White-Robed Chief
Chapter 205: Bi Liu

A crisp sound of a board beating on skin sounded and everyone stopped talking and looked towards the center of the stage.

Eight graceful women who were dressed in chiffon clothing walked up the stage holding their instruments.

They covered their faces with white veils so the crowd could not see their faces clearly but everyone knew regardless, that the women in the New Moon Brothel were all beauties.

With such graceful figures, the white veils that were covering their faces added a tinge of mystery and temptation to them.

Chu Li watched with a smile. The New Moon Brothel was indeed worthy to be the best such outlet in the land. They had grasped a man's heart.

After the eight women walked up to the stage and sat at the back, they placed their instruments down and remained silent for a while with their hands resting on the instruments.

A flute slowly sounded and the crowd's attention was immediately drawn to it. They swayed with the sound of the flute. The whole New Moon Brothel became silent with only the sound of the flute in the air.

The woman who was playing the flute only exposed her delicate white chin and attractive red lips. It was as if the sound of the flute came from the bottom of her heart, stirring the crowd's heartstrings.

The sound of the flute rose and the sound of guzheng sounded. Its sound was as clear as spring water, integrating with the sound of the flute. The crowd felt as if they had seen an eagle flying in the sky and fishes swimming in the spring water — a vast scenery appeared in the crowd's minds slowly.

Xue Ling turned to look at Chu Li and sighed. "Amazing!"

She was proficient in guzheng too but when she heard this woman's skill, Xue Ling had to admit that the woman's guzheng was indeed better than hers. The woman's guzheng playing skills could be described as getting back to the basics and simplicity, purely using feelings to move the audience, integrating her feelings into the music. This was the realm Xue Ling had been pursuing and now that she had heard it, she realized how far she actually was from achieving that realm.

Chu Li nodded with a smile.

Mei Aoshuang concentrated and listened to the music thoughtfully.

After the flute and guzheng, the sound of dulcimer joined in and slowly too the pipa, flute, piccolo, drums, xun [1], and erhu — eight kinds of musical instruments joined in one after another. The crowd felt as if they were witnessing a moonlit night on the spring river scene right before their very eyes.

They were enchanted by the music and had not taken notice of the passage of time. After the song ended, the spellbound crowd sighed. They had experienced a great enjoyment.

"Boom, boom, boom…" a sonorous drumming sounded like a low battle cry and the crowd who were in a melancholy mood slowly turned excited.

Chu Li let out a sigh of admiration: this sound of the drum had a mysterious effect and it corresponded with the vigor of the human body. Each profession's skill was close to the principle of martial arts. This graceful woman had stunning attainments in playing the drum. Each hit on the drum was like a beat on the crowd's hearts, but she was actually someone who did not practice martial arts — she was really incredible.

When the drumming turned more urgent, a graceful woman flew down from the sky gently. Her figure elegant like a feline that came fluttering down.

"Wonderful — !" the crowd applauded and praised.

What she used was not the Light-body Technique. There was a ribbon in the air that brought her down, making it look like she was flying.

This woman was dressed in a light green gown with an outer layer of white chiffon and her face was covered with a white veil, looking like she had just flown out of a picture.

Her clothes flapped and the white veil fluttered. Her movement followed the sound of the drums, sometimes fast and sometimes gentle. Her graceful figure entranced the crowd and their eyes were completely drawn to her, unable to extricate themselves.

Chu Li recognized from a glance that this woman was Bi Liu.

Bi Liu descent down to the stage was lovely and delicate, arousing pity and sympathy — a stunning woman. Bi Liu on the stage was dazzling, mysterious and deadly.

Xue Ling turned her head and exclaimed, "Master, how about I learn to dance too?"

Seeing Bi Liu display the many exquisite dance moves one after another, that was so beautiful it was enchanting. With her graceful figure, Xue Ling felt as though she was very clumsy in comparison and not attractive at all.

Chu Li smiled. "Sure."

Mei Aoshuang cast an askance glance at Xue Ling and studied her face.

Xue Ling looked back at her.

Chu Li said, "Valley Leader Mei Aoshuang also wants to learn?"

Mei Aoshuang sneered and was just about to speak when Fong Xiaofeng who was afraid that the both of them would get into a fight again, said hurriedly, "Master Chu Li, this girl is… ?"

Just now, Chu Li and Mei Aoshuang were bickering, so Chu Li had not introduced Xue Ling to them. They had been speculating about the relationship between the two.

"I am Master's maid, Xue Ling," Xue Ling said plainly.

"Oh — ?" Fong Xiaofeng looked at her astonishingly. "That's unexpected!"

She saw that Xue Ling's cultivation level was deep and refined, so she had initially thought that Xue Ling was his companion. However, looking at Xue Ling's demeanor, she did not seem like it. She did not expect Xue Ling was actually Chu Li's maid. She had such a high cultivation level at such a young age but yet she was only a maid, it was really a waste of her talent.

Xue Ling said plainly, "What did Senior Fong Xiaofeng not expect?"

In front of Chu Li, she would smile sweetly but when she faced others, she immediately turned cold.

Fong Xiaofeng laughed. "You are an Innate Master at such a young age. You must be regarded as a rising star even in the Public House, right?"

Xue Ling smiled slightly, knowing the meaning behind Fong Xiaofeng's words.

Fong Xiaofeng was not someone from the Public House so it was no wonder that she would have such thoughts. The people from the Public House would not think so. The maid of a Master must at least be at the Innate Mastery's Boundary, or else, she would not be able to match Master's identity.

During the four's conversation, Bi Liu's dance did not stop. The crowd watched with unblinking eyes, for fear that they would miss any second of the dance.

The sounds of the drum stopped and the performance ended abruptly.

"Splendid — !" the crowd cried and applauded loudly.

Bi Liu bent her legs slightly to curtsy. She held onto the ribbon that was hanging in the air and flew to the fourth floor, disappearing from the crowd's line of sight. Flying here and flying away — as though she was not a mortal.

Chu Li applauded and let out a sigh of praise. It was really pleasing to the eyes. No wonder people were willing to spend so much money.

Xue Ling showed a look of envy.

A moment later, Bi Liu changed into a gown and returned to them once more.

Xue Ling took her hand and asked her how to dance well.

The eight musicians from the stage retreated slowly and disappeared from the crowd's field of vision.

The crowd felt melancholy, wishing that this performance would never have ended, but New Moon Brothel would only have a performance every night — be it singing or dancing — a different performance every day.

This made people revere the power of the New Moon Brothel. A wonderful show every day — just how powerful would they have needed to be to do so?

However, Chu Li did not think so.

He came from the modern world so he had a different view. He knew that the ones who were powerful were not those beautiful girls. After all, the New Moon Brothel had more than thirty girls and all of them had unique talents, be it singing or dancing. They only need to take turns to perform once a month. The ones who were powerful were those who created the show.

New Moon Brothel provided for a few groups of powerful people and each group had the responsibility to teach one or two of the girls in order to produce such a wonderful show.

Chu Li said to Xue Ling who was holding Bi Liu's hand, "Let Miss Bi Liu teach you personally."

"Is that okay?" Xue Ling quickly asked.

Chu Li smiled at Bi Liu. "Miss Bi Liu, is that fine?"

Bi Liu revealed an embarrassed face. "Master, you need to ask the brothel-keeper. I cannot make the decision."

Chu Li smiled. "Sure."

Mei Aoshuang gave him an askance glance, feeling disdain for his pompous behavior.

With Fong Xiaofeng here, every time Mei Aoshuang argued with Chu Li, it would be intervened by Fong Xiaofeng so there was no big conflict.

This made Mei Aoshuang very dissatisfied. She had been itching to fight and she had finally caught this opportunity. She really wanted to teach Chu Li a lesson.

Chu Li handed Xue Ling his jade tag from his waist. "Take this and follow Bi Liu to see the brothel-keeper. Don't need to bother her to come here in person."

"Yes." Xue Ling took the jade tag from him.

A moment later, Xue Ling came back happily and with a glance, everyone knew that it was successful.

The night deepened, Chu Li and Xue Ling exited the New Moon Brothel. Mei Aoshuang and the others followed and left too.

Chu Li had not expected that Mei Aoshuang would actually not take the opportunity to fight him, but her haughty expression before she left was irritating enough.

The next morning, Chu Li had just finished practicing when Xiao Qi came to his courtyard personally.

Chu Li sighed inwardly. It would still come in the end.

He could guess the purpose of Xiao Qi's visit. She was here to help Mei Aoshuang persuade him.

The refreshing breeze blew gently, Xiao Qi who was dressed in a white robe sat quietly in the pagoda. She said softly, "I'm good friends with Mei Aoshuang. I heard from her that Chen Ying has great talent. With Mei Aoshuang's training, she can become a Grandmaster in three years."

Chu Li sat across from her, sipping a mouthful of tea. "Didn't Valley Leader Mei Aoshuang hate the people from the Public House?"

"When we first met each other, she did not know that I was from the Public House." Xiao Qi stared at the rustling bamboo trees, with a distant look in her eyes as if she was reminiscing the past. "At that time, I used a fake name in the martial arts world. I'm alive today thanks to her help."

Translator Notes

[1] 埙or in its Chinese pinyin form, xun, is a globular, vessel flute from China.

(Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xun_(instrument)#/media/File:Xunfront.jpg)