Casting immortality in the furnace

Chapter 39 The Brothel

Langdang Mountain Market is now divided into two main markets.

One market is in the east, and the other is in the west.

The East Market consisted of shops operated by the Yue Kingdom, while the West Market was where local villagers set up stalls.

Fan Zhou needed to buy elixirs and medicines for cultivation, so naturally he had to go to the East Market.

He came to the East Market, where there were more than twenty shops of all sizes, as well as some street stalls.

Fan Zhou observed each stall and found that the items for sale were quite varied, especially the ones on the street stalls, which sold clothes, weapons, elixirs, ores, and all sorts of odds and ends.

As for those shops, they weren't much better. Some sold silk, some sold a few kinds of spiritual fruits, some sold talismans, and some even sold snakes and corpses.

Fan Zhou stopped in front of a shop selling corpse refining products. The signboard read "Grave Hill".

Inside the shop stood corpses of various shapes and sizes: some were armored, some had green hair, some were soldiers holding long spears, and some were beautiful women.

Behind the counter sat an effeminate man, his face as pale as a corpse. When he saw Fan Zhou standing at the shop entrance scrutinizing him, he gave him an extremely sinister smile.

Fan Zhou felt uneasy and quickly walked away.

He took a few more steps and stopped in front of a two-story attic building next to him.

Unlike the eerie and gloomy corpse-refining shop we had just visited, this pavilion was ornately decorated, elegantly styled, and adorned with many fresh flowers in front of the door.

"Baihualou" (Hundred Flowers Pavilion).

Fan Zhou looked at the signboard with a puzzled expression. Why did this name sound so much like a brothel?

As he was guessing, a petite woman in pink suddenly ran over. She looked to be no more than twenty years old, with a pretty face and dressed in very revealing clothes. She immediately hugged Fan Zhou's arm and said with a coquettish smile:

"What would you like to buy, young man? Would you like to come and take a look at my shop?"

Fan Zhou was startled, thinking he had fallen for a honey trap. He quickly pulled his arm away from the woman's embrace and shouted:

"What do you think you're doing in broad daylight?!"

The woman in pink couldn't grab his hand immediately and then revealed a resentful and self-pitying expression;

"I saw you lingering in front of the shop, so I came over and asked you politely, 'Why are you blaming me? What have I done to offend you?'"

Fan Zhou frowned slightly. "Are you from the Hundred Flowers Pavilion?"

The woman in pink bowed slightly and said softly:

"Indeed, I am an outer disciple of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, and my name is Zhiruo."

Fan Zhou carefully took half a step back and asked curiously:

"What does your Hundred Flowers Pavilion sell?"

The woman in pink named Zhiruo looked at Fan Zhou with tender, watery eyes:

"Our Hundred Flowers Pavilion, of course, is... a place that sells elixirs."

"what?"

Fan Zhou was about to run away, but stopped himself at the last moment.

Zhi Ruo looked puzzled: "Why are you so surprised, young man?"

Fan Zhou chuckled awkwardly, "Uh, I thought you guys were selling flowers."

Zhiruo's eyes gleamed mischievously as she chuckled, "This name is indeed easy to misunderstand."

Fan Zhou realized she was playing a trick on him, snorted in annoyance, and turned to leave.

Zhi Ruo didn't try to stop her, but called out from behind, "Young man, if you want to buy elixirs and medicines, you must come to Hundred Flowers Pavilion! Zhi Ruo will be waiting for you here!"

Fan Zhou completely ignored them and was determined to buy from someone else.

After a while.

He returned to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion with a sullen face.

This is the only shop in the East Market that sells elixirs.

Zhiruo was leaning against the doorpost when she saw Fan Zhou return and couldn't help but laugh.

But as soon as she turned her head, her expression changed to one of delighted surprise. She ran over and hugged Fan Zhou's arm tightly, leaving a fragrant trail as she said tenderly:

"Young man, you've really come back to find me again."

Fan Zhou let her cross her arms, since he couldn't gain any advantage from her anyway, and simply said expressionlessly:

"Big sister, how much are these pills?"

Zhiruo's face froze instantly.

"Pfft!"

"hehe."

"Elder Sister Zhiruo."

A few soft laughs came from inside the Hundred Flowers Pavilion. Several beautiful young women covered their faces with handkerchiefs and laughed so hard they were doubled over.

Zhiruo glared at them, dragged Fan Zhou into the building, and shouted at the girls:

"How can you still laugh? The shop hasn't had any business for days, and you don't even think about getting a few customers."

A girl dressed in a light blue long-sleeved shirt pouted and said, "There are hardly any guests in this remote place."

A girl in a snow-white dress standing next to her retorted:

"Of course we have one! Didn't our eldest sister Zhiruo bring one back?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the girls started giggling again.

Zhiruo grabbed her ear and pulled her in front of her:

"You think you're so good with words? Well then, you'll be in charge of receiving this guest."

She released Fan Zhou's arm and said to him apologetically:

"I'm so sorry, young master. I still have to entertain guests outside and support these ignorant young maids, so I can only have Qingju serve them. I hope you won't be angry with me, young master?"

Seeing the woman in front of him looking like she was about to cry, Fan Zhou could only sigh in his heart, "She's really got the makings of an actress."

"It's alright, Sister, go ahead and do your work," Fan Zhou said.

Zhiruo glared at him, then angrily walked out the door to find her next customer on the street.

As soon as she left, the remaining three girls covered their mouths and laughed again.

The girl named Qingju rubbed her bright red ears and asked Fan Zhou:

"What would you like to buy, sir? Elixirs or elixirs?"

Fan Zhou thought for a moment, "Do you sell Bone Tempering Pills?"

"Yes, two Basic Bone Tempering Pills and one Spirit Sand."

Qingju continued, "Our Hundred Flowers Pavilion also has two even better pills: the Dew-Clearing Bone-Tempering Pill and the Leopard Embryo Bone-Tempering Pill. Would you like to take a look?"

Fan Zhou shook his head; he was afraid of being ripped off and dared not buy such pills.

"I want to buy ten Basic Bone Tempering Pills."

The girls were all delighted, never expecting to actually make a deal.

Qingju hurriedly asked, "Is there anything else you would like to buy, sir? Our Hundred Flowers Pavilion has a master alchemist in charge, and we have many spiritual pills for the Fetal Breathing Realm, as well as a lot of nourishing medicinal herbs."

As she spoke, she awkwardly took Fan Zhou's arm and led him to the counter to look around.

"This is our Hundred Flowers Pavilion's unique elixir, the Hundred Flowers Fragrance Pill. It can cleanse the marrow and change the blood, eliminate the nine worms in the internal organs, and after taking it, the whole body will be filled with fragrance..."

Fan Zhou interrupted her, "I can't afford this kind of pill. Are there any cheaper health-preserving elixirs available?"

Qingju awkwardly led him to the other side:

"Yes, this is Dendrobium officinale cultivated by Baihualou. It can nourish blood and qi, and warm the spirit. It is a mild health-preserving medicine. It costs 200 spirit stones per pound."

Fan Zhou was taken aback; this health-preserving elixir was actually so expensive.

"Is there a less expensive one?"

"We also have century-old He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum), all grown in sacred land, costing seventy spirit sands per pound, and this century-old Huang Jing (Polygonatum sibiricum)..."

Fan Zhou followed Qingju around the store and discovered that He Shou Wu was the cheapest health-preserving elixir.

But the price was still a bit too expensive for him.

He pulled Qingju aside and whispered:

"I'm a disciple of the Sword Furnace Sect, could you give me a discount?"

Qingju stared at him blankly, and whispered:

"Everyone who comes here claims to be a disciple of the Sword Furnace."

Fan Zhou: "..."