Sang Town was located in the area south of Liang City.

This place had many rivers, abundant resources, and was famous for producing beautiful women. It was a paradise for men.

In order to obtain the tears of ten virgins, this place became Zhou Che’s first choice.

After two days of travel, it was already deep into the night when Zhou Che arrived. Exhausted, she took up lodging at the Haolai Inn on the north side of Sang Town.

After closing the window of her guest room, Zhou Che prepared to rest.

Although she was no longer a mortal now and sleep was not an absolute necessity, due to the fatigue of traveling, she did not plan to cultivate tonight.

Lying on the bed, Zhou Che’s gaze drifted to the red silk canopy above her head.

She had originally intended to sleep, but her mind involuntarily recalled that utterly disgusting slave, Wang Er.

He had once said he was from Sang Town, and Zhou Che had promised him she would bring him back and grant him his freedom.

Now, Zhou Che had arrived in Sang Town, but the other was forever left behind in the Hehuan Sect.

Although Wang Er had brought it upon himself, the thought of the promise she had once made him left a trace of melancholy in Zhou Che’s heart.

“Why, when I’m clearly so tired, am I instead suffering from insomnia?” she murmured to herself, then sat up from the bed. Her eyes turned toward the tea set on the table.

For some reason, she suddenly felt like having a cup of tea, so she got out of bed, came to the table, took a packet of tea leaves from her Spatial Pouch, and brewed it with spiritual power.

This tea was called Sleepless Night, an exceptional spirit tea. It was exactly what the Sect Leader of the Tiandao Sect, Lu Yu, had given her when she had left.

Once the spirit tea was brewed, Zhou Che poured herself a cup.

The mellow fragrance slid down her throat, and the melancholy in her heart grew thicker.

Before she knew it, over a month had passed since she entered the Hehuan Sect, and now she had even become an Outer Sect Disciple of the Hehuan Sect.

Perhaps because the time was too short and the leap too great, everything she was currently experiencing felt somehow dreamlike to her.

Just over a month ago, she was still a wanderer drifting without support, but now she had transformed into a cultivator standing above mortals.

Looking at the empty cup in her hand, a trace of bewilderment gradually surfaced in Zhou Che’s eyes.

In the past, she had drifted along without clear direction, yet she had clearly understood what she needed to do.

Back then, simply surviving well was her only goal. But now, after stepping onto the path of cultivation, she instead could no longer clearly see her own future.

She had entered the Hehuan Sect as an undercover agent at Lu Yu’s request, for the purpose of figuring out what exactly the six great demonic sects were plotting.

In exchange, he had taken her as a disciple and promised her the legacy of the ancestral ground. With this opportunity, she would have the chance to ascend in broad daylight and attain the Dao to become an immortal in the future.

But was this truly what she wanted?

She wasn’t sure, because she had never carefully thought about the future.

Simple mortal life could give her fulfillment, but now, she was becoming increasingly complicated.

Reining in her thoughts, Zhou Che decided not to dwell on those pointless things anymore. To her, the future was too distant, and worrying too much would only add unnecessary troubles.

‘Better think about how to get the tears of ten virgins! After all, I can’t just walk up to someone and ask them to cry their eyes out; I’d just be taken for a lunatic. And to find virgins, I can’t just directly ask them either, or I’d be no different from a lecher!’

Zhou Che thought to herself, her heart full of vexation.

What she had originally thought would be a simple matter only revealed its complexities once she tried to put it into practice.

After pondering for an hour, Zhou Che still had no clue.

She had considered first identifying clear targets, then bluntly stating her purpose, but after mulling it over, she rejected the idea.

The reason lay in the risk of exposing her identity.

Although Sang Town was only a slightly larger town, its prosperity was far beyond what other small towns could compare to.

Thus, there were also very many hidden cultivators in Sang Town.

Though the Qian Kingdom was a place where the six great demonic sects entrenched themselves, there were also many orthodox sects.

If Zhou Che’s identity were exposed, then with her status as a demon from the Hehuan Sect, the orthodox cultivators in Sang Town would pose an enormous threat to her.

‘Looking at it this way, I’ll still have to use the clumsy method of seeking them out one by one. Ah, if only I were truly a demon. What Pure Maiden Ten Tears? I’d just abduct a group of women, verify them one by one, and solve it in a snap. Why would I need to rack my brains here?’

Zhou Che sighed. She suddenly discovered that being an orthodox character wasn’t so easy either.

* * *

Morning came. After washing up and dressing, and inquiring a bit more at the inn, Zhou Che headed out toward Sang Town’s largest restaurant, the Linghua Pavilion.

The Linghua Pavilion was situated at the very center of Sang Town. The guests who came here were mostly from prominent and wealthy families. Although it was a restaurant, the internal entertainment facilities and programs were all fully available.

Its owner was Liu Qingqing, the mistress of Fang Houze, the Lord of Liang City.

And this Liu Qingqing’s identity was the courtesan of the Hongxiu Pavilion, the largest brothel in Liang City.

Therefore, the Linghua Pavilion also had a resounding nickname: the Sang Town Brothel!

Upon arriving at the Linghua Pavilion, one had to pay ten taels of silver as an entrance fee just to enter. This threshold of ten taels of silver alone already turned away ninety percent of Sang Town’s populace.

After paying the entrance fee, Zhou Che walked into the most prosperous restaurant in Sang Town.

The Linghua Pavilion had five floors in total. The so-called ten taels of silver only purchased the qualification to enter the first floor.

The higher one went, the more expensive the price one had to pay naturally became.

And those who could enter the fifth floor were, without a doubt, existences at the very apex of Sang Town.

The moment she entered the first-floor main hall, Zhou Che was stunned by the scene of golden cups and jade chalices, resplendent and magnificent.

The level of luxury here even surpassed that of the ornate palaces built by cultivation sects.

Within the main hall, there were wine pools and meat forests for people to frolic and amuse themselves, and alluring dancing girls to delight the eye.

Of course, this was merely the tip of the iceberg in the main hall. There were countless other scenes she had never even seen before.

Zhou Che’s purpose in coming here was naturally not for pleasure. After looking around, she took a seat beneath a zither platform.

Seeing her sit down, a man of decent looks, gentle and refined, approached.

“Miss, would you like to order some food?”

The man smiled. His attitude was exceptionally good, making one involuntarily develop a favorable impression of him.

“Mm, I don’t drink alcohol. Just bring some tea and snacks as you see fit,” Zhou Che replied politely.

Though the man had not stated his role, Zhou Che had already guessed his specific profession within this restaurant.

One had to admit, the Linghua Pavilion’s business model really was something else.

Using the opposite sex to receive guests of the opposite sex could better stir up the customers’ desire to spend and indulge.

After Zhou Che ordered her tea and snacks, the man politely excused himself, not forgetting to reassure Zhou Che to be patient for a little while.

Beneath this zither platform, besides Zhou Che, there were naturally many, many other guests.

They listened to the heavenly music played by the musicians on stage, and freely chatted about all kinds of gossip. And the amusing family anecdotes these people discussed were precisely Zhou Che’s purpose for coming here.

The women of commoner families, forced by the hardships of life, lacked any sense of independence. Therefore, most became wives early, and at the age of just over ten years, they would already be nursing the next generation.

So for Zhou Che to find ten women who were still intact, the commoner population was actually the most difficult.

Those sheltered young ladies from prominent families, however, were different. They had received the highest quality education from childhood, and the elders of their families had carefully nurtured them.

Thus, marriage and choosing a spouse became the most important matter in their lives.

Zhou Che was now no longer a mortal, and her hearing was naturally beyond that of ordinary people.

So, after listening to a day’s worth of gossip, Zhou Che roughly learned which young ladies in the vicinity of Sang Town were still awaiting marriage in their boudoirs.