The Purple Star House restaurant occupied a prominent position overlooking the small lake that gave the Lapis Lake Ward its name. From the private dining room, large windows presented a clear view of the gleaming blue lake and the many small boats that ferried cultivators and mortals alike to destinations throughout the ward. Of course, truly wealthy cultivators in this district wouldn’t bother with places like the Purple Star House. Rather, they would head to the small Lapis Island near the center of the lake where a small number of businesses catered to the true elite of the ward.
The Purple Star House on the other hand, managed to present just enough of a luxurious experience that common cultivators like the Brawlers of the Red Tiger’s Den could strut and posture before well-to-do mortals and less successful cultivators from elsewhere in the city. For the right price, securing a room on the third floor that gave a ‘good view’ but not the ‘best view’ of the lake was enough to give the rough men a feeling of power and status without placing an undue burden on their purses. After all, none of the men were intent on actually courting the fairies they’d captured. They just wanted to blow off the stress of their recent mission in the mountains and the two ‘young women’ they’d brought here would suit their needs perfectly. Most importantly, for a small extra fee, the owner of the resteraunt had agreed that his staff would avoid the private room and ignore any ‘odd noises’ they might hear for the next few hours.
In the private room, the six men had already sprawled comfortably around a low table while Wu Ling set up his zither next to one of the large windows overlooking the lake. “Sister Xiang, come here, let me fix your makeup and your outfit,” Wu Ling said, beckoning Su Xiang over.
“I think Fairy Xiang is already as beautiful as she is, don’t you brothers?” one of the younger men said, reaching for a jug of wine with a leering grin. “How about Fairy Xiang joins us brothers while Little Lingling plays for us?”
“Oh let Little Lingling do what she wants,” the one called Er said a little too loudly. “Junior Brother Wan will learn this after conquering a few more fairies, it’s always better to let them paint themselves up when they want to. Even if you don’t care, if they feel prettier, they’ll treat you better in the end,” he explained as though he was dispensing sage wisdom.
“Big Brother Er truly understands the fairer sex,” Wu Ling praised, taking several cotton balls out of her purse and stepping close to Su Xiang to pat her face as he whispered instructions. “I’m going to put cotton in your ears,” he said. “Just do your best to play along, and if you feel sleepy, cover your ears. Also, I’m sorry,” he added softly. “But I promise I’ll get us out of this.” After tucking the cotton into Su Xiang’s ears he loosened the belt of her robes and made quick adjustments to the way her outfit draped on her body to reveal more of her modest bust and draw more attention to her trim waist. It wasn’t a big change but it gave the awkward sword cultivator a slightly more alluring air suggesting that her robes might slip or fall loose at any moment. With a playful shove, Wu Ling sent Su Xiang back to the men around the table. “She’s all yours, boys,” he added with a naughty wink.
“See what I mean?” Brother Er said, catching Su Xiang and pulling her to sit next to him before passing her a jug of wine to pour for him. “Isn’t she prettier now?”
“Senior Brother Er is wise indeed,” the one called Wan said with a leering smile, enjoying the glimpse of Su Xiang’s cleavage that had been so well concealed just moments before.
Offering a silent apology for the indignities that Su Xiang was currently suffering, Wu Ling steadied himself behind his zither and visualized the instructions from the cultivation manual he’d read so many times over the past several years. While he’d acted confident with Su Xiang, the truth was that he’d never actually performed the technique that he was counting on to escape this nightmare scenario. He could only trust in the manual prepared by his Master and hope that the technique that seemed so simple and easy really was something that even a newly awakened cultivator could accomplish.
The song he began to play, ‘Blanket of Snow,’ was one that he’d practiced several times at school and his fingers danced effortlessly over the strings of his zither to call forth the soothing tone. Inwardly, he visualized two different feelings. First, the chill of a cold winter day, cooling the blood and sending a shiver along the skin of everyone in the room. Several of the men unconsciously reached for a jug of strong wine taking a deep swig to feel the warmth of fire in their bellies as the feeling of a cold breeze blowing through the room became stronger.
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“Hey, Junior Brother Wan,” Big Brother San called from his seat where he pulled at Su Xiang trying to snuggle closer to the young woman. “Close the windows, the breeze off the lake is cold!”
“Damn it, we should have brought more girls to do things,” Brother Wan groused as he stood to close the windows before quickly returning to his seat at the table.
Seeing the technique working, Wu Ling moved to the next phrase of the song and with it, the next image he visualized. Warm notes spilled from the zither, long and slow, accompanied by feelings of a crackling fire in the hearth and warm soft blankets wrapping about the men as they drank. A few minutes later, Brother Wan and another of the younger Brawlers were the first to succumb to Wu Ling’s music, falling asleep while clutching a jug of wine.
“Ha,” Big Brother San said, stifling a yawn of his own. “It looks like the Junior Brothers can’t hold their wine!”
“Better for us isn’t it?” Big Brother Er replied. “Fairy Xiang should drink some too,” he added, pouring a large cup and presenting it to Su Xiang as though offering her fine flowers.
Su Xiang hesitated, looking first to Wu Ling for help only to find that he’d closed his eyes as he put all of his focus into his music. Firming up her resolve, she reached out with the determination of a sword cultivator, knocking back the entire cup of wine in a single gulp before taking the jug of wine from Big Brother Er and pouring him an even larger cup. “B-big Brother Er is so strong,” she said, trying to emulate Wu Ling’s flirty tone. “B-but can he drink as many cups as me?” she challenged, hoping that Wu Ling’s plan would work before she had to drink more than a few cups of wine.
“Ha ha, watch this Big Brother show you how it’s done!” the big man said, taking not only the large cup she’d poured him but the whole jug as well, chugging both down sloppily spilling a bit over his stubble-covered chin, a fire burning in the pit of his stomach spreading warmth throughout his body.
Sweat had begun to form on Wu Ling’s brow as he poured what little energy he had left into the song, increasing the intensity of his focus even as his fingers pulled the notes of the song longer, lower, deeper, and slower, calling the strong men off to sleep. The two middle-stage Brawlers had joined their junior brothers, one slumped over the table snoring and the other sprawled over the cushions in an undignified posture, one hand tucked into the waistband of his pants in a way that made it clear he wasn’t content to wait for the senior brothers to finish with Su Xiang before indulging himself in a little personal pleasure.
“Wait, something’s wrong,” Big Brother San said slowly, eyelids heavy as he tried to shake off the effects of Wu Ling’s music. “Did they put something in the wine?” he wondered before shaking off the idea. It wasn’t possible, his eyes were too sharp to miss something like that! Besides, he felt that Su Xiang was far too awkward to have managed to drug them without someone noticing. They were Red Tigers! No one would overpower their strong bodies with something like drugs in the wine.
Big Brother Er looked at the other man’s drooping posture and tried to think of what could be wrong but the combination of Wu Ling’s music and the belly full of wine proved to be too much as he joined the younger cultivators in slumping over the table. Moments later, Big Brother San followed the rest of his sect mates, never realizing that it had been the music rather than the wine that had done them all in.
“Wu Ling, that was brilliant,” Su Xiang said, happily pulling herself away from the clingy hands of the powerful Brawler who had fallen asleep while pawing at her.
“I’m glad it worked,” Wu Ling said softly, feeling incredibly drained by the amount of energy it had taken to put all six men to sleep. “I couldn’t have lasted much longer. We need to go quickly, I don’t know how long they’ll stay asleep. But first,” he added, stepping over to the men sleeping around the table. “Help me empty their purses onto the table. Take about half of what they have but spill the rest around.”
“We’re robbing them?” Su Xiang asked, stunned that Wu Ling would be so bold.
“We’re taking payment for services provided,” Wu Ling corrected with a teasing smile. “But also, really spread their money around. When they wake up, if we’re lucky, they’ll fight a bit about how much money is theirs. If we take all of it, they’ll chase after us. If we take some of it, those big two lugs are likely to make sure they get back what they lost and leave the rest with nothing but it’ll take some shouting and threatening, maybe even some punching but most importantly some time before that happens. It’ll give us time to make it to your aunt’s shop and hide.”
“Are you sure?” Su Xiang asked, finding it unlikely that a bunch of sect brothers would come to blows over something as petty as a few dozen spirit crystals but going along with Wu Ling’s instructions anyway. “Where did you learn to do this?”
“I told you didn’t I?” Wu Ling said, stuffing a few spirit crystals along with taels of gold and silver into his purse. “The Bamboo Silk House has a Dark half that includes thieves who act like courtesans. You learn a few things from the ‘helpful’ senior sisters who are free with their advice. Now come on, we should hurry to your aunt’s shop.”