Chapter 23 Spending Money Like Water
Suddenly, after a burst of noise, all the lights in the building went out, and the courtesan, dressed in red, slowly descended onto the stage. The only light focused on her veiled face, making it difficult to see clearly.
After the dance, everyone stood up, clapped and cheered. Some even tried to rush onto the stage, but were stopped by several burly men. The courtesan bowed slightly, and the madam beside her understood and called out the starting price.
"Ten taels—"
The crowd below started bidding, increasing the price by twenty or thirty taels at a time, and soon it reached eighty taels. Chu Jianshan looked at Bai Qianfan beside him, who was still unmoved, and was getting a little anxious for him. He leaned closer to him and asked, "You're not even participating in something like this? That's not like you."
Bai Qianfan simply smiled and said, "It's not time for me to make a move yet."
Chu Jianshan couldn't figure out what he was up to, but based on his understanding of Bai Qianfan, he knew that this man would never wrong himself, and there was bound to be a good show to watch later.
Before long, the price of the courtesan had risen to one hundred taels. No one dared to bid anymore and all looked at the man who had bid one hundred taels. The fat man was also very anxious. Seeing that no one was bidding, he was about to go on stage and take the beauty before his mother could speak.
"Wait a minute," Bai Qianfan finally spoke.
"What, you want to raise the price?" The man looked at Bai Qianfan with disdain, scanning him up and down as if he didn't believe Bai Qianfan could afford the price.
Bai Qianfan raised his hand slightly and said calmly, "I'll offer one hundred taels."
The crowd below burst into laughter upon hearing this, and the man laughed so hard he couldn't stand up straight. He sneered at Bai Qianfan, "Young master, were you asleep just now? I paid the hundred taels first. Even if you want to take it from me, you should at least add some money, right?"
The others, who also sided with the man, began lecturing Bai Qianfan: "Young master, you look unfamiliar. Could you be secretly having an affair behind your wife's back? If you ask me, you shouldn't get involved in this mess, lest you get a beating when you get back, hahaha!"
The audience burst into laughter again, interspersed with many telling Bai Qianfan to go back, but Bai Qianfan didn't explain. He just rested his chin on his hand and looked at everyone with a smile on his face.
After the commotion subsided, Bai Qianfan spoke calmly: "Please don't be anxious, everyone. I only said one hundred taels, but I didn't say one hundred taels for what."
"What do you mean?" The man became wary.
Bai Qianfan slowly stood up and shouted loudly to the courtesan on the stage, "I bid one hundred taels of gold!"
"What? One hundred taels of gold!"
"Really?"
"When did Qingyao City acquire such a figure?"
The audience below was buzzing with discussion. Chu Jianshan was so shocked that he couldn't speak and tugged at Bai Qianfan's sleeve, trying to get him to sit down quickly.
"Bai Qianfan, are you crazy? Even if you want to create a stir, there's no need to go to this extent, is there?"
Chu Jianshan had never seen a hundred taels of gold in his life, but this guy just waved his sleeve and spent it all. How impressive it would be to scatter that money on the street!
"Who said it's just to create a stir?" Bai Qianfan looked at the courtesan on the stage, his smile impossible to hide, and said loudly, "There is a beauty, whom I cannot forget once I see her, and I am driven mad with longing if I do not see her for a day. It is my honor, Zhang, to be able to give up gold and silver for a beauty!"
Upon hearing this, the courtesan on the stage slightly turned her head and returned his smile with a standard, shy and bashful one.
Chu Jianshan, sitting in the audience, sighed helplessly, as if he had swallowed ten pounds of bitter herbs. He had no way to express his bitterness. That was a hundred taels of gold! He couldn't even imagine how happy he would be if it were in his hands.
The man who had just offered one hundred taels of silver suddenly spoke up, saying to him irritably, "Surname Zhang? How come I don't know anyone named Zhang in Qingyao City?"
Bai Qianfan explained, "It's no wonder you don't know; I'm from Zhangjia Village outside the city."
Mentioning Zhangjia Village, people began to recall that the incident from back then caused quite a stir, and many people still remember it.
"Zhangjia Village? I seem to remember that village being wiped out by the demons a long time ago."
"Yes, I remember... it was seven years ago, wasn't it?"
Bai Qianfan raised his hand, signaling everyone to quiet down, and explained, "Back then, quite a few people did die in this village, but I was lucky enough to escape. After that, I started learning to do business in order to make a living. No one knows the difficulties I faced; I had to bear the hardships and exhaustion myself..."
He blinked hard twice, managing to squeeze out two tears, and exclaimed, "But heaven rewards the diligent! I've finally made a fortune, and only now do I dare to return home in glory!"
This string of sweet talk almost fooled Chu Jianshan, and the man who had snatched the courtesan earlier was full of admiration for him, saying that doing business was difficult these days and that he understood Bai Qianfan's hardships, and almost wanted to become sworn brothers with him on the spot.
The scene was too chaotic, and Chu Jianshan was too lazy to clean up the mess, so he secretly slipped out to get some fresh air.
Inside, Bai Qianfan dismissed the man and successfully obtained the right to spend the night with the courtesan. As soon as he crossed the threshold, Bai Qianfan instantly abandoned his frivolous demeanor.
He took out a slip of paper from his waist and gave it to the courtesan. After seeing the paper, the courtesan understood his meaning, knelt on one knee and said, "Yes, Master."
Chu Jianshan hadn't been outside long when he saw Bai Qianfan come out. He first glanced at him up and down, then asked with a smile, "So fast?"
"Tsk, what are you thinking!" Bai Qianfan angrily questioned, "Am I that kind of person?!"
"Isn't that so?"
Back then, he flirted with almost all the female disciples on Changjin Mountain. If you asked him if he was a virtuous gentleman, Chu Jianshan really didn't believe it.
Bai Qianfan didn't bother arguing with him, and simply said, "My name has been established today. Guess how long it will take for Linyimen to take action?"
Chu Jianshan shook his head and said, "Your bait is too obvious. They might not believe it."
Bai Qianfan said, "Whether they believe it or not is not up to them; they can't afford to gamble."
Chu Jianshan said directly, "I don't have any spiritual power now. I don't care if they really come to kill me."
Bai Qianfan chuckled twice, looking down, and comforted her, "Don't worry, I'm here for you."
The next day, Bai Qianfan rented a large courtyard in Qingyao City in a very high-profile manner. Thanks to Bai Qianfan's influence, Chu Jianshan also began to live a life where he was waited on hand and foot.
After two comfortable days, on the third night, Chu Jianshan heard some noises in his sleep. There were probably quite a few people, and they had likely surrounded their house. He got up, put on his mask, went outside, and shouted into the darkness, "Come out!"
In an instant, dozens of men in black jumped down from the surrounding walls. Judging from their clothes, they were the same group that had surrounded and killed Cheng Yuan and his group at Zuichunlou. Bai Qianfan's method had indeed worked.
"Why be so mysterious? We're all old acquaintances."
Bai Qianfan slowly walked out from behind him, lazily stretched, and said, "Shall we start fighting right away, or chat for a bit first?"
The leader of the men in black stepped forward, took off his large hat, and by the moonlight, Chu Jianshan could see his face clearly. He was very familiar with this man; it was He Kun, the head of the Linyi Sect.
Seven years ago, this person was the main force in the battle between him and Linyimen. His strength was definitely not weak. However, it was unreasonable that such a large force was sent out to deal with an ordinary person who survived from Zhangjia Village, and that the sect leader could come in person.
Unless, of course, they already knew who they were facing.
Sure enough, He Kun spoke up the next second.
"Chu Qingyuan, how have you been?"
"I'm not well, I've lost all my spiritual power." Seeing that he had recognized him, Chu Jianshan didn't hide it anymore and said, "Thank you for your concern and for thinking of coming to see me."
He Kun chuckled softly, "Whether there's still any spiritual power or not, we'll have to try to find out."
As he spoke, the sword in his hand was already three-tenths drawn from its sheath.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Chu Jianshan took two steps back and reached out to block them.
"I thought the only thing I offended you with was attacking Linyi Gate back then. Now that I've lost my spiritual power, we're even. Why did you have to kill me to silence me after chasing me all the way here?"
He Kun looked up at him. Logically speaking, a person's eyes are the most expressive. Chu Jianshan was also used to guessing other people's next intentions by looking at their eyes. However, he could not see the emotions of the person in front of him. But for some reason, Chu Jianshan felt that he had seen this expression somewhere before.
Right, Chu Jianshan instantly recalled Tang Yi from Furong Town. At that time, she was controlled by a fox demon. Her words and actions were flawless, but she also had this same expression, devoid of any human spirit, only blankness.
So, is the person in front of us also being controlled? Who could control the dignified leader of Linyi Sect? This matter seems to be getting more and more complicated.
He Kun said, "If you had stopped here, we could have spared your life. But if you insist on investigating, then you can only blame your bad luck."
Chu Jianshan chuckled softly, "My life has never been good."
Then he took two steps back, raised his head, and shouted, "Bai Qianfan!"
Upon hearing the sound, Bai Qianfan instantly drew his Fanglan sword and planted it in the ground. Golden light flowed down the blade like water, then rapidly converged at the feet of the group of people through the cracks in the floor.
Bai Qianfan may not be good at other things, but he is always one of the best at formations. He could trap them for half an hour without any problem.
However, the formation moved too slowly, allowing He Kun and a small number of men in black to escape.
That's it, there's nothing left to discuss.
He Kun picked up his sword and charged at Chu Jianshan. Chu Jianshan dodged to the side and used Bai Qianfan's body to block a few more blows.
He knew Bai Qianfan would definitely curse him in his heart, but his life was more important.
"Bai Qianfan, are you even capable?" Chu Jianshan was provoking him again.
"Nonsense, try fighting a whole group of people!" Bai Qianfan was busy blocking swords and blades coming from all directions, protecting Chu Jianshan, and exchanging a few words with him.
Chu Jianshan couldn't help him either, so he could only dodge a bit, but He Kun was only staring at him. If he hadn't been agile, he probably would have been riddled with holes by now.
But luck is only temporary, misfortune is the norm. A pebble that appeared at the foot of Chu Jianshan made him slip. Although he didn't fall, he couldn't avoid He Kun's move.
A sword light flashed, blocking He Kun's attack for him. Just as Chu Jianshan was about to look up to thank Bai Qianfan, he saw another person's face.
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