"Brother Chai! Bad news! Your son has been caught secretly meeting with a courtesan from the brothel!"
The man who arrived was breathless with urgency. Upon finding Chai Junhao's father, the old butcher, he immediately pulled him toward Huayue House.
"That's impossible! My son would never do something so shameless!" the butcher exclaimed, his face full of disbelief.
"What happened? What's wrong with Junhao?" asked his wife, panic rising in her voice.
"Your son was caught sneaking around the brothel, meeting privately with one of their girls. And not just any girl—one who hasn't even been officially sold yet. You'll be paying for this, one way or another." The man made no effort to soften the news.
"That can't be..." Junhao's mother nearly fainted, her vision darkening.
It was hard to imagine that her quiet, bookish son had gotten involved with a brothel girl. How could they face the neighbors after this disgrace?
"You'll need to bring silver. They won't release him unless they're paid."
The butcher's face turned grim. He steadied his wife, then quickly stepped into their room and rummaged through their belongings. Before long, he emerged with a pouch of silver, slung his rusty cleaver across his waist, and rushed toward Huayue House.
"Madam, please look after my wife for me."
When Chen Jinshu saw the butcher storm into the brothel, full of righteous fury, she sighed quietly. The scene was about to begin.
"How do you think this will end?" she asked her fellow disciples.
"Hard to say," one muttered. "But it won't be a happy ending. Liu Huameng's reputation is ruined. There's no way she can stay in Huayue House. And Chai Junhao won't be able to take her away either."
"In the end, they'll be lovers torn apart."
Chen Jinshu had a bad feeling.
Her instincts were rarely wrong.
They turned their eyes once more to the water mirror.
The butcher entered the brothel's back courtyard and saw his son tied up on the ground, disheveled and silent.
His expression shifted rapidly, full of complicated emotions. Almost unconsciously, he rested his hand on the cleaver at his waist.
"Our Chai family may not be nobles, but our ancestors once held their heads high. One fell too deep into the world of brothels and wine, and the family fell into ruin. I've warned you again and again, not to repeat that mistake... and now look what you've done!" His voice shook with growing anger.
Chai Junhao's body sagged. The light in his eyes dimmed, and he looked utterly defeated.
"Tch. What a pretty speech," scoffed the brothel madam. "In the end, your son was still bewitched by one of our girls."
"How much will it take to buy the two of them out?" the butcher finally asked, glancing at Liu Huameng.
"You should've said so earlier. That girl's already been disgraced. I'll sell her cheap. But not for less than this."
She raised five fingers.
"Fifty taels?" the butcher guessed.
"Keep dreaming."
"Five hundred."
"That's ridiculous. A normal courtesan only costs fifty at most. You're raising the price on purpose." His hand crept back to his cleaver.
"You think I'm scared? We've dealt with worse than you at Huayue House. Men who kill without blinking—we've seen them all."
"Think it through. Five hundred taels is out of reach for most families in town. After five years of famine, even fifty is rare. You're bluffing. Keep pushing and you'll end up with nothing."
"Hmph. This girl was going to sell for a thousand taels. She's young, not yet fully trained. But your son ruined her. I'm already cutting the price in half."
"I don't have that kind of money."
"Fine. Take your son for fifty taels. If you want the girl, it'll be a hundred."
"I have sixty." The butcher opened his pouch. It looked full, but in truth, there wasn't much inside.
The madam curled her lip in disgust and shot a cold glare at Liu Huameng.
"Then there's no helping it. Take your son and go. She stays."
"Father! Take Huameng too. I'll earn the money, I promise!" Chai Junhao pleaded, muffled but desperate.
"I can't. What would we eat then? Air?" the butcher snapped, shaking his head.
Liu Huameng had already prepared herself for this. As long as Chai Junhao could leave this wretched place, she was content.
At least the one she loved wouldn't have to suffer.
"Junhao, go. If you stay, neither of us will get out of here."
Her eyes were bloodshot. She knew this parting would be final. They would never meet again. Next time, she would already be sold. Her soul, her light—both gone.
"Huameng, no. Come with me." Junhao looked at her with desperate hope, but she didn't move.
"Go. You're lucky I'm in a good mood today," the madam said impatiently.
She took the fifty taels from the butcher, finally showing a hint of satisfaction.
He wasn't wrong. For a girl like Liu Huameng, fifty taels was already enough to buy her freedom.
After all, Huayue House catered to the small town. Most clients didn't spend even half a tael in a night. Fifty was more than enough. And as long as they kept quiet and changed her name, who would know?
Chai Junhao turned to leave with his father. Then, in front of everyone's shocked eyes, he grabbed the butcher's cleaver and, without hesitation, dragged it across his own throat.
Blood splashed across the brothel floor.
Screams erupted in every direction.
"Junhao!" Liu Huameng cried out in horror.
"Please... take her with you," Chai Junhao whispered, just before collapsing.
"You idiot! You killed someone!"
The madam was frozen with terror, staring at the blood pooling beneath him.
Still kneeling, Liu Huameng crawled over to his side, her eyes glowing with crimson grief.
"You said you'd take me away. You kept your word..." she choked out, her voice cracking as he slipped into stillness.
"No! Junhao!"
The butcher's mouth fell open in horror. His heart clenched with regret. He had refused his son's final plea—over silver.
He hadn't known their bond ran so deep.
His son had chosen death, just to keep his promise.
Grief twisted his face as he picked up the cleaver once more, slicing through the ropes around Liu Huameng's wrists. Trembling, he slung Junhao over his back and shouted at her.
"Come on! That life was traded for yours! Move!"
He didn't see it—the shift in Liu Huameng's eyes. They burned red, not from madness, but awakening.
A faint glow began to radiate from her pupils. Her danfeng eyes, rimmed with tears, shimmered with something ethereal.
"Thank you, Junhao..."
In that instant, golden light exploded from her body. It froze the entire brothel. Every mortal around her stood still, like statues.
In the blink of an eye, her form transformed back into Shui Huanmeng. The pressure of a powerful Nascent Soul cultivator swept through the room. Her gaze dropped to Junhao, now filled with sorrow too deep to speak.
She raised her hand. A thread of golden light shimmered to life, drifting toward the wound on his throat…