on Beauty Ju's face froze for a moment. After a while, she smiled slightly. "Are you also here to see the treasures in the Long Night tonight?"

"Lead the way." Qi Sian smiled and dropped the curtain. The sound of the carriage wheels rolling over the gravel came again. The young and long voice of the servant boy came from outside the carriage. Qi Sian leaned against the cushion with his mask on and said, "Long night of ecstasy, open the door with gold leaves. Welcome to the Long Night Underground Palace."

"What treasures are there tonight?" Pan Yueqing slightly lifted the curtain and saw that in front of the carriage, on the palanquin, the madam called Beauty Ju by Qi Sian was sitting sideways, holding a long peacock feather fan in one hand and fanning it idly by her side.

"First, call me A Lang; second, when we go in, keep your eyes open and your mouth shut." Qi Sian reached out and covered Pan Yueqing's mouth, whispering the order, and then shook his head slightly. Pan Yueqing could tell from his expression that tonight was not ordinary. I'm afraid that from the moment they stepped in here, they had already been under surveillance. She nodded subconsciously and deliberately raised her voice a bit, "Yes, A Lang."

After a while, the carriage stopped again. Slowly, with Pan Yueqing's help, Qi Sian got off the carriage. In front of them was a tall archway with a plaque that read "No Words". Two beggars were sleeping on the marble foundation of the archway. Qi Sian bent down, took out a tael of gold from his waist, and gently placed it in the broken bowl of the beggar on the left. Then, without saying a word, he passed through the archway and stopped directly in front of a very dilapidated noodle shop.

The noodle shop owner didn't even look up and asked, "What kind of noodles do you want? Eat here or take away?"

"Eat here, in the tomb." Qi Sian said slowly and took out a small gold leaf and placed it beside the noodle shop owner. The owner instinctively looked up and saw Qi Sian wearing a fox mask. Immediately, a flattering look appeared on his cold face. "Third Master hasn't been here for a while. Miss Wu Yan was wondering if she didn't play the pipa well enough?"

Qi Sian laughed but didn't say anything. The owner led Qi Sian to a small door and turned sideways to indicate that Qi Sian could go down. Since getting off at the archway, Pan Yueqing had been silent and followed closely behind Qi Sian. She took a deep look at Qi Sian's back, who seemed to be in his element. For a moment, she couldn't figure out why such a capable person in his previous life had died at the young age of twenty.

This was a very long path, just wide enough for two people to walk side by side. There was a torch every five steps to light the way. Pan Yueqing frowned slightly. If her guess was correct, this path should be a tomb passage, and this length was obviously built according to the规格 of an emperor... but the width didn't quite match.

While she was wondering, suddenly there was a flash of light in front of her. She bent down and followed Qi Sian, as if entering a wonderland. The long and narrow tomb passage was connected to a very large circular tower. The place where they came out happened to be on the third floor. There were many lights dotted in the sky above. Below, a slave was fighting with a lion. The second floor was already full of people. They were all wearing the masks of Kunlun slaves, and their voices were filled with madness.

Beast fighting and high-stakes gambling.

Pan Yueqing's eyes trembled slightly. The hall below was stained with blood. The desperate roars of the slaves were like the boundless sea, trying to drown her in the memories of the ten years of fighting on the battlefield in her previous life. She had thought that she would never see such a cruel scene again in this life. She bit her lip slightly and forced herself to follow Qi Sian expressionlessly.

"Third!"

Pan Yueqing turned her head in the direction of the voice. A middle-aged man with a white half-mask and gray hair was slowly coming towards her and Qi Sian under the escort of two elite guards. She heard him bow slightly towards Qi Sian and say, "Long time no see. I heard you went to the Western Regions to search for treasures? Did you find anything good? Does your elder brother have the honor to have a look today?"

"Ha..." Qi Sian turned his head, and his smile came from under the mask. "Stop talking. All twenty people died. I lost everything. Now, I can't even pay the monthly salary of the waiter at Ruyi Zhai. Big brother, can you give me some living expenses?"

"Listen to your nonsense." The man with the white mask smiled at Qi Sian and stopped two steps away. He turned around, rested his chin in his hand, and looked down. The previous beast fight had ended. A female slave was timidly brought to the center. He stroked his beard and asked meaningfully, "Do you think the second one is here to cheat money? A female slave fighting a lion?"

"Where is that female slave from?" Qi Sian imitated the action of the man with the white mask, resting his hands under his chin, and asked with interest but casually, "I heard that the second brother ordered that if the female slave wins, all the male slaves will be killed to offer sacrifices to the heavens..."

"Oh?" The man with the white mask laughed heartily, but he reached out and took a crossbow and aimed it at the head of the beast. He smiled at Qi Sian and said, "I don't believe he's willing to do that." Before Qi Sian could react, he shot an arrow at the lion's neck. The arrow made of refined steel instantly pierced through the lion's neck, and the huge beast fell to the ground immediately.

"Boring," Qi Sian looked at the people on the second floor who were making a commotion due to the sudden change and sneered. "When will the treasure appraisal start?"