Madam Yue. Xu Yuan had previously wondered whether this woman possessed cultivation of her own.
For a lone woman to sustain a place as vast as Zuixian Tower was clearly unrealistic.
Looking at it now, she was indeed an expert.
The mystery of why his former self hadn't even lasted three exchanges against her was solved now.
She had most likely run some kind of dual-cultivation technique at the time.
Utterly shameless.
Since Madam Yue's throat was being gripped, she naturally could not answer Xu Yuan's question.
Staring at Madam Yue's slightly pale face for a couple of seconds, Xu Yuan gave a slight wave of his hand.
Grandmaster Zhou showed him ample respect in return, releasing his grip at once. Casting a deep, lingering glance at Madam Yue, he stepped back behind Xu Yuan, eyes cast down as he stood quietly.
Unlike other experts who loved putting on airs, Zhou Chen had clawed his way up from the very bottom.
He could act like a Grandmaster,
but when it came to playing the lackey, he was equally professional.
The garden alleyway, with its blue-gray bricks and emerald tiles, was deathly quiet. A small indentation had been smashed into the smooth courtyard wall by Madam Yue's slender frame.
Once Zhou Chen released her, Madam Yue instantly crumpled limply to the ground. Combined with her pale countenance, she looked quite delicate and pitiable.
Xu Yuan was slightly surprised at the sight and cast a sideways glance at Zhou Chen.
*Did you really hit her that hard?*
Zhou Chen shook his head helplessly.
Madam Yue had merely wanted to appear abruptly and bar the Third Young Master's way to give him a show of strength.
She hadn't made any attacking moves, so he had only returned the favor with a display of his own.
Understanding, Xu Yuan turned his gaze back to Madam Yue, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
As expected of a woman who had weathered the storms of the pleasure quarters; her acting was truly convincing.
"Madam Yue, why go to all this trouble?"
Madam Yue kept her eyes down for a moment and pursed her thin lips. When she looked up, a trace of grievance already glistened in her eyes.
"Third Young Master, if... if this Zuixian Tower were truly my own property, and you wanted her, how could I refuse you? It's just that these rules were set by Mister Qin. I can only do as instructed."
"Mister Qin?"
The unfamiliar name drew a murmur from Xu Yuan.
Although Xu Changtian had been overbearing and unrestrained, he had always been generous in places of pleasure like this.
While bickering over courtesans was common, his lofty status and willingness to throw money around meant he had never caused any real havoc.
Consequently, this was the first time Xu Yuan had ever heard the name "Mister Qin."
He had to be the mastermind behind Zuixian Tower.
Xu Yuan searched his memories of Cangyuan's storyline for someone who matched this Mister Qin, but came up empty.
The title "Mister Qin" sounded familiar, but on second thought, it probably wasn't from Cangyuan.
In any case,
to be able to support an enterprise like Zuixian Tower, this Mister Qin had to have quite a background.
After all, in Xu Yuan's memories, Zuixian Tower also existed in the Imperial Capital.
Pausing,
Xu Yuan glanced sideways at Zhou Chen with an inquiring look.
Zhou Chen hesitated briefly before sending a sound transmission straight into Xu Yuan's ear.
Upon hearing it, Xu Yuan roughly understood what kind of person this Mister Qin was.
A scion of an aristocratic family with innate sword bones, renowned across the Jiangnan region. Over a decade ago, rumors had even spread praising him as being on par with the Prime Minister's eldest son.
A peculiar expression flickered in Xu Yuan's eyes.
If this Mister Qin truly was as Zhou Chen described, why hadn't he ever seen him in the storyline?
"..."
Madam Yue could not hear the sound transmission, but she could read the expressions on their faces. After considering for a second, she continued softly:
"Third Young Master, this new girl of mine was delivered in person by Mister Qin, and he personally gave instructions regarding her affairs. Third Young Master, you wouldn't force me to go against Mister Qin's wishes, would you?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow.
He paid no heed to the latter half of her words.
*That woman was brought here by this Mister Qin?*
After pondering for a few breaths, Xu Yuan smiled and asked, "Madam Yue, you say Jinxuan was brought here by that Mister Qin—is that the truth?"
A flicker of confusion crossed Madam Yue's eyes, but she replied truthfully, "I naturally would not dare deceive the Third Young Master. Jinxuan was indeed brought here in person by Mister Qin half a month ago."
"..."
Thoughts raced through Xu Yuan's mind.
If that woman really had been brought here by this Mister Qin as Madam Yue claimed, then this piece of information was rather intriguing.
Back when Xu Yuan played Cangyuan and controlled the protagonist along several world lines to kill his former self, the Third Young Master, while it hadn't been easy, he had never run into any invincible powerhouses.
The strongest boss had merely been an estate guard like Xue Yong—at peak sixth-grade Iron Body.
Now that the plot had become reality, the gaping holes in it became glaringly apparent.
After taking down a boss of Xue Yong's caliber, his former self had his throat slit directly by the game's protagonist under Xu Yuan's controls.
Xu Yuan hadn't paid much attention to it back then.
After all, brainless young-master villains sending underlings to feed deaths one by one was a well-worn trope, and that peak Iron Body boss had indeed been tough to beat.
Thinking carefully about it now, two Grandmasters—Zhou Chen and Ying'er—were watching right beside him! With the protagonist's current strength, how on earth could he possibly kill his former self?
An expert like Madam Yue had been dispatched in a single move just for getting close a little too fast. With the protagonist's strength at this point in time, trying to kill Xu Changtian...
Zhou Chen could glare him to death with a single look, believe it or not!
Admittedly,
perhaps the butterfly effect of Xu Yuan possessing an Innate Dao Body had caused Xu Changge to reinforce his security.
Yet after that kidnapping incident with Ran Qingmo, Xu Changge would have at least left a Grandmaster behind to protect him, wouldn't he?
Yet in the game's plot, there was none.
Thinking about it, the Grandmaster tasked with protecting his former self in the storyline must have been tied down by something...
At this thought,
Xu Yuan's expression grew somewhat strange, and a slightly absurd idea crept into his mind.
Or... was this plot point simply a bug?
After all, no matter how detailed a fictional world's lore was, there would always be logical inconsistencies—especially in a game that had to cater to the player experience.
Once this thought surfaced, the strangeness in Xu Yuan's heart only deepened.
Since transmigrating, Xu Yuan had grown accustomed to the world filling in its own gaps.
If that was truly the case, then this suddenly appearing Mister Qin made complete sense.
Because the plotline where the protagonist kills the Third Young Master had a bug, the world had generated someone to patch that bug.
Assuming this premise held true, following this train of thought further:
What was this Mister Qin's motive? And which faction from Cangyuan did he belong to?
Marquis Wucheng?
Although relations between the Marquis and the Chancellor's Manor were tense, the Marquis had always been open and aboveboard in his actions; he wouldn't stoop to targeting the Third Young Master.
The Crown Prince's faction?
His old man was the Prime Minister, ranked among the Three Excellencies and Tutor to the Crown Prince. With the Emperor critically ill, the Chancellor's faction had consistently supported the Crown Prince.
At this juncture, the Chancellor's Manor and the Crown Prince's royalist faction were still in their honeymoon phase.
Those regional sects?
If they were making a move, why would Ran Qingmo—the sole disciple of the Sword Sect Master—have risked kidnapping him in the first place?
"..."
The intricate web of factional relationships in Cangyuan flashed rapidly through Xu Yuan's mind, yet yielded nothing.
Factions with motive lacked the power.
Factions with power lacked the motive.
Those with both the power and motive, such as Guyuan, couldn't reach their hands into an important provincial capital like Jingjiang City.
Following his old habit, if he couldn't figure it out, he would set it aside for now. It wouldn't be too late to speculate after taking the initiative to meet this Mister Qin and gathering more information.
Just as Xu Yuan was about to put the matter to rest, the corner of his eye twitched.
A stray thought suddenly crept into his mind.
If this world could generate a Mister Qin to fill in a gap...
Could it also have generated a hidden faction lurking in the shadows?
Chapter 39