Chapter 254 What brings you here, young master?
"I don't know..." Baili Yicheng stammered, unable to utter a word.
A faint female voice suddenly emerged from the corner, "I...I know..."
Mu Jianjian turned to look at Zhuang Mei and said, "Speak."
"If I tell you what I know, can you let me go?" Zhuang Mei asked urgently, her eyes filled with longing. "I still need to find my sister and avenge her. I can't die here!"
Mu Jianjian tilted her head, her gaze as sharp as a blade, "Do you really want to find your sister, or are you just using this as an excuse to survive?"
"How could that be? I really wanted to avenge my sister, otherwise I wouldn't have dragged Young Master Baili into this," Zhuang Mei seemed to see a glimmer of hope, and she desperately explained, "I was wrong about what happened before, and I apologize to you. Now that you're so magnanimous, please forgive me, okay?"
Mu Jianjian couldn't understand how someone like that could have the nerve to say such things.
Her sister is pitiful, and her deep sisterly love and desire for revenge are understandable. However, using this reason to repeatedly hurt others and to justify her despicable behavior is going too far.
"Tell me your information first, and I'll consider it," Mu Jianjian said casually.
Zhuang Mei swallowed hard. "I heard it from other people in the Red Mansion. I wanted Yun Rong to take me as her apprentice, so I inquired about her..."
Perhaps due to excessive nervousness, her speech was somewhat incoherent, but the content was still generally understandable.
"...I heard that Yunrong was born to a courtesan in the Red Chamber. Her father's identity is unknown, so the courtesan went to great lengths to keep her and raise her. However, she fell seriously ill and died not long after, leaving her alone and trapped in the Red Chamber. According to the nanny in the Red Chamber, fortunately, she was resolute and calm enough, and had an outstanding appearance, which allowed her to gain a foothold in the Red Chamber."
Zhuang Mei lowered her head, her hair falling loosely to the ground as she moved, but she didn't care. "But some people say that after Yun Rong became the most beautiful courtesan, these rumors were cut off and fewer and fewer people spread them, making them seem unreal... However..."
Mu Jianjian lowered her eyes, thinking about all that she had experienced in the Red Chamber, and felt a pang of pain in her heart.
"However, it is said that the name 'Yunrong' was originally the title bestowed upon her after she became the most beautiful courtesan. People have been calling her that ever since, and gradually they have forgotten her original name... I heard that her original name contained the character 'Chen,' and perhaps she felt that the character had a bad meaning, so she stopped mentioning it later..."
Mu Jianjian slowly closed her eyes, recalling the plot of the original book.
The male protagonist, Baili Mochen, has an unknown background in the book. After meeting the female protagonist, Sang Wanyue, in the Dream of the Red Chamber, the two support each other. Baili Mochen also becomes the owner of Duyunfang. The female protagonist asked him about the meaning of his name back then.
"This name was given to me by my mother, beginning in dust and ending in dust," Baili Mochen looked at Sang Wanyue beside him, whose expression was cool yet tinged with a hint of pity, and slowly curved his lips into a smile, "But things are different now, I am no longer the person I once was."
After the recollection ended, she opened her eyes and asked a completely unrelated question, "What would be different if a prostitute in the Red Chamber became pregnant with a boy?"
"A boy?" Zhuang Mei was taken aback. "I guess they won't let him be born."
Although the Red Mansion and even the entire Duyunfang favored men over women, in such a brothel, any boy with an unknown identity would likely be eliminated. However, girls were different. Women were of great value to the Red Mansion and were easy to manipulate and could be used repeatedly, so there was no need to worry about them.
Mu Jianjian thought to herself, "Just as I expected."
Having gotten the answer she wanted, she raised her hand, ready to deal with the people in front of her, when she keenly sensed the person entering from outside the door.
"You broke your promise! I've already told you everything, why did you still treat me so cruelly?" Zhuang Mei saw Mu Jianjian's actions and knew what she was thinking. Tears streamed down her face as she supported herself on the ground, looking pitiful.
Baili Yicheng and the others didn't dare to say a word until the Foundation Establishment cultivator noticed the newcomer and, as if he had been saved, quickly spoke up.
"There are people here! Please help us!"
Before he could even let out a few cries, Mu Jianjian struck the man's forehead with a burst of true energy, causing him to faint from the force of the impact.
At the same time, several streams of true energy surged in from outside the door. Mu Jianjian glanced behind her, turned around and easily dodged them. She then looked at the three cultivators who had arrived and were dressed in the same clothes, and pointed to the four people on the ground.
"You're looking for them, right? Baili Yicheng, and... his dogs," Mu Jianjian pointed them out casually, then spread her hands. "I was just passing by."
Baili Yicheng stared in horror at the approaching cultivator. He wished he could wake the unconscious man up and then kill him.
Since the Fangzhong Incident, they have been living in fear and hiding in the Red Mansion, trying to avoid being captured by these people. This person even needs to shout loudly to attract their attention...
Mu Yuanyuan is no good, and these people are even more terrifying!
"She was with us! She used to be one of my servants!" Baili Yicheng's gaze swept over the girl's retreating figure with hatred. He gritted his teeth and said, "Don't be fooled by this woman's sweet talk. She fled here with us, and now she's betraying us to save her own life!"
They won't have a good ending, and this woman won't get away with it either.
"Huh?" Mu Jianjian asked in surprise. She turned her head and looked at the cultivator who clearly believed Baili Yicheng's words and began to be wary of her, and sneered.
“If this fellow Daoist does not provide proof, we will not show any mercy,” one of the cultivators said.
Wasn't it said that all the cultivators the former sect leader sent to Baili Yicheng were dead? Why does he still have such a strong person by his side?
"Proof?" Mu Jianjian pondered the word.
She found that her temper seemed to have become much more irritable since she returned from there. In the past, she might have disguised herself properly before entering the Red Chamber, and she would have explained to them in a nice tone, such as "the scar on Baili Yicheng's face was inflicted by her." But now she felt that there was no need for that.
A warm and friendly smile spread across his lips, as captivating as the sun on the horizon. "Is this proof?"
Baili Yicheng was excitedly waiting for the two sides to start fighting when he felt a warm, wet sensation on his neck. Some liquid ran down his neck and soaked his robe.
An ominous premonition rose in his heart. He slowly lowered his head and saw a wound on his neck, from which blood was gushing out incessantly.
"Pfft pfft—"
Blood gushed from Baili Yicheng's mouth. He tried to raise his head to look at Mu Jianjian, but found that he couldn't move his head at all. Then his body collapsed and he lost consciousness.
He never understood why the girl whose face had been disfigured and thrown into the sand cave could reappear before him, her appearance restored, and she even possessed absolute power.
"Waaaah—" Zhuang Mei covered her mouth and retreated to a corner, afraid that she would become Mu Jianjian's next "proof".
"Is that enough?" Mu Jianjian even winked mischievously.
"You!" A monk was so shocked he couldn't speak.
Another cultivator frowned. "Master said to capture Baili Yicheng alive. Let's capture this woman, otherwise it will be difficult to explain."
Mu Jianjian originally came to the Red Mansion to find Yun Rong, but after unexpectedly encountering Baili Yicheng and dealing with him, she lost interest in staying any longer. She quickly bypassed the three people and left the room, using her divine sense to find an uninhabited route.
Before they had gone more than a few steps and turned the corner, they encountered a man dressed in white.
She stopped abruptly.
The edges of the man's white robe were stained with ink black, making him appear ethereal and otherworldly yet giving him a sense of realism. His handsome and well-defined features were complemented by his neatly tied black hair, and his upturned eyes had a touch of demonic charm. He exuded an indescribable noble elegance, as beautiful as a poem or a painting.
Behind him stood a short, thin woman in a black robe, both of them staring at her in astonishment.
Mu Jianjian's face darkened, and she frowned as she was about to leave, but the man stopped her. She asked impatiently, "What is it, young master?"
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