"Yuanqing, Yuanqing!"
Du Youqian shook his head. The mixture of candlelight, the scent of wine, and the fragrance of cosmetics stung his eyes, leaving him dazed and drowsy.
A soft, fragrant body pressed close to him, seeming to carefully wipe his face.
"Haha, Yuanqing, when it comes to drinking, you're still just a rookie! You can't handle it after just a few cups?"
Du Youqian felt someone patting him heavily on the shoulder.
'Yuanqing?'
'Oh, I'm Qiu Yuanqing... I just passed the provincial exams to become a Scholar, and now I'm celebrating at a brothel with some literary friends. We even called over a few of the famous local Courtesans.'
'Wait, but why does that feel wrong?'
'I seem to remember my name is supposed to be Du Youqian...'
'Wait, wait.'
'No, that's not right either. I'm Fang Ying... Fang Zhongying. I am a Cultivator.'
'I encountered a Tribulation Cultivator. I used the "Blood Burning Art" to pretend I was fighting to the death, but it was really a ruse to burn away the last of my lifespan...'
Du Youqian pinched his temples and looked up.
The chaotic memories finally coalesced.
'I am Du Youqian, but I am also Fang Zhongying, and Qiu Yuanqing is my name as well. This is my third reincarnation.'
'This is so fucked. What kind of curse am I under? My first life was all studying for college entrance exams. My second life was still studying, aiming for the top score in the imperial examinations. My third life was also studying, and this life is *still* studying. Why can't I ever escape studying? I've studied so much I'm about to puke! I want to be an Immortal, not a Great Scholar!'
As he complained internally, his gaze quickly sharpened with clarity.
Although the alcohol still raged in his system, the decades of tranquil cultivation from his previous life allowed him to quickly compose his mind.
The clinking of glasses and beautiful women at his side had left him utterly captivated just a moment ago.
But now, they could no longer cause the slightest ripple in his heart.
Recalling the information from the end of his last life—"If you fail to break through to the Nascent Soul realm and perceive your true self within ten reincarnations, you will not be able to reincarnate again"—Du Youqian's heart grew heavy.
He had no desire to keep up pretenses with these people any longer and wished he could start his cultivation immediately.
He looked at the man who had patted his shoulder and smiled. "Brother Wen Dao, actually, I was just thinking about something."
"Oh? And what might that be, Yuanqing?" the man replied. He was also a famous scholar and had always been on good terms with Du Youqian.
"I don't want to study anymore." With no patience for further pleasantries or delays, Du Youqian rose to his feet, causing the Courtesan beside him who was wiping his face to cry out and nearly fall.
"The truth is, ever since I was a young man, I've admired the Immortal Dao and wished to seek Immortals and ask for long life. But because of my strict parents, I had to study for the imperial exams so as not to sadden them. Looking back now, however, I feel I've only been wasting my time. Everyone, I'll be taking my leave. I will not continue down this path of the imperial examinations."
His literary friends were all dumbfounded, too shocked to even try and admonish him. They could only watch as Du Youqian gave a customary bow before striding gallantly down the stairs and leaving.
Stepping out of the brothel, Du Youqian looked left and right. The streets were deserted.
Although the city had no official curfew, respectable folk wouldn't normally be wandering around outside at this hour.
It was much like it was depicted in certain Hong Kong movies.
During the day, the ones in charge of the streets wore the skin of officials.
At night, it was the local thugs who called the shots.
This was the Han Kingdom, a nation known for its aggressive populace and abysmal public safety.
In his previous life, Du Youqian had heard some rumors about the Han Kingdom, as well as all sorts of jokes.
For example, one joke told of a man from the Wu Kingdom who came to the Han Kingdom on business. On the road, he happened to make eye contact with a man from Han.
Just a single glance.
The man from Han didn't even ask, "What are you lookin' at?" He just flew into a rage, drew his blade, and killed the man from Wu.
In the eyes of the people from the Wu Kingdom, the Han Kingdom was simply the most barbaric country in the world.
Jokes were jokes, but combining them with the memories of his first eighteen years in this life, Du Youqian found that the real Han Kingdom wasn't much better than the jokes portrayed.
He had only just broken through the Mystery of the Womb and didn't want to stir up any trouble. He just wanted to get home quickly.
Besides, he needed to hurry up and pack his bags to run away from home before word of what he'd said tonight reached his family, lest all hell break loose—
"Qing Lang!" A sweet, delicate cry interrupted Du Youqian's train of thought.
He turned to see the Courtesan who had been wiping his face and taking care of him while he was drunk.
The Courtesan's face was as lovely as a flower. She was at the peak of her youth, around seventeen or eighteen, with skin so tender it looked as if it would break with the slightest pinch.
She wore a scarlet dance dress embroidered with gold thread and had a "May Red" flower pinned in her hair. Truly, the woman was more beautiful than the flower.
She held her hands behind her back, wearing a look of delicate vulnerability.
As the night wind blew, she shivered, inspiring an irresistible urge to pity and protect her.
Du Youqian remembered that her stage name was Suo Luo. But in the dead of night, when no one was around and they were intimate, she always preferred him to call her Lin Sha, or Sasha.
Du Youqian gave her a cold glance and said, "Miss Lin, what is it?"
"Qing Lang!" The Courtesan's eyes welled with tears, her voice a mournful lament as if rebuking Du Youqian's cruelty. "Just yesterday, you were swearing eternal love to me. Why are you so cold today?"
Du Youqian thought back for a moment, forcing himself not to show his embarrassment.
'Yesterday I was calling her "Sasha," and today it's become "Miss Lin."'
Even though he had lived for over two hundred years across his several lifetimes, he still couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.
He could only resort to sophistry: "The me of yesterday is not the me of today."
Lin Huakui's large, tear-filled eyes swept over him coquettishly. She brought a sturdy linen sack out from behind her back and handed it to Du Youqian with some effort.
Du Youqian took it and weighed it in his hand. He knew it was full of gold, silver, and jewels.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Lin Sha's brow furrowed in anger. "Qing Lang, you... If you weren't serious, then don't humiliate me! You said you wanted to buy my freedom. I was worried you didn't have enough silver coins, so I secretly brought you my own savings—my Brotherly Love Money. And now you're playing dumb? Was everything you said to me before just an act?"
Du Youqian felt even more awkward.
'It would be better if I didn't remember.'
'The problem was, he remembered with perfect clarity that he really had sworn vows of eternal love with this Courtesan.'
'Ever since he paid a high price for her "first night," she hadn't stayed with any other men. So he—before breaking through the Mystery of the Womb—had truly been devoted to her and planned to marry her and bring her home.'
'Of course, that was far too naive.'
'Although he wasn't born into a great and powerful clan in this life, his family was still a scholarly one. They would never, under any circumstances, allow him to marry a woman from a brothel as his official wife.'
'Even taking her as a concubine was highly unlikely.'
"Ahem, it's like this," Du Youqian said. "It wasn't exactly an act. It's just that I have now seen through the Red Dust and wish only to seek the Dao and ask about immortality, not to walk the mortal world again. Our past relationship is now like a passing cloud to me. Following me is no solution for you, Miss Lin. Besides, you possess Superior Martial Arts. With the world so vast, where could you not go? Your insistence on following me... perhaps you have ulterior motives?"
After a moment of shock, a layer of hurt quickly clouded Lin Sha's watery eyes. Her face filled with gloom. "Young Master Qiu, about the Martial Arts... I was wrong to hide it from you, but I had my reasons... But let's not talk about that. In all the days we've been together, I have been completely devoted to you, without a single scheme. Do I have to carve out my heart and show it to you for you to believe me? To say our past is like a passing cloud... you might as well just say you've grown tired of me."