Novel Full Chapter 66: Shameless
Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Shameless
Good wine, fine food, and lovely company.
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, the better part of a day was gone.
Candles were already lit in the main hall of Yihong House.
"Alright, it’s getting late. We should head back."
To Fang Yue’s surprise, he had thought Chubby would definitely be spending the night here.
Looking at the lipstick marks on Chubby’s face, Fang Yue found it hard to believe.
He had already been preparing to make an excuse to leave.
He never expected Chubby to be the first to suggest going back.
’I didn’t see that coming. This guy can actually hold back when it counts. I really misjudged him.’
And so, the two slightly tipsy men bantered with each other as they returned to their inn.
After this, Fang Yue came to understand this Bai Xingqiu quite a bit better.
The man indeed had an impressive background. His father was an Eighth-Grade Captain in the Prefecture City’s City Guard Army, and his mother’s family was also incredibly wealthy. One could say his family was illustrious.
The reason he came to Xiahe County to take the Martial Scholar examination, rather than taking it in the Prefecture City, was because among the seven counties under the Prefecture City’s jurisdiction, Xiahe County had the least competition for the Martial Examination.
So, his father had pulled some strings to arrange for Chubby to take the Martial Examination in Xiahe County.
Fang Yue couldn’t help but curse inwardly, ’What a rich bastard.’
However, after learning about Fang Yue’s family background, Chubby’s behavior didn’t change at all. He remained just as warm and friendly as before.
This made Fang Yue sigh with admiration. ’He’s a man worth knowing.’
In particular, Bai Xingqiu believed that by giving up the woodshed, Fang Yue was giving up his chance to pass the examination.
In everything he said and did, he was extremely grateful to Fang Yue.
~~~~~~
The next day, Fang Yue was woken up bright and early by the sounds of Chubby’s boisterous training.
He washed up, then went out, planning to find a quiet place to practice.
While wandering around the city yesterday, he had discovered a hidden clearing by the Jade River. It was surrounded by a dense bamboo forest, rarely visited by people, and very peaceful.
Perfect for training.
Sure enough, when he went there early in the morning, not a soul was in sight.
There were no clamorous sounds, a pocket of tranquility amidst the noise of the city.
’The Cultivation Technique for the Bone Forging Pass focuses on internal training, nourishing the bones with qi and blood...’
Fang Yue recalled the key points of the Cultivation Technique that Chen Tong had taught him yesterday and began to try it out.
The White Tiger Fist trained from the outside in; in fact, most of the cultivation techniques for the Four Martial Arts Gates were of this nature.
They trained the body’s strength and cultivated qi and blood, so there was no risk of succumbing to qi deviation if one was disturbed.
One could even practice in the middle of a bustling city.
Soon, as Fang Yue began his fist routine...
...the explosive whistling of the air stirred up gusts of wind around him.
By mid-morning, across the river in the pleasure district...
...an early-rising young woman held up her skirt hem, carrying a wooden basin to dump her wash water into the river.
There were also courtesans cussing out johns on the painted boats who couldn’t pay their fees...
All these scenes were quite an eye-opener for Fang Yue.
’So this is what a pleasure district is like. It seems so... real, though.’
’This is life.’
’The stories of gifted scholars and beautiful maidens probably only exist in poems and literature.’
"I wonder what the legendary pleasure district of Qinhuai is like!"
Fang Yue sighed with feeling.
The Prefecture City naturally had its own pleasure district. He’d heard Bai Xingqiu say yesterday that it was also situated along a river, but it was more than ten times the size of the one in Xiahe County.
That river was called the Qinhuai, sharing the same name as the river from Fang Yue’s memories.
What a coincidence.
"The Qinhuai, land of beauties... the two worlds are quite similar in this regard."
Fang Yue sighed again, then refocused his mind on his fist practice.
Just as Fang Yue was getting into the swing of his training, a girl of fifteen or sixteen appeared on the opposite bank. She was wearing a pale cyan, loose-fitting dress.
She was quite pretty and elegant, with her hair in a young girl’s bun. She bent down with a bucket to fetch water.
Because the dress was very loose, it was clearly someone else’s.
So when she bent over to get water, a patch of pale skin was revealed on her chest.
At that moment, for some reason, she suddenly looked up and saw Fang Yue on the opposite bank.
The girl stared at Fang Yue.
Because he was training, Fang Yue was only wearing a short jacket, leaving most of his sturdy physique exposed.
The young woman’s eyes widened, and she seemed to be in a daze.
Just then, Fang Yue’s gaze shifted her way, and their eyes met.
The girl’s face instantly turned crimson. The bucket slipped from her hands, and in a flash, it was carried far away by the current.
Seeing this, the girl no longer cared about looking at Fang Yue and immediately ran to chase the bucket. Unfortunately, the current was swift, and there was no way she could catch up.
Fang Yue smiled, then resumed his fist practice.
A little while later, another, slightly older woman joined the young girl on the opposite bank.
"Hey, you! The acrobat! You degenerate, going around shirtless in the morning! You made our Zicao lose her bucket..."
The older woman wore a sheer gown, her graceful figure partially visible, partially hidden.
She glared at Fang Yue angrily, cupping her hands around her mouth to shout at him.
Fang Yue was speechless.
’Seriously? Wasn’t it the girl’s own clumsiness that made her lose the bucket?’
’And they’re blaming me for it? Women are truly hard to deal with.’
’Looks like I’ll have to find a new place to train. Who knows if I’ll have to see this unreasonable woman every day otherwise.’
’But I haven’t finished my training for today.’
Fang Yue ignored her, pretending not to hear. He continued his practice without pause.
"Stop it, sister! It wasn’t his fault. It was me, I was careless!"
The younger girl tugged on the older woman’s sheer gown, trying to placate her.
The truth was, she had stared a little too long and accidentally dropped the bucket, which was then swept away.
It really wasn’t the young man on the other side’s fault.
But when she went back and told her sister what happened, her sister had insisted on getting justice for her.
And that’s what led to the current situation.
"Are you deaf? Believe me, I’ll cross this river right now and have a word with you... let you see what I’m made of!"
Seeing Fang Yue ignore them and continue his practice, the older woman in the sheer gown was so angry her chest was puffed out.
As she spoke, her tone suddenly shifted, becoming seductive.
’Okay, this is getting more and more ridiculous.’
Fang Yue exclaimed internally. ’I can’t believe they had pros like this in ancient times!’
’She’s coming on so strong, my head is spinning.’
’The alleys of wine and willow... they’re a gentle trap, a hero’s grave. No wonder the old sayings go: "A sixteen-year-old’s body is soft as pastry, a Treasure Sword at her waist to slay the foolish man."’
’This woman’s allure is truly captivating and dangerous!’
’It seems this isn’t a good place to train after all.’
"Come over here, don’t go! Big sister will play the flute for you."
Seeing that Fang Yue was about to leave, the two women became even bolder with their words.