Brother Liubao suddenly slapped his forehead.
"Could it be because of the cinnabar mole on Phoenix Blood’s forehead?"
His expression turned peculiar, as he recollected a widely circulated scandalous tale from the streets...
Brother Liubao’s Sky Blue Building had been open in Taihang Town for several years. He vaguely remembered that when his brothel had launched, it coincided with a lively event.
After the death of her parents, He Su had taken over the family business, running the He family’s granary. Suddenly one day, there was a notice on the city wall; to everyone’s surprise, it was He Su seeking a young man. The notice didn’t have a portrait of the youth, but described him in words, mentioning a cinnabar mole like a red bean between his brows, and offering a generous reward.
The amount of the reward was indeed staggering.
But after some commotion for a while, the matter just fizzled out.
The main reason was that the person hadn’t been found. Perhaps He Su had grown disheartened over time and had given up on this pursuit.
However, a few years later, a farmer suddenly came to the He Mansion with his son, claiming his son was the cinnabar youth He Su had been desperately searching for.
The youth’s name was Pei Yu, and he was truly favored. He even spent several good years with He Su in affection.
But about a year and a half ago, which, now that one thinks about it, corresponds with the time when Phoenix Blood sold himself to the brothel, nobody knew how, the once-favored Pei Yu was thrown out of the He Mansion by He Su, baffling everyone.
Phoenix Blood, in red attire with swirling sleeves, ascended the stage with a dignified grace and then sat cross-legged on a green bamboo meditation mat.
His alluring eyes were like silk threads, his face usually bearing a suggestive, frivolous smile. But it seemed that ever since Baobao left, he indirectly transformed into a different person.
No longer frivolous, he now carried a hint of world-weariness, solemnity and composed charm.
He began his song with a lilt, his voice mournfully plaintive. He sang of his own heartache, voicing the bitterness of parting sorrows, moving everyone beneath the stage to tears.
Curiously, just as Phoenix Blood began to sing, two men swaggered into the Sky Blue Building.
They wore no hats nor veiled their faces with white silk, simply exposing their faces outright, and then summoned a boy servant to order some wine and dishes. They ate and listened to the music, evidently savoring the experience.
"What’s he singing about?"
One of the men, rather unsightly, bulged his tiger-like eyes, but with reddish rims that made him look pitiful.
"I don’t know either, but why does the singing make one feel so heartbroken? After listening, I somewhat feel like crying."
These two men were horse bandits sent over by Su Lang from Black Wind Camp.
One said, "Back in the day... Back in the day before we took to the mountains, it just so happened that my Old Lady passed away. In this world, it’s all well if you’re born a woman, but as a man, if you ain’t got good looks, there’s simply no way to survive. Lucky for us, we later met our Big Boss who gave us a place to belong and gathered a bunch of brothers with similar backgrounds."
"That’s right. I reckon the one singing the song has his own tale to tell. He sure is handsome, it’s just that his figure... is almost catching up to our Master."
At the mention of Master, the two men exchanged a glance.
Could there really be such an uncanny coincidence in this world?
These mountain thieves were originally headed for Taihang Village nestled in the mountains, but as they inquired outside, they learned that Kaoshan Village was too far from the town, and since it was getting dark, they planned to rest in the town for the night and proceed to the village the next day.