Chapter 195

He Zhizhou was given a bowl of sobering soup and woke up with an earth-shattering wail.

After drinking Jiuzhou Spring Return, he blacked out and couldn’t remember anything. When he opened his eyes, he saw several unfamiliar faces with varying expressions, along with Ning Ning and Pei Ji, whom he recognized.

“Zhou.”

Ning Ning’s gaze was complicated.

He Zhizhou had never seen her so cautious, as if he were a fragile baby needing gentle care, ready to shatter at any moment.

“Do you remember what happened last night and today?”

He shook his head in confusion.

The faint scent lingering at his nose reminded him of the fragrance he had encountered in the brothel before.

Looking around, he saw red-carved wooden chairs, pink-embroidered butterfly curtains, and a warm, ambiguous mist.

Surrounding him were girls with beautiful features, each looking as if they had just stepped out of a painting, with a posture of sinking fish and falling geese. The scene felt like he had entered a Pansi Cave.

(T/N: sinking fish and falling geese is an idiom that first appeared in Zhuangzi·Qiwu Lun. It means that fish sink to the bottom of the water when seeing something, and wild geese land on the sandbar when seeing something. It is used to describe a beautiful woman.

Pansi Cave is a place name in Journey to the West. The female demons in the Pansi Cave are seven spider demons who have achieved enlightenment, known as the Seven Fairies. They all use three-foot-long swords and often transform into beautiful women to do evil and harm people and animals.)

He Zhizhou’s vision darkened.

No way…No way…

So many girls—had he really acted like such a beast? Given the situation, even if he drained all the spirit stones on him, it wouldn’t be enough to pay the price!

“Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything to them.”

Ning Ning quickly dispelled He Zhizhou’s doubts and fears, seeing right through his thoughts.

This should have been a good thing, but Ning Ning still used a tone like she was attending a funeral. It didn’t seem like she was coming to the brothel to pick him up, but rather like she was attending a memorial service for comrade He Zhizhou.

“One of the girls recorded what happened last night. Do you… want to see it?”

He Zhizhou’s thoughts were still a little fuzzy, and he tried hard to think with his small brain, which was born with malformations and acquired deformities. Since he hadn’t done anything shameful to the girls, of course, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Could he possibly harm himself?

Without much thought, he nodded. One of the young girls hesitated before handing him a mirror.

Through the spirit vision orb, the mirror instantly projected the lively scene of the Nuanyu Pavilion.

In the night, shadows flitted in the “Hundred Flower Deep”.

Women, dressed in fragrant, glamorous attire with charming eyes, mingled while laughter swallowed the sounds of conversation, shouts, and carriage wheels. The flickering firelight outlined the red wood carvings on the eaves.

In the bustling crowd, two very familiar figures appeared before long.

It was He Zhizhou and Tian Xianzi.

Ning Ning and Pei Ji had probably seen this recording already, both silently staring at the mirror.

“Gentlemen.”

Their handsome appearance attracted several girls as soon as they entered. One of them, with a shy smile, greeted them while covering her mouth with a round fan: “Gentlemen, you are here to visit; do you have any girls you like?”

The question was asked earnestly, but the listeners were not necessarily serious.

He Zhizhou watched his past self burst into tears and desperately plead with great sorrow to the girl: “Sister, we’re not here to spend money—we’re begging you to take us in and let me be the courtesan here!”

He Zhizhou’s mind went blank, and he glanced at Ning Ning in horror.

She shook her head sympathetically, signaling there was more to see.

“Sir, are you drunk?”

The woman’s eyes twitched. She smelled the increasingly strong smell of alcohol on them and took a few steps back in fear: “What’s the point of you two grown men staying in Nuanyu Pavilion?”

“I have no choice.”

He Zhizhou wiped his tears with his sleeve, glancing at Tian Xianzi beside him: “Do you see my second uncle? Poor guy, so young, yet in the late stages of smallpox. I’ll do anything to earn money for his treatment—quickly! Second uncle!”

The last three words were spoken in a low growl, a bit like a wicked mother-in-law making things difficult for her daughter-in-law.

Tian Xianzi, still groggy, was startled. After looking at He Zhizhou blankly, he actually cooperated very well and began to shiver all over, rolling his eyes and twitching continuously.

Outside the mirror, He Zhizhou’s little heart was also twitching.

——Help! In order to become a courtesan, he actually forced Master Tian Xianzi to do such a thing!

Fortunately, Tian Xianzi himself was not here to see this video; otherwise, the Xuanxu Sword Sect’s dinner tonight would probably be stir-fried He Zhizhou’s meat.

wrong.

Or maybe he had seen it already?

The woman in the mirror had never encountered such an outrageous thing. When she heard the word “smallpox,”  she was immediately frightened and continued to step back.

In a panic, she heard He Zhizhou continue: “If it was just this kind of disease, maybe I could sell everything I had to treat him, but who would have thought that my second uncle would suffer from hysteria not long after!”

After he finished speaking, he shot another fierce look. Tian Xianzi bent down, willingly transforming into a good servant for others, continuing to twitch all over as if electrocuted. His eyes, however, were lifeless, caught between laughing and crying, muttering to himself, which was very terrifying.

He Zhizhou couldn’t bear to watch, trembling on the stool.

Then, his voice came from the mirror: “Not only that, he was also diagnosed with gastroenteritis, pharyngitis, and severe postpartum depression yesterday—my second uncle! If you hadn’t dropped out of school to support my studies, how could I have grown up to be like this now!”

Even He Zhizhou couldn’t help but criticize himself.

—Get loss! If your uncle knew you’d turn out like this, he’d regret it! And what’s with “severe postpartum depression”? Are you sick?

Tian Xianzi looked troubled, his expression stiffening.

He glanced at He Zhizhou, meeting with his vicious and cruel gaze.

He Zhizhou finally realized why his gaze seemed so familiar.

Isn’t this the expression on the face of the vicious concubine with a snake-and-scorpion-like heart in the palace fighting drama when she feeds the little white flower cannon fodder with deadly poison?

(T/N: innocent, pure…gentle and naive)

Tian Xianzi, feeling wronged, spoke softly: “I can’t…”

He Zhizhou narrowed his eyes, glaring fiercely and growling like an old bull: “Hmm—?!”

Really inhuman

A tear silently slid down from the corner of his eye.

He watched himself in the mirror become more and more hideous and hateful. Uncle Tian Xianzi looked pitiful and had no way to escape. The people around them were attracted by them, and many of them turned their heads curiously.

Under He Zhizhou’s fierce intimidation, Tian Xianzi fell back, blood spilling from his mouth like a sad but beautiful dream.

With a craftsman’s spirit, adhering to authenticity, Tian Xianzi struck his chest with sword energy, collapsing dramatically and bringing Xuanxu Sword Sect’s performance to life.

The white-clad young man fell heavily; the blood at the corner of his lips was so clear. After a brief pause in the picture, Tian Xianzi began to tremble wildly.

No longer in a humanly imaginable posture.

At first, he just lay on the ground, shivering and shaking his limbs. Not long after, he seemed to be having a hysterical attack. He began to mutter incoherently and cry and laugh alternately. He looked like he was wearing a mask of pain, which was extremely horrifying.

And when he stretched out his hands, this shocking scene reached its climax.

Tian Xianzi, shivering and speaking in a little girl’s voice, clutched his stomach with one hand, curled up like a shrimp, and grasped his throat with the other, eyes wide, occasionally emitting hoarse, sharp coughs: “Ugh—”

This scene was so bizarre that several girls screamed in fear.

He Zhizhou beside him cried so loudly and shouted sincerely, “Second Uncle! I will definitely become a courtesan and cure you! You must hold on!”

What a touching story of a kind and filial teacher that is comparable to a world-famous painting. It is recommended to name it: Zhou’s Repayment of Gratitude.