Chapter 23: The Multi-Skilled Hand

  Ling Jing's eyes flashed with a hint of astonishment, this charming and beautiful woman had an overwhelming presence, her stunning looks captivated everyone's attention the moment she appeared, and he was no exception.

  The woman's eyes were filled with a mixture of anger and laughter, her watery eyes sparkling like a spring breeze, tender and beautiful. As soon as her gaze swept over you, you felt your whole body go soft, making you want to immediately pull her into your arms and hold her tight.

  At this moment, he felt that his heart was violently struck, and his heartbeat accelerated involuntarily. However, since birth, even when seeing Yuelinshan, Yilin and other stunning beauties, he had never had such a feeling.

  He furrowed his brow, feeling a little strange in his heart. At this time, he saw the woman named Linglong take over an ancient zither from someone else's hand. Her jade-like hands lightly plucked the silver strings, and her fingers moved deftly on the zither, producing a sound that was both elegant and moving, like the music of heaven.

  The guests in the Jade Garden were not many refined people, but under the sound of this woman's zither, they also slowly quieted down, listened attentively with their ears sideways, and showed a look of intoxication on their faces.

  As the music came to an end, there was a moment of silence in the hall, before erupting into thunderous applause. Even Ling Jing couldn't help but admire her exquisite piano skills, as she had managed to play the guqin with such mastery that it transcended the mundane and entered the realm of the divine, making it enjoyable for both the refined and the common. In terms of piano skills alone, she was truly a master of this art form.

  Linglong stood up, slightly bowed to the crowd, turned around and left only a back view that sparked people's imagination, and then walked away towards the backstage.

  The hall was immediately filled with sighs.

  A middle-aged man dressed as a merchant said, "Ah, Linglong girl is the flower of Qunyu Garden, but she sells her art not her body. She only plays one tune a month, and this fame has already surpassed all the women in Hengshan City. She is truly a peerless beauty."

  Someone else sighed: "What a pity! If Linglong were willing to accompany guests, I would be willing to spend all my family's wealth, what's wrong with that?"

  A cold laugh came from beside him: "You also want to get involved with Linglong girl? Let alone this Hengshan City, do you know how many people in the province are waiting in line for her to sell out?"

  The person who spoke earlier smiled awkwardly, just now was just a feeling of being moved to speak out, in fact he also knew that this beautiful girl had a reputation far and wide, many dignitaries and heroes had coveted her, how could he possibly have the opportunity to taste her fragrance by himself.

  Ling Jing listened to these people talking, but in his heart, he felt an inexplicable joy. This Ling girl was absolutely the one who left the deepest impression on him among all the women he had seen in his past and present life. The elegant demeanor between her eyebrows and smile, the charming and seductive attitude, all moved his heartstrings.

  Such a stunning woman shouldn't be in such a dirty place, he had previously sighed in regret, but after hearing the conversations of those around him, he learned that this lovely girl only sold her art and not her body, emerging from the mud unsoiled, and his heart finally felt relieved.

  At this moment, a loud and rough voice suddenly came from the second floor: "Hold on!"

  A figure suddenly jumped down from the second floor, did a somersault in mid-air, and landed on the stage ahead. The man was about 30 or 40 years old, with a rugged face and extremely large hands, dressed in a short jacket, clearly a martial artist, with most of his skills concentrated in his two hands.

  The big man stretched out his hand to block Linglong's front, his hand almost touching her chest. A lewd light flashed across his face, and his eyes stared at Linglong as if he wanted to swallow her whole. However, Linglong frowned and quickly took a step back.

  The old procuress hastily came up with a flattering smile and said: "Sir, I don't know if there's anything that hasn't been taken care of properly?"

  The big fellow smiled and said, "Master has come here to have fun, not to listen to any tunes. Why did this lovely girl hurry off? Wouldn't it be delightful if she stayed to keep Master company for a drink?"

  Linglong remained silent, seemingly not having heard the man's words at all. The old procuress smiled and said: "Sir is a first-time visitor to our Qunyu Garden, right? Our Linglong girl only sells her art, not her body. She plays only one piece per month, that's the rule. Please don't make things difficult for us, I'll call in a few more girls for you instead."

  The big Han snorted, saying: "How, looking down on me? Moreover, isn't she just a prostitute, pretending to be noble, running to this kind of place, and still wanting to sell her art not her body, it's simply ridiculous."

  Linglong only then turned his head and looked at him coldly, with no emotion in his eyes, as if this person was already a dead man to him.

  The old procuress forced a smile and said, "Oh no, oh no, sir please don't mind, but Linglong is just playing the zither for us, she doesn't accompany guests."

  With a toss of his head, he said: "Hmph, it seems you really do look down on people. I, 'Multi-talented' Li Yuan, am also a reputable figure in the Jianghu world. Even Liu Zhengfeng, Liu brother from Hengshan City, would address me as Brother Li. What's wrong, is the prestige of your Quanyu Garden truly so great that even calling over a girl to keep me company for a drink is not allowed?"

  Some people below heard him introduce himself and those who had seen a lot began to discuss it.

  "Unexpectedly, this man is the "multi-talented" Li Yuan. It's said that his family's traditional grappling techniques are quite impressive, and in northern Shaanxi, he's a well-known figure."

  "It turns out he's a 'multi-talented person', that lovely girl is in trouble tonight, alas, what a pity."

  Li Yuan's face flickered with a hint of pleasure as he listened to the people talking about him, and he turned his head to look at Linglong, his face flashing with a hint of greed. He thought to himself, "Such an exquisite woman, today no matter what she says, I must get my hands on her." Then he said: "Miss, you've been silent all along, aren't you mute? However, whether you agree or not, if you don't accompany me for a few cups of drinks today, it's likely to be difficult to leave this Jade Garden."

  This guy looked at the old prostitute with all sorts of excuses, and he was already impatient in his heart. Moreover, Linglong was really too seductive, and it would not be an exaggeration to describe her as a heavenly beauty and national color. In this Jianghu, who knows when such a stunning beauty suddenly appeared, he was eager to take advantage of the situation, thinking that this time he had taken advantage of himself.

  Thinking so in his heart, he stretched out his hand and was about to grab Linglong's wrist.

  Suddenly, a clear voice laughed and said: "Hey, whose dog is this that hasn't been tied up, letting it run wild and bark loudly, really stinky!"

  The sound had barely fallen when a figure leaped onto the stage, landing between Li Yuan and Linglong, neatly separating the two.

  This figure was naturally Ling Jing, who had been displeased in his heart just now. Seeing this coarse and unrefined Jianghu big man actually trying to use force to touch Ling, the means were inferior, and it didn't seem like a Jianghu righteous person at all.

  He saw this person suddenly reaching out to grab Ling's wrist, and in his anger, he immediately used his lightness skill to rush up and separate the two of them at once.

  That big fellow heard Ling Jing scolding himself, his face filled with anger, and said: "Little boy, your beard is not even fully grown yet you want to learn how to be a hero and rescue beauties, truly you don't know the word 'death'."

  Ling Jing sneered, his current strength had already reached the peak of second-rate, and he thought that as long as he didn't encounter some famous masters in the Jianghu, he could retreat unscathed. As for this "multi-faceted hand", sorry, he really hadn't heard of it before.

  He smiled slightly and said, "I naturally don't know how to write the word 'death', but it seems you do. Why don't you write it out for me to see? Let me judge whether your writing is good or not."

  Suddenly, a soft and sweet laughter came from behind him, the voice was like honey, it seemed to melt people. He was moved in his heart, this was the first time he heard the sound of this beautiful girl, before she never spoke, he even thought that this girl was really dumb, secretly sighing what a pity.

  But unexpectedly this delicate voice was so pleasant to hear, truly like heavenly music.

  Li Yuan heard that Linglong was being teased by Ling Jing, and his jealousy burned fiercely. He thought to himself: A prostitute is still a prostitute, seeing a pretty face makes her eager to please, but today I must take you down.

  He shouted angrily, "You little brat, being good at talking is not a big deal. Today, I'll teach you a lesson and let you know that when you're not capable, don't try to outdo others." With that, he made a grabbing motion with his hand towards Ling Jing's wrist.

  PS: There's still a second chapter tonight, and I'll make up for the one owed yesterday. Finally, please spare a recommendation vote, there are really too few recommendations-----

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