Chapter Thirty-One: Brothel Brawl

  As soon as he stepped through the gate, a dozen burly men suddenly surrounded him. Yun Qi didn't dare to be careless and took a step to the right, using his body to block Yang Wenguang's vital spot, with both hands raised in a defensive posture, his eyes constantly scanning the shoulders of the people surrounding him.

  The strong man who surrounded the two did not take action easily. The five people who came back yesterday were all beaten badly, and after listening to their accounts, it was clear that these two men had been trained. So they were also waiting, perhaps waiting for the other side to see that there were more people on this side and give up first, or maybe the momentum could overwhelm the opponent. Thinking of this, the killing intent on these people's faces grew even heavier.

  The atmosphere was tense, as if the air was filled with sparks that could ignite at any moment. Yang Wenguan was also worried, yesterday's rescue had been urgent and he hadn't thought it through, but now he was wide awake and saw over a dozen burly men, and couldn't help but swallow hard, standing behind Yun Qi, also ready to take a stand.

  Both sides were at a standoff, with no one making the first move or speaking. Yun Qi was not afraid, having been an elite soldier in his past life and had experience taking on over ten people alone. He was confident that he could emerge unscathed, but with Yang's second young master behind him, he also had to constantly protect him, which made things more difficult. After all, the other party had only learned Wing Chun for a little over a month and didn't have any advantage.

  "Oh my, oh my... You two gentlemen are looking for some fun at this early hour?" A pleasant female voice came from upstairs, and following the sound, a beautifully dressed woman in her thirties with a lovely face walked down from the second floor.

  The person who came was the madam of this brothel, and everyone here called her: Huā Niáng. At the age of twelve, she was sold to this place, at thirteen, she learned music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and at sixteen, she was also one of the famous courtesans in the south of the city. Now, however, she had become the madam here. Huā Niáng walked up to Yún Qī and Yang Wén Guān, carefully sizing them up. She discovered that Yún Qī still looked quite handsome, while Yang Wén Guān, although dressed in coarse blue clothes, didn't seem like an ordinary commoner from the look in his eyes. Moreover, Wang Wǔ, who had been beaten yesterday, had also mentioned that these two were the ones who rescued Huán Xuě Yàn yesterday. So, she understood a bit and said: "You two gentlemen have arrived early, I don't know if you're here to seek pleasure or trouble?"

  Yun Qi also sized up Hua Niang, hearing this, the corner of his mouth twitched, and he smiled faintly, saying: "I don't know how to address elder sister?"

  "Ugh! Am I that old? And you're calling me 'older sister', when I'm only just over twenty!" Flower Maiden still had some charm, but women most dislike others saying they're old. Cloud Seven's one phrase "older sister" made her somewhat thin-lipped with anger, but since she didn't want to hit a smiling face, and especially in this place where people seeking a living were sharp-eyed, the two before her looked like they wouldn't be easy to deal with. So she replied in a soft and gentle voice: "They all call me Flower Maiden."

  "Uh... Hua Niang!" Yun Qi tried calling out, but couldn't help feeling a bit unaccustomed.

  "Heh heh... Sir, what can I do for you?" Hua Niang's voice was still filled with seductive and frivolous tone. Yun Qi was fine, but Yang Wen Guan couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable, his whole body trembling slightly. However, Hua Niang didn't seem to notice and continued to speak to Yun Qi: "We're not open for business in the mornings, sir. If you want to come and have some fun, it's better to wait until tonight. I'll make sure to find someone good to take care of you, and you'll be so happy that you won't want to leave for days! Heh heh heh!"

  The flower girl didn't smile, but when she did, even Yun Qi, who thought he was an old hand, couldn't help but exclaim in his heart that he couldn't take it anymore. At this point, Yun Qi spoke up and said: "I wonder if the flower girl knows a girl named Han Xueyan?"

  The flower girl heard that the secret passage was not good, and seeing that the other party had already made it clear, she naturally knew what it was about in her heart. However, she said on her mouth: "Sir, the name of this young lady you mentioned sounds like a wealthy family's daughter, how can I have her here? Are you mistaken? I only have Xiaohong, Xianglan and Xiayan here, but not the young lady you mentioned."

  Yun Qi saw the other's expression and knew something was wrong, so he said directly: "Hua Niang, what you just said is not quite right. Are you pretending to be stupid or do you think we two are fools?"

  The flower girl hastily said: "Oh dear, sir, you say this, how dare I take the two of you as fools? But I really don't know who the girl you're talking about is?"

  Yun Qi took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Flower girl, let's open the window and speak clearly. Yesterday, I rescued a young lady who turned out to be an old acquaintance. She said she escaped from you. My purpose for coming here today is not for anything else, but to ask you to return that young lady's belongings to me. From now on, we'll mind our own business and go our separate ways."

  The flower girl listened and didn't budge, only changing her tone, saying somewhat unpleasantly: "I don't know what you're talking about!"

  "I don't know? Fine!" Yun Qi didn't want to waste words either, and had had enough of pretending. He wasn't a good person when he was in the army, always getting into fights and causing trouble, and being locked up in the dark room was a regular occurrence. Moreover, Han Xueyan was the only person who had touched his heart since he came to this world, and he couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. Seeing a wooden table beside him, without thinking, he lifted his left leg straight up high, almost at a 180-degree angle, and then brought it down heavily with great force.

  "Crack!" A perfectly good wooden table split in two, the burly men behind Huā Niáng were also startled and took a few unnatural steps back. They hadn't expected Yuán Qī to suddenly attack either. After withdrawing his leg, Yuán Qī stared at Huā Niáng and slowly said: "Huā Niáng still won't speak?"

  "You... you... you..." The flower girl saw Yun Qi's previous move and was also a little scared. Such a thick table, it was split with just one strike, what kind of strength was that? But thinking again, she had so many people behind her, even if she couldn't take him down alone, together they should be able to handle him. Thinking this, the flower girl took a few steps back and shouted: "Hmph! I've been nice to you time and time again, but you're getting more and more arrogant! Do you think this is a place where you can come and go as you please? Come on! Disable his hands and feet!"

  The flower girl gave an order, and although the strong men had just seen Yun Qi's extraordinary skills and were somewhat afraid in their hearts, the flower girl was still their master. When the master gives an order, who dares not to listen? The strong men gritted their teeth, stomped their feet, and charged at Yun Qi with a determined look.

  "Sir, retreat!" Yun Qi saw the robust man charging over and feared something would happen to Yang Wen Guan. Since they were in a public place, he couldn't very well shout "Young Master", so he said it this way instead.

  Yang Wenguan also felt a bit tense, and upon hearing Yun Qi's words, he involuntarily took a few steps back, clearing the area.

  The first to rush forward was a burly man, swinging his fists at Yun Qi's face. But Yun Qi lightly dodged and raised his right foot, causing the man's fist to swing wildly in the air. Before he could even react, he felt a heavy object crash into his knee, sending searing pain through his body. Then, he saw an enormous fist hurtling towards his face... "Wham!" The burly man was sent crashing to the ground by Yun Qi's powerful punch.

  The rest of the people saw this and rushed up, not wanting to be left out, surrounding Yun Qi in a circle. They wanted to use their collective strength to take down Yun Qi. However, Yun Qi was not flustered. The opponents had approached him, closing the distance between them, which was exactly what he wanted. Chongqing Spring Boxing was originally a close-range martial art, and this situation allowed him to fully utilize its power. With punches and kicks, in no time at all, five burly men couldn't bear the pain and rolled around on the ground, filling the entire hall with cries of agony.

  The flower girl saw that things were not going well, so she secretly turned around and ran upstairs. Yun Qi saw it in his eyes and knew that the flower girl was going to run away. He increased his speed and became even more swift, but for a while, he couldn't solve the problem of so many people. Seeing that the flower girl was about to disappear from his sight, he had no choice but to shout: "Wen Guan! That woman is running away, it's up to you now!"

  Yang Wenguan also saw Huaniang wanting to run, heard Yunqi's instructions, and said: "Good!" With a swift movement, he dodged the crowd and rushed forward.

  The woman was no match for the man's speed, and before she could even reach the second floor, Hua Niang was caught by Yang Wenquan from behind. Yang Wenquan didn't know how to show mercy to a woman, directly pinching Hua Niang's neck, pulling her hands back, and walking down the stairs like he was escorting a prisoner. This move was also one of Yun Qi's, and Yang Wenquan had learned it well, feeling that it was indeed much easier this way. As long as Hua Niang struggled, as long as he lightly lifted his hand that was pinching her from behind, Hua Niang would immediately let out a pained cry, and then behave herself.

  Looking down at the scene below, the fight was about to end. Yun Qi directly grabbed the last strong man by the neck and used one hand to rapidly punch his face, causing him to bleed profusely and become unrecognizable after just a few hits. The strong man eventually passed out. Hua Niang saw that all her men were lying on the ground while Yun Qi was still standing fine, and she thought to herself "it's all over". With the current situation being extremely unfavorable to her, she had no choice but to admit defeat.

  She grabbed the package from Han Xueyan and Yun Qi turned around without looking back, pulling Yang Wenguan away. Huā Niáng glared at their backs with a vengeful gaze, vowing to take revenge for this grudge. Looking at the mess on the ground and the wailing thugs, she suddenly felt powerless again. It was indeed a case of losing a chicken while trying to steal rice; if only they had returned the things to their rightful owner earlier, there would be no need for all this commotion now.

  ………

  Holding Han Xueyan's package, Yun Qi felt an indescribable excitement and nervousness. Along the way, he didn't respond to Yang Wenguang's constant questioning, his mind only thinking about how to return the package to her once they got back to the mansion, and how she would thank him. Maybe seeing how handsome and elegant he was, with both literary and martial skills, she would be so moved that she would promise herself to him? Hehe, Yun Qi walked on the street, indulging in his fantasies, occasionally letting out a chilling laugh, his face full of an expression begging to be slapped. Yang Wenguang was speechless, quickly pulling away from him, pretending not to know him.

  ………………

  2nd update... 3000+ oh......