Chapter 57: The Brothel Hall Master
Qin Mu pulled his head back and walked toward the next room. Inside was a seductive woman who had been watching the Sword Hall master from the building across the way. Hearing Qin Mu’s footsteps, she quickly turned around, her breath fragrant as orchids, and said softly, “Young master, your swordsmanship is extraordinary—you even wounded the Sword Hall’s sword maniac. I am truly impressed. My body is frail, nothing like that sword maniac, so I hope you’ll show me some mercy.”
Qin Mu blinked his eyes. “Big sister, I’m only eleven, turning twelve this autumn. I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
The woman’s expression stiffened, then she burst into laughter. “I mistook you for one of those dirty men outside and was about to seduce you, but I forgot you’re still young and don’t understand matters between men and women. I am the Brothel Hall master of the Sacred Sect, usually living in places of pleasure, well-versed in romance. I planned to use charm techniques to embarrass you. But young as you are, you’ve already defeated so many hall masters—I admire that. In this room, I won’t compete with you in sword or fist techniques. I’ll compete with you in body movement.”
She took out a rouge box and opened it gently, releasing a fragrance that seeped into the soul. Smiling, she said, “This is my favorite cardamom rouge. You and I will stain our fingers with rouge, then compete in body movement within this room. We can only smear rouge on each other’s faces. Whoever has the most rouge marks on their face loses. How about it?”
Qin Mu nodded, grinning sweetly. “Alright, big sister will have to go easy on me.”
“Sweet talker!”
The Brothel Hall master’s heart bloomed with joy. She shot him a playful glare, stained her slender jade-like fingers with rouge, then handed the box to Qin Mu, who also stained his ten fingers.
Suddenly, the Brothel Hall master moved her feet, her body slithering like a snake. Her primordial energy transformed into a serpent’s tail, and with a *shua* sound, it coiled around Qin Mu’s legs.
Qin Mu was startled. He had seen this technique before—on the arena at the Grandmother Temple, when he fought a girl who used this same method. Her primordial energy had turned into a great snake, wrapping around him as she slithered up and down his body, until he beat her black and blue with the Thousand-Handed Buddha.
“Could that girl be this hall master’s disciple?”
Qin Mu strained his legs, and before the Brothel Hall master could fully coil around him, she slipped off. The woman let out a light laugh, then suddenly slithered up the wall, her snake tail wrapping around a beam. Her finger techniques were exquisitely delicate as she attacked Qin Mu.
Her arms were like spirit snakes too, able to bend at will, and her ten fingers moved like ten little serpents. Strangely, her slender jade fingers could lengthen and shorten, and her arms could do the same!
Then Qin Mu saw something even stranger: the Brothel Hall master’s body became thin and long, soft as if boneless, hanging from the ceiling like a human python draped there!
Qin Mu shifted his footwork, moving across the floor like a dragon coiling, like a snake slithering, while the Brothel Hall master moved just as freely on the ceiling, upside down, attacking him relentlessly.
Suddenly, Qin Mu’s primordial energy exploded, a green dragon coiling around him. The dragon extended its claws, gripping the wooden wall, and Qin Mu’s body movement unfolded. He flew across the walls and ceiling as if on level ground, abandoning defense for offense. He unleashed the Thousand-Handed Buddha, attacking the Brothel Hall master wildly.
In the small room, the two moved like wind and lightning, up and down, left and right, treating walls and ceiling like flat ground. It was as if a dragon and a snake were fighting, entwining, dancing—a bizarre sight.
Suddenly, the Brothel Hall master felt a touch on her face, and four finger marks appeared. She grew anxious. Qin Mu’s palm suddenly opened, and a thunderclap erupted from his hand—*hong long*—blasting her into a daze, her soul scattered.
By the time she came to her senses, her face was completely smeared with rouge.
“No more, no more!”
The Brothel Hall master slid down from the ceiling, waving her hands. “No more, I lose. You’ve ruined my makeup. Your body movement is too strange, your footwork too bizarre—I can’t catch you or trap you.”
Qin Mu also slid down, smiling. “Big sister, you let me win.”
The Brothel Hall master saw his young face, his lips red and teeth white, and suddenly couldn’t resist planting a kiss on his cheek. Laughing, she said, “There—I’ve left two rouge marks on you too. I haven’t lost too badly.”
Qin Mu’s face flushed red. His heart pounded like a startled deer, and he walked out of the room in a daze.
The Brothel Hall master chuckled. “If I’d known this would beat you, I’d have kissed you long ago! If you ever have trouble, just find any brothel and tell the woman there you’re looking for Fu Qingyun, and you’ll find me!”
Qin Mu stood quietly outside the next room for a moment until his heart calmed. The boy wiped the lip print from his face and walked into the room, thinking, “No wonder Blind Grandpa said women are all demons in disguise. That kiss nearly sucked my heart out…”
In this room was a female butcher, her face fiercer than any man’s, even more menacing than a slaughterer. She held a cleaver in her hand, sharpening it with a *chi chi* sound, a bone pick for picking teeth dangling from her mouth.
The moment Qin Mu stepped in, the female butcher said nothing, charging straight at him with the knife. Blade light poured out, and a gale swept through the small room. Every strike was a vicious move meant to disembowel, showing no mercy!
Qin Mu quickly drew his knife to block. *Ding ding ding ding*—a rapid series of clashes like pearls falling onto a jade plate!
The two separated, turning around. The female butcher spun her two knives half a turn, holding them in reverse, excitement gleaming in her eyes. She praised, “Good knife work!”
Qin Mu also reversed his cleaver, holding it backhanded, and said cautiously, “Big sister, with both of us holding our knives in reverse, our next moves will surely be lethal techniques. A blade has no mercy. How about we use our hands as knives and stop at the touch?”
The female butcher threw her cleaver, embedding it in the wall, and laughed. “Fair enough. Reverse grip means killing. If I killed you, the Sect Leader’s wife would surely be furious and have me killed. Let’s fight empty-handed with knife techniques!”
Qin Mu’s primordial energy swirled, lifting his cleaver and returning it to the sheath on his back. He shook his hands, and flames blazed up, forming two fire knives.
The female butcher vibrated her palms, and the edges of her hands turned into blades—sharp White Tiger primordial energy. Her hands flipped through the air, cutting the air with a *chi chi* sound as she lunged at Qin Mu. “Young master, your fire knives will be at a disadvantage—they’re not as sharp as White Tiger energy!”
Qin Mu’s eyes flickered. The flames flowing from his hands dripped down to his forearms, as if he were holding reverse knives.
The third form of the Butcher Knife Technique: Drawing the Knife from the Forbidden!
The two were almost body to body, their feet constantly shifting as they closed in on each other, striking without using their eyes. They relied solely on the force transmitted from the other’s body to sense their movements, then reacted—either blocking or attacking.
Reverse grip meant getting close—close-quarters combat with small, fast, and tricky strikes!
This was the highest level of combat in martial techniques. Whether facing spell or divine ability schools, if a martial technique expert got this close, the opponent was as good as dead!
Every muscle in Qin Mu’s body kept twitching. His six hundred and forty muscles rippled beneath his skin, providing maximum explosive power in the shortest distance!
In just a short time, both he and the female butcher were drenched in sweat. Mobilizing so many muscles in such a short span, calculating the opponent’s muscle movement trajectories, guarding against their most dangerous attacks, and trying to kill them—this brief moment was no less exhausting than a full-scale battle, consuming immense energy!
Suddenly, Qin Mu used his hand as a knife, slipping it into the female butcher’s opening. He stepped forward with a bow stance and slashed, completely cutting open her greasy apron.
The female butcher stepped back, dispersing the White Tiger energy from her hands. She tore off the apron, now in two pieces, tossed it aside, and laughed heartily. “I lose. You win. Your knife skills aren’t bad. If you can’t make it through all three hundred and sixty rooms, feel free to come out with me. Butchering pigs can still put food on the table.”
Qin Mu felt quite fond of this plump big sister and smiled. “I also know alchemy. I don’t have to be a butcher—I could be a healer, saving lives.”
The female butcher spat out the bone pick she used for her teeth and sneered. “A healer? If you treat someone and they die, the family will raise a stink and bankrupt you! Butchering pigs is better—steady profit. Come with me, and I’ll make sure you eat and drink well!”
Qin Mu’s head throbbed. He quickly walked out, stammering, “We’ll see, we’ll see… I’m still young…”
“Young master!”
The female butcher raised her hand, pulled the two cleavers from the wall, and called him back, speaking seriously. “When you go back, tell the Sect Leader’s wife that Bi Yao misses her and thinks of her kindness.”
Qin Mu nodded.
The female butcher Bi Yao walked downstairs into the courtyard. Suddenly, a loud *bang* rang out. She looked up and saw one wall of the wooden building explode outward. The Snake-Catching Hall master tumbled down headfirst, his head slamming into the ground, smashing the paved stone slabs of the courtyard to pieces.
Bi Yao hurried over to pull the Snake-Catching Hall master out of the ground, when another *bang* sounded. Someone flailed through the broken wall and stuck to the opposite wall.
*Bang!*
Another loud crash—the Divination Hall master burst through the wall. Before he could land, a voice from inside the building chanted, “Bore bore samaya!”
A violent tremor shook the air, and the Merchant Hall master flew out right after.
Bi Yao pulled the Snake-Catching Hall master out and looked up, muttering, “Young Master Mu’s warm-up is over. He’s getting serious…”