Chapter 217 Pink Alley

Cheng Xiaoxiao was astonished because Chu Yunshen’s disguise technique was more natural and vivid than that of Xiaowu. The human skin mask covered Chu Yunshen’s face in a tight seam. Cheng Xiaoxiao could even see the pores and hair on the human skin mask clearly. The slightly protruding blue stubble was even more terrifying as if it really grew on Chu Yunshen’s face.

It was awesome!

The ancients had such a superb skill that was comparable to modern plastic surgery!

The cat couldn’t resist the temptation and wanted to touch Chu Yunshen’s face with her paws, and Chu Yunshen’s first reaction was to dodge, which made the cat quickly retract her paw.

Damn!

What an attitude!

“Do you think you’re so great, Chu Yunshen?!”

After the lack of response following her kiss last night, Cheng Xiaoxiao assumed that Chu Yunshen was indifferent because he took it as an intimate gesture from a pet.

All Cheng Xiaoxiao wanted to do just now was to touch his face, but he rejected her approach.

What did Chu Yunshen mean by that? She couldn’t even touch him now?

Or did Chu Yunshen think that she, Cheng Xiaoxiao, shouldn’t be so unscrupulous last night, so, in order to be safe, she couldn’t touch him now?

The cat keenly caught Chu Yunshen’s subtle movements. She was faster than Chu Yunshen, and almost without the slightest hesitation, she quickly stopped her outstretched paws and wanted to jump off Chu Yunshen’s knee.

Just as the cat got up and wanted to jump, the keen Chu Yunshen quickly grabbed the cat’s body with two big palms and stopped her.

Unfortunately, this time, Chu Yunshen faced the cat’s strong resistance when he touched her.

As Chu Yunshen’s fingers tightened, the cat struggled even harder, and she even let out a shrill cry.

“Hey…”

Chu Yunshen opened his thin lips and tried to comfort the cat who suddenly went berserk, but he was interrupted by another voice from outside just as he was about to speak.

“Leader, we’re reaching Pink Alley. It’s too narrow for the carriage to get through, so we have to come down and walk for a bit.”

Xiaowu sounded a little eager. He seemed to be looking forward to Chu Yunshen’s reaction upon seeing the house.

This was the first time Cheng Xiaoxiao found that Xiaowu’s interjection was on point. She did not want to make a fuss, nor did she want to hear anything Chu Yunshen said.

What if she overreacted and was too annoying?

Furthermore, she didn’t know how to deal with her emotions if Chu Yunshen said something that she did not want to hear, and things might get out of hand at the time. Hence, it was better for Xiaowu to interrupt the awkwardness between her and Chu Yunshen now.

Chu Yunshen was about to continue where he left off, but Xiaowu’s voice came again. This time, he sounded even louder as he directly stuck his head into the carriage.

“Master, do you need some time?”

Xiaowu looked at Chu Yunshen with a puzzled face and asked in a low voice.

In the end, Chu Yunshen gave up on continuing to communicate with the cat. He pursed his thin lips and frowned.

After pondering for a moment, he finally raised his head and said to Xiaowu, “Never mind. You go ahead; I will come later.”

“Yes.” Xiaowu nodded and retracted his head.

To be honest, Cheng Xiaoxiao wouldn’t have recognized Xiaowu had it not been for his voice.

It was because Xiaowu had changed his face again, but this time, he kept the round face and did some tricks on his facial features.

The corners of his mouth were upturned, his nose was double the size this time with upturned nostrils. His lips were fat and thick, almost looking like two sausages.

Most importantly, Xiaowu even emphasized some meticulous details on his ears this time. He was simply improving to the extreme.

His two disguised ears were clearly defined, and his earlobes were thick and fat. Just by looking at Xiaowu’s appearance, one would unconsciously think that he was honest and humble.

After Xiaowu pulled up the curtain again, Chu Yunshen tidied up his clothes, carried the cat, who was on his knees, and was about to get out of the carriage.

The moment he stepped out of the carriage, Cheng Xiaoxiao seemed to have heard Chu Yunshen say something.

He talked very rapidly and sounded blurry. Cheng Xiaoxiao even thought that she had heard him wrong.

But Chu Yunshen directly exhaled his hot breath into Cheng Xiaoxiao’s ears, making her entire ear limp and numb.

Cheng Xiaoxiao quickly fidgeted her ears, afraid that she would lose her numb ears.

In fact, Chu Yunshen did say something to Cheng Xiaoxiao’s ear just now.

What he said was “Be good. I’ll tell you when we get there.”

Hmph, I don’t want to listen to you!

Cheng Xiaoxiao pretended not to hear him and turned her head to the other side proudly.

Originally, the cat ignored Chu Yunshen on purpose, but as Chu Yunshen gradually moved forward with the cat in his embrace, she was distracted by the scene in front of her.

The alley in front of her should be “Pink Alley” that Xiaowu mentioned, but Cheng Xiaoxiao felt that rather than calling it “alley”, it was better to call it “crack”.

It was because Pink Alley wound in the middle of a row of tall buildings and old houses like a snake.

The alley was squeezed into a small and narrow valley by the tall walls. Even a slightly chubbier person could not directly pass through it. When two people met in the alley, one of them had to hold in his breath, suck in his stomach, and turn sideways, only then could he barely avoid the other person and pass through the alley.

Looking at the long, narrow, and complex alley in front of her, Cheng Xiaoxiao felt that it was so cramped that she almost couldn’t breathe.

The shape of the interior of this alley was similar to the spider web hanging from the eaves of the houses. They passed through the winding path, and there were intersections in every unexpected corner.

As Cheng Xiaoxiao snuggled in Chu Yunshen’s embrace and looked ahead, an indescribable illusion appeared. She felt that the houses built in the alley were like spiders, big and small, black in color, and occasionally there were a few green ones.

These spiders crawled on the ground of the “spider web”, sucking the sweet liquid deep in the soil in a silent and strange way.

The strangest thing was that the narrow alley was embedded with bluestone slabs. As Xiaowu brought them into the alley and turned left and right at the complicated junctions, Cheng Xiaoxiao noticed that all the roads in the alley, be it the main path or the narrow intersections, were all paved with bluestone slabs.

Crisp sounds echoed from the stone slabs as they walked on them. Even though they had lightened the footsteps, they could still hear the sound of them walking.

Actually, it wasn’t because Chu Yunshen and his troop walked too loudly, but the alley was too quiet.

The alley was eerily quiet.

The dark green walls of each alley were covered with mottled green moss. The place reeked of the smell of spilled water and feces everywhere. Yet, the place was completely empty without a person nor a bit of a sound.

There was no sound in the alley except for the footsteps and breathing of Chu Yunshen and the others.

There were only two words to describe this place and its temperament.

Dead silence.

Before Cheng Xiaoxiao entered the alley, she could still hear the shouts of many hawkers. Now, the noise was completely eliminated. she couldn’t even feel the warmth from the sun above her head other than its white light.

“Are we there yet? Why haven’t we arrived? Did you take us to the wrong place?”

Finally, Mu Bai, who had been silent since coming out of the residence, asked curiously.

As Mu Bai’s voice echoed across the alley, it sounded as if the voice was blocked by something and then scattered around them, which made it sound a little dull.

“No! On the left is the famous brothel street, and on the right are all kinds of casinos. There’s a tavern that operates for 24 hours a day at the alley we passed by earlier. There are also several inns.”

Xiaowu walked in the front, and his voice sounded surreal as he said, “This is the only place in the entire capital that is so special. You can eat, drink, gamble, and find an escort all in the same place.”

“There are even taverns and casinos here? Why don’t I hear any sound from these back doors?”

Mu Bai pointed at the tightly shut wooden doors that they had just passed by and asked curiously.

“The Hu people gather here too, and most of the shop owners here are the Hu people. Those Hu people basically leave early to do business and return late, so there are very few people drinking and gambling during the day.” Xiaowu was frustrated about Mu Bai’s ignorance, but he suppressed his frustration and continued to explain to Mu Bai.

“The Hu people are not easy to get along with, and Chu people rarely come to their territory during the day, so there is no business here during the day.”

“Then where did the name ‘Pink Alley’ come from?”

Hearing Xiaowu answered his questions, Mu Bai was interested to continue the conversation with him.

Chu Yunshen, who was sandwiched between them, covered the cat’s ears with his hands when Xiaowu was talking about the brothels and the casinos.

Cheng Xiaoxiao glared at him with dissatisfaction, but she didn’t struggle free from his clutch.

She was intrigued when Xiaowu talked about the origin of “Pink Alley”, but Chu Yunshen covered her ears at this moment. Fortunately, she was a cat now, so she could hear just fine even when he covered her ears.

“‘Pink Alley’, the pinkish fantasy. This beautiful and dreamy color is the best color to describe the inner desires of those gamblers and womanizers.”

Xiaowu shared all the information he had found with Mu Bai without hesitation. “Well, it’s quiet and empty now, but when the night falls, this place will be the most bustling place in the entire capital, and it becomes livelier the latter the night is. In fact, you’ll bump into different people and things in this alley.”

“How do you know so clearly? Have you been here before? Did you have any nice experience here?”

Mu Bai narrowed his long, mischievous eyes and asked Xiaowu, his tone full of ridicule.

“Fu…” Wanting to curse out loud, Xiaowu turned and met with Chu Yunshen’s cold glare, so he swallowed his curses and explained, “I found out about it when I was here last night investigating the case. Also, I was here to rent a house, so I have to know about this place.”

Cheng Xiaoxiao saw that Xiaowu mouthed the word “f*ck” just now, but she was impressed by his ability to change his words immediately the second he saw Chu Yunshen. He was quite skillful at this.

And Mu Bai’s tease ignited Cheng Xiaoxiao’s raging curiosity. It seemed that she would have her time in the world to explore this place when they lived here.

After all, it was very interesting to pry into other people’s secrets and privacy, right?

After Xiaowu finished speaking, Mu Bai did not respond, but he mumbled about something at the back with a barely audible voice. They quietly walked for a while longer until a male voice rang out in the alley.

“How much longer?”

It was Chu Yunshen. She did not expect him to ask a question too.

Cheng Xiaoxiao was a little surprised by Chu Yunshen’s attitude. However, she had no idea that she was the reason why Chu Yunshen asked the question. She was constantly yawning and staring blankly at Chu Yunshen, and it bothered him, hence the question.