Chapter 57: The Truth is Revealed

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Chapter 57: The Truth is Revealed

It was 4:30 PM, leaving an hour and a half before dinner.

Mu Yanming, accompanied by Lin You the Cat King and his subordinates Mu Five, Mu Nine, and Mu Ten, followed Xu Bowen’s car toward the outskirts of the city. Although Mu Yanming was willing to go along and see what was actually happening, he still intended to wrap things up before six so he could hurry back to the villa and have dinner with his brother.

However, things rarely go as smoothly as imagined. About half an hour later, Xu Bowen’s car stopped in front of a lavish club on the outskirts of the city. Under normal circumstances, Mu Yanming would have considered it a rather impressive place, and as the one who had invited him, Xu Bowen would have earned plenty of points for his excellent taste in venues.

For some reason, however, as Mu Yanming got out of the car and looked at the club’s magnificent entrance, he felt none of his former excitement. Instead, he was overcome by a strange sense of absurdity. Watching the men and women getting out of luxury cars one after another, seeing the wild and rebellious expressions on their faces, he found it hard to accept that he had once looked just like them, so painfully, embarrassingly juvenile.

It was like the moment when someone who had been drunk for a long time suddenly sobered up while surrounded by a crowd of fellow drunks. He simply couldn’t accept that he had once been so intoxicated, so utterly devoid of decorum and self-awareness.

Still, the upside was obvious, wasn’t it? At the very least, after seeing those people’s state, Second Young Master Mu probably wouldn’t have much interest in places like this for quite some time. It might even have the opposite effect and make him stay away from such places for good. Tsk, tsk. Wasn’t that wonderful? Just think how much money that would save the Mu Family.

Just as Mu Yanming stood there staring at the four ornate, gold-leafed characters reading “Intoxicating Nights,” his expression unreadable, Xu Bowen got out of the car and approached him, reaching out to pat him on the shoulder. Mu Yanming, however, frowned slightly and dodged him.

Xu Bowen raised an eyebrow at this, but didn’t lose his temper. Instead, he smiled and said, “Second Young Master, look. This is the hottest new club in City B. Everyone who’s been here raves about it. Just look. It’s not even evening yet, and the place is already packed.”

Mu Yanming’s face remained largely expressionless, the slight wariness and aloofness making him look somewhat like his brother. “Alright, let’s go in. I don’t have much time today. I still have to go back and have dinner with my brother later. Whatever you want to say, let’s get it over with so I can leave. I’ve suddenly realized that compared to coming here every night, or every few days, to act like a lunatic, going home to watch brainless romance dramas with Grandpa is actually a lot more enjoyable.”

Xu Bowen burst out laughing when he heard this. “Second Young Master, the way you put that makes it sound like you’re trying to turn over a new leaf. If you said that out loud, forget me—even anyone who knows you would laugh their heads off. The Mu Family’s Second Young Master, who loves playing the field, saying he’ll never come to a place like this again? That’s like a cat swearing it’ll never steal fish again!”

A flash of annoyance appeared on Mu Yanming’s face. He was about to retort when the cat in his arms pressed down on him with a paw, quelling his anger. Mu Yanming lowered his head, intending to complain, but suddenly saw, to his horror, that the large cat in his arms had somehow moved so quickly that all he saw was a tiny paw lightly swiping out. A small red pill struck Xu Bowen’s lower leg before disappearing without a trace.

For some reason, although Mu Yanming had no idea what effect the little pill would have, in that instant, the Cat Immortal who had never attacked him seemed incredibly adorable. He suddenly felt an urge to put the finest salmon right under his nose.

“Hey, I heard you once helped my brother scratch up Third Aunt’s face, right? My brother must have been absolutely delighted!” Mu Yanming ingratiatingly recounted one of the Cat Immortal’s great deeds.

Unfortunately, the big cat wasn’t impressed. He haughtily swept his tail across Mu Yanming’s lowered chin, then gave two equally haughty meows.

Although Lin You the Cat Immortal didn’t speak human language in front of others, Mu Yanming somehow managed to decipher exactly what he meant from those two meows and that disdainful look—

Don’t think this lord is helping you. It’s just that you’re hopelessly stupid, and I can’t stand the sight of that guy’s face. If it weren’t for your brother, this lord would simply watch you get cheated to death without lifting a finger.

Mu Yanming rolled his eyes. Fine! He knew this big cat couldn’t stand the sight of him, just like his brother, who found fault with everything he did at work. When dealing with someone like that, all he needed to do was obediently listen.

Tsk. To think he’d actually sunk so low that he had to listen to a cat. Mu Yanming felt like a total loser.

“Second Young Master, let’s go in. Everyone is already waiting inside.” Xu Bowen spoke at just the right moment. His voice trembled slightly with excitement, as though the moment Mu Yanming stepped through the doorway, he would become a caged bird with no hope of escape.

Mu Yanming frowned again, thinking of the little red pill. In the end, he turned around and gestured for Mu Five, Mu Nine, and Mu Ten to follow before stepping into the lavish club.

The place truly lived up to its name: “Intoxicating Nights.”

That was the immediate impression Mu Yanming, Lin You, and the others had after entering the club. Although the entrance was so lavishly gilded that it looked almost painfully gaudy, the interior was an entirely different matter.

This was what people meant by understated luxury: antique-style bridges over flowing water, traditional pavilions and terraces, and waitresses dressed in qipaos that accentuated their graceful figures. If not for the obvious electrical equipment here and there, anyone entering this place might have thought they’d stepped into some beautiful fairyland.

Lin You noticed that, within this high-end club with its antique aesthetic, there were actually several ornaments designed to attract wealth and ward off evil, as well as simple talisman arrays meant to defend against and dispel misfortune. Although the power and efficacy of these objects were pitifully weak, what truly put him on guard was that they were all correctly made. In other words, there was a genuine Daoist practitioner behind this club, whether they were merely a half-baked dabbler or not.

“Purrr, purrr.”

Lin You the Cat King let out several disgruntled purrs. This meant that some of his movements might have to be a little less obvious. But what did it matter? No matter how clever someone was, they wouldn’t pay any special attention to an ordinary-looking big cat in a club devoid of spirit aura.

Led by a maidservant and Xu Bowen, the group of four and one cat arrived at a secluded, elegant courtyard in the back of the club. From outside, they could see apricot, peach, crabapple, and parasol trees growing inside. Combined with the lingering strains of zither music drifting through the antique-style doors, the scene was exceptionally pleasing to the eye.

Faced with such scenery, not only did Mu Yanming’s expression relax slightly, even Young Master Lin You, who had no particular fondness for places like this, couldn’t help admitting inwardly that the scenery was quite nice. Unfortunately, all those pleasant impressions vanished the moment Xu Bowen dismissed the attendant and opened the round wooden door.

Even Mu Yanming, the Mu Family’s Second Young Master, who had witnessed some of the more extreme debauchery in private clubs before, felt an instant urge to slam the door and leave. Before him, men and women, and even men with men, were openly entangled in frenzied sexual acts, moaning on the courtyard’s lounge chairs, tables, and even the swings.

The scene was so jarring that Mu Yanming instinctively covered the eyes of the large cat in his arms. At that moment, the thought running through his mind was actually: If Brother’s favorite pet sees such an absurd spectacle, will Brother lock me up the moment he finds out?!

After all, corrupting the innocence of a pure cat…

While Mu Yanming was fretting over corrupting the cat, Xu Bowen had already walked inside and addressed the people engaged in their wild activities.

“Alright, alright. Look at the state of you lot! I’ve brought the person here, so don’t get so caught up in your own pleasure that you forget why we’re here. Otherwise, when the time comes, none of us are going to have an easy time explaining ourselves!”

That single sentence seemed to possess some kind of magic. The few second-generation heirs from City B immediately stopped their wild antics. At the same time, Mu Yanming, who hadn’t completely lost his wits, realized that something bad was about to happen.

His body reacted faster than his mind. He turned around and immediately tried to leave, but it was already too late.

This courtyard was deliberately secluded and private. The moment Mu Yanming and his group arrived, the people lying in wait had already locked onto them.

Mu Five realized something was wrong immediately. Even before entering the courtyard, he had sensed several people here who possessed impressive physiques and combat skills. However, at the time, he had assumed they were merely bodyguards belonging to the second-generation heirs in the courtyard. So although he had remained vigilant, he hadn’t immediately pulled Mu Yanming away.

That decision would leave Mu Five deeply dissatisfied with himself and filled with regret for many days afterward. Naturally, as the primary culprit behind the whole mess, the Second Young Master received almost no pleasant looks from Mu Five after this.

More than a dozen burly men in tight-fitting clothes surrounded the four of them. An eerie silence hung over the courtyard, broken only by the gasps of some of the women and the smug, predatory chuckles of the second-generation heirs who were certain they had the upper hand.

Xu Bowen sat on a bamboo chair and looked at Mu Yanming, who was glaring at him furiously.

“Second Young Master, don’t look at me like that. The truth is, I really didn’t want to do this to you. But the price that person offered was simply too high to refuse. And since everyone else is involved too, for everyone’s sake, you’d better cooperate.”

At this point, Mu Yanming had completely calmed down. He first bent down and set the large cat he had been carrying on the ground, watching him trot over to the corner and crouch there. Only then did he look at Xu Bowen and the others.

“So this whole thing was a trap you set for me from beginning to end? There was never any important matter you needed to discuss with me, was there?”

The other young masters in the courtyard burst into laughter. Xu Bowen laughed openly.

“Second Young Master, if we really had something important to discuss with you, why would we go to all the trouble of bringing you to this place? We could have just told you directly, couldn’t we? Besides, if we really needed to ask you for something, I’d have to be an idiot to threaten you earlier!”

Mu Yanming felt his hands trembling uncontrollably. Only now did he fully understand what kind of friends he had made. And only now did he realize with painful clarity just how naive, foolish, and incompetent he had once been.

The series of phrases the Cat Immortal had pointed out to him in the library kept flashing through his mind. Mu Yanming’s extreme anger eventually gave way to a cold scoff. He looked at Mu Five, Mu Nine, and Mu Ten, who had already been injured and were struggling desperately against their attackers, and then did something that left the young masters in the courtyard stunned.

Mu Yanming leaned nonchalantly against the main gate and looked at the people in the courtyard.

“Just tell me what you want. There’s no need to beat up my three bodyguards with more than a dozen people. You lot may be completely shameless, but I still care about my dignity. So, what do you want? Just make it clear. Leave my bodyguards and that pet cat alone, and I’ll do whatever you ask. I’ll make sure you’re satisfied. How about it?”

The men in the courtyard straightened slightly and exchanged glances. Finally, a man who appeared to be their leader chuckled and nodded.

“Alright, Second Young Master. Seeing you like this, I have to admit, you do have your manly moments. Since that’s the case, none of us want to push things too far. Just pick one person from those six or seven men and women and sleep with them, then drink the glass of red wine in front of me. We’ll let everyone go immediately, and we’ll never get in your way again.”

Mu Yanming’s gaze paused. Having spent time in this circle, he quickly understood what they meant. He lowered his head, a trace of savagery flashing through his eyes, but when he raised it again, his expression had already returned to normal.

“Hmph. Is that all? And here I thought it was something serious. Fine! Find me another clean one and bring her over. I’m going to show you all right here and now just what kind of vigorous, untamed stamina I’ve got.”

At this point, Cat Immortal Linlin, who had crouched in the corner before climbing up a large tree and hiding himself among the branches and leaves, couldn’t help rolling his eyes. At least Mu Yanming wasn’t completely hopeless.

Beside him was an open scale-covered box filled with pills and powders of all kinds, in various colors and sizes. There had to be at least a dozen or two packets.

Hehe. You dared set a trap for this lord and that blockhead? If I don’t make you cry for your fathers and mothers before this is over, then my surname isn’t Lin!

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