Yue Ru sighed to herself but did not show her feelings on her face. Instead, she smiled at him, pretending to be fine. “It’s okay. It’s too dangerous to go up against the Church of the Bloody Garment. It’s better if you don’t take this risk, Young Master Lu.”

　　Lu Xiaofeng explained, “As the vice clan leader of Blazing Sun Clan, I shouldn’t act recklessly, in the way that I’ll get Blazing Sun Clan into trouble.”

　　Yue Ru nodded. “Indeed, those disciples from the Church of the Bloody Garment are a crazy bunch of people. You shouldn’t get involved in this.”

　　Lu Xiaofeng quickly nodded and smiled. “Miss Yue Ru, thank you for being so considerate. If I’m on my own, there would be nothing for me to worry about. In that case, I’ll certainly offer my help without hesitation. However, since I’m the vice clan leader of Blazing Sun Clan now, hundreds of lives depend on me. I can’t put aside my responsibilities due to personal affairs.”

　　Yue Ru said, “You’re right. If you offend the Church of the Bloody Garment, countless disciples of Blazing Sun Clan will have to suffer later on. You shouldn’t let that happen.”

　　She knew very well that Lu Xiaofeng’s decision was completely justified — he had made the right choice.

　　However, she still had an inexplicable urge to sigh. For some reason, she felt very disappointed and sad. Perhaps it was because he had seemed too calm and showed no strong desire to help her at all. He did not seem torn when he made his decision.

　　In this way, it seemed like she was not as important to him as Blazing Sun Clan. As the vice clan leader of Blazing Sun Clan, he had prioritized and chosen Blazing Sun Clan over her in a heartbeat.

　　Lu Xiaofeng said, “Whether or not I join in the fight, I won’t be able to make much of a difference anyway. There’s nothing you need to worry about, Miss Yue Ru. With Senior Bai’s capabilities, she’ll certainly manage to invite many martial arts masters to come and help all of you. The Church of the Bloody Garment won’t be able to do any harm!”

　　Yue Ru forced a smile at him. “I hope you’re right. Nonetheless, from tomorrow onwards, Phoenix Goddess Brothel will be temporarily closed for business. Our disciples need to concentrate on their cultivation and preserve their energy to fight against the Church of the Bloody Garment. In the meantime, those who aren’t disciples of our sect will be asked to leave so that they won’t be dragged into this.”

　　Not all people working at the Phoenix Goddess Brothel were disciples of Tian Luo Sect. Only a small group of them were Tian Luo Sect disciples and this group of people mostly held higher positions in the brothel as well. As for the majority of the people at the Phoenix Goddess Brothel who were not Tian Luo Sect disciples, they were ordinary people who did not even know any martial arts.

　　If there were only a few women proficient in martial arts around to entertain and accompany their guests, these women would not be able to give their guests a sense of security too.

　　Lu Xiaofeng said, “Indeed, that’s the right thing to do. In that case, we can’t meet anymore.”

　　Yue Ru smiled and replied, “This situation probably won’t drag on for too long.”

　　“That’s good. That’s good.” Lu Xiaofeng sighed in relief and smiled. “Those disciples from the Church of the Bloody Garment really deserve to die.”

　　“Bang!” A loud noise could be heard from downstairs.

　　Yue Ru knitted her brows together.

　　Lu Xiaofeng muttered, “I wonder what has happened. You should probably go and take a look.”

　　Yue Ru nodded before she hurried out of the room. As she came to stand at the top of the stairs, she noticed a young man clad in white striding up the stairs. He had a tall physique and an ordinary-looking face.

　　Behind him, two servants had collapsed on the stairs. Clearly, they had failed to stop him from entering the place.

　　Yue Ru frowned as she spoke, “Who are you?”

　　“Sun Shizun, a disciple of the Church of the Bloody Garment!” The young man clad in white gave a fist salute and said, “I have come to pay a special visit to the Phoenix Goddess Brothel!”

　　“You’re very bold!” Yue Ru said. “This isn’t a place where you can behave so impudently!”

　　“I have received orders to deliver a letter.” Sun Shizun held up a fist salute and seemed unflustered. “I have come to deliver this letter to the brothel-keeper of Phoenix Goddess Brothel!”

　　“I’m the young brothel-keeper,” Yue Ru said. “You can just deliver the letter to me too.”

　　“I’ve been told to personally present this letter to the brothel-keeper,” Sun Shizun said while shaking his head. “So I have to meet the brothel-keeper in person.”

　　Yue Ru replied, “My master isn’t here right now. If you wish to deliver this letter to her personally, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for a few more days!”

　　Although Sun Shizun was delighted to hear this news, he kept a straight face as he said, “Well then, I shall wait here until the brothel-keeper returns!”

　　“We don’t welcome disciples of the Church of the Bloody Garment here,” Yue Ru replied. “Please leave.”

　　“When will the brothel-keeper be back then?”

　　“If she travels fast enough, she’ll be back in three to five days. Otherwise, it’ll take her seven to eight days to return,” Yue Ru calmly replied.

　　“That’s fine then. I shall be back in two days!” Sun Shizun gave a fist salute and turned to leave.

　　“Do you think you can just come and go as you like?” Yue Ru muttered.

　　Now, Sun Shizun turned his head back to look at her with a faint smirk. “Is Miss Yue Ru planning on fighting me now?”

　　“The Bloody Garment Divine Power is mysterious and formidable,” Yue Ru said. “Since you’ve come today, of course, I should experience it for myself!”

　　As soon as she finished speaking, she gave two loud claps.

　　Immediately, the sound of the guzheng could be heard.

　　Sun Shizun’s expression changed slightly as he had been most afraid of this happening. He quickly turned his full attention to the music to try and determine where it was coming from. However, he could not pinpoint the source of the guzheng sound. It seemed as if the music was drifting around and closing in on him from all directions.

　　As the guzheng sound became louder and clearer, Sun Shizun felt very uncomfortable as though ants were crawling all over his body.

　　While he was aware that this was just an illusion, he could not seem to suppress the urge to scratch his entire body.

　　Yue Ru said impassively, “This time, we’re just teaching you a small lesson to let you understand that the Phoenix Goddess Brothel isn’t a place you can come and go as you please!”

　　Just as she was done speaking, the guzheng sound suddenly grew louder and rougher. It sounded almost like someone was hitting on a drum.

　　Sun Shizun clutched at his chest.

　　His heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. Meanwhile, the blood in his entire body seemed to be flowing backward.

　　The scariest part about the Musical Assassination Technique of Tian Luo Sect was its effects on a person’s heart and blood flow. Since the Church of the Bloody Garment drew their energy from their blood, Tian Luo Sect could be considered as their natural enemy given their ability to directly attack their most vulnerable point. Therefore, they had no choice but to deal with Tian Luo Sect first.

　　Once Tian Luo Sect became afraid of them and stopped causing them trouble, they would have no fear for all the other sects and factions.

　　Yue Ru gave a scornful laugh before she said, “You can stop now.”

　　The music came to a stop.

　　Sun Shizun released his grip on his chest and looked at her with a dark expression. “The Phoenix Goddess Brothel is impressive indeed, and so is Tian Luo Sect. You have a well-deserved reputation!”

　　“It’s good that you realize that. Off you go!” Yue Ru scoffed.

　　After adjusting his white tunic, Sun Shizun walked down the stairs and left the Phoenix Goddess Brothel.

　　Yue Ru went straight to the third floor and entered Bai Feng’s room before she gave her master a fist salute. “Master, he’s gone.”

　　“I believe they’ll be back within the next two days to attack the Phoenix Goddess Brothel,” Bai Feng said calmly while she sat cross-legged on her bed. “These guys have learned a lot from their past experiences. Now, they’ve learned to send people over to gauge our situation first.”

　　“That’s the most basic knowledge though,” Yue Ru muttered.

　　Bai Feng shook her head and explained, “Previously, because of the Bloody Garment Divine Power, they used to act very recklessly and were afraid of nothing, so they never bothered to do such a thing and would usually attack their enemies immediately. This time, given the significant changes in the way they do things, it may be even more difficult to deal with the Church of the Bloody Garment now.”

　　The Bloody Garment Divine Power was strange yet formidable. In fact, this martial art would only cause non-fatal physical injuries, making it almost impossible to kill them; only the Musical Assassination Technique could be used to suppress their power. On top of that, they would only die when their blood core was destroyed. However, the disciples of Tian Luo Sect were probably the only ones who knew about these two methods.

　　It was through their previous bloody battle that Tian Luo Sect had found out about these weaknesses. Unfortunately, countless disciples had been sacrificed in exchange for this knowledge.

　　Before they had managed to better understand the workings of the Bloody Garment Divine Power, killing these people had almost been an impossible task. That was why the disciples of the Church of the Bloody Garment could afford to behave so recklessly and fearlessly back then.

　　Now, it seemed like they had learned to fear Tian Luo Sect and be wary of them after that previous battle. Thus, they had sent some people over to check the path ahead of them first.

　　“After tonight, tell all of our disciples in the Phoenix Goddess Brothel to take their positions,” Bai Feng said. “Be prepared for the coming battle.”

　　“Understood.” Yue Ru gave a sharp nod.

　　Bai Feng went on, “I’m not sure how likely we are to win this time, so if there’s anything you’d like to say to anyone, you should do it soon.”

　　“…Okay.” Yue Ru nodded.

　　She suddenly realized that she did not have anything she wished to say to Young Master Lu. She could only tell him to take good care of himself and hopefully, she would be able to survive this round of battle.

　　If she did not survive, what was the use of saying anything more than that? Though if she managed to survive this, she could always talk to him more afterward.