"Han, my brother Han, walk slower, wait up for your little brother."
"Mingyuan, my worthy brother, wasn't it you who said that opportunities must be seized and never lost? We had better hurry up and not keep these beauties waiting too long in their towers."
With the notion of doing good deeds firmly in mind, Han Mo was naturally eager to put it into practice. He abruptly changed his approach, grabbing Guo Mingyuan and pulling him along.
Since he had to play the part of a dissolute prodigate—especially if he wanted to thoroughly enjoy himself in a pleasure quarter—he had to cast aside his pride and throw himself into it heart and soul.
Han Mo still remembered a high-ranking official of the Dazhou Immortal Dynasty who, in ordinary times, always carried himself with an untouchable, natural majesty. Yet in a dance pavilion brothel, that same man had been perfectly willing to put on a black blindfold, get down on his hands and knees to play the ox and the horse, and frolic with the courtesans.
Perhaps this was precisely the spirit of "bowing the head to willingly serve as a willing ox for the children" so championed by the imperial court!
Ironically enough, the place where social standing was most equal in the Dazhou Immortal Dynasty turned out to be the brothels and dance pavilions.
Seeing Han Mo suddenly turn so eager, Guo Mingyuan was initially somewhat puzzled, silently thinking to himself: weren't you just wearing a completely reluctant expression a moment ago?
Yet he quickly figured it out, assuming in his heart that this Brother Han of his was truly a lecher right down to his bones. Initially wanting to put up a front, the moment he heard about a courtesan from the Imperial Capital, his true nature had been exposed beyond a doubt.
He was beside himself with anxiety, no doubt itching to buy an Imperial Capital courtesan on the spot and take her home to break in some fresh farmland... heaven and earth, that was!
"Brother Han, there is no need to rush. Just let your little brother finish what he has to say. Among this latest batch of fresh tea brought from the Imperial Capital, aside from those who wish to have their contracts redeemed and leave, there is also a renowned figure well-known throughout our Dazhou Immortal Dynasty—a master of both virtue and art, peerless in both zither and painting, who even possesses the cultivation of the Golden Core Stage."
"Oh? A Golden Core courtesan?"
Guo Mingyuan's words managed to arouse a measure of interest in Han Mo.
One had to bear in mind that immortals and mortals belonged to different worlds, to say nothing of Golden Core cultivators. In a remote southern region like Tianhai Prefecture, a Golden Core cultivator was entirely sufficient to serve as the patriarch of a cultivation family. Someone like his old man, Han Feiyu, scion of a prominent clan, possessed nothing more than a Late Golden Core cultivation.
Such a personage—how could she possibly stoop to become a courtesan?
Wait. Could it be...
Vaguely, Han Mo recalled certain familiar plot points, and he asked instinctively:
"What is this courtesan's name?"
"Bah, bah, bah! What courtesan? Brother Han, Lady Xiufang is a zither and painting master of worldwide renown, a celebrated talented woman of our Dazhou Immortal Dynasty! She is not some common, vulgar creature selling her voice and arts in a pleasure house, to be mentioned in the same breath."
Hearing Han Mo's question, Guo Mingyuan grew instantly anxious, wearing the expression of someone ready to split hairs if Han Mo didn't take his words back—which clearly showed the deep reverence he held for this Golden Core immortal.
"Lady Xiufang? Could it be Shang Xiufang!"
The other's attitude allowed Han Mo to quickly recall a female protagonist whose popularity had exploded in the game: the mortal-world-refining, emotion-forgetting Saintess, Shang Xiufang.
In the normal route, she was a peerless fairy who would not cross paths with the player until the middle and later stages of the game—an existence on par with a destiny-chosen daughter like his cousin, Su Mengyao.
Yet according to the timeline, the game was still in its very early stages. Logically speaking, Shang Xiufang should not possibly appear in Tianhai Prefecture.
Unless...
The player had chosen the alternative opening.
*Bahuang Changsheng* was an open-world cultivation game that drew upon numerous tropes from online cultivation fiction, so naturally it didn't just offer a single fixed opening. Among the protagonist's starting talent options was an item called "tragically jilted in marriage."
By choosing this option, the player would start the game with their state of mind (Dao heart) reduced by 30 points, but upon entering the game, they would trigger a completely different opening: "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; do not bully the young into poverty."
At the start of the game, the protagonist went from being a genius to a trash cultivator at the Qi Condensation 3rd Layer, only to accidentally obtain a broken sword containing the lingering soul of a powerful expert. With the help of the old grandmother residing within the broken sword, they recovered their cultivation.
Following that, in order to cultivate the Dust-Red Sword Technique imparted by the grandmother, they frequented pleasure quarters like Jiyue Tower day and night to temper themselves in the mortal world, unsheathing... their sword devoid of emotion.
Afterwards came a continuous streak of putting on airs to slap faces, advancing in triumph, seeking gratitude and revenge with swift justice—the absolute textbook template of a broken-engagement plotline.
In this particular opening, the event where Han Mo drugged Murong Ying would not occur. Instead, right at the start, the protagonist would encounter his betrothed breaking off their engagement at Jiyue Tower, followed by the mockery of the crowd: "A piece of trash is not worthy of the love of a heaven-gifted pride."
Then came the crowd-pleasing plot of showing off and slapping faces: no sooner had the fiancée broken off the engagement than the protagonist, through his formidable protagonist halo, became acquainted with the emotion-forgetting Saintess from the Imperial Capital.
He caught her eye, received a private audience, conversed cordially with her, and publicly humiliated his former fiancée along with the jeering crowd.
Trite though the plot was, it was the absolute favorite trope of Daoist web novels from a decade ago.
Most importantly, this was an entirely different set of plot templates from the normal opening.
In other words, if the plot of Han Mo drugging Murong Ying had been triggered, logically speaking, one shouldn't enter the "do not bully the young into poverty" opening.
Then why?
Could it be that the world he had transmigrated into was a mishmash blending the various game openings together, or perhaps an ensemble drama featuring more than one destiny-chosen son acting as protagonist?
Lost in these thoughts, Han Mo came to a halt.
"That's more like it! A modest, fair maiden is a gentleman's desirable mate. Master Xiufang is no mere courtesan; she is the dream goddess of countless men in my Immortal Dynasty."
Guo Mingyuan, walking beside him, hadn't noticed Han Mo's pause. Hearing him stop referring to Shang Xiufang as a "courtesan," Guo Mingyuan quickly reverted to his previous frivolous posture.
"Brother Han, why aren't you walking—whoops!"
By the time he realized Han Mo had stopped, he had already reached the corner of the second-floor staircase, colliding head-on with a figure clad in a blazing-red robe, carrying a strangely shaped broken sword on his back, who was just about to descend the stairs.
Well... if it was the former, fine; but if it was the latter, it meant that the protagonist he would have to face in the future was likely not just Lin Feng alone.
Even now, this broken-engagement-plot protagonist was most likely inside Jiyue Tower...
Just as this thought crossed Han Mo's mind, Guo Mingyuan's shrill, angry curse rang out ahead of him:
"Hey, you punk, what are you doing? Are you walking without eyes in your head?"
***
At the same time, Jiyue Tower welcomed two special guests.
The reason they were called special was because the two of them—one holding a folding fan, the other with a precious sword at her waist—were dressed in the male attire of refined young scholars, yet their features were overly delicate.
So much so that the proprietress, who had come out to greet guests with a full smile, froze right in her tracks.
The pair paid no heed to the dazed madam, bypassing her to head straight for the second floor.
"Jin Lan, do you think she could already tell that we're women dressed as men?"
"Rest assured, my lady—cough, Master Jun, rest assured. If there's one thing I dare boast about, it is that my art of disguise has long reached the realm of perfection. This person is merely a Qi Condensation cultivator; how could she possibly see through our camouflage?"
"Is that really so?"
"Cough, well... Master Jun, take a careful look around. What I said is true, isn't it? Although Jiyue Tower is a pleasure house, it is extremely well managed; ordinary prodigates simply don't dare make trouble here."
Along the way, the two discovered that Jiyue Tower was indeed a pleasure establishment with a well-maintained environment. There was no sign of the so-called pools of wine and forests of meat, nor any scenes of arrogant young men openly flirting with courtesans.
Eager to change the subject, Jin Lan quickly patted her ample bosom and assumed an expression that said she was entirely right.
Yet, the very next second—
"Hey, you punk, what are you doing? Are you walking without eyes in your head?"
The angry curse echoing from not far away instantly slapped her across the face.
"Uh... Master Jun, that's just an accident. Generally speaking, no dissolute young lord really dares to cause trouble inside Jiyue Tower. Perhaps some obnoxious scion from a country bumpkin family just doesn't understand the rules of Yifeng City..."
She hurried to explain, failing to notice that upon hearing words like "prodigate" and "obnoxious scion," her young lady's previously dim and listless eyes had suddenly flashed with a sharp light.
"A prodigate? Where?"
"Ah, my lady, something's not right. The one arguing with that prodigate over there... he looks rather like that trashy fiancé of yours, Yan Xiao."
"..."