Musa did have a plan. He remembered years ago there were some gambling dens and underground trading centers in the capital where people were buying and selling everything – from rare cultivation materials and forbidden weapons, to cultivation techniques and information. It was way less riskier than asking innkeepers or waiters. In addition, tomorrow they would visit slave markets around the capital as well to see if it was possible to pick up any leads there.
The plan was alright, but Leo had what he considered a much better idea. Since this was ‘the capital’ surely there had to be tons of brothels around the city. And he clearly remembered how chatty the girls back in the ‘Heart and soul’ were after few glasses of wine. This way neither he nor Musa had to risk their lives and there was a high chance of success – they would just go to few such establishments, buy drinks to the girls and listen.
Obviously Musa immediately accused him of simply being horny and unable to keep in his pants even though the woman he came to rescue was somewhere nearby, but Leo just snorted and reminded that he once had been a professional and knew ‘what’s what’ in this particular line of work. In the end Musa gave in since there really was no harm on trying this approach and when the sun settled, they returned to the city.
First they went back to their inn where the innkeeper with a knowing grin and excessive amounts of winks marked the best spots for night entertainment on their map. As expected, prostitution was rather popular business here, with the price range suited any kind of customer.
To Leo’s ear it was disgusting to hear that most brothels employed ‘high quality slaves’ since he was once a proud part of this particular industry, but there was no way to work around the local laws. Thus they chose the district with the establishments that had the highest reputation and in leisure manner proceeded there.
When the innkeeper marked the map with wide circles, the two thought he marked the districts where the brothels could be found. What they didn’t expect was that the districts basically consisted of brothels, decorated with lighting formations mostly of red color, with half naked ladies and gentlemen in front of them literally pulling the customers in.
Of course, even if anyone tried, for a regular person it was impossible to move a Nascent soul stage cultivator like Leo or Musa even an inch, but that made everyone try even harder. It was the common knowledge that the stronger the person, the richer they were and obviously these places were all about earning money.
Leo’s first impulse was to pick a random brothel and try their luck in it and, if they failed, simply move to the next one. Musa in this atmosphere already felt uncomfortable enough, but the intense mixture of excessively sweet perfumes along with the suffocating stench of alcohol and loud noise on the street made his head spin. He persuaded Leo to ‘investigate’ the place first by taking a casual stroll for a few blocks and then decide the best course of action.
Unfortunately that resulted in even more grabbing and touching by the local professionals since obviously the deeper you go in the forest, the more trees there are. The two young, good looking and fancy dressed potential customers became a rather hot commodity. Everyone began to openly compete for their attention and the marketing became so direct the girls didn’t stop at grabbing their intimate parts and even tried to put Leo’s and Musa’s hands on their boobs and between their legs to give a feel of what awaited them.
While Leo kind of appreciated such approach, of course, purely from the professional stand point, Musa was in panic. He was forced to realize he never felt so helpless before – after all the majority of the girls were regular people and he couldn’t fight them in order to avoid the constant touching. On the other hand, they arrived with a goal and a little sacrifice shouldn’t matter.
Musa’s inner struggle was interrupted when he realized that the local crowd along with every customer on the street suddenly dropped to their knees. The sight seemed surreal with him and Leo standing in the middle while everyone was silently kneeling – in an instant the only thing that remained in the air was the scent of alcohol and perfume, but it was so still one could hear a pin drop.
“What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to get everyone killed?” Suddenly a middle aged man pulled Leo and Musa to the side and after they threw a look back, they immediately knelt along side of everyone else.
“Sorry!” Leo whispered to the local Nascent soul stage cultivator who just saved them, only to get ‘shushed’ in return.
It was the bizarre sight of two dozen people carrying a golden palanquin that forced everyone on the street to suddenly fall to their knees. It was a short procession that walked in a tranquil silence without making a sound and from what it looked like the flag that was carried in front louder than a thousand drummers announced who the person in the palanquin was and it was enough for everyone show their respect and fear.
While most people knelt with their foreheads touching the ground, Leo didn’t shy off to curiously peak at the procession. It was the first time him seeing something like this and probably the last so he kind of took it as a tourist attraction.
The golden palanquin itself was a piece of art worthy of admiration and the half naked, well built men carrying it were like living bronze statues. The green flag carried in front of the procession with the upside down drawn red tree that grew with the roots upwards carried a mysterious aura and another one was carried behind was carried by …
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“What the f*…?!?!?” Leo blurted out seeing the person carrying the flag behind the palanquin, but this time it was Musa who slapped him silent.
To verify he was not dreaming, Leo hit his forehead to the ground and while this wasn’t painful, the ‘bump’ sound echoed down the street. Fortunately no one from the procession payed any heed to the small incident and the kneeling people pretended they haven’t heard anything.
Everyone continued to kneel until the procession was three, four hundred yards away and only then silently got up and without any hustle dispersed – the brothel employees rushed to their respective establishments and most of the clients followed as if trying to get away from the street as soon as possible. Leo and Musa were ones of the few who didn’t run off and tried to inconspicuously observe the palanquin that was parked further down the street and the humongous person that leisurely got out of it.
Not only the guy was tall – at least seven feet, he surely weighted five or maybe even six hundred pounds. Despite the size his every move was as light as if he was a professional dancer and without throwing a glance around he proceeded inside one of the more fancy looking brothels. The two flag bearers positioned themselves at each side of the door while the guys who carried the palanquin directly slumped down and finally could catch their breath. Apparently the ‘cargo’ was rather heavy and they were not allowed to breathe too loudly while carrying it.
“Let’s go!” Leo said while patting the dust off his clothing and went towards the place where the palanquin was parked.
“Are you insane?” Musa hissed, “That’s Blood lord Goodman!”
“It’s fine!” Leo confidently smiled, “We’ll just take a look.”
“What look?” Musa didn’t know if he should despair or get angry, “The last one in your life? The guy is friggin’ immortal! He probably can hear us despite the distance!”
“Don’t worry! I know what I’m doing!” Leo smiled again and pulled the helpless Musa along.
Truth to be said they did look like two young and rich debauchees, thus when they approached the brothel the immortal went in, no one directly attacked them. Of course, that didn’t mean they were welcomed either and one of the people with the flags already intended to bark something, when the other in a more politely manner said, “Sorry, the place is closed.”
“Sure, sure.” Leo said and gave a polite bow in return, “We just really like this establishment and you look like a knowledgeable person … could you suggest another place, similar to this one?”
Musa watched the conversation from the side in confusion and the other guy with the flag intended to tell Leo to directly f*ck off, but the polite one said, “Of course! You could try ‘The Heart and soul’, but I recommend you go to ‘The Jennie’s place’ tomorrow night. From what I understand they have planned a special musical event.”
“Will do! Thank you, Sir!” Was Leo’s answer and under the stare of the second flag bearer he pulled Musa away.
“What the hell was all that about?” Musa angrily hissed when he realized they were on the way back to the inn.
“You’ll see!” Leo mysteriously smiled only to get punched in the chest. Fortunately it was more of a statement and not a real hit.
“Don’t play games with me!” Musa hissed again, “We can’t fool around …”“Nope! We finally can!” Leo rubbed the spot he was hit as if it actually hurt, “And man, you have to learn how to relax!”
“Give me a reason!” Musa’s stare forced Leo to give in.
He sighed and explained, “’The Heart and soul’ is the name of the brothel we frequented back home. And ‘The Jennie’s place’ is where we will meet Jack tomorrow night.”
“So that guy …?” Musa was honestly shocked.
“Yup. That’s our friend Jack!” Leo grinned.
“Then how … how is he serving the Blood lord? How is that possible?” Musa asked.
“How would I know? We’ll see tomorrow!” It looked like it will be impossible to get rid of the smile on Leo’s face for days, so happy he was.
Despite Leo’s relaxed attitude, Musa was still in slight disbelief when they went to ‘The Jennie’s place’ the next evening. It was a much bigger establishment compared to the other brothels and on the first floor had a large hall with a stage at the side.
Jack was right, there was an actual musical event that night and the two payed for a table located closer to the side and watched few girls sing and dance. To not seem out of place, they couldn’t constantly look around and search for Jack, thus both were forced to enjoy the performance till the end. Obviously not them nor any other spectators in the audience were left alone. When the even started, girls flocked in and without asking permission joined the men most of whom were already expecting it.
With the two girls at their table all Leo and Musa had to do was to order drinks and their company fit in well. Leo, based on his own experience, could appreciate the effort the girls put in their work. Despite the awkwardness of some clients they managed to constantly keep up the conversation and at the same time let everyone enjoy the show. All the teasing and joking was made tastefully and within boundaries that allowed the event look quite respectable.
It was well past midnight when Jack finally arrived. He didn’t directly go over to Leo, but first went over to an elderly gentleman, dressed in an elegant white robe. They exchanged few sentences, apparently came to agreement and both proceeded upstairs.
A short while later the same gentleman came over to Leo’s and Musa’s table and said, “I hope the two guests enjoyed the show! My name is Gambin, I’m the owner of this place. You’ve been invited to a private room, please follow me!”
“Wasn’t the owner of this place supposed to be a person named Jennie?” Leo mumbled under his nose.
“You’re the first one asking that!” Gambin happily snickered and led the two up to the third floor and opened the door to a room where Jack comfortably sat on a wide sofa and the small table in front of him already had an open bottle and three filled glasses.
“Sir Jack, please let me know directly if you need anything else! The formation is already on as per your request!” Gambin slightly bowed and closed the door behind Leo and Musa.