How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

"Who is it!?" Cui Heng gripped Xu Yueling's arms tightly with both hands, his face full of anxiety.

"Ah!" Xu Yueling felt a bit of pain from being grabbed. Looking at those murderous eyes, she said timidly, "I've seen a girl who fits the criteria, although I'm not sure if it's her... but..."

"Speak! Who is it?" Cui Heng ignored her cries for help, focusing only on what she was saying.

"It's...it's Qingyin, the Qingyin lady from back then!" Xu Yueling shouted loudly, panting, after trying her best to push the other person's hand away but still couldn't.

"What... Qingyin... Lady?" Upon hearing this, Cui Heng seemed to have suffered a major blow. He couldn't help but take a few steps back, his face full of disbelief.

But in an instant, the emotion on his face turned into regret, which gradually spread from his face to his eyes, and soon tears were falling: "Impossible, how could this be... how could this be..."

Xu Yueling didn't know what was going on. She simply assumed that the other person knew that Qingyin was dead, which was why he was so sad. But just as she was about to speak, Cui Heng suddenly raised his head and asked, "Qingyin... my wife, is she really... dead?"

Xu Yueling didn't respond. She was pondering whether or not to reveal Qingyin's current identity. After thinking about it, she decided to hold back: "Yes, after Qingyin's face was disfigured that time, she passed away from her injuries not long after."

“It’s all my fault…it’s all my fault…Rongniang…it’s all my fault…” The light in Cui Heng’s eyes gradually faded, and he lowered his head, covered his face, and kept muttering to himself.

"Master Cui...Master Cui..." Seeing him immersed in grief, Xu Yueling was at a loss. She heard the night watchman's drum outside and knew that time was running out. At this moment, she could not care about anything else and could only ask cautiously, "Master Cui, then...then I..."

"I understand, you can go back now." Cui Heng took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, and without looking up, waved for her to leave.

Xu Yueling dared not offend him, and seeing how heartbroken he was, she could only nod in agreement and leave with trepidation.

Cui Heng ignored Xu Yueling who had left, and instead fell into endless regret.

Just as he was feeling sad, there was a sudden knock on the door. The shopkeeper asked from outside, "Master Cui, Master Ming is here."

Before Cui Heng could respond, the door was pushed open and Yuan Mingyou walked in. As soon as he entered, he saw the tears staining Cui Heng's eyes, and after a moment of surprise, he said in surprise, "You can cry?"

Cui Heng wiped away her tears, ignored him, and turned her back to him, asking, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I've come to tell you something." Yuan Mingyou didn't think much of it and quickly spoke up, remembering his destination. "There's been a change on the frontier."

"What?" Cui Heng frowned and turned around. "What happened?"

"That person intends to make a move against the General." Yuan Mingyou ignored the other person's reddened eyes and said seriously.

"What?" Cui Heng was almost laughing in anger. The successive blows tonight had made it hard for him to contain his emotions. "What are you talking to me about? You might as well just take a knife to the capital and stab him to death!"

"You think I don't want to? Master won't allow it, and he has to protect the young master." Yuan Mingyou raised an eyebrow, looking at him with surprise. "Every time before, you said you would endure it when we talked about taking action. What's wrong with you today?"

"Young Master... Hahahaha... Young Master." Cui Heng was moved by the words "Young Master," and tears fell one after another, his expression becoming somewhat manic.

Seeing this, Yuan Mingyou felt a little flustered. They had kept it from Cui Heng because they were worried that he would pay too much attention to the young master and that the young master's identity would be dangerous if he were exposed. But now, seeing his expression, it seemed that he knew the young master's identity. He tentatively asked, "You...you know the young master..."

His unfinished words were misunderstood by Cui Heng, who assumed that the other party had overheard Xu Yueling's words outside. He looked at Yuan Mingyou with a face full of remorse: "I caused the death of the young master..."

"What!" Yuan Mingyou stepped forward and grabbed his collar, looking extremely nervous. "What did you do!"

"I...I...In order to regain control of Qingyin Hall, I sent people to cause trouble there and ruined the face of the head courtesan. Later, the courtesan died from her injuries...that courtesan was the young master..." Cui Heng didn't know how to face each other. He lowered his head, his deep regret burying him completely.

"Huh?" Yuan Mingyou was completely bewildered. It took him a while to realize that the other party had misunderstood, or perhaps they only knew one side of the story. However, thinking of what he had just heard, he narrowed his eyes. "You just said that you sent someone to slash Qingyin's face?"

“…Yes.” Cui Heng nodded.

Yuan Mingyou then looked as if he had just realized something. He squinted at Cui Heng, who had never looked down on him, and suddenly thought that it would be better to keep Qingyin's current identity a secret for a little longer. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but urge, "Since things have come to this, young master, you should go and help the general first."

“Yes, yes, I should go and help the general,” Cui Heng murmured. “By the way, after I help the general, I will come back and kill these guys one by one, and then atone for my sins with my death.”

Yuan Mingyou was stunned and still couldn't figure it out. How did this person suddenly turn to murder? He scratched his head, feeling somewhat at a loss. His master hadn't told him what to do if he encountered this situation before he left home.

He looked at Cui Heng, hesitated for a long time before tentatively saying, "Why don't you leave a little later, and I'll come to see you again tomorrow?"

"No, I'll leave tonight, otherwise I'm afraid I won't make it in time." Cui Heng rubbed his face, a fierce glint in his eyes.

"Ah..." Yuan Mingyou never expected that a piece of news, whether true or false, would drive the usually carefree Cui Heng crazy. He scratched his head, not knowing what to do for a moment.

"Alright, you can go now. I'll take care of things." Cui Heng calmed himself down, took a deep breath, and didn't see Yuan Mingyou's conflicted expression, unsure of what to do.

Seeing that he was about to leave, Yuan Mingyou was really worried that Cui Heng would really go crazy and kill the entire Anle Prince's Mansion and then run to the palace to assassinate someone. He could only grit his teeth and say, "Young Master is not dead!"

"Huh?" Cui Heng was stunned for a moment before slowly turning his head. "You... what did you say?"

“I said the young master is not dead.” Yuan Mingyou had a defiant look on his face. “I have seen the young master.”

"Where is Rongniang!" Cui Heng's face was filled with surprise and joy. He rushed to Yuan Mingyou. "Quickly, tell me, is she alright?"

Yuan Mingyou was startled by him, but seeing the expectant look in his eyes, his heart softened instantly. He had long known that Cui Heng felt more guilty towards the young master than his subordinates did. After all, if it weren't for Cui Heng, the young master wouldn't have died from his injuries, the young master wouldn't have gone missing, and the Anning Prince's Mansion wouldn't be in such a state that it almost lost its descendants.

Thinking of this, his eyes softened for a moment, and he looked at Cui Heng as he explained in detail Liu Yin's current identity and general situation.

"Great, great! Then I'll go see her tomorrow, no, I'll go today!" Cui Heng was filled with joy and hurried to change his clothes to go out.

Yuan Mingyou stopped him, saying, "Master said that you'd better not see the young master recently, as the Prince of Anle's Mansion is watching you."

Cui Heng's joy was instantly dampened by a bucket of cold water. He closed his eyes, calmed himself down, and said, "Yes, yes, now is not the right time. I need to save my uncle first, and then I can see Rongniang."

Seeing that he had recovered, Yuan Mingyou pulled him aside and told him about the situation on the frontier.