Suffering in Luofu City 3

When Huaiwen woke up, she was already at Zuimenglou.

She sat up from the tatami mat and was met by Aoba. She shrank back in fright.

"Don't be afraid. Now that you're awake, let's get straight to the point." Qingye smiled. "First of all, although you didn't get any wine here, you also didn't retrieve the inkstone. Logically, you should have been sent to a brothel."

Huaiwen instantly became alert. Then he heard Qingye say, "However, because the city lord is kind-hearted, he will give you a chance to make amends."

Huaiwen, like a kitten, peered out and asked what it was.

Qingye clapped her hands, and two demons entered: "You are guilty of a crime, so please work to atone for it."

Before Huaiwen could react, the two demons took him away. Along the way, they told Huaiwen how to entertain guests, how to pour wine, how to clean... Just like that, Huaiwen started working at Zuimenglou in a daze. Although he was initially flustered, he did his best.

Huaiwen was finally able to rest after her shift ended. She collapsed in the kitchen, starving and desperately needing food to survive! So she forced herself to get up and beg for some food!

Fortunately, Drunken Dream Pavilion was still a somewhat demonic establishment, and she ate quite well. Thinking about it, working here for a lifetime wouldn't be so bad. But the next second, she couldn't be happy anymore, because while she was working as a waiter, Demon Slayer was also working there.

How could Xuan Ye treat her like this? She cast the spell herself; it had nothing to do with the little ghost. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and she decided to go and reason with Xuan Ye!

So she secretly slipped out of the kitchen, pretended to be a waiter still on duty, wandered around the lobby, and then went upstairs. But after going up several floors, she looked up and saw more stairs ahead. It felt like it would never end. This place was just too magical!

Suddenly, before Huaiwen could even catch her breath, she was abruptly sucked away. She heard the sound of doors opening and closing, and then she passed through a series of doors before finally being thrown to the ground.

"What? Still trying to slack off?"

It was Xuan Ye's voice. Huai Wen looked up, then calmly stood up: "I didn't, and I'm handing over my shift now!"

Xuan Ye raised an eyebrow and glanced at Huai Wen before saying, "Since you have time, let's settle your debts."

Huaiwen swallowed hard and muttered under his breath, "What?"

Xuan Ye teleported in front of Huai Wen, grabbed her by the neck, and asked, "You've got some nerve, daring to cast a spell on me! Believe me or not, I'll kill you right now!"

Huaiwen straightened his chest and advised, "We're all in the same boat now. If you kill me, you'll be crippled even if you don't die!"

Upon hearing this, Xuan Ye tightened his grip on Huai Wen's neck, pressing his hand directly against his face. Despite the man's face, Xuan Ye could discern a woman's features. Xuan Ye took a deep breath, shoved Huai Wen away, and threatened, "Since you can cast spells, you can also break them. If you still want your two little ghosts and your master to be unharmed..."

Huaiwen was terrified, but she had no idea how the curse could be lifted. Unable to tell the truth, she said matter-of-factly, "I think I should remind you once more: the curse has taken effect. We are closely connected. If I'm injured, you'll feel pain; if I die, you might also—"

Xuan Ye's expression gradually turned cold. He stared at Huai Wen, listening to her continue, "Therefore, we should be equals, not one where you order me around and I order you around!"

Xuan Ye held his breath to calm himself down.

Huaiwen waited for his chance, first moving away from Xuan Ye. He then took out a scroll from the pouch in his belt, flicked it open, and pointed at it, saying, "I have a new idea. You come with me to collect debts, and get all the money back from those who owe me. In return, I'll break the spell on you."

A raging fire engulfed Xuan Ye, and Huai Wen, frightened, took a few steps back. He quickly said, "Don't be angry! They are no match for you. Wherever you stand, they wouldn't dare not pay back the money. Besides, if they pay me back, I can pay you back, and in the end, the curse can be lifted. Isn't that killing three birds with one stone? Don't you think so?"

The flames on Xuan Ye's body grew even more intense. He glared at Huai Wen, and finally took a deep breath: "What's your name?"

"Huaiwen".

Xuan Ye lowered his eyes and asked in a low voice, "What's your surname?"

“Ruan”.

With a "bang," the flames on Xuan Ye's body dissipated instantly. After a long while, he sighed deeply: "You can leave now."

Although Huaiwen didn't know what he meant, he didn't press him for an answer and could only leave. After leaving the room, Huaiwen went to find Onimusha.

It's strange that Xuan Ye would let him go just because of his name.

She summoned Onikiri and pressed him again for details about the man named Ruan Shijun. Only then did Onikiri begin to recount his story.

Three hundred years ago, Liu Min, the head of the Demon and Human Association, had a granddaughter named Ruan Shiyun. She was young and promising, intelligent and quick-witted, and made great strides in her youth. She defeated her enemies in one fell swoop, making the Demon and Human Association richer and more famous in the martial arts world.

In addition, Ruan Shiyun had been cultivating immortal arts under the guidance of her family head since childhood, and later became a master immortal, making her even more powerful in immortal arts. However, due to a series of unexpected events, she later crossed paths with Xuan Ye, which is why Liu Xi chose Xuan Ye as her third guard.

The former master is gone, and the memories are full of sorrow. Onikiri scrutinizes Huaiwen, and he sighs inwardly. Huaiwen is not like Ruan Shiyun, but he is not entirely different either. That look of wanting to become an immortal is quite similar.

After listening to Onikiri's explanation, Huaiwen seemed lost in thought. Ruan Shiyun, Ruan Huaiwen. So, the mighty Demon King wouldn't kill him just because he was Ruan Shiyun's descendant? But why did Liu Xi never tell him any of this?

Huaiwen asked himself and answered, "He didn't kill me because of her. Right?"

Demon Slayer laughed, "That's natural."

Huaiwen breathed a sigh of relief: "It seems we're lucky to have escaped the Demon King's clutches. Fortunately, our ancestors had a good relationship with him. But why didn't you tell me this from the beginning?"

Onikiri, dumbfounded, said, "You're okay too..."

Huaiwen was speechless! He quickly frowned and asked, "If Lingshan Xuanye is as good as you say, not killing me because of my descendants, then why are you making us do hard labor?"

Onikiri replied, "Although Lord Xuanye seems to be ordering us around now, we at the Human and Demon Bureau have always been taken care of by him. Otherwise, we would have disappeared long ago. Although Lord Xuanye has never come to the Human and Demon Bureau since then, you naturally haven't met him and don't know how good he is."

"No! What did he do that makes you all speak up for him like this?"

"Because Lord Xuan Ye is really helping us."

Huaiwen remained silent for a long time. Regardless of the connection between Xuan Ye and Ruan Shiyun, she was ultimately going to the stone tablet. She needed to think of a way.

After leaving Xuan Ye's room that day, Huai Wen had been working as a waiter at Zui Meng Lou for seven or eight days.

She has already built up good relationships with the little demons of Zuimenglou in the past few days; a bowl of melon seeds is all it takes to start a conversation.

So she learned some of the city lord's quirks. For example, his favorite wine was called Bamboo Fragrance, he liked to rest in his back garden, and his favorite painting was called Goddess Dancing with Swords...

This was quite different from Huaiwen's initial impression of Xuan Ye. At least, in the human realm, what she heard about Xuan Ye was mostly twofold—ruthless and greedy.

But according to the little demons, Xuan Ye was like a pampered playboy, living a carefree life all day long.

Huaiwen asked in confusion, "Is the City Lord so poetic?"

The lesser demons pondered for a moment, chin in hand. They hadn't seen their city lord many times. Besides, they were either busy working or drinking and taking naps in the house; they had no time to go outside and enjoy the scenery, let alone the courage to spy on their city lord's life.

Furthermore, the city lord's life has always been arranged by Qingye and Qingcheng alone; no one else ever sees him. The city lord also enjoys transforming into different people, so even if they encounter him outside, they wouldn't recognize him.

According to the lesser demons, Lingshan Xuanye is a strange demon. Thinking of this, Huaiwen couldn't help but ask, "Since the city lord has things he likes, what does he dislike?"

So people said, "The city lord hates people, the city lord doesn't like demons, the city lord doesn't like gods, the city lord doesn't like..."

Huaiwen felt helpless after hearing this. To put it another way, he could say he hated everything in the Three Realms.

"Huaiwen, Sister Qingye is looking for you," a little demon called from outside the door.

Huaiwen stood up and followed the little demon toward Qingye.

The two arrived shortly after. The little demon winked at Huaiwen, signaling her to go in alone, and then left. Huaiwen stood there, scratching her temples, feeling completely bewildered. Then, it suddenly dawned on her that she sometimes chatted with others while working.

But she was gathering information, not actually trying to slack off! Does Aoba know about this? Is Aoba going to deduct her wages?

After doing his own mental preparation at the door, Huaiwen took a deep breath and stepped inside.

Upon entering, Huaiwen found it to be exceptionally beautiful and elegant. Having grown accustomed to the dilapidated state of her own little house, seeing the fine silks and satins here at Qingye's place was like comparing heaven and earth.

Furthermore, as soon as she entered, she saw Qingye writing something in the ledger.

This made Huaiwen even more worried, and she was frantically trying to come up with a solution.

When Qingye saw Huaiwen standing cautiously and honestly in front of the table, she looked him up and down, shook her head, and said with a smile, "Don't be nervous. I called you here just to ask how you've been adjusting these past few days."

Huaiwen gave a forced smile: "Not bad, it's pretty good."

Qingye put down the account book in her hand, rose from the armchair, and gestured for Huaiwen to sit down beside her. She poured him a cup of tea and offered him some pastries. This made Huaiwen even more puzzled, and he finally couldn't help but ask what Qingye wanted from her.

After taking a sip of tea, Qingye smiled and said, "I heard that you come from the Institute of Transgender People. So I wanted to ask you for some information."

At this, Huaiwen's eyes lit up. She thought to herself, "Looks like they're not going to dock my pay." She hadn't expected the transgender community to still be remembered. So, Huaiwen happily asked Qingye what information she wanted to investigate.

“You—” Qingye paused for a moment, “were you sent by your parents to the transvestite training center?”

Huaiwen frowned, and Qingye continued to ask, "That place for transvestites has long since fallen into disrepair. There's only one left in the world. How did you end up there?"

When asked about this, Huaiwen was a little worried. Should she tell Qingye?

Seeing Huaiwen's wariness, Qingye explained first, "Don't worry. I asked about your past and where you came from because I wanted to know if you had any trouble with anyone before coming to Zuimenglou. As you know, Zuimenglou accepts all kinds of guests. In case you encounter an enemy one day, we need to know in advance so we can protect you."

That makes sense, Huaiwen nodded, and began to ponder. Although she hadn't seen Xuan Ye these past few days, she had seen Qing Ye two or three times. Qing Ye was like the second-in-command here, getting along well with everyone at Zuimenglou, and handling everything very well.

Although she caused a scene at Zuimenglou, people became gentler towards her after she became a member of Zuimenglou.

Furthermore, Huaiwen had only heard about her background from her master; she herself didn't remember it. But she couldn't be unprepared for Qingye, so she had to give a half-truth and half-lies.

Huaiwen told Qingye that her master had told her that the reason she came to the transgender community was because her parents had many children, and she was the fourth child in the family. She couldn't work, she could only eat, and she would only cause trouble for her family.

Just as Huaiwen's parents were worrying, her master, Liuxi, came down the mountain and saw young Huaiwen playing by a stream. Those destined to meet are often connected at first sight. Because Liuxi felt that Huaiwen had potential, he went to her home and begged her parents to take her away.

One less person means one less mouth to feed. Although Huaiwen's parents were somewhat reluctant, they were convinced that Liu Xi was a good person because he was clean-cut and had a kind face. After receiving two taels of silver from Liu Xi, they agreed.

At this point, Huaiwen bid farewell to his hometown and came to the transgender community.