Red Carp

“Miss Hong Li is out!”

“Where? Where?”

“It really is Miss Hong Li! Look, she’s so beautiful.”

While Gu Qingfeng was busy examining Ru Hua and Si Yu’s bone structure, he suddenly heard a commotion from the first floor of the Heavenly Fragrance Tower. His expression changed slightly: “Miss Hong Li? Who is that?”

“Oh, she’s the top performer at our Heavenly Fragrance Tower,” Ru Hua explained with a sweet voice.

The top performer?

Gu Qingfeng’s curiosity was piqued. After all, men are men—it’s natural to look beyond what’s in front of them.

He quickly pulled his hands out of the embraces of the two women and went to the window to look downstairs.

Ru Hua pouted discontentedly, "Sir~, didn’t you say I had a great misfortune and you were going to help me turn it around? Why are you leaving?"

“Yeah, yeah,” Si Yu chimed in with a similar tone, “We’ve been so welcoming to you, yet you’re going to look at another woman.”

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Gu Qingfeng replied dismissively without even turning his head, making the two women stomp their feet in frustration.

Not just Gu Qingfeng, but everyone else he had brought along also rushed to the window to catch a glimpse of Hong Li.

In the first-floor hall of the Heavenly Fragrance Tower, a red silk ribbon suddenly descended from the second floor, resembling a red slide.

Then, amidst the astonished exclamations of the guests, a red-clad, barefoot woman, like a celestial maiden descending from the heavens, leaped lightly from the second floor, stepping onto the red silk ribbon and gracefully making her way to the center of the stage on the first floor.

The red-clad woman wore a veil, so her face was obscured, but her graceful figure and eyes like autumn water were more than enough to captivate the audience.

As soon as she landed, the woman playing the zither gently stroked her fingers, and soothing, melodious music filled the air.

The red-clad woman began to dance in sync with the music.

Her movements were leisurely and graceful, elegant and free-flowing, like a butterfly fluttering, a willow swaying in the wind, a swallow nesting, or a magpie startled by the night.

She sometimes lightly stretches her hands like clouds, sometimes moves slowly like a lotus, her glances and looks back subtly conveying hidden affection.

On her slender, white ankles, silver bracelets jingled with each movement, adding a pleasant, crisp sound to her dance.

The guests were utterly mesmerized by her enchanting dance, their hearts seemingly held tightly by her, moving with her every step.

Gu Qingfeng’s eyes also lit up as he watched, thinking to himself that he must teach this dance to the little corpse Mei when he got back, since watching the corpse Mei dance didn’t cost any silver.

As the red-clad woman danced, her movements suddenly changed. With a flick of her red sleeves, countless petals began to float and drift down from the air, transforming the entire Heavenly Fragrance Tower into a scene of a petal rain.

The petals, one by one, swayed gently as they fell, carrying with them a waft of incense, intoxicating the senses.

Many people eagerly reached out to grab the falling petals, holding them in their hands and inhaling deeply, as if the petals carried her fragrance.

Gu Qingfeng, watching the petals fall before him, frowned slightly: “Illusion?”

With his soul strength comparable to that of an Innate Realm Master, he immediately discerned that the red-clad woman was using an illusion, and it wasn’t just any illusion—it was mixed with a subtle seduction technique that stirred desires.

However, despite the clever technique, the level of her illusion was quite low. Such an illusion could be broken by anyone with a slightly firm will.

“Hahaha... mine, they’re all mine!”

Wang Fatty’s excited voice interrupted Gu Qingfeng’s thoughts. Wang Fatty was wildly waving his arms, grabbing at the falling petals, his hands full of them. He then buried his face in the petals, savoring their scent.

Gu Qingfeng's mouth twitched slightly as he subtly took two steps away from him.

He was about to join Xu Daizi in mocking Wang Fatty, but when he turned his head, he found that Xu Daizi was also flushed, pinching a petal with his fingers, his eyes glazed over, muttering to himself.

Gu Qingfeng listened for a moment and realized he was composing poetry.

Gu Qingfeng subtly took two steps away from him as well.

Ugh, what a disgrace. Why did I choose these two idiots as my subordinates?

“Wang Fatty!” Gu Qingfeng called out, snapping him out of his illusion.

Wang Fatty seemed to wake up from a dream, looking at Gu Qingfeng with confusion: “What is it, Lord Gu?”

“Wipe your drool. Don’t embarrass me.”

Wang Fatty chuckled awkwardly, wiping his mouth.

“Lord Gu, why aren’t you enjoying it?”

“Enjoy what?” Gu Qingfeng retorted impatiently, “You fell for such a simple illusion?”

Wang Fatty looked at Gu Qingfeng in surprise: “My lord, you don’t know, Miss Hong Li is famous in Wutong Prefecture for her dual talents in illusion and charm. Many people come specifically to experience her illusions and charm. We’re here to have fun, after all.

And Miss Hong Li’s techniques don’t harm anyone; their only purpose is to enhance the mood. Why resist it so much? Why not just enjoy it fully?”

“Is that so?” Gu Qingfeng asked doubtfully.

He scanned the guests and noticed that among them were quite a few warriors, but they were all visibly intoxicated, their expressions filled with bliss. It was clear they were all immersed in the illusion.

“Of course, my lord. How would I dare to deceive you? Everyone knows that illusions are fake, but it’s precisely because they’re fake that they can give you the satisfaction that reality can’t.”

Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng suddenly understood why everyone, despite the simplicity of the illusion, fell for it.

It’s like watching a movie. You know it’s all fake, acted out by actors, but your emotions still get pulled along with the story. You watch a movie to immerse yourself in that world, to experience the lives of the characters. Otherwise, why would you spend money to go and then say, ‘It’s all fake, all actors pretending’? That would just be crazy.

“Well... maybe I’ll give it a try?” Gu Qingfeng said hesitantly.

Two breaths later...

“Hahaha... mine, they’re all mine! Wang Fatty, don’t you dare steal them!”