Top-Tier Perception Starts From Basic Fist Techniques

The Pleasure Pavilion stood in the north of Drum Mountain City, where land went for its weight in silver, and the streets were the busiest in the city. The name itself plainly revealed what it was—a brothel.

The Pleasure Pavilion did not keep many girls, but every one of them was a rare gem, beautiful and accomplished in at least two arts.

Lu Changsheng's servant boy, Kao Ping, looked up at the building and couldn't help whispering a warning. "Young Master, the Pleasure Pavilion again? That's where it happened last time. If the master finds out you came back here..."

Lu Changsheng shook his head. "It's fine."

The memories he received clearly told him that Kao Wen had seen the demon here, but the magistrate's investigation afterward had concluded the creature fled into the house and startled the boy in passing.

However, he knew better than to trust the official records. There was a demon buried deep in the Pleasure Pavilion. This time, he had come to see one on purpose and take one home with him.

In the hierarchy of demons, there were different grades of strength. Most were ordinary, also known as lesser demons or true demons. Above them were greater demons, demon kings, ancient demons, and finally Demon Progenitors. In terms of the strength corresponding to each grade, the answer still eluded him.

However, Kao Wen's memories held that a supreme martial artist could beat most ordinary true demons in a battle of strength. The frightening part was never the fight; it was that no martial artist could make a demon stay dead.

Needless to say, a martial artist could only rival ordinary demons. If they faced a greater demon or anything above it, they would immediately die.

Lu Changsheng had an inkling that a greater demon's power had crossed into the transcendent range, which was why it could flatten a martial artist. As for ordinary demons, immortality aside, they had not reached that stage in strength, fighting technique, or anything else.

Since Lu Changsheng stood at ninety-nine percent of Second Growth, he had reached the ceiling right below transcendence, so ordinary demons would likely not pose a problem to him. Though he could not kill one, he could still catch them and hold them captive.

Capturing and locking up demons was also how human armies and martial artists could prove useful in the fight against demons. They could at least handle some ordinary demons.

"Bring the special nets," Lu Changsheng instructed.

"Don't worry, Young Master, I have packed two of them. But... are you sure the two of us are enough to catch a demon?" Kao Ping remarked with unease.

The past six months had let him in on some of his young master's secrets. He knew about his martial arts training and that it had made Kao Wen considerably strong.

Even the best instructors that the household hired said Kao Wen was the kind of talent that only came along once a century. However, they were still catching an immortal demon, and the mere thought of it alone was frightening.

"When we're inside, follow me closely and don't say a word."

"Yes, Young Master."

Lu Changsheng walked in without hesitation, and the young boy trailed behind him.

A familiar figure was on him before he was through the door, and a familiar lady’s voice echoed with it. "Well, if it isn't Young Master Kao! What a fright you had that night... I meant to have Miss Xuan apologize to you properly, but you haven't visited us for half a year."

Madam Liu was the owner of the Pleasure Pavilion, but she was not very old. She was only around thirty years old, but in a place like this, thirty was considered very old. It was well past the age when a woman's looks were reckoned worth anything, which was why she ran the house instead of working in it.

That being said, Madam Liu had maintained her beauty. In Lu Changsheng's eyes, she was no less beautiful than the girls half her age.

"Madam Liu, aren't I here now? Get me a private room, the quietest one you have, and send in Miss Xuan." He tossed her a large silver ingot without much thought, watching her face brighten like a blooming flower. The young heir of the Kao clan was in a class of his own when it came to spending.

"Miss Xuan isn't quite feeling herself today, but I'm sure she'll want to accompany you for a while. Go on up and wait for a moment; it won't take long." Her hips swung as she went off to arrange it, and Kao Ping couldn't help staring at her figure with bulging eyes.

"Stop looking. Go upstairs." Lu Changsheng snapped him back to reality with a dry look and took the boy up to the private room on the second floor.

When they entered the room, they were greeted with luxurious wine, meat, and a great deal of fruit. It was a truly generous spread. Fifteen minutes later, Miss Xuan finally arrived. It was clear that she had spent some time dressing and making herself up.

She came through the door in a bright and lovely manner, exactly as in Kao Wen's memories. Though she worked in a brothel and had done all the things expected of one in a pleasure house, none of it showed on her. There was no practiced coquetry about her, only a clean, quiet elegance similar to the bearing of a daughter from a good house. That was probably what had drawn Kao Wen to her in the first place.

Miss Xuan smiled with a zither in her arms as she regarded Kao Wen. "Young Master Kao, I'm not feeling well today, so I can only sit with you a little while."

Lu Changsheng motioned to her. "Come sit."

Madam Liu courteously withdrew, so the three of them were left in the room.

As Miss Xuan prepared to play her instrument, Lu Changsheng asked, "Miss Xuan, I saw a demon in this house half a year ago. You saw it too, right? Where is it now?"

A troubled look crossed her face, but she answered evenly, "A demon got into the house that night and disturbed you. It frightened me as well, and then it left. I've reported all of it to the magistrate's office."

Lu Changsheng nodded to show he knew. "Alright, I'll get straight to the point then. Take me to see that true demon."

The moment she heard him, the color left her face. Regardless, her voice stayed steady. "Young Master, surely you're joking? It ran away that night, and the magistrate's men never caught it. How would I take you to see it?"

Lu Changsheng didn't waver. He held her eyes and said it again, one word at a time. "I'll say it once more and no more than that. Take me to see the true demon. Or would you rather I told the authorities that Miss Xuan is acquainted with one?"

Miss Xuan's face went white, and her mind went blank. He knows!

Her connection with the true demon had been exposed after all. Consorting with a true demon was a serious crime. She couldn't afford to carry this charge! Not to mention, she had never gone looking for that demon in her life.

"I..." She started and hesitated. Finally, she answered plainly, "I couldn't keep it from you after all. That true demon is called Ah Hu. He’s the son of my father's concubine."

"Before my family fell, my father took a concubine. I called her Aunt Qiu. She fell pregnant, and it was only after Ah Hu was born that anyone realized he was a half-demon.

“Then she told the truth. A demon had forced her while she was out of the house, and that was how she came to be with child. Back then, she was too frightened to say so, and so Ah Hu was born a half-demon."

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"My father was both horrified and furious, but he did not dare punish her or harm the child. After all, who could say whether that true demon cared about what happened to his son?"

"Afterward, my father died, and the family came apart. I was sold to a brothel, and Ah Hu vanished. Then one day, he found me and said he would always protect me. He's merely a child, so I couldn't drive him off.

“Just like that, he's watched over me from the dark ever since. Demon or not, he can't afford to buy out my contract with the brothel..." Miss Xuan shared everything.

Lu Changsheng had not expected a true demon to come with a story like that attached.

"You've had a hard life, Miss Xuan. However, you should understand that a true demon has to eat people or its intelligence deteriorates. Ah Hu has almost certainly eaten by now, and the demon side of him has almost certainly won.

“He only comes to you on instinct and nothing else. A demon is a demon in the end, and keeping him near you is dangerous for both you and him. The only way left is to take me to him and let me deal with it."

She hesitated, then agreed, saying, "Young Master, he's quite savage. I'm afraid visiting him unannounced could be dangerous."

Lu Changsheng waved it off. "It doesn't matter, I've come prepared."

"Alright, then I'll take you."

He had her by the throat, and she knew it, so there was really no other choice for her. She went downstairs and told Madam Liu she was going out with Kao Wen, and Madam Liu was not going to stand in the way of that.