A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 377: Meeting Li Qingnu Again

Qi Xuansu did not want to compete, but he found it interesting to watch others fight. It was especially satisfying when he could make comments about the techniques used.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu could tell that Miss Huang joined the competition not to see Li Qingnu, but to stop Su Chou from meeting the Finest Courtesan in private.

In other words, Huang Ning liked Su Chou, but Su Chou had an unrequited love for Li Qingnu.

It was such a messy relationship.

At this moment, a woman dressed as a maid walked up to Qi Xuansu and said softly, “Young Master, my lady would like to invite you for a chat.”

Qi Xuansu was startled for a moment, then he realized what was happening. Without asking the maid who the lady was, he stood up and turned to Liu Hu. “Let’s go.”

Liu Hu stood up silently without asking where they were going.

Before leaving, Qi Xuansu did not forget to say goodbye to Long Wuji, who was certainly not an ordinary person. If it were any other time, Qi Xuansu would have made friends with the old man, but he had important business to attend to at the moment.

Long Wuji turned to Qi Xuansu and merely saluted the latter without speaking.

Under the guidance of the maid, Qi Xuansu and Liu Hu walked up a long corridor with carved beams and tall red lanterns hanging on both sides. They made about seven turns and crossed a small lake before coming to the door of the three-story pavilion.

The maid stopped there. “Sir, my lady is waiting for you on the rooftop terrace.”

Qi Xuansu nodded and led Liu Hu into the building. Everything on the first floor seemed red because of the big red lantern hanging in the living room. The decorations were also mainly red, which carried a hint of ambiguity. It also added some heat to this summer’s night.

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They walked around the screen and climbed up the stairs to the second floor. This time, instead of red, the whole floor had a silverish-white theme. The lanterns were silver, and the paintings on the screens were mainly about snow mountains, ice lakes, and winter plums, bringing a chill to the summer air.

The first floor was akin to fire, while the second floor was like ice. Such a novel interior design made Qi Xuansu wonder how much it all costs.

Half of the third floor consisted of a room, while the other half was an outdoor garden terrace.

A hanging chair rotated slowly as Qi Xuansu stepped onto the terrace.

The Finest Courtesan was sitting cross-legged in the hanging chair, her bare feet hidden under her skirt. However, her fair shoulders were exposed, glistening under the faint moonlight.

Li Qingnu smiled slightly. Her eyes were alluring, capable of seducing one’s soul even without a word being said.

Some people’s eyes were indeed capable of “speaking,” as their smiles and frowns were so expressive. On the contrary, some people had dull eyes, so no matter how beautiful they were, they were just like a piece of wood.

Li Qingnu was undoubtedly the former type.

Liu Hu stared at Li Qingnu with interest.

Li Qingnu was a stunning beauty. Otherwise, she would not have been known as the Finest Courtesan in the world. With her scanty dressing style that revealed her bare shoulders, every man would have taken a second look at her.

Qi Xuansu was not exempt from desires, but he could still control his urges, so he quickly withdrew his gaze. Somehow, those fair shoulders reminded him of Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu had always been conservative and always wrapped herself tightly up to the neck, not exposing a sliver of skin. It made Qi Xuansu wonder what Zhang Yuelu would look like when she was at home. Would she be carefree and show her bare shoulders?

When Li Qingnu saw how distracted Qi Xuansu was, she felt a little annoyed because no one had ever turned a blind eye to her.

Li Qingnu could not help but ask, “What are you thinking about? Could it be Mage Zhang?”

Qi Xuansu returned to his senses, but he did not deny it. Instead, he changed the subject. “Is there no manager around here?”

Li Qingnu gently fanned herself. “I’m not only the manager of this place but also the Finest Courtesan here too. However, I don’t sell my body, so it’s more fitting to consider me an escort, I suppose.”

Qi Xuansu snorted. “So, you have the final say here?”

“You can say that.” Li Qingnu raised her chin haughtily. “When we were in Wuzhou, you could threaten me. But you can’t do anything to me here.”

“There’s no reason for me to threaten you now.” Qi Xuansu disregarded the implicit threat in Li Qingnu’s words because he knew that she would not do anything irrational to him for Madam Qi's sake.

As expected, Li Qingnu just snorted lightly and did not reply.

Qi Xuansu suddenly asked, “So, how are the preparations?”

“It’s alright. I’m currently looking for candidates.” Li Qingnu turned the hanging chair around, picked up the monocular, and looked toward the field again.

At this time, Su Chou and Huang Ning had already stopped fighting. In the end, Su Chou managed to win, albeit barely.

Huang Ning was angered by this result and left in a huff. Zhang Feng, the leader of the Wind and Thunder Alliance, also left with her. It was clear that Zhang Feng was not here to compete for a chance to meet Li Qingnu in private but to accompany Huang Ning.

Qi Xuansu did not have a monocular, so he could only see vague figures on the ring. He recognized Su Chou and could not help but ask Li Qingnu, “Do you know that young man named Su Chou?”

“I do,” Li Qingnu replied calmly.

Qi Xuansu asked again, “Do you know that he likes you?”

“I do.” Li Qingnu paused. “He’s a good man.”

Qi Xuansu sighed. “If you don’t like him back, you might as well tell him off so that he won’t be so hung up on you.”

Li Qingnu sneered. “It doesn’t matter whether I like him or not. The key lies in whether the Li family likes him. Also, I did tell him frankly once, but he wouldn’t listen. I can’t possibly do anything about that.”

Hearing this, Qi Xuansu had nothing else to add because he only mentioned this in passing.

Li Qingnu got up from the hanging chair and stood barefoot on the ground. She turned to look at Liu Hu and asked, “Is this the person that Madam Qi wants us to escort? I thought we were supposed to escort a girl?”

Qi Xuansu motioned for Liu Hu to remove the white fox face mask. Liu Hu immediately returned to her original appearance and introduced herself. “I am Liu Hu.”

He then reached out to keep the white fox face mask and explained to Liu Hu. “This is Li Qingnu, the person in charge of the second leg of this journey.”

Liu Hu silently saluted Li Qingnu.

The Finest Courtesan only looked at Liu Hu without saying anything.

Qi Xuansu reminded Li Qingnu. “You’d better pay more attention to this. Otherwise, if anything happens to Liu Hu, we won’t be able to get our commission. It’ll also ruin Madam Qi’s reputation.”

Li Qingnu and Qi Xuansu had never gotten along, so she rebutted. “I don’t need you to remind me of this. Who are you to be telling me what to do?”

While the two were bickering, Su Chou fought the master who used the Infinite Sword Technique. Su Chou was only gracious to Huang Ning, but he showed no mercy to this swordsman. He no longer used his bare hands and wielded his long sword.

The Infinite Sword Technique was good for defense. But Su Chou’s swordsmanship was extremely fast and sharp, way better than the previous fighter with the bamboo staff. The two fought fiercely for more than a hundred moves, but due to the difference in cultivation, Su Chou managed to find a flaw in his opponent’s Infinite Sword Technique and stabbed his opponent in the shoulder.

Finally, Su Chou emerged as the winner of this fighting competition.

Li Qingnu said to Qi Xuansu. “Stay here. Let me get dressed.”

Without waiting for Qi Xuansu’s response, she left the terrace and returned to her room on the third floor.

After a while, Li Qingnu came back, dressed in white. She looked dignified and aloof, like a beauty who had fallen out of a painting, exuding an ethereal aura.

She had turned into a completely different person.