Chapter 460: Lu “Skinflayer”

Chapter 461: Lu “Skinflayer”

“Head of the Lu family, nicknamed ‘Lu Skinflayer’…”

“Lu Skinflayer?”

Mo Hua was taken aback.

Qinglan nodded. “It means he’s greedy, selfish, and ruthless in exploiting the mine workers, like peeling a layer of skin off them.”

Qinglan sighed. “This is what my parents… told me when they were alive…”

“At that time, I was still a child and only took it as a story. I had no idea of the bitterness behind it…”

“Apparently, a few hundred years ago, the Lu family was just an ordinary household, controlling a few mines. Their power was moderate; in Nanyue City they had a place, but there were several families stronger than them, so the Lu family wasn’t particularly notable…”

“That changed when the Lu family patriarch rose to power.”

“After taking command, he allied with a few other families that controlled mines, set up spiritual contracts, coordinated their actions, and collectively suppressed the miners’ pay.”

“At first, miners received a half-spirit stone each day…”

“Then the Lu family set stricter rules, deducted pay in every possible way, and miners’ earnings gradually shrank to a third, then a single fraction, until eventually they got only one spirit stone a day…”

“The miners’ lives became even harsher…”

“But the Lu family accumulated more and more spirit stones.”

“After making money, they wanted to indulge in pleasure.”

“Nanyue City was desolate, with few places for entertainment, so the patriarch thought of building his own…”

“And thus, Jinhua Street was born.”

“Lu Skinflayer—the Lu patriarch—indulged in food, drink, gambling, and women. So on Jinhua Street, the gambling houses and brothels were fully stocked.”

“They lived lavishly off the spirit stones earned by the miners’ hard labor…”

Thinking of her parents, who toiled desperately only to starve to death, Qinglan lowered her gaze, tears falling, her fingers clenched so tightly they turned white.

Mo Hua frowned deeply as he listened.

Qinglan calmed herself, reddened eyes continuing:

“Opening Jinhua Street, food, drink, and gambling were easy…”

“But opening brothels required girls.”

“The family’s women could never do such a thing; they wouldn’t sell themselves in public.”

“So the Lu family turned their attention to the miners’ children.”

“They treated the miners harshly, neglected formation practices, ignored cleansing the foul energy, and made their mining tools old and worn—all to cause injuries or deaths.”

“Injuries needed treatment; deaths required burial—both cost spirit stones.”

“If the miners had no spirit stones, they had to borrow.”

“The Lu family charged exorbitant interest, letting miners fall deeply into debt.”

“When they couldn’t repay, the miners had no choice but to offer their children as payment, selling them to the Lu family.”

“Boys became servants or lackeys.”

“Girls were thrown into brothels; once dressed up, they went to… entertain customers…”

Qinglan choked slightly, tears again spilling from her eyes.

Mo Hua felt a pang of sorrow as well.

He hadn’t realized that the prosperity of Jinhua Street was built upon the suffering of the miners.

Brothel women smiled and laughed, yet beneath those faces ran blood and tears.

The more the miners suffered, the more extravagant Jinhua Street became.

Mo Hua asked, “Do other families do the same?”

Qinglan nodded, then shook her head. “At first, the Lu family did it with several other families…”

“But the others weren’t as ruthless; gradually, they were either absorbed or had to sell their mines to the Lu family and leave the city…”

“Eventually, in Nanyue City, only the Lu family remained dominant…”

Mo Hua frowned. “The Lu family’s actions violated Dao laws, right? The Dao Court never intervened?”

Qinglan nodded. “They did, but it was useless.”

“The previous chief of the Dao Court hated evil, but he simply couldn’t compete with the Lu family.”

“The Lu family bribed connections and got him transferred.”

“The next chief pretended to enforce the rules at first, but after visiting a few days at the Lu family’s brothel and accepting a few boxes of spirit stones, he joined forces with them.”

Mo Hua understood.

This current chief is probably the present Qian chief.

In bed with the Lu family.

Mo Hua then asked, “Is the Lu patriarch dead?”

Qinglan nodded, a hint of satisfaction in her voice: “Dead!”

“Apparently, he indulged too much, cultivated poorly due to evil intent, and died after living over two hundred years.”

“On the day he died, the miners spent their meal money on firecrackers, setting them off all day…”

“The Lu family couldn’t stop them.”

Mo Hua thought silently: This old scoundrel deserved a lively death…

But living over two hundred years wasn’t too bad for him.

Mo Hua continued, “After the patriarch died, the successor—now the head of the Lu family—is Lu Chengyun?”

“Yes,” Qinglan nodded.

“Is Lu Chengyun bad?” Mo Hua asked.

Qinglan furrowed her brow, thinking, then said:

“So-so. Not particularly virtuous, but compared to the rest of the Lu family, he can be considered a ‘good man.’”

“He isn’t as harsh on miners.”

“If miners die, he ensures the family compensates with spirit stones.”

“Many things aren’t as extreme as under the patriarch.”

“Although miners still suffer, they’ve always suffered, so people don’t resent him much.”

“Not like the old patriarch…”

Mo Hua nodded slightly.

This matched his impression.

Lu Chengyun was refined and courteous, calculating, measured in his actions to safeguard the family’s interests—never going too far, yet never neglecting the mines’ profits to treat miners kindly.

Mo Hua asked again, “Qinglan, when you were at the Hundred Flowers Brothel, did you see any Lu elders?”

Qinglan nodded. “A few.”

“Did any of them seem particularly suspicious?”

Qinglan frowned. “Suspicious in what way?”

“Well…” Mo Hua hesitated, “able to use formations, but doesn’t seem like a Lu family member, or sneaky—doing evil differently from others…”

Qinglan thought for a moment, then shook her head:

“I don’t know. I only watched from a distance, didn’t interact much.”

She then added, “But if you mean suspicious, that elder from Nanyue Sect who brought you here last time… he was quite suspicious.”

Mo Hua was stunned. “Nanyue Sect? Elder Su?”

“Yes,” Qinglan nodded, “surname Su.”

Mo Hua asked curiously, “What was suspicious about him?”

Qinglan frowned: “He’s a regular, yet he pretends to be unfamiliar. Isn’t that suspicious?”

Mo Hua’s eyes flicked, quietly asking:

“Elder Su is a regular at the Hundred Flowers Brothel?”

“Yes. He came often, practically treating it as his home…”

Mo Hua was shocked.

He guessed Elder Su was familiar with the brothel, but didn’t expect him to be that familiar…

Truly, appearances can be deceiving.

Qinglan glanced at Mo Hua, hesitated, then lowered her voice:

“I’ll tell you this, but don’t tell anyone else…”

Mo Hua, curious, nodded eagerly.

Qinglan leaned close, whispering:

“That Elder Su used to have a close relationship with Sister Shuixian in the brothel, even once tried to redeem her…”

“Later, I heard Sister Shuixian… became pregnant with Elder Su’s child…”

Mo Hua’s mouth fell open.

He hadn’t expected Elder Su to have such a… romantic affair.

“What about the child?”

Qinglan shook her head, “Don’t know.”

“And Shuixian?”

Qinglan sighed, “She died.”

Mo Hua frowned.

Qinglan was a little sorrowful and regretful:

“Sister Shuixian was kind, beautiful, clever, gentle with everyone…”

“But later, somehow, she died.”

“Elder Su seemed heartbroken for a while, tried to investigate, but ultimately gave up…”

“Most likely, he couldn’t find anything.”

Qinglan lowered her head:

“People like us… our lives are cheap. If we die, we die. The Dao Court doesn’t care, the Lu family doesn’t care, the madams just regret losing a body that can earn spirit stones…”

“Whether we live or die, they don’t care. No one in this world does…”

Her voice dropped lower and lower, her expression utterly desolate.

Mo Hua felt uneasy inside.

After a long pause, Qinglan saw Mo Hua’s expression darken as well, then blinked, wiped her tears, and smiled:

“Little Master, forgive me. I shouldn’t have said these things.”

She added gratefully:

“Without you, I probably couldn’t have escaped that sea of suffering…”

“Maybe I would still be at the Hundred Flowers Brothel, forcing smiles, serving with my body, and one day, quietly dead…”

“Now I can stand on my own, without caring what others think. That’s better than anything.”

Qinglan’s gaze was sincere, her tone earnest.

Though her eyes were red, her expression was resolute.

Mo Hua felt somewhat relieved.

After leaving the inn, he walked along the street.

To the south were the mines.

To the north, the magnificent Lu estate, and at night, the dazzling, indulgent lights of Jinhua Street.

Miners labored to enrich them; miners’ children became servants or prostitutes to entertain them, tools for earning spirit stones.

They were also leverage to bribe the Dao Court and win over other powers.

A cold light flickered in Mo Hua’s eyes.