Chapter 27
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Chapter 27:
"Are these four Sub-dungeons very difficult?" Qi Leyuan asked.
"Not difficult," Li Chunzhou replied. "It’s just that one of the Sub-dungeons is very hard to trigger, and it may not happen even after thirty days."
Qi Leyuan looked worried and asked, "What if the same situation happens this time too?"
Li Chunzhou smiled, her dimples showing slightly as she spoke, a sign that she was lying. Looking at Qi Leyuan, Li Chunzhou said slowly, "No, I have a clue to find the most difficult Sub-dungeon this time… so this will be the last cycle."
Qi Leyuan opened his mouth to speak but then closed it, swallowing his thoughts that as long as people kept joining the Dungeon, he might have to continue cycling.
He acknowledged his selfish thoughts, as Qi Leyuan felt that voicing these concerns might upset Li Chunzhou and change her willingness to help them.
After a moment of silence and feeling uneasy, Qi Leyuan looked at Li Chunzhou with a complicated gaze and asked, "Little girl… why are you helping us?"
Instead of answering immediately, Li Chunzhou lowered her gaze and muttered, "Don’t you think so? This world is like a big trap, once you fall in, there’s no way out…"
Her true emotions only showed for a moment before her dimples reappeared, "I’m tired of this kind of life."
"So I’m not helping you," Li Chunzhou said, looking at Qi Leyuan, smiling again, "I’m helping myself too."
As they were talking, they heard a knock on the door, a visitor who had arranged to meet Li Chunzhou today was waiting outside.
Li Chunzhou learned from Mama Li that this visitor had paid a lot of money for this meeting opportunity.
"Please come in."
Before, similar things had happened before, Li Chunzhou calmly responded to the knocking, then looked up ahead.
The unexpected visitor turned out to be Bi Yuansi.
Li Chunzhou’s face showed a hint of surprise at this moment.
Not long ago, Li Chunzhou had heard about the argument between Xinlan and Lu Shaofei downstairs, and she was actually surprised that Gu Lingfan would intervene in the disputes among the other residents for a man – this was not her usual style.
Li Chunzhou quietly wondered, what abilities did this Young Master Bi have? To make Fan Nuo treat him differently…
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t the first time Li Chunzhou had met Bi Yuansi, but she did not understand why Bi Yuansi, who had already extended an olive branch to Gu Lingfan, would spend a lot of money to meet her…?
Regardless of what she thought in her heart, Li Chunzhou smiled sweetly on her face and considerately poured Bi Yuansi a cup of tea.
Truth be told, Bi Yuansi was indeed handsome, elegant, with a good background, making him a decent guest.
Qi Leyuan quietly walked up to Li Chunzhou, opened the chat box, and gestured for her to read the message he typed, "He is not sure if the ‘Oiran’ in the rules refers to you or Gu Lingfan. He probably wants to hedge his bets and maintain good relationships with both of you."
Li Chunzhou chuckled softly, then slowly lowered her hand to touch Li Li’s feathers.
Bi Yuansi was very considerate in front of her. The two of them communicated smoothly, without Li Chunzhou needing to initiate topics. They chatted harmoniously for an hour.
Suddenly, Bi Yuansi gazed into Li Chunzhou’s eyes and asked gently, "Lady Chun, are you happy lately?"
Before Li Chunzhou could answer his unexpected question, Bi Yuansi placed his palm on the back of her hand on the table.
With a sincere tone, he said, "You give me a special feeling. Unlike others, the courtesans feel numb and lazy, but you exude a sense of vulnerability… a feeling of loneliness. It seems like you are separated from the outside world by something, and I am reluctant to break that barrier…"
Li Chunzhou finally understood his meaning and found his sudden behavior amusing. After all, they were both foxes, so what ghost stories was he playing at?
Li Chunzhou raised her eyebrows and asked with a smile, "So, how do I compare to Fan Nuo?"
Remembering Xinlan’s words, Bi Yuansi thought both of them were trying to outdo each other every day. He believed that Li Chunzhou and Gu Lingfan could never get along harmoniously.
He hesitated for a moment, then vaguely hinted, "Fan Nuo is nice, but you are different… I do like the moon, but if the moon came running to me, I wouldn’t like it anymore, so… Fan Nuo cannot be compared with you."
When Bi Yuansi said this, his expression was very sincere, but to Qi Leyuan, who is also a man, it seemed too fake. Qi Leyuan rolled his eyes and muttered while typing, "Even Chang’e has to go to the moon by herself, who does he think he is!?"
Bi Yuansi subtly stepped on one side, Li Chunzhou listened and suddenly looked away, smiling.
Seeing her smile, Bi Yuansi felt his intuition was correct, so he seized the moment and said, "The life in this kind of brothel is surely not what you want, right? Have you experienced any trauma in your childhood, Lady Chun? Do you have someone you love? I am willing to redeem you, so after leaving the Spring Flowers Tower, you can start anew and be with the one you love."
He sighed, "A young girl like you shouldn’t waste her life in a place like this… Can you give me a chance to help you leave this mess?"
Li Chunzhou stared at Bi Yuansi for a few seconds, as if she heard something very funny, she couldn’t help but smile, though the smile did not reach her eyes.
Most customers, even the girls in the building, found Li Chunzhou more approachable than the arrogant Gu Lingfan, but in fact, it was the opposite – someone like Li Chunzhou, who always wore a smile, had a heavier guard up.
On the other hand, Gu Lingfan, who was used to keeping herself distant from others, was only afraid of getting hurt. Just a seemingly sincere emotion was enough for Gu Lingfan to hold on tightly and not let go.
Compared to other men of the era, Bi Yuansi’s attitude and views appeared refreshing and unique, but to Li Chunzhou, who already knew he was a player, his words and actions didn’t have any effect.
After a moment, Li Chunzhou pulled her hand away from Bi Yuansi’s puzzled gaze, and casually used a handkerchief to wipe the places he had touched.
With a look of pity and sympathy similar to Bi Yuansi’s, she said gently, "Why would a gentleman like yourself show concern for a woman like me? Let’s talk about you instead."
Li Chunzhou smiled and asked, "Young Master Bi, what are your hobbies? Are your parents well? Do they know you like to visit places like Spring Flowers Tower? Do you enjoy reading? What motivated you to come to this kind of place – seeking excitement or escaping from worldly pressures? Is this your first time here? Do you have dreams or things you are proud of? Is there someone you truly care for? Do people around you know about your visits to brothels? Do they know you advocate for the women to change their ways?"
She spoke slowly and disdainfully, "You are not special, you are just like every other man who visits places like this, giving me a common feeling. You follow trends, judge women, categorize them, and have a hero complex trying to save people from their troubles."
"In reality, you want to be a savior, but deep inside, you only care about yourself. You want to show pity to others and then be moved by your own pity, seeking a sense of superiority."
"You manipulate innocent women for control over their bodies, and you try to convince them to change their ways to enjoy the pleasure of controlling their minds."
"Young Master Bi, I have no desire to get to know you. I find every word you say to be shallow and calculated. I have no interest in chatting with you. I would rather listen to the drunkards downstairs talking nonsense, at least their words have some sincerity."
As she finished speaking, the smile on Bi Yuansi’s face slowly disappeared.
He wanted to speak up several times to argue, but ended up just turning red in the face, unable to say a word.
Just as an hour passed, the madam sent someone to ask Bi Yuansi to leave.
Despite feeling conflicted, Bi Yuansi managed to maintain his dignity, glanced at Li Chunzhou for a moment and said, "Sorry for my abruptness," before voluntarily leaving the room with the brothel security guard.
Li Chunzhou and Qi Leyuan exchanged a glance, calmly picked up the little chicken from the ground, and gently stroked its feathers with a serene expression.
Qi Leyuan typed, "Why are you so angry, have you never encountered such a fool before?"
Li Chunzhou shrugged and said irritably, "Hmm, I just can’t stand him!"
＊＊＊
It wasn’t until the sun had set that day that Li Chunzhou bid farewell to the last guest and finally relaxed.
When she returned to the courtyard with Li Li, she happened to see Ming Xiang sitting on the ground, with Chihong standing next to her indifferently.
Ming Xiang looked exhausted and extremely frightened, next to them lay a broken birdcage.
Li Chunzhou went over, curiously asking, "What’s wrong? What happened?"
"It’s nothing, she just broke the birdcage."
Chihong slightly tilted her head and looked at Li Chunzhou, waiting for her to decide what to do.
Li Chunzhou picked up the birdcage and saw several scratches, clearly from being dropped multiple times.
Holding the birdcage in one hand and a small chick named Li Li in the other, she tried to put Li Li inside but found it wouldn’t fit, so she gave up on the idea.
Li Chunzhou put down the cage and then asked Chihong, "Where is that silly bird?"
Li Chunzhou had raised a parrot before, the offspring of the colorful parrot from the Second Prince’s mansion, which was brought to the Spring Flowers Tower when it was a few months old.
It never learned to talk, only knew how to eat all day, getting chubby, so Li Chunzhou had Chihong feed it only a little bit each day to control its food intake.
This silent parrot got hungry, so it quietly flew back to the Second Prince’s mansion to visit relatives, sneaking food from its mother.
Its mother, the colorful parrot, is a bird that Liang Changfeng likes a lot. It can talk and is very clever, looking shiny and well cared for in the mansion.
The parrot mother never had the heart to drive away the dumb parrot. When Second Prince saw this touching scene of maternal love and filial piety by chance, he didn’t say much but couldn’t help raising his eyebrows and smiling. The next day, he told Li Chunzhou as an amusing anecdote.
Since then, the dumb parrot flew back and forth between two places, and Second Prince’s mansion always had its food ready.
The silly bird could unlock the cage by itself. The cage had long been unnecessary, and if it wasn’t brought out today, Li Chunzhou might have forgotten about it.
Looking around, she didn’t see Li Zhexuan. After asking Chihong, who also hadn’t seen him, Li Chunzhou looked again at Ming Xiang quietly sobbing on the ground and said helplessly, "Stop crying, it’s just a birdcage… Chihong, you take care of it."
Li Chunzhou meant for Chihong to buy a new one, but Ming Xiang completely misunderstood. Her expression became even more frightened, her quiet sob turned into loud wailing as she crawled forward, clutching Li Chunzhou’s leg, pleading, "Miss, please don’t kill me! I beg you! I’m sorry, I don’t want to die…"
Li Chunzhou: ?
Li Chunzhou didn’t know what had just happened, while Ming Xiang felt that Chihong’s eyes showed unmistakable killing intent. Her sixth sense told her that Chihong was probably the murderer in Spring Flowers Tower.
Ming Xiang bravely approached Li Chunzhou, originally wanting to cling to her leg, but now finding herself in mortal danger.
Ming Xiang kept thinking and feeling worse and regretful. She was shy and introverted, and didn’t need to argue with Chihong. But yesterday, a few players persuaded her, and she inexplicably listened to them. Now, Ming Xiang feels like she’s under a spell.
Of course, the temptation to leave the Dungeon was just too strong for her.
Ming Xiang gradually calmed her ups and downs of emotions. She thought she couldn’t survive in this world where people praise and criticize each other. Instead of serving guests reluctantly, it would be better to be killed by the monsters and suffer less.
Ming Xiang slowly opened her eyes, preparing to face death, but then she saw Li Chunzhou and Chihong looking at her with a strange expression.