Her Celestial Masters and Handsome Men League - Vol. 1 Chapter 8

“Ah!” a screech like the wind and whistle, as the woman fell, the skull was pulled into the blood sword by that bewitching blood aura.

The man sheathed his sword, and a faint smell of blood began to permeate the air.

“Bang!” The woman fell to the ground, lifeless, blood flowing from her seven orifices, and even her beautiful face slowly decomposing.

The man furrowed his brows, lifted the woman’s belt, looked down at the shimmering river surface, and below, a maid on a painted boat was walking by with food and wine. After the woman passed, the man casually tossed her body.

“Bang.” The woman, already completely decayed, sank into the water, gradually descending. Her red clothes floated in the clear river water but vanished in the blink of an eye, like a red rouge dissolving in water, gradually fading away.

The man sat on the boat’s deck, watching the pitiful woman’s final journey.

What kind of creature was within her body, he didn’t know.

How she had been possessed, he didn’t care.

What kind of colorful life she had before, he wasn’t interested.

Who would mourn her after her death, he didn’t care.

He only knew that he was Lin Tingjun, wielding his authority, tracking leads, drawing his sword, and vowing to exterminate evil.

And then…

He’d finish up and go to sleep.

He lay down, stretched out on the boat’s deck. No matter how much noise he and that woman in red had made, it couldn’t compare to the melodious sounds and beautiful women on this boat, where the sound of the qin was clear and resonant.

“Haha-haha-haha—” the laughter of the men had already reached through the tightly closed lattice windows.

Tonight, it was quite a coincidence.

The painted boat that Lin Tingjun was lying on was none other than the largest flower brothel, Zhi Lan Fang, in Qin Prefecture.

Zhi Lan Fang was renowned for its courtesans and famous prostitutes. Those who frequented Zhi Lan Fang were scholars, literati, and high-ranking officials.

An establishment of this grade was beyond the reach of ordinary merchants, let alone commoners.

And at this moment, aboard this painted boat, was none other than the esteemed Lord of Qin Prefecture, Lord Wang Yi!

With a glance, it was clear that Lord Wang Yi was a robust man with a round head, round face, and round belly, his forehead glistening as if it had been oiled, occupying the space of two people where he sat.

Apart from him in the boat were his colleagues, some wealthy merchants from Qin Prefecture, and an official named Zhang who had come from the capital. They were all accompanied by Zhi Lan Fang’s renowned courtesans.

As cups were raised and exchanged, banter flowed, and the men indulged in their conversations. A raunchy joke had everyone laughing without restraint.

“Lord Wang, let me tell one,” a wealthy merchant rolled up his sleeves, speaking mysteriously, “This incident happened in my hometown. It’s really eerie yet incredibly alluring.”

At the mention of alluring, the men’s eyes lit up.

“What kind of allure is it? Is it a fox spirit, or a female ghost haunting someone in bed? Could it compare to our magnificent peony?” The speaker was a seemingly refined scholar, but exuded an air of debauchery. He even gave a suggestive squeeze to the soft and fragrant body of the girl Fu Rong next to him, “Even as a ghost under the peony flowers, it’s still charming.”

“Annoying.” The girls at the table joined in playful annoyance, echoing the sentiment of the peony girl.

“Hahaha,” the men with dirty minds burst into laughter.

Lord Wang Yi chuckled especially mischievously, pointing at the scholar, “You shameless fellow, hahaha.”

Another round of laughter erupted.

After the merchant’s laughter subsided, he looked secretive once again, “This incident happened to my nephew from the countryside. He and his group of friends were always fooling around, boasting and arguing. One day, they were drinking heavily again and decided to bet on who would dare to spend the night at the Yi Zhuang. Coincidentally, on that same night, a girl from their village hanged herself.”

“They really went?” Lord Wang Yi became somewhat interested.

“They did.” The merchant’s expression grew sinister, “And guess what happened?”

“The corpse?”

“Don’t frighten us~~” the girls chimed in with a chorus of playful reproach.

The merchant’s sinister expression shifted to a wicked grin, “The girl from the coffin got up, alluringly saying…” The merchant also raised his slender fingers like delicate petals, imitating a shy girl, “I’m cold, there’s no one on top, do you want to join me?” The merchant finished and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

At first listen, it sounded like a spooky ghost story. But with a second listen, it was unbelievably sensual.

“Hahaha,” everyone burst into laughter once again.

Lord Wang Yi and his plump companions were laughing so hard that they were sweating. The clever girls exchanged a glance, and one signaled to the waiting eunuch to open a window for ventilation.

The river breeze blew in, dispelling the heat inside but also carrying away the smells of alcohol and sweat.

Lying on the boat’s deck, Lin Tingjun’s eyebrows furrowed, his starry eyes opened, and he sat up with irritation evident on his face. He looked towards the riverbank. It was still a distance away, but staying here would only expose him to the offensive smell of alcohol which prevented him from getting a good night’s sleep.

He stood up, his robe trailing at his waist. With a surge of energy, he was about to leap, but a cry from below reached his ears, “A monster!”

Lin Tingjun halted his steps, crouching down and listening carefully.

Inside the room, Lord Wang Yi chuckled and turned to the courtesan beside him, “Peony, when did Qin Prefecture become plagued by monsters?”

“Yes, I haven’t heard anything about it.”

“Could this be another sensual joke?” Several men laughed in a lewd manner, their minds filled with suggestive thoughts.

The girls found these older men’s conversations crude, full of innuendo. So, they decided to tell them something true, albeit to scare them.

“Lord Wang, it’s true. Just tonight, we heard it from a peddler in the market.” Peony fanned herself slowly. Though she was a courtesan, an air of arrogance surrounded her, which was why she could easily captivate the dignitaries and officials of the city. “They came from the northern village of Pingshan North Village. They saw that nobody in the whole village was staying at home; instead, they were running in the fields, in a state of panic. They asked them what had happened, and guess what, my lord? What happened?”

Peony arched her eyebrows challengingly at Lord Wang Yi, her arrogance asserting itself.

Lord Wang Yi glanced at the others, all of whom had baffled expressions. His face grew stern, “Don’t keep us in suspense.”

Peony gave Lord Wang Yi a disdainful look, “They say there’s a monster on the mountain. It killed a hunter from their village, and even devoured his entrails. How tragic~~”

Lord Wang Yi and the men, once jovial and now looked tense.

Peony continued to fan herself and spoke, “Another person who came from the other side of Pingshan said that around noon, a fireball fell from the sky, flattening a mountaintop of Pingshan. The sky looked like it was on fire, the earth shook, and that person was lucky to be outside the village at the time, so he ran away in fear. He doesn’t know much about what happened afterward with the monster harming people. But I think the incident with the fireball in the daytime and the monster’s activity at night are probably connected. It’s likely that the monster fell from the sky during the day. Lord Wang… Pingshan isn’t far from us. If that monster comes to our prefecture, what will we do?” Peony tugged at Lord Wang Yi’s oversized sleeve coquettishly, and her index finger pointed at the plump-faced merchants, “These mountain folks certainly don’t eat as well as we city folks.”

The wealthy merchants all grew uneasy, and a trace of fear flickered in their eyes.