ALL I HAVE LEFT. (XUEXIAO)

005

This was Jin GuangShan, so of course this elegant building had to be a brothel. A large sign hung by the front door, with the words "Hongyan Pavilion" carved in gold. It was a strange occasion on any day to see the distinguished young master of a sect come to a brothel with a crude-looking kid behind his back, but Jin GuangYao had long since learned to ignore the stares of the brothel customers. Eventually, they all got used to it and started minding their own business instead, perhaps out of fear of making enemies with him.

Jin GuangYao waved at a woman standing in the main hall, earning a fawning smile from her. She was an average woman, a bit on the plumper side, with fiery red lipstick and long hair that reached down to her back. She was the manager of this brothel, and famous for her fiery temper. But around Jin GuangYao, she was all smiles and giggles, to the point that Xue Yang found it quite ridiculous.

Xue Yang looked over longingly at a ripe, round apple sitting on a customer's desk, debating whether or not to snatch it. In the end, he swiped it off the table anyways, deeming it just a "minor offense". He was hungry anyways, so eating an apple couldn't hurt. The apple was just as sweet as he remembered, juice spraying all over his clothes as he bit hastily into it. Soon, the laughter of a man and the chirps of "Sect leader, sect leader" floated down from upstairs.

"Sect leader, how's my painting? Doesn't the flower look beautiful, almost as beautiful as me?"

"Sect leader, look at my calligraphy. It looks even more amazing than a painting, is that right?"

Seeing that Jin GuangShan was right in the middle of enjoying his times with his beauties, Jin GuangYao silently ordered Xue Yang to stop. Xue Yang clicked his tongue and chuckled under hid breath. The overpowering scent of perfume and flowers ventured toward them, causing Xue Yang to scoff. He had never gotten used to artificial smells, no matter how long he had been a rich disciple of the Lanling Jin sect. He had once tried to burn an incense, only to get tired of the smell and knock it on the ground, causing a fire. Jin GuangYao, on the other hand, stood completely still, as if not even noticing it was there. 

The gruff voice of Jin GuangShan rang out.

"Women, all they have to do is powder their faces and look pretty. What's the need to do calligraphy or painting?"

Silence. The women that originally tried to please Jin GuangShan fell silent, their faces becoming darker. So did Jin GuangYao's. Normally, nobody would notice anything wrong with Jin GuangYao's expression, but Xue Yang saw it. Xue Yang saw how his eyes slightly glinted and how his eyebrows knitted, just barely short of invisibly. No matter how dense Xue Yang looked, he knew how to see through people, and Jin GuangYao was easy to see through after a while. Whenever the words "prostitute", "woman", and the name of his mother were brought up, especially in an unfavorable way, his reaction was always the same.

But the women at the brothel were talented, they knew how to make light of every situation to make their customers happy, and soon the awkward silence was broken by crisp giggling.

"But I heard that back in Yunmeng, there was a woman who was unparalleled in poetry, painting, zither and calligraphy. She had charmed the whole world with her talent."

Jin GuangShan chuckled once, the alcohol very visible from his voice. He stammered a few times before forming a coherent sentence, and the voice that came out of his mouth was at times quiet and at time loud.

"That's not how things work. Women who read too many books and know too much make too many demands. They think they're better than normal women. What a waste of a pretty face..."

Jin GuangShan laughed a few more times, the beauties behind him stunned into silence. But before long, the sound of sweet giggling rang out again. Xue Yang looked over at Jin GuangYao, whose face was stiff, his crescent eyes frozen solid, his smile locked into place.