Chapter 16: The River of the Forgotten

“Rise.” Shen Shengqing found the sight of the two of them kneeling on the ground particularly grating.

Mu An immediately stood up, his face still marked with lingering fear.

Shen Shengqing looked at Yunnan You. “Amnesia?”

Yunnan You hurriedly nodded, then shook his head. “I… I don’t know. I’m just a male companion here. My name is Mi’er.”

“Master, senior brother doesn’t remember anything right now. He completely believes he’s a male companion raised by the madam,” Mu An explained.

Hearing this, Shen Shengqing frowned slightly. A trace of disdain flickered in his eyes as he looked at Yunnan You. “Useless.”

Mu An pressed his lips together slightly. [For some reason, Master is really angry today.]

Shen Shengqing pushed the door open and walked out. Mu An hesitated for a moment, then quickly followed. “Master! Where are you going?”

Shen Shengqing walked to the corridor and looked at the disheveled men filling the building. His heart churned with irritation. “Close your eyes.”

“Huh?” Mu An blinked slowly, confused.

Meeting his master’s harsh glare, he instantly shut his eyes.

Shen Shengqing’s anger subsided slightly. He used his spiritual energy to amplify his voice. “Who is the manager here? Come out!”

The booming voice echoed through the entire brothel. Everyone instantly froze in their tracks, not daring to make a sound.

All of them looked up in terror at the white-robed man on the second-floor corridor. The pressure of the Nascent Soul stage left them incapable of forming even a single rebellious thought.

Soon, in the first-floor hall, the red-robed madam stepped forward with an awkward smile plastered on her face. “Th-this Immortal Lord, is something the matter?”

As he spoke, he looked at Mu An, who was pretending to be a quail behind Shen Shengqing. [Could this be a case of catching a cheating spouse?]

[Oh heavens, please don’t let him destroy my establishment.]

Shen Shengqing found the madam’s inappropriate attire even more offensive. His expression darkened further. He directly used his spiritual energy to bind the madam and flung him upstairs.

With a smack, the madam landed on his rear and let out a wail. “Immortal Lord, can’t we talk this over? I… we’re just running a business. Your husband came here of his own accord.”

Hearing this, Mu An could feel his master’s terrifying cold aura even with his eyes closed.

[Please stop talking! Mother! You’re my mother! Please stop!]

Shen Shengqing glanced at Mu An, his fingers constantly tightening around his sword hilt. His heart ached terribly.

He shouted directly at Yunnan You, who was hiding in the room. “You in there! Get out here!”

Yunnan You immediately scrambled out, standing at attention like an elementary school student.

Shen Shengqing pointed at Yunnan You. “How did he get here?”

The madam spoke with grievance. “Your husband requested him. Your husband said he wanted someone in white with a cool temperament, so I…”

Mu An couldn’t listen anymore. He felt that the more the madam spoke, the closer his own death approached. He quickly interrupted.

“Master means, where did you get this person? He’s my senior brother, not some ‘Mi’er.'”

The madam’s face went pale. He finally understood why the Immortal Lord was settling accounts with him. His lips moved, trying to fabricate something.

Suddenly, spiritual energy coiled around his neck, as if his head would roll the next moment if his words weren’t satisfactory.

“F-found!” The madam panicked completely. His voice trembled as he spoke rapidly. “I… I found him by the river. When I found him, he had already lost his memory. He believed whatever I said.”

“I just took him in. I had no other ill intentions!”

Hearing this, Mu An let out a cold laugh. “Took him in? Forcing him into prostitution counts as taking him in? You’re so kind-hearted.”

The madam fell silent.

“Speak!” Mu An instinctively opened his eyes, his face full of anger. “How many others in this building were ‘taken in’ by you like this?”

“None…” The madam tried to lie, but was immediately choked. He begged for mercy. “I… I’ll talk!”

“A-about fifteen more.”

Mu An’s eyes went wide in shock. “How could you possibly find that many people? You’re lying!”

The madam felt another squeeze on his neck and desperately waved his hands.

Mu An quickly tugged on his master’s sleeve, signaling him to go easy.

Shen Shengqing glanced at him and said only one sentence. “Close your eyes.”

Mu An instantly shut his eyes.

The pressure on the madam’s neck relaxed. He coughed for a while before finally speaking slowly. “I don’t know why I can find so many, but that river sends living people floating down every few months.”

“If I don’t pick them up, some other brothel will. I’m just going with the flow!”

Mu An frowned. “Where is that river?”

***

In the end, Mu An, Shen Shengqing, and Yunnan You escorted the madam to the river in question.

The river flowed neither swiftly nor urgently, but rather calmly. There were no strange formations around it.

The water was slightly turbid. Looking upstream, one could vaguely see lush green trees.

Seeing Mu An looking upstream, Shen Shengqing explained. “The upper reaches of the river are Laiyang City.”

[Chen Village is in Laiyang City. Could it be that something happened to Yunnan You in Chen Village, and that’s how he floated down here?]

“You said this river sends a living person floating down every month?” Mu An asked the madam.

The madam timidly nodded. “I can’t say it’s exactly every month, but at least one person floats down every one to three months.”

“Do the people who float down also have no memory?” Mu An asked.

“None of them have memories. Ask them anything, and they say they don’t know. They also don’t have any injuries or illnesses on their bodies.” The madam was also puzzled. “And no one has ever come looking for them. We don’t know where they come from either.”

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