This Is Clearly a House of Pleasure!
Ji Chaoyun was momentarily taken aback before quickly turning his head away. “No!”
Seeing him like this only made Feng Qi’s hands itch even more. He restrained himself and pretended not to care. “Fine, I won’t touch them. Why are you blushing?”
“I’m not.” Ji Chaoyun shuffled farther toward the other side of the rock and said awkwardly, “In any case... that one is out of the question. Choose something else.”
Feng Qi looked away, his words carrying a hint of disappointment that even he himself failed to notice. “I was teasing you. I didn’t actually want to touch you. It’s not like I’m some pervert.”
Ji Chaoyun said nothing more.
Feng Qi glanced at him and could not resist asking, “I’ve been meaning to ask. Why do you...”
“Why do I become like this?” Ji Chaoyun had no intention of concealing it. He bent forward, rested his chin upon his knees, and curled into himself. “Shouldn’t you have guessed? My cultivation is insufficient, and I haven’t completely shed my yao form. I have a body that is half yao and half immortal.”
“So your cultivation is normally restricted because you have to suppress your yao form?”
“Mm.” Ji Chaoyun hesitated slightly. He pressed his lips together before slowly saying, “When I return to my other form, my temperament... changes somewhat. Ordinarily, I use half my cultivation to suppress it. Once my emotions are stirred too strongly or I suffer some shock, my yao aura easily leaks out and my true form appears.”
Feng Qi asked, “Yet you’ve clearly already ascended and become an immortal. Why would this still happen?”
“Perhaps this is the price.” Ji Chaoyun’s gaze settled upon the dark pool in the distance, a trace of melancholy and sorrow appearing in his eyes. “If you want to gain something, you have to give up something else in exchange. The Heavenly Dao is fair that way.”
Feng Qi fell silent.
After a while, he ruffled Ji Chaoyun’s hair. “Qi Xuan won’t tell anyone what happened today. Still, be more careful in the future. I won’t always happen to arrive at exactly the right time to help you out of trouble.”
Ji Chaoyun said, “Thank you.”
Feng Qi laughed. “Do you know how to say anything besides thank you?”
Ji Chaoyun remained silent. He lowered his head and instinctively drew his thin robes tighter around himself.
Tranquil Heart Cave was cold and damp. Ji Chaoyun had already spent a long time in the snow earlier that day, and the melted snow had soaked into his robes. Now, with the cold wind blowing across the water inside the cave, he was so chilled that even his lips had turned pale.
Feng Qi quickly noticed something was wrong. “Cold?”
Ji Chaoyun gave a quiet sound of assent but said nothing else.
Feng Qi was puzzled. “You’re a dragon, yet you’re afraid of the cold? What do you do when you return to the sea?”
“I don’t live in the sea.”
Feng Qi immediately understood.
So he was a freshwater dragon.
Feng Qi had never interacted with anyone from the Dragon Clan before, so he continued asking curiously, “Same difference. Do you still feel cold when you return to the water?”
“A dragon body is protected by dragon scales, so it’s somewhat better.” Ji Chaoyun heard the unmistakable tone of someone treating him like some rare curiosity and shot Feng Qi an irritated glance. “I’d also like to know why you, as a fire-attributed phoenix, don’t seem afraid of the cold at all.”
Feng Qi smiled, his tone rather pleased with himself. “I was born this way. Neither scorching heat nor bitter cold affects me. I’m the only one in the entire Phoenix Clan with such a constitution. I used to find it strange, but after thinking about it, perhaps it’s simply the result of exceptional talent.”
Ji Chaoyun stared at him expressionlessly.
The rumors calling this man a flower peacock were entirely accurate. Say two words to him and he immediately started spreading his tail.
Ji Chaoyun fought the urge to roll his eyes and said without expression, “You’re truly impressive.”
Feng Qi seemed especially pleased by this praise. He held out a hand toward Ji Chaoyun. “Come here.”
Ji Chaoyun asked warily, “What are you doing?”
Feng Qi said, “I’m warm. Come sit closer and you won’t be cold.”
“...No need.”
“What, shy now?” Feng Qi laughed. “I wonder who it was earlier who kept burrowing into my arms while unconscious. Now you know how to be embarrassed?”
Ji Chaoyun was taken back. The tips of his ears hidden beneath his silver hair flushed faintly red. “Don’t talk nonsense. How could I—”
“I’m not talking nonsense.” Feng Qi raised a brow. “When that old man Tianshu arrived with everyone else, you were curled up in my arms acting spoiled. They couldn’t even pull you away. Tianshu was so startled he thought I’d done something to you. All right, come here before I grab you myself.”
“...” Ji Chaoyun clutched his collar tightly and said darkly, “If you dare touch me...”
Feng Qi laughed. “What, you’re going to call for help again?”
He deliberately leaned forward and lowered his voice maliciously. “Go ahead and shout. Tranquil Heart Cave has a sound-isolation spell. Even if I really did something to you here, you’d have nowhere to plead your case.”
Ji Chaoyun: “...”
Ji Chaoyun silently shifted farther toward one side of the rock.
Then a little farther.
He looked determined to draw a clear boundary between himself and Feng Qi.
Fortunately, Feng Qi did not continue teasing him.
A moment later, Ji Chaoyun suddenly sensed a warm glow behind him.
He turned around.
A small cluster of warm golden flame had ignited above Feng Qi’s palm.
Feng Qi tilted his head and smiled at Ji Chaoyun through the flame. “Will this do? Come closer. You’re a grown man, yet you’re so coy. You won’t let me hold you or touch you. Could it be that you’re actually a woman?”
“You—”
Feng Qi’s smile faded, and he ordered, “Get over here. If you fall ill, how are we supposed to go to the Nameless Sea tomorrow?”
Those words struck directly at Ji Chaoyun’s concern.
Thinking of what they had to do tomorrow, he could only swallow his anger and slowly move back beside Feng Qi.
The two sat quietly side by side at the edge of the pool, the golden flame dancing before them.
Ji Chaoyun’s frozen, numb body finally began to warm little by little.
He turned his head toward the cluster of flames, then, as though compelled by some unseen impulse, raised his gaze.
The dancing firelight was reflected in Feng Qi’s eyes. It made his already striking face appear even more handsome, while the faint smile at the corner of his lips gave him an unexpectedly gentle appearance.
Like this, he looked even more like the person in Ji Chaoyun’s memories.
How absurd.
Ji Chaoyun closed his eyes and quietly told himself that it was impossible.
It could not be him.
☁
The Nameless Sea lay within the rift between the Immortal and Mortal Realms.
This place had once been nothing but desolate wilderness. Three hundred years ago, the flames of the Divine-Demon War spread here and tore open a breach between the realms, gradually forming this boundless sea.
Several hundred years later, it had become a lawless place where immortals, demons, gods, and yao could pass freely.
Feng Qi took Ji Chaoyun into the water aboard an immortal carriage. Before long, they could see from afar a magnificent city standing beneath the sea.
Ji Chaoyun lowered the carriage curtain and turned toward Feng Qi. “What are you doing?”
“Don’t make noise. I’m nearly finished.”
Feng Qi sat upright inside the carriage. In his left hand was half of a silver-white mask, while his right held a brush. He drew several smooth, curving lines along the contour beside the eye opening.
Ji Chaoyun patiently sat down beside him.
Under a few effortless strokes of Feng Qi’s brush, a vivid little silver dragon gradually took shape upon the mask.
“What do you think?” Feng Qi held the mask before Ji Chaoyun and asked with a smile, “Does it look like you?”
“...” Ji Chaoyun was silent for a moment before turning away. “...Pointless.”
Feng Qi looked quite satisfied with it.
He placed the half-mask bearing the little silver dragon over Ji Chaoyun’s face. “No one is allowed to show their true face in the Sea Market. I marked your mask so I won’t lose track of you.”
Ji Chaoyun thought that Feng Qi could clearly identify him from his clothes, build, and the uncovered half of his face. How could he possibly fail to recognize him?
This was plainly nothing more than Feng Qi’s peculiar sense of amusement.
His attempts to resist proved useless, so he could only let Feng Qi fuss with the mask and mutter, “...I understand.”
The immortal carriage soon passed through the barrier surrounding the Nameless Sea and stopped outside the city gates.
The seawater here was completely held back by the barrier, making the interior appear no different from dry land in the mortal realm.
People constantly came and went before the city gates, all wearing specially made masks that concealed their identities.
“Let’s go.” Feng Qi patted Ji Chaoyun on the shoulder and jumped from the carriage first.
He wore a golden mask of the same material and shape as Ji Chaoyun’s, except that a phoenix-tail pattern had been carved beside the eye.
Ji Chaoyun unconsciously touched the little silver dragon Feng Qi had just painted upon his own mask.
An extremely strange feeling rose in his heart.
It was almost as though...
Their masks were a matching pair.
He shook his head, drove away the strange thought, and followed Feng Qi into the city.
A long street ran from one end of the city to the other. Shops and market stalls stood densely along both sides, creating a lively scene.
Ji Chaoyun had not seen such bustling crowds in a very long time and was momentarily dazzled by everything around him.
Feng Qi, however, did not so much as glance aside.
He pulled Ji Chaoyun quickly forward and, with obvious familiarity, arrived before a tall building.
Ji Chaoyun looked up.
Three large characters were written on the plaque above them:
“Luohuan Hall.”
No matter how one looked at it, that name did not sound reputable in the slightest.
That was not all.
Looking upward from where they stood, through layer upon layer of gauze curtains on the second floor, they could vaguely make out numerous graceful, alluring figures.
Ji Chaoyun’s cheeks instantly burned, and he abruptly looked away.
This, this, this... This was clearly a house of pleasure!
Feng Qi had just started forward when Ji Chaoyun grabbed him. “Are we... are we really going inside?”
“Do you not want to find your thing anymore?”
“But...” Ji Chaoyun looked unusually awkward. He glanced uncomfortably around them and asked in a low voice, “Can we really find it here?”
Feng Qi said, “Obviously. Why else would I bring you here?”
Ji Chaoyun still wanted to ask more, but Feng Qi had no desire to explain further.
He wrapped an arm around Ji Chaoyun’s shoulders and half-pushed, half-embraced him into Luohuan Hall.
The moment they entered, a beautiful woman immediately came forward to greet them.
When the woman saw Feng Qi, she was startled. “Feng...”
“Shh.” Feng Qi placed a finger against his lips, stopping her from finishing. He said quietly, “I brought a friend to enjoy himself. Find us somewhere secluded and don’t make a fuss.”
The woman’s gaze swept over the two of them.
She nodded, turned around, and led them upstairs.
Luohuan Hall had three floors.
The first-floor hall contained scattered square tables, with a stage built at the center. Red silk covered the stage, though at present there was nothing upon it.
The second floor was much quieter. Layers of curtains separated the seats, leaving only vague silhouettes visible and concealing whatever occurred within.
The third floor consisted of several private rooms.
The woman pushed open one of the doors.
The windows inside stood wide open directly opposite the stage. It was the finest vantage point in the building, overlooking the entirety of Luohuan Hall.
Ji Chaoyun frowned at the cloyingly sweet incense that greeted him.
Then he heard the woman ask, “What does Second Master Feng think of this room?”
Feng Qi said, “Not bad. This place will do.”
The woman nodded obediently.
She led them to seats by the window, poured tea for them both, then lowered her voice and asked, “Who would Second Master Feng like for company today? Shall this woman find a few singing and dancing immortal maidens for you?”
“Cough, cough...”
Ji Chaoyun had just raised his tea and nearly choked himself half to death.
Coming to a brothel was not enough. They were going to summon women to keep them company too?!
Ji Chaoyun looked at Feng Qi in horror.
Feng Qi’s expression did not change. He leisurely took a sip of tea and said calmly, “Biluo, you’re doing this deliberately, aren’t you?”
After saying this, he suddenly leaned over and pulled Ji Chaoyun into his arms.
Feng Qi had already held him once on the snowy cliff the night before.
At the time, however, Ji Chaoyun had barely been conscious and had no attention to spare for it.
This was, in the truest sense, the first embrace between them since Ji Chaoyun had met him.
Ji Chaoyun’s entire body went rigid.
He stared blankly at the familiar features so close to his own and could not summon the slightest strength to push Feng Qi away.
Feng Qi smiled at him and leaned close to his ear, coaxing him warmly. “Be good, don’t be angry. I never ask for any immortal maidens when I come here. She’s deliberately trying to upset you.”
Ji Chaoyun did not immediately understand what he meant.
The woman called Biluo covered her mouth and softly laughed. “Second Master Feng, don’t blame me. You know how many immortal maidens here spend day and night hoping you’ll come. If I don’t get a clear answer from you myself, I’ll be torn apart by that whole group when I go back.”
Still holding Ji Chaoyun with one arm, Feng Qi reached into his robes with his free hand, took out several spirit stones, and tossed them to her.
“This should settle it. Off you go.”
Biluo beamed. “Yes.”
The woman closed the door behind her and left.
Ji Chaoyun immediately struggled free from Feng Qi’s embrace, his cheeks faintly hot. “Wh-What exactly is going on?”
“Don’t look at me like that. I really don’t visit brothels.”
The moment he said this, Ji Chaoyun gave him an openly distrustful look.
Second Highness Feng, who ordinarily feared neither heaven nor earth, inexplicably felt somewhat guilty under Ji Chaoyun’s stare.
He rubbed his nose and explained, “I know the owner here. I’ve visited a few times because of that, so I happen to know some of the people.”
Ji Chaoyun asked suspiciously, “That’s all?”
“Mm, not quite that simple. Look over there.”
Ji Chaoyun followed Feng Qi’s gaze.
At some point, a display stand had been pushed onto the center of the stage, holding several wooden boxes of varying sizes.
The lights in the main hall suddenly dimmed.
More than a hundred red candles around the stage simultaneously flared to life, illuminating the small space.
Ji Chaoyun immediately understood. “An auction?”
“Indeed.” Feng Qi said, “Luohuan Hall isn’t only a house of pleasure. It’s also the largest auction house in the entire Sea Market.”
As they spoke, several graceful immortal maidens stepped onto the stage.
After a brief introduction, they presented the first item of the auction.
The Sea Market conducted auctions differently from the mortal realm.
Each person had a silver bidding plaque before them. To raise a bid, one only needed to channel spiritual power into the plaque, after which the immortal maiden onstage would announce the bidder’s number and price.
When the auction began, Ji Chaoyun looked down.
An identical silver plaque rested on the table before them.
Ji Chaoyun asked, “How did you know it would be here?”
Feng Qi propped his chin on one hand, looking down at the stage with an almost bored expression. “What’s difficult about that? You underestimate me.”
“The Nameless Sea may be a lawless place, but there are eyes everywhere. Xu Zixing strutted in here without the slightest attempt to conceal himself. Who knows how many people saw him along the way? Would it really be difficult for me to learn where he went?”
Ji Chaoyun nodded. A faint unease stirred in his heart, but he said nothing further.
The auction proceeded quickly.
In less than an hour, only the final item remained.
The immortal maiden slowly opened the wooden box in her hands.
A sachet embroidered with pale-gold phoenix patterns lay quietly inside.
Ji Chaoyun’s breath caught.
“This is today’s final auction item. Starting price: 2,000 high-grade spirit stones.”
An uproar immediately broke out.
Spirit stones were used throughout the Three Realms and were divided into high, middle, and low grades.
Luohuan Hall had already auctioned no fewer than ten artifacts and treasures that day, and even the most expensive among them had sold for only five hundred high-grade spirit stones.
Yet this item alone had a starting price of two thousand.
Even Feng Qi’s expression changed slightly.
Most items auctioned at Luohuan Hall were rare, and specialists determined their value in advance.
For this object to be given such a high starting price, it was probably no ordinary treasure.
Feng Qi turned thoughtfully toward Ji Chaoyun, a deeper meaning entering his gaze.
He had previously questioned Qi Xuan and learned that the stolen object was a sachet embroidered with a phoenix pattern.
Phoenix designs were not exclusive to the Phoenix Clan, so although Feng Qi had found it coincidental at the time, he had not dared draw any conclusions.
Yet now, with such an extraordinary starting price and Tianshu’s earlier statement that Ji Chaoyun had ties to the Phoenix Clan, this object was very likely connected to the Phoenix Clan after all.
What exactly was inside that sachet?
People downstairs began placing bids one after another.
Most who could come here were wealthy or noble. The price slowly climbed, and during the brief moment Feng Qi had been lost in thought, it had already risen by more than five hundred spirit stones.
“Feng... Feng Qi?” Ji Chaoyun awkwardly tugged at Feng Qi’s sleeve.
He naturally knew the value of the golden phoenix feather. It was a priceless treasure.
Thus, from the moment he learned that it would appear at an auction, unease had been growing within him.
Feng Qi had promised to help him, but could he truly produce so many spirit stones?
Feng Qi returned to his senses and quietly said, “Sorry.”
Then he channeled his first thread of spiritual power into the bidding plaque.
The immortal maiden overseeing the auction was Biluo.
She glanced toward their room in surprise before announcing, “Number One, three thousand high-grade spirit stones.”
The price had jumped by a full five hundred spirit stones.
The moment this bid was announced, a wave of discussion spread throughout the hall.
Such a bid made it clear that the bidder was determined to obtain the item.
Moreover, anyone capable of receiving bidding plaque Number One at Luohuan Hall could hardly be an ordinary person.
The previous bidders exchanged glances and withdrew their hands.
However...
“Number Twenty-Two, three thousand two hundred high-grade spirit stones.”
Feng Qi raised a brow and lightly tapped his fingertip against the bidding plaque.
“Number One, 3,500 high-grade spirit stones.”
“Number Twenty-Two, 3,600 high-grade spirit stones.”
“Number One, 4,000.”
“Number Twenty-Two, 4,200.”
Feng Qi silently cursed.
Ji Chaoyun sat quietly beside the table, listening as the bids rose, his heart growing more uneasy by the moment.
Hongmeng Academy paid Yellow-rank disciples only two high-grade spirit stones and seven middle-grade spirit stones each month.
More than four thousand high-grade spirit stones...
Ji Chaoyun had no idea how many years it would take him to repay that amount.
Yet he had to recover this item.
Feng Qi watched Ji Chaoyun’s expression and deliberately adopted a hesitant look. “Ji Chaoyun, this price is getting rather high.”
Ji Chaoyun gave a quiet “Mm” before asking softly, “You... don’t have enough?”
“It’s not that I don’t have enough...” Feng Qi said. “It’s just that if I spend this many spirit stones on you, can you afford to repay me?”
“I can.”
Ji Chaoyun grabbed Feng Qi’s sleeve and said urgently, “I-I can’t produce that much right now, but I’ll find a way to repay you. No matter how many years it takes, or if you want some other form of repayment, I can accept it.”
Something stirred in Feng Qi’s heart.
He asked, “Even if I asked you to sell yourself to me?”
Ji Chaoyun was taken aback. For a moment, he could not tell whether Feng Qi was serious or merely joking.
Luohuan Hall had fallen silent.
With no further bids, the final price had already been repeated for the second time from the stage.
Just before it could be announced for the third and final time, Ji Chaoyun blurted out, “I agree!”
Feng Qi’s lips curved into a smile.
He raised his hand and pressed firmly against the bidding plaque.
5,000 high-grade spirit stones.
☁︎₊˚⊹ The Author’s Jade-Slip Aside ⊹˚₊☁︎
If spirit stones were converted into RMB, one high-grade spirit stone would be about 10,000 yuan, one middle-grade about 1,000, and one low-grade about 100.
Phoenix: ??? So I just spent fifty million yuan buying my own feather back???
————
have some sad news for everyone: as of today, I’ve officially used up all my stockpiled chapters qwq.
From now on, I’ll try my best to keep updating around this time so everyone can have a set time to come check for updates. If I can’t update on time, I’ll leave a notice on the first line of the synopsis.
As for bonus chapters, let’s wait until the novel goes VIP. At my blazing writing speed of 500 characters an hour, managing to finish one chapter a day already makes me feel pretty amazing 【.
-
IsitRo: You might notice me switching between yao, spirit beast, and sometimes even shifted form depending on the context. This is intentional lol Chinese has distinctions that English “demon” does not really capture, particularly 妖 (yāo) and 魔 (mó), which can both end up translated as “demon.”
Yao is generally used for beings such as animals, plants, or other creatures that have gained spiritual cultivation or transformed, while mo carries more of the demonic/devilish connotation we usually associate with “demons” in English.
Sooooo for example: when our Yunyun gets called a little “demon” dragon, I may use yao or spirit beast instead since the demon word makes him sound like he is out there wreaking havoc and terrorizing the realms QAQ. Overraaall, I’ll translate it however fits the context best rather than forcing every 妖 into “demon.” Sorry for the long explanation hehe i just want to clarify it, in case u were curious ;)
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