Chapter 261: Who Are You?

After Ji Yuan whispered these words to Zhang Rui, he did not turn back around. Soon, the Madam behind him had caught up, holding her fan and skirt, Wang Li following closely behind her.

“Oh, Sir, you are really strong and fast. I can barely catch up to you after just a few steps. Sir, although Miss Hongxiu is temporarily accompanying others and playing the piano, it must be almost time for her to finish up. I will make a request for you later. Please head to the boat to drink tea first, hahaha…”

Ji Yuan looked at the old woman and nodded with a smile.

“Okay, thank you for your help.”

“Ah, it’s no trouble, no trouble at all!”

The Madam put on a smile. The frequency of her fanning herself became several times faster than normal, reflecting her slightly excited mood.

Wang Li beside them followed Ji Yuan without saying a word. In hindsight, he was fairly sure the old immortal probably knew the words he had whispered to the old Madam just now.

Of course, Ji Yuan certainly was aware of what Wang Li ha said. There was no need for him to guess: with his hearing, how could he not have heard it? But this situation was helpful for him, so there was no need to expose it.

The Daxiu Building was quite large, and included numerous courtyards and elegant pavilions. It could be considered the pinnacle of the brothel business. The Madam led Ji Yuan and Wang Li all the way to the back. On the way, she diligently introduced Ji Yuan to the specialties, talents, and beauty of the girls in each courtyard.

However, she could see that Ji Yuan basically never looked to the side. Even when he looked at her, it seemed casual. The madam immediately thought to herself that this gentleman was likely accustomed to beautiful appearances, and ordinary mediocre women wouldn’t catch his eye.

After a while, the group passed through the Daxiu Building and came to the water’s edge. They walked along the Sushui River on a wooden plank path by the water. In front of them was the Daxiu Ship, docked in the inner courtyard.

“Sir, Mr. Wang, the large performance boat is in front of us. The best girls in our performance pavilion are all inside! Hahaha… Please follow me aboard!”

The madam waved her fan, covering her mouth, and smiled softly. As she led the way, she carefully looked back at Ji Yuan. She could see Ji Yuan chuckling softly, before he flicked his sleeves and followed.

This flick of his sleeves actually made the Madam feel as though all the dust around her had been swept away. The bright moon in the sky was simply reflected in the water beside her.

To be honest, she had been in this business for a long time, and had seen countless men. This great gentleman’s appearance was naturally good, but there were definitely many men who were more handsome than him; however, this was the first time in her life that she had seen his calm and natural demeanor, as well as the vague traces of life’s vicissitudes on his face.

The Madam invited Wang Li and Ji Yuan to sit down In one of the elegant rooms on the boat, told others to bring tea, before taking her leave.

“Please sit here and enjoy your tea for a while. I will head to Miss Hongxiu’s attic to take a look…”

The Madam stood up and left. After exiting the elegant room at a sedate pace, she immediately sped up and hurried towards the attic where Hongxiu was.

The elegant room was quiet. Aside from the guests, everyone else, even the servants, were just waiting outside.

Ji Yuan picked up the teacup, smelled the fragrance of the tea, then drank it. Wang Li and Zhang Rui also sat on their knees to his left and right. Outside the window was a view of the calm surface of the Sushui River.

“The smell of powder on this ship is not as irritating.”

Zhang Rui said. As she held up Wang Li’s teacup to her nose and inhaled the scent, a white mist was sucked away.

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She was good at concealing herself, and with Mr. Ji’s edict, she was not afraid of her presence leaking.

Seeing this, Wang Li glanced at Ji Yuan, took a new teacup, poured himself some tea, and looked around at this elegant room in the performance boat.

The only time he had been on the Daxiu Ship was when he had been invited to tell a story. After seeing Hongxiu once, he was shocked by her beauty. After he had finished telling stories, Hongxiu had toasted him with a glass of wine, and whispered to Wang Li that he could call her “Wan’er.”

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Since then, Wang Li had become a frequent visitor of the Daxiu Building. He thought about Hongxiu day and night. Of course, the other girls in this brothel had their own talents, and Wang Li also liked them too.

“Mr. Ji…”

Wang Li said weakly, not knowing where to start.

“Mr. Wang, please tell me, I am is listening.”

Ji Yuan sipped the tea, but did not look at Wang Li. He reached into his sleeve with one hand and took out a book. In this situation, Wang Li didn’t even realize how strange it was to hide an entire book in his sleeve.

“Mr. Ji, you… you said that the current Red Beauty is… some evil thing?”

Ji Yuan flipped two pages of the book, looking for the place he had stopped at last time, and replied without looking at Wang Li.

“We’ll have to take a look at it first to see whether it’s evil or not.”

“Mr. Ji, to be honest, I am very fond of Miss Hongxiu. I met Wan’er more than a year ago… After seeing Miss Hongxiu, I always felt that this woman should not be living in this place of prostitution. If Miss Hongxiu was were really coerced by a monster, you…”

“I know, I won’t ignore it”

Ji Yuan said, and continued to flip the pages. This book was the compilation of deductions he himself had written. Sometimes he would be enlightened just by reading it again.

“Uh hehe, I…”

“Wang, are you done yet?

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What do you want to say? Mr. Ji might not be in a hurry, but I am getting annoyed!”

Zhang Rui to the side angrily interrupted Wang Li.

Wang Li smiled awkwardly.

“I believe that this might actually be a good opportunity to save Miss Hongxiu. A wonderful woman like her should be living the life of a rich lady, but she has fallen to this point…”

“Oh? Mr. Wang likes her very much?”

Ji Yuan looked at Wang Li and asked casually, the latter nodded hurriedly.

“As I just said, I have already fallen in love with her!”

Ji Yuan smiled, reached out, and lifted the teapot to refill Wang Li’s cup, then poured another cup for Zhang Rui. However, the latter only produced a small puff of white mist.

“Mr. Wang, which girls do you usually go to when you come to Daxiu Building?”

“Uh… there’s Xiaolan and Chunfang, usually… sometimes also Xiaoya…”

“Oh, I see…”

Ji Yuan looked at him.

“What is it about these girls that attracts you?”

Wang Li’s face was hot, and his speech was a little hesitant.

“It’s…that’s…they’re all very gentle…also, they’re talented…”

“Didn’t you say you fell in love with Hongxiu?”

Zhang Rui sneered from the side, and Wang Li hesitated.

“This, this is different…”

Ji Yuan sighed, shook his head, and looked at Wang Li. This was the first time tonight that Wang Li had truly seen Ji Yuan’s pale eyes clearly.

“Mr. Wang, this is not falling in love. Food and sex are parts of human nature. You are just lustful…”

“Pfft…”

Zhang Rui couldn’t help but laugh so much that she snorted tea. Wang Li was so embarrassed that he was stunned for a moment, then hurried to drink tea.

After waiting for more than a quarter of an hour, footsteps sounded from the hallway deck outside of outside the elegant room. The Madam opened the door, and her attentive voice impatiently sounded.

“Oh, I am sorry to have kept the two of you waiting for such a long time. Miss Hongxiu is retouching her makeup, she will be here soon… um…”

The Madam walked into the room and saw that there were actually three cups of tea. However, after pondering it for a while, she couldn’t come up with a reason, so she didn’t ask any more questions. She simply took a cushion and knelt beside the tea table.

“Miss Hongxiu must retouch her makeup as a courtesy before meeting new guests. I heard that a gentleman like Sir was attracted here due to her reputation. Miss Hongxiu is looking forward to meeting you. Oh, of course, we also already know about Mr. Wang’s talent…”

Ji Yuan didn’t reply. He took a tea cup, flipped it right side up, and personally poured a cup of hot tea for the Madam.

This move did not make the Madam feel as though Ji Yuan had lowered his status, but rather flattered her.

“Thank you, sir!”

Ji Yuan just nodded and continued to turn the pages of his bood, but at this moment, his hand suddenly stopped moving.

“Hmm?”

“Mr. Ji, what’s wrong?”

“Sir, what’s the matter?”

Zhang Rui and the Madam asked Ji Yuan at the same time. The latter frowned and shook his head, looking at the Madam.

“Miss Hongxiu is putting on makeup?”

“Yes, yes!”

The Madam finally saw Ji Yuan’s eyes clearly at this moment, half-opened. They were a pair of pale, completely calm eyes, clear and bright, like ancient wells with no ripples.

“Do you have any advice, sir?”

The Madam asked subconsciously.

“It’s nothing!”

Ji Yuan smiled and turned the page again, and continued to read the book. Just now, that extremely unique demonic aura was rapidly fading away. It had now become so faint it was almost indistinguishable.

It must be said that Ji Yuan’s hearing, smell, and certain aspects of his vision were all abnormally outstanding. He could see the aura colors of the world, and smell the dust. This was the first time this kind of change happened in front of him at such a close distance.

Not long after, the light footsteps sounded outside again, and a particularly fresh fragrance also drifted into the room. A pair of soft white hands moved the door open, and when the door was one third of the way open, there was a slight pause.

“This little girl is Duan Muwan. I am honored to greet you two gentlemen. Mother, your daughter

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is a little late!”

The Red Beauty entered the room and bowed to everyone. She walked to the table and looked at Ji Yuan and Wang Li with gentle eyes. Zhang Rui was beside Ji Yuan, but Hongxiu appeared to be unable to see her.

“Then you all have a good chat. Shall I take my leave first?”

The Madam asked with a smile. She only walked towards the door after seeing Ji Yuan nod.

“Take care, Mother!”

Hongxiu obediently told the Madam. The latter nodded and gave her a secret wink, asking her to serve them carefully.

When the sliding door to the outside was closed again, Mis Hongxiu had refilled the cups of tea for Ji Yuan and Wang Li.

“Gentlemen, before this little girl arrived, there were only three people in total, including Mother. Why are there four cups of tea? Was this reserved for me?”

Hongxiu pointed at the vacant seat beside Ji Yuan and asked in confusion.

“As expected of Miss Hongxiu, you have excellent psychological strength.”

Ji Yuan said lightly. His pair of pale eyes met Hongxiu’s puzzled gaze. Even the hint of surprise when she saw the color of his eyes was very natural.

Ji Yuan opened his eyes wide and looked at Hongxiu calmly.

“Miss, your makeup is well done!”

Hongxiu touched her face in confusion.

“Sir, you are too kind… No matter how talented we women are, some color still can’t be hidden…”

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Ji Yuan nodded, took another cup, poured a cup of tea for the girl. The latter thanked him and drank it, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

“How did the young master of the Xiao family know you? Why did you help him replace the original with a fake?”

Hongxiu’s hand holding the cup trembled slightly. She drank the tea, put down the cup, and spoke in surprise.

“SIr, you know Young Master Xiao. He hasn’t come to see Wan’er in a long time. Although the capital is far away…”

“Miss Hongxiu, did I ever say that it was Young Master Xiao of the capital?”

Ji Yuan sneered, making the woman in front of him pause.

“It was because Hongxiu only knows this one Young Master Xiao, so I thought you were talking about him…”

“Hahahaha…”

Ji Yuan suddenly laughed.

“I once heard from a friend that there were very few people in this world who understand the art of painting skin,

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so few they are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. To master a single path in the Way of Disguise and to excel in it is something truly miraculous, and worthy of deep contemplation. It truly is extraordinary, now that I have seen it for myself today.”

Hongxiu gripped the cup tightly, glanced at Zhang Rui casually, and then looked at Ji Yuan with a cold light in her expression.

“Who are you?!”

T/n: For those of you who may have missed it, I want to offer a layman’s translation of JY and Hongxiu’s conversation because the double-entendres are just too much fun to leave as is:

HX: “It looks like you have a 4th cup of tea, is this for me?” -> Do they know there’s a ghost in the room? (but pretending not to see it at all to act like an ordinary girl) If they let her drink it, then they don’t know that there’s a ghost. If they don’t let her drink it, they’re supernatural.

JY: “You’re mentally strong” -> complimenting her on her acting skills, basically “I know you know I know there’s a ghost, so stop pretending”

JY: “Your makeup is well done” -> You’re very good at concealing yourself, demon. You’re also very skilled in disguise techniques. And you also have an excellent excuse, you’ve integrated yourself in the human world seamlessly.

HX: “Thank you. Some things are difficult to hide, even with makeup.” -> taking his compliment literally in order to keep pretending to be a normal girl, but at the same time saying something both humble and secretly bragging about herself a little (see footnote 5)

JY: “How do you know Young Master Xiao so well for you to switch out the real Hongxiu for him?” -> abandoning all pretenses, “I know all your secrets, so seriously, stop pretending”

HX: tries to keep selling the innocent act but accidentally reveals that Xiao was from the capital so she actually does know what he’s talking about

JY: Gotcha :3 Damn, your disguise really is good.

HX: *panicking*

Reminder that when ghosts eat or drink, they consume the “essence” of the food, leaving a tasteless physical portion behind.

“er” is a diminutive indicating familiarity

The respectful way of saying “I” seems to be referring to yourself by your last name, so every time Wang Li hesitates, he keeps saying “Wang…” to refer to himself. Zhang Rui’s line here is actually “We know your last name is Wang!” to make fun of him LOL

“Mother” and “daughter” are not literal, it’s a term of address for the prostitutes and the Madam.

色相 (sèxiàng): coloration/hue/sex appeal. The sentence seems to be confusing because it’s a double-entendre. She’s saying that not even the powder can whiten her skin, being humble by saying that her skin is dark when the standard for beauty was white skin, but also subtly bragging by saying that not even makeup can get rid of her sex appeal. It’s a very subtle conversation the two of them are having.

Could refer to both makeup, but also explicitly disguise/transformation